Acadia National Park

Johnny and I had always dreamed of spending our honeymoon in Acadia, but at the time we were also building our house. It was scheduled to be finished just a month after the wedding, and we knew we wouldn’t have the time to truly explore the park the way we wanted. Instead, we went camping at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. It wasn’t the original plan, but it gave us the chance to be together outdoors, and that was enough.

Years later, we finally made it to Acadia—this time to celebrate Matthew’s high school graduation. The Island Explorer shuttle made getting around Mount Desert Island so easy, and it felt like we could finally experience everything we had once put on hold. We hiked several trails, visited Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, and Southwest Harbor, and soaked up the beauty of the area. Looking back, it felt like we had come full circle—celebrating a new chapter for Matthew in the very place we had once dreamed of beginning our own.