Tag Archives: martha-stewart

Acadia year in review, a look ahead: Top news, 2017 ideas

Without a doubt, the top news for Acadia National Park in 2016 was the Acadia Centennial, not only as celebration and time to reflect on past and future, but also as a big draw, helping to push visitation over 3.2 million, the highest since 1990.

The official Acadia Centennial logo

This Acadia year in review rounds up some of the top Centennial-related news, as well as the top Acadia on My Mind blog posts and other achievements of 2016. We also describe some of our plans and Acadia-themed New Year’s resolutions for 2017, as we continue to blog about our favorite national park.

If you have a 2016 Acadia Centennial memory or 2017 Acadia-themed New Year’s resolution to share as part of our Acadia year in review, feel free to post it in a comment below. Continue reading →

It’s a good thing: Martha Stewart to give $1M for Acadia

Like any other fan of Acadia during the Centennial year, Martha Stewart hiked the trails, climbing the Beehive and exploring Great Head, all just a short way from her Seal Harbor home.

During Memorial Day weekend of the Acadia Centennial year, Martha Stewart hiked the Beehive with friends and blogged about it. (Photo courtesy of www.themarthablog.com)

Now, as the Centennial year nears an end, to show her appreciation for the park and invite others to show theirs, she has made a $1 million challenge grant to benefit Acadia.

“Acadia National Park is very special to me and my family and we are happy to support Friends of Acadia in this Centennial year. With this special challenge grant, we hope to encourage and inspire others to ‘give back’ to Acadia – a truly magical place,” said Martha Stewart in a statement, via the non-profit Friends group.

As of early this week, Friends of Acadia (FOA) is within $100,000 of raising the matching $1 million to complete the challenge from the Martha and Alexis Stewart Foundation, and within $200,000 of meeting the $25 million goal for the Second Century Campaign, to help secure Acadia National Park’s next 100 years.

The target fundraising deadline: Dec. 31, the end of the Acadia Centennial year. That means any donation you make between now and 11:59 PM EST on New Year’s Eve may be matched by Stewart, up to the remaining $100,000 for the full $1 million, and may help put FOA over the top for the $25 million campaign.

Martha Stewart discovered this old millstone on Great Head, above Sand Beach, during a 2016 Thanksgiving weekend hike. (Photo courtesy of www.instagram.com/marthastewart48)

As Martha Stewart and others who have come to know Acadia have experienced, the park gives so much, with its historic trails and carriage roads, dramatic pink granite cliffs and breathtaking ocean and mountain views. Stewart shares her hikes in the park, and her trips to her Seal Harbor home, in The Martha Blog, subtitled “up close & personal,” and on her Instagram account.

“When she’s enjoying Acadia, she’s not Martha Stewart Omnimedia guru,” said Lisa Horsch Clark, FOA’s director of development and donor relations, who’s worked with the lifestyle and media entrepreneur over the years on efforts like FOA’s annual benefit auction.

“She’s a park lover like us,” said Clark. Continue reading →

Where to stay, eat in fall in Acadia? Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Bubble Rock in Acadia National Park helped prove the Ice Age

Ask Acadia on My Mind!

Another in a series of “Ask Acadia on My Mind!” Q&As

If you have a question about Acadia National Park on your mind, whether you’re a first-time visitor or long-time fan, leave a comment below, or contact us through the About us page. We may not be able to answer every question, or respond right away, but we’ll do our best. See our new page linking in one place all the Q&As.

1) Love your Facebook page. We are going up to Acadia/Bar Harbor for the first time at the end of September, could you recommend any restaurants for us to try 🙂 Thanks for any help. – Nancy from Tyngsboro, MA

2) Hello. I will be visiting for the 1st time in October to run the MDI Half Marathon and am looking for some help with locale for lodging. I would like to use my car as little as possible but also be within walking distance and central to the race & Acadia. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, I am considering bringing my dog. Thank you. – Jessica, from Southern NJ

Dear Nancy and Jessica,

MDI Half Marathon lobster claw finisher's medal

The reward for running 13.1 miles. (Photo courtesy of MDI Half Marathon)

You’re both picking a good time of year to visit Acadia National Park for the first time. Fall in Acadia can be less crowded and the weather can still be spectacular, even if peak fall foliage may not fall exactly when you’ll be be there.

With summer already half over, it’ll be fall in Acadia before you know it.

While we’re neither restaurant critics nor fast runners, we have eaten out enough in Bar Harbor and surrounding communities, and jogged the trails or read up enough on some of Acadia area races and restaurants to have some opinions. Thanks for asking! Continue reading →

Fall foliage in Acadia National Park a leaf peeper’s delight

SEE 2015 FALL FOLIAGE POST HERE

UPDATE 10/8/14: It’s official, peak foliage is arriving in the Acadia region, according to the latest weekly report on the state’s foliage Web site. See the link to the report, below, as well as links to some new live Web cams with views toward foliage on the Bubbles and elsewhere.

The brilliant fall foliage of Acadia National Park puts it at the top of many a list, for everyone from renowned national parks photographer QT Luong to domestic diva Martha Stewart, from Backpacker Magazine to National Parks Traveler to the Wilderness Society.

The fall colors of Acadia National Park contrast with the dark tidal flats exposed at Otter Cove. Cadillac and Dorr are in the background. (All photos by QT Luong/terragalleria.com all rights reserved)

Luong called Acadia’s autumn colors “some of the most beautiful fall foliage on the East Coast,” in an online magazine, The Active Times. Stewart featured an October hike up Parkman Mountain on her Martha blog a few years ago and described the views as “amazingly beautiful!”

Backpacker Magazine last month listed Acadia as No. 1 out of “12 amazing fall foliage destinations,” while National Parks Traveler has included Acadia in a list of top 10 contenders for best foliage in all of the national parks and featured the park in this fall’s “Essential Park Guide.”

And just a couple of weeks ago, the Wilderness Society included Acadia in its “15 national parks for fall color.”

QT Luong and Acadia National Park fall foliage

Fall colors shine through even on a rainy day in autumn in Acadia National Park.

If you feast your eyes on some of the Acadia fall foliage photos taken over the years by Luong and republished in this blog post, you’ll see why this national park is on everyone’s favorites list.

Luong, who was featured in Ken Burns’ “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” as the first photographer to capture all the parks in large format, includes 46 photos of Acadia fall colors on his Web site, www.terragalleria.com. And he recently updated his blog post, “Guide to Fall Foliage Color in the National Parks,” which includes a section on Acadia.

Is it peak yet?

When’s the best time to get peak fall foliage in Acadia National Park? Usually mid-October, although it can range from the first to the third week of October, according to the park’s answers to frequently asked questions. The official Maine foliage Web site shows a 5-year history of when the peak occurred in various parts of the state, and features weekly foliage updates this time of year. This week, according to the Maine foliage site, Acadia is close to peak.

You can check an official Acadia Web cam on McFarland Hill for how far along the foliage is. While the cam is to help monitor air quality, it does include the top of some trees in its view. There are also links to Bar Harboar area live Web cams for a peek at foliage toward the Bubbles, around Bar Harbor and other locales.

Continue reading →

Dogs have best friend in Acadia National Park

When Nicole Ramos hikes in Acadia National Park, she is elated she can bring Lucy, her Jack Russell Terrier.

Nicole Ramos likes to hike in Acadia with her Jack Russell Terrier

Nicole Ramos hikes in Acadia National Park with Lucy, her Jack Russell Terrier.

Otherwise, she is unsure of what she would do. “I’d probably be disappointed and maybe have to go somewhere else,” said Ramos, 35, of Camden, Me., while starting a hike with Lucy along the Asticou & Jordan Pond Path in Acadia.

Of the 59 national parks, Acadia is in the minority in keeping dogs and owners together on hiking trails. In fact, Acadia is among only a few national parks – Shenandoah in Virginia is another – that allow dogs and other pets on trails, as long as they are leashed, according to the National Park Service.

When they plan a trip to Acadia, dog owners are generally happy to discover that they don’t need to leave their pets at home or place them in a kennel if they want to hike.

Todd Long and his two dogs in Acadia National Park.

Todd Long is shown walking on Cadillac Mountain with his two Jack Russell Terriers, Chelsea and Daisy. Long and his dogs visited Acadia National Park for the first time.

“I couldn’t put them in a kennel,” said Todd Long, a water well service contractor from Brevard, N.C., who was walking on the Cadillac Summit Loop Trail with Chelsea and Daisy, his two Jack Russell Terriers, during his first-ever visit to Acadia.

“They are too spoiled. They are used to being with me,” said Long.

(See Acadia on My Mind’s new page for Top 5 hikes for dogs)

Continue reading →