Acadia Day 1

 Today was our first full day in Acadia National Park. The highlight of my day was our visit to Sand Beach--a little sandy cove nestled between two mountains off of Park Loop Road. We went around 11:30a.m. and it wasn't too busy yet. We set up our stuff on a cozy patch of sand and stretched out to enjoy the sunny afternoon. Candice shared her jacket with me that we used as a makeshift towel because we both forgot ours. 

I jumped in the water almost immediately, and it was frigid! I splashed about by myself, as my friends had forgotten their swimsuits that day, watching a little boy tumble in the waves. I was contemplating a full dunk and submerging my head underwater, when I spotted it. Something dark and round, floating in the water to my right. It looked like a rock poking out of the waves, but the only floating rock I knew of was the earth. Upon closer inspection, it was a beached seal floating in the waves, bobbing closer to the shore. I never got a glimpse of it's face, but it looked to be on the smaller side. I cautioned a different little boy to not touch it, and I retreated from the sea shortly after that.

In my natural element

After my cool-down in the ocean, I grabbed Candice and we explored the rocky outskirts of Sand Beach. The cliffs were high and jagged, and we scrambled up the sides of the rocks until we found a good place to perch. We talked about everything and nothing at the same time; we watched the waves lap against the shore, so far down below us. We examined the granite cliffs and picked out our favorite looking trees. We took some excellent photos and just took in the salty air, the sound of the waves, and the spray of the water that launched up from the shore. I fell in love with the sights and the sounds and the feeling of the sun on my skin at Sand Beach.

We decided that we were hungry and we made our way down to go sit with Jessica, who had just finished her watercolor painting and was basking in the sunlight. We unpacked our sandwiches, and I had eaten about half of mine when all of a sudden, a horrid shadow flew over me. A ginormous gull swooped down and snatched my sandwich out of my hand, bag and all! The nerve of him! That gull ate it all in one bite, and I cursed it's entire bloodline as I retrieved my plastic bag. It was pretty upsetting, but I refused to let a common herring gull get me down. 

I got in the water again after I could no longer spot the beached seal. The smell still lingered, maybe from the seal or the washed ashore seaweed, but I didn't splash around for too long. I read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson for the remainder of our time, and thought about climate change and wondered how many pesticides were in the sandwich I had eaten, and secretly hoped they would pass on to the gull. Sand Beach was my favorite part of the day, as I always seem to gravitate towards water. I've never visited the east coast before, and I'm proud of myself for getting in the freezing Atlantic Ocean!