Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show — I know I have — and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.

I have a dream to eventually visit all 50 U.S. states, and I now try to visit a new state each time I go back. (I travel to the U.S. about once a year.) Last year Susanna and I met in Rhode Island, and this year we hit Maine, my final state along the U.S. eastern seaboard. (I have a total of nine U.S. states left to go.)

Incidentally, it takes a ridiculously long time to travel from South Africa to Maine. After my 29-hour plane journey from Joburg to Portland (the biggest city in Maine), which included layovers in both Paris and New York, I rented a car, spent one night at a hotel in Portland, then drove 4.5 hours to Bar Harbor — home to Acadia National Park — the next day. (That drive is possible in three hours but I took the scenic route.)

It was utterly exhausting but worth it; despite the sketchy weather and big crowds — we were there at the beginning of the busy autumn leaf-peeping season — Maine is beautiful and really unique. I’m so happy I finally got there.

Top 5 Moments in Maine

1) Eating Maine Food

Maine is known for its lobster, and I ate a lot of it. Maine’s lobster totally lives up to the hype, as do the lobster restaurants, called lobster pounds or lobster shacks. These joints tend to be brightly painted in red and white, decorated with catchy lobster imagery and colorful lobster trap buoys. Paying through the nose for delicious, outrageously expensive lobster is somehow a lot easier in such fun, quirky settings.

My first lobster shack experience was a lobster roll lunch at Claws in Rockland, Maine, where I stopped during my drive from Portland to Bar Harbor.

Susanna and I also really enjoyed the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound, which was just down the road from where we stayed outside Acadia National Park.

My other favorite food in Maine was the homemade wild blueberry pie I bought from Mount Desserts, a tiny bakery inside a private home in Bar Harbor. Wild blueberries taste totally different than farmed blueberries — they are much less sweet — and this pie was outstanding. Susanna isn’t a huge fan of pie so I ate almost the entire thing myself.

2) Cadillac Mountain

Cadillac Mountain, the highest mountain on the U.S. eastern seaboard at 1530 feet (465 meters), is a popular tourist attraction in Acadia National Park, and is particularly popular to visit at sunrise and sunset. I visited Cadillac Mountain twice during my trip, both times just after sunrise.

It was super foggy when I woke up the first morning, so I almost didn’t go, but decided to try anyway as I’d already booked a ticket. (It costs $6 per car to drive up Cadillac Mountain and you must book in advance.) As I drove reluctantly up the winding road, the mist suddenly cleared and I realized the Cadillac summit was above the clouds.

Susanna wasn’t with me yet on that first morning, so we went back to Cadillac Mountain together two days later. Unfortunately the clouds were a lot thicker that morning and alas, the summit was not above them.

3) Jordan Pond

Jordan Pond, actually a small lake, is another popular attraction in Acadia. The first time Susanna and I tried to go there, we had to give up because the parking lot was full. We returned right before sunset, the crowds had almost totally dissipated, and it was stunning.

There is a 3.5-mile (5.6-kilometer) hike around the pond, which we did not initially intend to do. But the path was so lovely and Susanna convinced me that we should complete the loop, despite the fact that we knew it would be totally dark for the second half of the hike. I was extremely reluctant (there are so many ways to die while hiking in the dark!) and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this — we had to scramble around a couple of big boulders in a dark forest with nothing but cell phone flashlights — but 99% of the hike was super easy and I don’t think it would have been enjoyable to do it earlier, as it was just too crowded.

And then, just as we were about to leave the pond, we saw the Northern Lights!

4) Asticou Azalea Garden

Susanna and I discovered the Asticou Azalea Garden, a private garden a few minutes’ drive from Bar Harbor, by chance one morning while trying to escape the crowds in Acadia. It’s beautiful, admission is free (although visitors are asked to give a donation), and I got my best fall foliage photos of the trip in there. I highly recommend it — it must be even more beautiful in the spring when the azaleas are in bloom.

5) An Acadia Sunset

One evening, while driving around the park with no particular destination in mind, we happened upon a spectacular sunset. It had been raining for much of the day and the sky cleared right before the sun went down. Mist rose up from Jordan Pond in little wisps, lit up by the sun, creating what looked like dozens of little orange and pink fires.

*Honorable Mention: Thunder Hole and Eden Village

Although not included in my top 5, I award honorable mention to Thunder Hole, another site in Acadia National Park that was too crowded for us to see during daylight hours. (Cruise ships visit Bar Harbor and there were two big ships in the harbor during the weekend we were there. Our attempt to visit Thunder Hole during the day coincided with a throng of cruise tourist buses.)

But after the amazing sunset featured above, we got lost trying to drive out of the park and wound up back at Thunder Hole. We wandered down in the dark (a trend of this trip) and finally understood what the hype is about: Thunder Hole is a narrow inlet along the rocky coast, naturally carved out by the surf, where the waves rise up and crash and make a noise exactly like thunder. I have zero pictures but I assure you Thunder Hole is worth a visit, even with crowds.

I also want to briefly mention the Eden Village Motel & Cottages, where we stayed in Bar Harbor. Eden Village is a quirky old motel (there are many of these in Bar Harbor) with a bunch of cottages, like little tiny houses, scattered around the property. We stayed in one of the tiny houses and found it very quaint.

That’s it for Maine. Thanks again to Susanna for being part of my 50-state quest.

I’m planning for Arkansas or Minnesota in 2025.