Acadia National Park Proposal: Robin & Carrie

Robin is a true romantic at heart. The pair have been together for ten years almost to the day and Robin wanted his proposal to Carrie to be perfect. The view of the iconic location of Sand Beach was important so we settled on the summit of Gorham Mountain looking down across the beach.

Week of, we came to the awful realization that rain was in the forecast through the evening on the day of their proposal. So the day of their proposal after arriving in Bar Harbor the prior evening at 11pm I rushed over to Sand Beach to come up with a backup plan. Anton was back at our hotel carrying out his day job. After exploring the beach for nearly 30 minutes I found a little trail going up to a cliffside in a cozy corner of the beach. It was perfect, the views, the accessibility… everything. Hiking in the rain is a bit out of character for this couple so Gorham Mountain no longer suited them.

As the day went on I noticed the rain was pushing later and later. Slowly my heart warmed at the thought of moody skies with no rain. As much as I love rain, it isn’t easy to photograph in a downpour. Anton and I left the hotel around 5pm to make our way up to the place I found earlier. Anton and I then hid our cameras with our bodies and acted like two tourists taking in one heck of a view. The moment we sat down to play our parts of hiding in plain site it down poured, then stopped a few minutes later. We breathed a sigh of relief, somewhat afraid that Carrie wouldn’t want to walk up the slick rocky trail in the rain.

Then we heard the couple with their dog approaching and saw an umbrella bobbing up and down on the trail below up. Moments later they arrived, we played our part by acting like we weren’t paying attention. Of course, seconds before Robin went down on one knee the rain went from a light drizzle to a full on downpour.

He didn’t care, Robin gave Carrie his umbrella, and went fully down on one knee allowing himself to get soaked to the skin as he asked Carrie to be his partner in life. As the rain dripped from his hair Carrie expressed her love, said yes, and kissed Robin as if it was for the first time. Slowly, then all at once. That is what it is like to fall in love after all.