Here, we’re looking at Cadillac Mountain on a crisp November 4 day. It’s about 18 miles east-north-east of us, across Blue Hill Bay in Acadia National Park.
During the 17th Century, this area and much of North America’s northeast (including what is now much of Canada’s east coast) was the French Colony of L’Acadie. (“Acadia” is a transliteration of Native American words for “Land of Plenty.”) The mountain was named in honor of French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe Sieur de Cadillac to whom, in 1688, France gave ownership of vast tracks of land that included what became the National Park.
Most of the year, the summit of Cadillac Mountain wins the contest for the place where the first sun rays reach the United States, according to a study by Yankee Magazine. Lubec and Eastport, Maine, are sometimes first, however. (Brooklin, Maine)