Everyone has one of those places—the one that holds special meaning in your heart, where you visit again and again. It might be a small town, an exotic destination, or a secret spot close to home. For me, that place is Ogunquit, Maine. Located just over an hour north of Boston, Ogunquit is an artsy beach town on Maine’s mid-coast that I have fallen in love with again and again.

My love affair with Ogunquit began Last August when my boyfriend Ronnie took me there on a much-needed trip to reconnect and unwind. For two days we explored the little beach town—we watched the sun rise over Footbridge Beach, ate lobster rolls, shopped in local stores, and walked the Marginal Way, a mile-long path along the rocky shoreline. Together we fell in love with the town.

So when we were planning summer trips this year, it came as no surprise that Ronnie planned another weekend in Ogunquit. Little did I know how different this weekend would be and that I’d be pinching myself to make sure it was real.

We drove up from Boston on a Friday after work for our two-night stay. We stayed at The Blue Shutters Inn, a family-owned bed and breakfast, steps from the downtown shops and Marginal Way.

Upon our arrival we quickly checked into the Grand Room, the largest of the rooms at the Inn, complete with comfy bed and fireplace. We sipped some wine that we brought with us and relaxed for a few minutes around the outdoor fire pit before venturing into town for dinner.

Due to traffic we arrived late, and many of the restaurants were closing up by the time we were ready for dinner at 9pm. We managed to snag an outdoor table with a personal fire pit at the Rose Cove Cafe on Main Street where we shared dinner and sangria.

Following our yummy seafood dinner, we stopped at the The Front Porch, a piano bar full of spirited vacationers, for a nightcap. We had plans to watch the sunrise on Footbridge Beach the next morning, as we had done the year before, so we made it an early night and headed to bed.

Before I knew it, the 4:45am alarm was blaring, waking us in time for sunrise at 5:15am. We dressed and drove a mile north on Rt. 1 to Footbridge Beach, where we set ourselves on the same lifeguard stand where we watched the sun rise last August.

The beach was nearly deserted because only crazy people get up before dawn on weekends. Ronnie bought our mini tripod and set up my cell phone so that we could get time-lapse photos ourselves with the sunrise…or so I thought. After setting up the camera, he joined me in the frame and as the sky brightened on a new day, Ronnie got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.

Through a chorus of shrieks and nervous giggles, I became the happiest woman in the world from our spot on Footbridge Beach. Little did I know that the time-lapse photo plan was just an excuse to film the proposal so that we could grab photos, like the one above, from the video. If this man isn’t the perfect [Instagram] Husband-to-Be, then he’s pretty close!

About 17,257 selfies later, we headed back to the hotel to nap before sharing the news with our family and friends.

Our first celebration was breakfast at the Blue Shutters Inn. The owners learned about Ronnie’s plan upon check-in and were anxiously awaiting the news. We shared our proposal story with them over a delicious breakfast and mimosas, included in our stay. Ronnie and I had decided to take a few hours to ourselves before telling anyone (even our parents!) about our engagement, so the owners of the Blue Shutters Inn were the first people to know. It was heartwarming to see how happy they were for us, which made our weekend even better.

The rest of the weekend felt like we were walking on air! We spent a romantic day at Sandy Cove Beach off of the Marginal Way, ate lobster rolls in Perkins Cove, and enjoyed a celebratory dinner at Jonathan’s Ogunquit.

Our engagement weekend in Ogunquit could not have been more perfect and cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with this wonderful man!