Day 2 Acadia National Park

Today we enjoyed a quiet morning as we awoke to fog surrounding our cottage in the woods. Todd and I brewed a pot of coffee and enjoyed some leisurely conversation while the house slept. 

Showers and breakfast led us all to moving out the door mid morning heading east to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.  It’s one of the ten most visited national parks with over 4 million visitors a year. And we added six to that number! 

Here we are at the top of Cadillac Mountain. We found some short hikes and the visitors center…which was up a few flights of beautifully crafted stone stairs. The day was delightful with some light fog but warm temperatures. A perfect day for walking and enjoying nature. The park is huge and extends down to the ocean. We found kids splashing around and enjoying the waves while we enjoyed a few snapshots and sent thankful thoughts to the parking gods that blessed us with a close spot.

Yelp guided us to Melt which was a hit for some and a miss for others. The loaded fries were awesome and the Philly cheesesteak was enjoyed by some and both by others. The lobster roll was good, not great, and the crab melt was not what they expected. 

So it was a mixed bag of reviews on the food, but the views from the park where we ate, 10/10. 

The fog burned off and the views of the bay were gorgeous. We walked around and shopped in all the shops. We got shirts and magnets and ice cream. Ice cream is always a must on vacation and it seems like these are always strategically placed in touristy towns like this. We may have walked passed half a dozen spots offering sweet treats.

Apparently this town also thinks they are “Fog City” as well since many storefronts boasted this slogan. We are used to seeing that in SF or Pacifica. Why fight over such a terrible weather aspect? Maybe some people love the fog but I’m a lover of seasons and sunshine. 

We hit up a Walmart on the drive back to Castine. We got necessities like a few cigarette USB chargers since our rental has only one usb port and our phones require more juice than that. 

We drove through quaint little towns and checked Zillow to see the differences between the east and west coast. There’s a difference! 

We made it back to the AirBnB and commenced with lots of relaxation and couch sitting as we reminisced about our first full day on vacation and all the things that we’ve seen around these here parts. It’s a pretty area for sure but we read that they average 50-70 inches of snowfall along the coast, and that’s a big no from this California kid who likes to play in snow but doesn’t like to live in it. I shoveled too much as a kid so I’ve been cured of that itch to live in the winter. Sure is pretty in the summer though!

We saw fireflies before bed which is always a treat when you’re from California and we don’t have those 💕 

Day 1 The Beginning

We landed at 5:45am and while some of us slept on the plane, others were quite groggy. We caught a bus to the rental car lot and grabbed a nice looking Chrysler Pacifica mini van for our two week jaunt around the east coast. We packed our luggage in and began our drive to Portland Maine. 

We first stopped along the way at a Panera because caffeine was needed to finish the two hour drive to Portland. There was some grumbling about how the coffee isn’t as good as Starbucks but compliments about how their bagels are far superior. We left full enough to find ourselves on the road again at 9am. Panera had the right idea with this sign…

We pulled into Cape Elizabeth around 10am and found ourselves detouring through a cute community of homes as there was road construction blocking the main drive. We were able to see some lovely architecture and beautiful houses as we oohed and awed at the manicured gardens. 

Some of those houses were multimillion dollar estates and others were around $750k. We finally made our way to the Portland Head Lighthouse. It was a beautiful day with the sun peeking out behind some light clouds. We enjoyed the walk and the fresh air. It was a lovely view. 

After we sniffed the wind and caught the ocean breeze in our hair, we jumped back in the Enterprise van and set the map for Camden, Maine. This is one of the coastal towns to check out on our way north and it served as a great stopping point for lunch. Some had pizza while others split burgers. There was a clam chowder shared by the table as well. The food was good and it was nice to get out of the car and walk around for a bit.

We continued our drive toward our first AirBnB and I started to wonder when this day would end as it was feeling like the longest drive ever. Why didn’t we fly into Bar Harbor instead? Well here’s the skinny… a direct flight to Boston was 5 hours and the drive to our destination was another 4 hour drive  we could have layer over for two hours, then caught another flight but in reality that would have been the same time length or possibly longer  plus you run the risk of flight delays and cancellations - which we try to avoid by booking direct flights only. And then of course you have the issue of cost which is astronomically higher compared to the direct flight to Boston. 

So here we are. After lunch in Camden we drove to Penobscot with a stop at the local grocery store for breakfast necessities or coffee. I napped in the car while the rest of the crew shopped. 

We arrived at our home base for the next four days around 4pm and set up camp in an old farm house with an undetermined date of build. But it’s old! When traveling with a larger group, it’s sometimes nice to have a larger space for decompressing and hanging out rather than a couple of tiny hotel rooms. Plus we can make our own coffee and breakfast tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I may be ready for bed. It’s only 6:19pm but my eyelids are dropping and I’m ready to call it a night. The rest of the crew is watching an old TV a series called Columbo while I catch up on my Instagram reels. Tomorrow we might explore Bar Harbor or we might head to Deer Island. We shall see what the day holds!

Day 0 Traveling to Maine via Boston

We departed at 3pm and made our way to San Francisco to catch a red eye to Boston. We have no interest in Boston except for their cheap airport. Our first destination in Portland Maine and we hope to hit that town around 9am tomorrow. 

But first we have a five hour flight and hopefully some sleep to catch. We got dinner at Panda Express before heading off to the airport. Panda has rewards now guys! We got 25% off of our dinner so that’s an awesome start to a vacation. Savings!!!

The shuttle bus from our long term parking lot was a smooth ride however the funny separation here was a hilarious because we had the whole bus to ourselves.  

I caught this sweet moment later at the airport ❤️ 

We breezed through security with our TSA PreCheck and sat at our gate awaiting the call to board and get this vacation started! The girls worked on laptops and Todd got a new Stephen King book. 

Once we boarded we heard people behind us hoping quite loudly that the empty seat next to them would stay empty. This red eye probably has a lot of people on it hoping to catch some zees. 

I’m going to put on my meditation app and try to sleep myself. We land at 5:45am in Boston and the east coast/Canada road trip begins!