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!