Summer Vacation Pt 2 - Maine 2022

 Thursday was our big outing to Acadia National Park: (3 hour drive)

Sieur de Monts nature center and trails along the board walk

Little Hunter's Beach, with a beach of big sea tossed rocks that echoed when you walked on them, amazing sedimentary rocks and cool layers exposed by the elements.

 

Cadliac Mountain with great views of Bar Harbour, the ocean and the coast

 

Next we drove through Bar Harbour and then out to find a place for dinner, Helen's Restaurant, before we headed back to Bridgton

Jim got us home safely in the pitch black and rain.

Friday we went to Conway, which I kept saying was in Vermont but is in fact in New Hampshire, because Jim wanted to visit a brewery. We had lunch and he tried a flight of beers, we walked the town and stopped at the LL Bean outlet.

The girls squeezed in a hike from the 2nd trailhead near us, and we made tacos for dinner. That evening I brought the girls into town for a last night ice cream. The big girls and I ended the night with a game of Progression.

Saturday we said good bye to Maine and we headed south to Massachusetts and visited Aunt Deb. She hosted us for a pizza lunch on fine china rimmed in platinum and pink linens. It was so good to see her.

Then we drove into Boston and stopped at MIT to visit Josh. He showed us his rollercoaster project and gave us a tour of the dorm and then the main buildings on campus.

We hit the road again, stopping for dinner at Subway,  GPS cut out on the George Washington Bridge in NYC so we had to reroute ourselves to get back on track. Jim drove the final leg home, finally getting back at 1 AM.

Our Maine trip was such a lovely get a way. I will treasure our time together as family.

Summer Vacation Pt 1- Maine 2022

 It all started with a book called The Penderwicks. The girls each read the series and the thought of Maine was planted in their heads. When conversations of vacation would come up year over year, Bridget and Megan would both suggest Maine. This year we decided to look into it. I jumped online and searched house rentals and quite quickly found a beautiful place at a very good price. I showed it to Jim and we decided to book it, hoping it wasn't too good to be true.

Our vacation was August 6-13.  The drive from Baltimore in the minivan with the 7 of us was long, but we packed lightly and managed it well. With 4 stops it took us a little over 11 hours. The house we rented was in Bridgton, Maine on Solitude Lane by Moose Pond at the foot of Pleasant Mountain, and it did not disappoint. Maine smelled of pine trees and had a fantastic understory of ferns. The house was situated in the woods with a deck, fire pit, small gardens and lawn. the rooms were all big enough for our family to gather together or find a private spot to read or relax.

Jim and I shared the master with a fancy master bathroom and soaking tub. Rachael and Megan shared the front bedroom, and Bridget, Emma and Johanna shared the upstairs bedroom. We settled in for a good vacation.

Visit to Fryeburg, Mass at St Elizabeth Ann Seton church, flea Market, and lunch at 302 West Smokehouse.

Mini hike on trailhead at Pleasant Mountain before a simple dinner of sandwiches

Monday trip to Portland ME:

We started at the Cape Elizabeth Headlight and enjoyed the views. We grabbed some gelato, and then we scrambled on the rocks, enjoying the breeze and the tidepools. 

We headed to the Old Port for lunch in a tavern along the main cobblestone road and then we took a ferry over to Peaks Island. Romped on the little beach and then back over to the mainland. We walked the old town streets and did a little shopping. Before heading back to Bridgton. 

Renting kayaks from SkiHot at the end of the road and ferrying the paddleboard and kayaks from our place to and from the community beach/launch area. It rained just as we got going, but it felt great on a hot day. Moose Pond was clear and cool.

That night we played Mexican train dominos around the big green dining room table.

Breakfasts of Captain crunch, private spots around the house for down time, moments on the deck, reading in the sun room.

Improv with Johanna: Two at a time we drew characters names from a bowl and then we had to act out a scene together. It was hysterical

Visiting Bridgton: the bookstore and antique shop, and Reny's general store (our neighbor Jim's cousins own Reny's)

Maine offered a feeling of openness and timelessness. It felt grounded in nature and time.