The Maine Event

Alex and I took a trip up to Maine to get out of the city. As much as I love living in the big apple, sometimes it's nice to get out of the hustle and bustle and enjoy some peace and quiet.

We took a quick flight into Portland and arrived in the crisp Maine air. The scenic drive up to Boothbay was spectacular. Naturally, the first thing we did was stop for a lobster roll at Red's Eats. We explored Wicasset stopping into a gallery or two and took the advice of one of the townspeople to drive out to the Pemaquid Lighthouse. We were so glad we did! The lighthouse, which can be seen on the state quarter, was quaint and our views and walk along the rocks was amazing. The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at, The Topside Inn, was so adorable. We stayed in Room #6 - the one with the cute little window nook where you can read and enjoy the view. It felt like staying in a really fancy beach house. We spent our first night relaxing and grabbing a bite in the tiny town.

After our first delicious breakfast of the trip, we headed to the water to do some kayaking and headed out to Burnt Island (where kerosene was stored for all the surrounding lighthouses back in olden days). The entire island could be hiked in 15 minutes. We checked it out, got a history lesson from a young groundskeeper, and took in the view before getting back into our kayaks and paddling back to Boothbay. After freshening up, we took a drive out to the Botanical Gardens where we explored and lazily strolled through the massive grounds.

For the evening, we headed to Rockland where we checked out the coolest lighthouse I'd ever seen. We enjoyed an insanely delicious farm to table dinner at Primo to end our second night.

It was hard to leave the beachy, laid back town of Boothbay, but we got an early start and got on the road (after another delicious breakfast, of course!) and set out for Bar Harbor. We took the scenic route to enjoy the views of the ocean and relax. It's amazing how relaxing and exciting driving in a car is after not having done it for so long! When we got there, we took a walking tour of the town via a shore path with little posts that give a history of the huge "cottages" sprinkled along the coast. We arrived in Mount Desert Island and checked into the Bass Cottage Inn where we stayed in Room #9. The house was so warm and friendly and our room was spacious and inviting.

I was feeling particularly ambitious so when Alex suggested we check out Acadia National Park and maybe go for a hike, I decided to go for it. I'm so glad I did! We checked out Sand Beach and hiked the Beehive. This was no joke - we were on exposed cliffs with rungs to climb up. But we did it! And I've never been prouder for pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Who knew I would love hiking?! We spent our entire dinner chatting about how excited we were to take on another mountain!

We woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the sun rise over Cadillac mountain and spent our final full day of vacation hiking Dor Mountain which was a steep trail up walking on gorgeous pink granite. Then we headed to Thurston's Lobster Pound to devour well-earned whole lobsters. Our last dinner was at The Jordan Pond House smack in the middle of Acadia.

It was so hard to leave the slow paced easy going culture of Maine with its fresh crisp air and friendly people. In our cab on the way home, we took a look at the beautiful NYC skyline, fanned ourself in the humid smoggy air, and listened to our cabbie shout at the car that cut him off...Yup, we were back in New York.