Travel – Page 2

Vacation Part 2: Maine

October 18, 2021 by Alicia 1 Comment

The main part of the trip, in Maine!!

We arrived Monday evening and walked around Bar Harbor, deciding on Thai for dinner. After some walking around, we headed back to our hotel to get settled in.

Tuesday was our first full day in Bar Harbor. We were excited to grab some breakfast at the SunRise Café. Brian had a lobster crepe and I had the Nutella banana crepe.

After filling our bellies, we drove to Acadia National park and got a park pass. The park was crazy busy with people. We decided to drive the full park loop and farther over to NorthEast Harbor where we grabbed some lunch and then some cupcakes since we passed a little bakery, SeaSide Deli and Sweets.

After enjoying some food, we continued on to SouthWest Harbor and stopped at Echo Lake Beach. It was so pretty there, but a little chilly to be swimming. (we actually did head back here and take a dip on Wednesday)

We then headed down to Bass Harbor Lighthouse. This was somewhat of a mistake because there is a tiny road that leads to this lighthouse and a tiny parking lot. The cars were backed up the road, but it was very difficult to turn around so once you were in line, you were stuck for a while. We waited it out, about 30 minutes or so before we could grab a parking spot. It was very beautiful, but not sure it was entirely worth the long wait.

By then it was getting late and close to dinner. It was time to drive back to Bar Harbor and find some food. We ended up eating at Side Street Café and this was a dinner that stood out to me. I had a black bean wrap and we started with delicious pita and hummus. At first, I wasn’t super hungry, but everything was so delicious.

Wednesday morning we planned to drive up Cadillac Mountain for the sunrise, since we did the sunset last year. Well…the park added toll booths and we found out we have to reserve a spot in advance to drive up. This is definitely better crowd control, but we didn’t know. So there we were up before sunrise and couldn’t get to the spot. We ended up driving part of the park loop and seeing the sunrise from another spot without having to pay anything extra. However, it was quite cloudy with chances of scattered rain the week we were there, so the sunrise wasn’t the best anyway. It was a little disappointing, but hey we were up bright and early for sure.

After the sunrise, Brian wanted some coffee and food. We had walked around town the previous day and I noticed a smoothie place, Thrive Juice Bar. Since they were open early, we decided to go there. Brian had a breakfast sandwich and I had a mint green smoothie.

After getting some breakfast, rain came through for a bit. We had planned to do a hike, but due to the rain we opted to just head back to the hotel. I was more than ok with that because we had been so on the go the whole trip. It was nice to have some time to watch some youtube videos and get in a quick bodyweight workout while Brian napped. It’s a good thing he sleeps like a rock.

After a chill morning, we grabbed lunch at The Chart Room. I had another delicious wrap. I was really on a wrap kick. Then Brian wanted to go check out a brewery and did some tastings.

Since we had a while before low tide, we got swimsuits on and went back to Echo Lake. I watched Brian brave the water first and then took a short dip myself and we had fun with the Go Pro.

Later in the afternoon, we waited for low tide and crossed to Bar Harbor Island and did the hike up to the peak. It was a short little hike and we had plenty of time starting at the beginning of low tide. While we had waited for low tide, we actually met a person who was currently living the van life. She is able to work remotely from her van and travel different spots. Something we both aspire to. Maybe one day. As we chatted, it reminded me about something I love with vacation, just meeting different people and hearing their stories.

bar island path — Bar Island Path at low tide

Wednesday evening we decided to order some BBQ and eat at the hotel. We sure did a lot of eating out, but it was nice to have take out and catch a movie on TV before crashing for the night.

Thursday morning we had a boat lighthouse tour scheduled at 9:30. We got into town at 8am for breakfast. The first place we checked out had an hour wait already by that time so we knew we couldn’t wait around. We ended up at another restaurant around the corner and I don’t remember the name. I had some delicious peanut butter bacon pancakes. I have really learned to go with the flow more because although I was disappointed in not getting into the one place, I was very pleased with my breakfast.

I’m not so keen on boat rides because I get motion sick on them easily, but I knew it was something Brian wanted to do. We couldn’t have asked for better weather though because it was sunny and beautiful. I stayed seated at the back of the boat for the majority of the ride, but I did get up and take some photos with my phone around some lighthouses. I really enjoyed the ride back when we saw the sea lions in the water. Brian took the camera and captured photos from the front. I just enjoyed listening to some of the history. I wish I could remember which lighthouse was which, but I didn’t take down notes. However, please enjoy these beautiful photos.

For lunch on Thursday we ate our leftover BBQ which was perfect. We then headed out of Bar Harbor for a bit, checking out a L L Bean Outlet store, but we both left empty handed from there. We then had a nice visit with one of Brian’s family friends and chatted for a while, enjoying the water view from her house. It was nice to get out of the tourist area of Bar Harbor.

Brian found another lobster spot for dinner, because when in Maine…while I ate a veggie wrap that was pretty good.

lobster roll — it can’t be a Maine post without showing some lobster right?

Then it was time for our mini golf date. It wasn’t crowded at all and at most we had to wait for 1 group of people to go. We made it through both courses. I scored 1 hole in one on each course. It’s always exciting when that happens! I beat Brian in the first course, but he won the second and won overall with the least points. It was still a very fun evening.

Friday was time to pack up.

I decided to stop here and continue the last part of our trip in a part 3.

Vacation Part 1: The Rocky Start in Vermont

October 12, 2021 by Alicia 2 Comments

It has been a few weeks since our vacation to Vermont and Maine. I needed some time to just get back into things, plus taking a week off from work was super stressful in the return. When you don’t have a back up and come back to over 200 emails, which you can only make the number go down before and after work hours, plus month end so EVERYTHING had to be done somehow, it was a lot of stress and times I felt like I was going to cry. It’s probably a good thing I happened to be working from home when I returned. That meant no commuting time and just putting in the extra (unpaid) hours. It sometimes makes you question whether vacation time is worth it. I love taking week long vacations and since I only get the one a year, I want to soak it in. However, this vacation was not as relaxing as I would have liked it to be. We opted for mountains over the beach and I really missed a beach vacation this year. Due to covid numbers though, we felt this was the better route and I did want to go back to Bar Harbor Maine to explore more.

That said, getting to Bar Harbor was a bit rocky. We drove up to Brian’s mom’s after work on a Friday and spent the night. We had breakfast and took our time before getting on the road. We took the ferry from Essex, NY over to Vermont. My car’s first ferry ride. Everything was going well.

We spent the afternoon in Burlington, VT. We grabbed lunch by the water. It started to pour rain just as we arrived in Vermont. While we ate outside, we were under a covered area and the rain passed so it was nice to have the water view.

We then walked around Burlington. I found a chocolate shop of course and we came across some street performers that were fun to watch.

By then it was nearing 4pm and I felt like we should get on the road so we could arrive in Stowe, VT before dark. Stowe is only a bit over an hour from Burlington, so not a bad drive. I get on the highway and suddenly I notice lights go on my dash. Brian is chatting on his phone and I’m poking him to ask what these lights mean. The one was a battery symbol. Knowing my battery was 7 years old, I knew it was overdue for replacement. Brian finally gets off the phone, we take the first exit and stop at Advanced Auto Parts. We ultimately find out I need a new alternator. (side note: I had to look up how long alternators last and Google said 100-150K, while my car just hit 170K so again I felt fortunate to get so many miles)

I decide to ask about a battery anyway so we buy that. Turns out Advanced Auto didn’t have my alternator in stock and there was no way we were getting anywhere in my car’s current state. It was scary as I was driving because I could hardly even turn the steering wheel by the time we reached Advanced Auto. I have had flat tires, but never something breaking down on my car like this.

We get the new battery in place, but it doesn’t help. The guy tells us there is an Auto Zone not far down the road though. Brian makes a call over there and they have an alternator. Thank goodness. Brian drives the car taking some side streets over to Auto Zone and I purchase the alternator. I manage to keep it together despite being stressed. Brian gives me the job of handing him tools from the loaner tool kit we borrow from Auto Zone as he works to remove my alternator.

All things considered, we were lucky we were in a part of the trip near a town and near 2 auto part stores. I’m also lucky Brian knows the indicator lights and how to replace the parts. My car is a Toyota as well and the alternator is towards the top, apparently making it much easier to replace in a parking lot and not needing an auto mechanic.

A little over an hour later, the alternator is in and the car is working again. Although I was stressed about the money and delay, I also kept thinking how fortunate we were to not be in the dark, leaving Burlington when we did and being able to get back on the road without too much delay.

We arrived in Stowe just before dark to our Airbnb. I had booked a private master bedroom in a house. It was dinner time and we decided to check out Stowe for a place to eat. However, after 3 places with huge wait times, I was mainly tired and thirsty and felt ok skipping dinner given needing to get an early start on Sunday.

We ended up back at the Airbnb, chatting with some other guests. There were 3-4 rooms at the Airbnb, a second floor of a house and we had a big hallway area with a couch where guests could interact. It was a really nice place. The only downside was the water pressure was like a drizzle from the shower. A great place for a couple nights, but I don’t know if I would stay there a full week. It worked perfect for our 1 night stay before we were off for zip lining Sunday morning. I was super excited, although a bit nervous since I hadn’t done a zip line course since Costa Rica in 2010. I also know I really enjoyed that experience so it was fun to zip line over the trees again.

One thing we didn’t think through clearly was a breakfast spot early on Sunday. The only place open at 7am Sunday was Woodland Baking and Coffee, but it worked for our needs. Coffee, tea and some breakfast sandwiches. I actually tried their vegan sandwich. I don’t know what it was made from, but it was filling and delicious.

We then headed to the zip line tour at ArborTrek Canopy. I had to drive since we were on mountain roads and we needed to drive through the Smugglers’ Notch with twisty and curvy roads. Driving it wasn’t too bad as you HAVE to go slow with constant turns like that.

The zip lining was the full morning with 8 zip lines and 2 rappels. I was nervous for the rappels and definitely went super slow the first one, but by the second I felt I knew better what I was doing. It was fun and the group was 9 people. I would definitely do again.

After zip lining, we had lunch at Piecasso. It was recommended to us from another Airbnb guest and we couldn’t get in for dinner, but we waited about 20 minutes and got in for lunch Sunday which was so worth it. We shared Brussels, I got a Mocktail – Strawberry Basil Mule (highly recommend) and we split a pizza.

Then it was time to get on the road for a few hours, stopping in Gorham, NH for the night. For dinner, we happened upon a BBQ place, Road Hawg BBQ, and it hit the spot. I actually was studying their breakfast menu and we would have had breakfast there the next day, only to realize Mondays were the 1 day they were closed.

Monday we grabbed some breakfast and took a nice walk. I needed to get moving before spending more time in the car.

Then we were finally on our way to Bar Harbor, Maine which is about a 4 hour drive.

Alexandria Bay Thousand Islands 2021

August 19, 2021 by Alicia 3 Comments

Ever since Brian discovered a scuba dive shop in Alexandria Bay, he has been loving going up there on weekends. With Alexandria Bay being under a 3 hour drive and having a place to stay at Sandy Pond thanks to his aunt, it makes for a perfect weekend trip. Last year, Brian and I went up to Alexandria Bay and took the tour of Boldt Castle. The area was a little strange last year in the middle of a pandemic with many restaurants not open. Thankfully there were plenty of restaurants open this time even as we continue through this pandemic.

While Brian was set to scuba dive for the day, I was meeting up with one of my college friends I had not seen in years. We decided to head to Keewaydin State Park. Since my friend also had her son with her, we stopped at the playground first and while he played, we caught up on life. After chatting for a while and exploring a bit of the park, we went to the swimming pool.

The temperature outside was in the 80s and getting into the pool felt wonderful. We hung out in the pool for about an hour and then started thinking we should find some lunch. We headed back into town and ended up at a diner in town where I got a wrap and fries.

Next it was time to grab dessert. With a walk around town, we popped into Lil’ River Fudge Co. I will be honest and say I’m not a big fudge person, but they also had some candy, ice cream and many chocolate dipped desserts. The line took forever as well, but my chocolate mint oreos were amazing.

By the time we finished there, we headed back to the car and wait to see what Brian was up to. He had already done 2 dives and was just finishing lunch before going for a 3^rd dive. My friend had to head home and it was about 2pm.

Since I usually caught up with my sister on Saturday, I decided to Facetime her and we chatted for a while.

I was getting tired from being in the sun, but mostly needed water. I made Brian get me a gallon of water from a corner store and then he was allowed to dive while I drank water and read my book.

scuba alexandria bay — Brian with his pink tank (he got this tank free on craigslist!)

I highly recommend People We Meet on Vacation. It definitely lived up to the hype and how I have been hearing about it as a summer read everywhere. At parts it really did make me laugh out loud.

By the time Brian finished diving I was ready to head back to Sandy Pond and make some dinner. We picked up some ground beef and corn on the cob and grilled both. It was a beautiful night to eat outside.

After dinner, we ended up playing Monopoly Deal a couple times and watched the latest Netflix movie Vivo. It was really weird watching the movie at first because it felt like an animated Hamilton. With a quick Google search, we found out it was written by Lin-Manual Miranda and the main voice was him as well. So that made sense. We were definitely more drawn into the movie after that, but it was still just odd because the songs just felt so Hamilton like. It was a cute movie though and a great way to wind down the night.

Sunday morning we decided to take our time getting ready to leave. We actually had to head home for 1 night and then head back out on Monday for a funeral for my cousin. Clearly no funerals are ever really planned and this was sudden in the last week after an accident. It was nice to take our time in the morning and arrive home shortly after noon. I immediately got laundry going and started unpacking so I could pack again. I’m one of those people that likes to unpack immediately when I get home. Sunday afternoon mostly consisted of cleaning and then we ended the night with dinner with the family.

Cape Cod MA

August 28, 2020 by Alicia 1 Comment

Part 3 of our week vacation was to stop in Cape Cod MA. I wanted to end with the beach and although we didn’t spend much time on the beach, it was good to stay away from the crowds.

Thursday Aug 20 we headed to Provincetown for breakfast at Cafe Heaven. My breakfast was amazing with 2 eggs, arugula salad, toast and sausage. It was nice to load up on protein.

We then walked around town for a while to explore the shops and walk out to some of the beaches. Then Brian found a place to check out, The Provincetown Breakwater. At first after parking I thought it was just a pier to walk on, but it actually went all the way across and we later learned it is 1 mile long. On the other side, we hiked through the sand dunes to a beach area. I think we did about a 2 mile hike with the breakwater. Since we didn’t plan very well, we didn’t have much water and snacks with us and it was hot being the middle of the day. After a short break on the sand and I ran into the water this time, we packed up and decided to take the breakwater path back.

We definitely got our exercise for the day. We stopped at Far Land Provisions to grab a kale salad and sandwich to go. We split the food back at the hotel and enjoyed some down time.

Later in the evening, I wanted to head out for dinner for our last night. But since we didn’t make any reservations, everywhere we stopped at was full. Due to COVID, the restaurants also have less capacity. Brian then found The BeachComber in Wellfleet. We had to wait about 45 minutes still. Luckily we had quite a filling and late lunch so I wasn’t starving. We walked on the beach while we waited and watching the sunset since it was getting late after all the driving around.

We weren’t seated until about 8pm, which is a very late dinner for me. I usually don’t eat passed 8pm. The menu had lots of options and I decided to get a ceasar wrap which was perfectly light and delicious. Brian was pleased with his meal of oysters and a scallop salad. We really enjoyed the meal and then looking at the clear sky with lots of stars after. We even saw planet Jupiter.

That ended our 3 state week trip in the NorthEast. It was a much needed trip away and I was glad we were able to make it happen during COVID. We wore masks everywhere and took precautions. I’m not sure when or where my next vacation will be so it was nice to enjoy this time together. Hopefully next summer we can visit more places or stay longer in some. I know someday we will need to head back to New Hampshire and Maine for a longer visit.

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