maine

You can find parts 1 and 2 here.

On Friday we had time to grab some breakfast in town and then packed up the car to get on the road. We stopped in Bath, Maine, grabbed some lunch which were just some sandwiches and then went to the Maritime Maine Museum. We arrived just in time for a tour. Although it was rain off and on for the day, we lucked out by the time we were in Bath.

I had never been to a Maritime Museum that I recall, so it was interesting. It was also cool seeing one of the lighthouse lenses after being on the lighthouse tour just the day before.

After a couple hours there, we headed to Freeport, Maine to visit the L L Bean flagship store again. I ended up finding some comfy lightweight hiking pants.

Then we were off to Portland, Maine. The main reason for stopping was a brewery for Brian, but then we found out they were closed for an event. Since I was indecisive on dinner and thirsty, I pulled into a grocery store on the way. I made a salad from a salad bar and got some liter bottles of flavored sparkling water. Well I went to open one as I got into the driver’s seat of my car and it was like a volcano. All over my pants and car. Thankfully it was the zero sugar ones and I was just laughing. OMG this trip. I don’t know what was with me. I was just feeling off. Brian was like, did you feel the bottle before opening it? Umm I don’t get sparkling water often so clearly no. I have now learned…

Anyway I continued driving to Portland with my pants all soaked from that. What was left of the sparkling water was good though. Brian ended up finding some food trucks that we could stop at which were at a park with a water view. I had my salad and Brian got some Mexican food. We were almost done eating when rain came in and poured.

We ran to the car and finished eating. Then we headed a few block over to stop at a fully vegan ice cream place, Sticky Sweet. We only knew to look for this thanks to some Maine Magazines from Brian’s aunt. The one place we stopped at thanks to the magazines. It was definitely worth it though. I had the pumpkin ginger ice cream. The ice cream was a blend of cashew and coconut milk and it had a really good texture. I would definitely get again.

While we were in the Portland area, we had to stop at some sort of brewery. Brian found Urban Farm Fermentory Brewing Co. It was a place to satisfy both Brian and me. I tasted a few Kombucha’s and Brian tasted some cider and Kombucha. We ended up buying a lemongrass kombucha growler. I enjoyed a cup of that for a few nights after we returned home. The guy was even telling me how I could make my own kombucha. Maybe one day.

We then had 1 more hour of driving to arrive at our hotel in York, Maine. It was a full day and I was ready to crash, but Brian convinced me to get my swimsuit on and check out the amazing pool at our hotel. It was a bit chilly for a dip in the pool outside. We did briefly go in the inside pool. Then we moved to the outdoor hot tub. It has started raining so the person who was in it left, but the chilly rain and hot tub wasn’t so bad. Eventually 2 more couples joined and we were talking all about travels until they kicked us out of the hot tub around 9:30pm. The outdoor hot tub usually closes at 9 so we couldn’t complain.

Saturday morning we enjoyed a walk on the beach and breakfast across the street from the restaurant.

Then it was a day of driving. I drove the entire time somehow too. We stopped in Albany for lunch and managed to get home around 5pm. It was good to arrive home on Saturday so I had time to unpack and do laundry. I wish I had more down time, but I knew my email would be crazy and worked for a few hours on Sunday. Sunday afternoon was nice though as we attended a co worker’s daughter’s birthday party and it was another beautiful day. We have really lucked out on weather lately for Fall. I am soaking up all the sunshine I can.

So there was our crazy whirlwind of a trip. It was still quite a bit of driving but we were able to explore more of Bar Harbor this time around. Also the beach in York, Maine looks amazing so next time I would love to spend more time in Portland and York Maine.

Have you ever been to Maine?

Do you enjoy road trips?

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 3: Bath to Portland to York Maine

Vacation Part 2: Maine