If you would have asked me to rank all the states that I would want to visit, Maine would have been near the end of my list. But we said we would go on vacation with the
Baileys, and Wendy really wanted to go to Acadia National Park in Maine. I had never heard of it. I tried to talk everyone into Canada. Come on, it's another country!! Steve got all excited about biking and hiking...and Maine...so we declared it his year for a vacation and off we went.
I was also very reluctant to leave the girls for 6 nights. We went to Mexico when Hannah was Olive's age (too little to remember), but that time the grandparents came to our house. This time the girls would be staying in Chillicothe at my parents' house (Steve's parents were busy working at the fireworks stand) and Hannah would be able to remember my abandonment (and bring it up in her therapy years later). I'm sure I'm really weird and other people don't think it's a big deal to drop their kids off at grandma and grandpa's house. But I remember spending the night at grandma's...and I loved my grandma....but I loved my parents more and it was weird staying at a different house. So I talked up "Hannah's Chillicothe Vacation" a lot to her, we packed some favorite toys, I even threw in a picture of our family, and I managed to hold back my tears until after we said goodbye. And of course it all turned out fine. Hannah had a great time swimming in the blow-up pool, jumping on the trampoline, and picking blackberries at great-grandpa's house. Olive became very lovey to Hannah and gave her lots of kisses. And the only times they really missed me was after we talked on the phone and they heard my voice.
So anyway...our vacation started with us almost missing our plane. Steve loves to cut it close and we usually board as soon as we get there. This time they were actually calling our name over the intercom, we had to be escorted to the front of the security line, and there was only 4 minutes until take-off. Dan boarded the plane with his shoes still off.
We flew into Boston and drove the rest of the way, stopping at random places like Ogunquit, ME to walk in the (very cold) ocean. My feet would go numb after about a minute, but people were swimming in it.
We also stopped at L.L. Bean's flagship store that stays open 24 hours a day 365 days a year. You never know when you'll need a nautically-themed picture frame.
The drive up was really pretty. Every town was super cute, clean, and colorful. This was our view at dinner. I was already liking Maine much more than I thought I would. Oh, did I mention it was 103 degrees in KC and only 80 in Maine? That was great, too.
We stayed in a
bed and breakfast in Bar Harbor. Our first full day we drove around
Acadia, stopping to hike every so often. We hiked down this rocky cliff to explore a sea cave.
Then we had lunch on the side of a cliff and made friends with a seagull. You can see people rock climbing further down. That is crazy Dan and Wendy on the ledge. Responsible Megan and Steve were further back.
This is Jordan Pond and the Bubble Mountains. Another day we had popovers at Jordan Pond House a tradition since 1870.
The beginning of the Pemetic Mountain trail.
I was always lagging behind so this was my view going up: butts.
This was an awesome part of the trail in a ravine. I had to be strongly convinced to go up the ladder and climb up wet rocks.
The view from the top was worth it.
The next day was biking on the
carriage roads built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. We haven't been on a tandem in awhile, but it was like...riding a bike.
Pirate's Cove Mini Golf= awesome.
While the Baileys went to a lobster pound, we took a glider ride. Don't worry, there was a pilot.
That's the road the connects the island to the mainland.
Then we watched the sunset from
Cadillac Mountain. You're supposed to watch the sunrise from the mountain because it is the first place the sun hits the US, but we couldn't get up that early. Sunset is better anyway, right?
On our drive back to Boston we stopped at
Penobscot Narrows Bridge and went up in the tallest public bridge observatory in the world. We also toured
Fort Knox (the other one), which was nearby.
We saw Portland Head Light, the first lighthouse built by the US government in 1791. Most exciting, there was a bell by the lighthouse which turned out to be a Meneely bell!! Amanda, remind me again how we are related to the Meneely Bell Co.
Our view at dinner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire:
So Maine turned out to be pretty great. I enjoyed the hiking and biking, even though it hurt to move my legs after day 1. Stairs were the real killer. If you want to see even more vacation pictures, then
check this out.
