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| Look at that leg room! |
I went to Maine for a long weekend this summer with the boyfriend. He’s from Maine and I’ve wanted to visit it for years, so the relationship is working out well for me. (Not to mention all his other redeeming qualities.) He did most of the planning and worked in a couple really sweet surprises, namely first-class airfare and an adorable B&B on the water in Bar Harbor.
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| Liquid Riot |
We arrived in Portland around 2 on Thursday, picked up the rental car, and headed to the Old Port. (We barely left the airport before I started raving about how cute Maine is.) First stop was Liquid Riot, a brewery and distillery with a patio over looking the water. Next was a late lunch at the Porthole where I got a $20 lobster roll and Andrew got something less outrageously priced.
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| Porthole lobster roll |
Then we wandered in and out of a few kitchy souvenir shops before hitting the road to Hallowell, a little town about an hour away where Andrew’s parents live. When we got there we had some crab sandwiches and a couple beers before I started falling asleep standing up (we had been up since 4:30 for our flight). So I was in bed by 9, happy as could be.
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| Hallowell waterfront |
Friday morning we headed into town with Sharon (Andrew’s stepmom) and hiked around the “rail trail” for a mile or so before Sharon and I tried and failed to drag Andrew into a few of the antique stores and candy shops on the main street in downtown Hallowell (which was so picturesque it looked like something out of a movie).
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| Downtown Hallowell |
We went back to the house to clean up for the party his parents planned for noon. His parents, two aunts and uncles, stepbrother and fiancé, and a high-school buddy hung out, played lawn games, ate burgers and pasta salad for lunch and grilled scallops and whoopie pies for dinner, drank plenty of local beer, and burned some old wood in a bonfire. The weather was beautiful and it was a great way to relax with his family.
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| Lunch in Trenton |
Then it was up on Saturday morning for the three-hour drive to Bar Harbor, a gorgeous village on the water right next to Acadia National Park. We stopped in Trenton, just outside Bar Harbor, for more lobster and crab sandwiches and then drove straight to Acadia.
Andrew had talked up the Beehive hike so much that I don’t think I had a realistic perspective. I just thought it would be cool. We parked, walked through Sand Beach (which reminded me of pictures of tiny Italian beaches tucked between cliffs), and started climbing.
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| Sand beach from above |
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| Smiling to avoid crying |
It didn’t take long to realize (1) what I had agreed to do and (2) that Andrew didn’t understand how deep my fear of heights runs. It was harrowing, clinging to metal bars sticking out of the cliff and scuttling along ledges just a few inches wider than my feet while death taunted me from the rocks below. Andrew had to coax me through a few times, but we finally made it to the top with no tears. We got to descend via the Bowl Trail, a much more civilized approach to hiking.
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| Second surprise of the trip |
We walked back along Sand Beach, this time taking off our shoes and dipping our toes in the Atlantic (way too cold to swim contrary to what all the lunatics in the water would have you think). Then we drove into Bar Harbor and I immediately started oohing and ahhing about how lovely everything was. When we pulled up to Shore Path Cottage my voice went high pitch.
We settled into “Bob’s Room,” I showered off the terror sweats from the Beehive, and then we walked down the lawn of our hotel to the Shore Path that runs along the water in Bar Harbor. It was less than half a mile to the main downtown strip and it was so picturesque. We wandered in a few more souvenir shops and then went to Galyn’s for dinner. It was only 5. We didn’t care.
It worked out perfectly because Galyn’s had early bird specials from 4–6 (not that either one of us has a reputation for being cheap). And since it was only $21 (early birds) for the full lobster meal, and since I planned on trying it while I was up there, I ordered it (and even wore the bib). It was all right. Lobster just doesn’t live up to the hype for me. It’s good, sure, but not amazing and certainly not worth all the money people charge for it.
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| This guy <3 |
After dinner we walked to the grocery store to buy lunch fixings for the next day and a bottle of wine to drink on the lawn at our B&B. When we got back, we grabbed our books and a couple wine glasses and settled into the deck chairs facing the water. It was so perfectly relaxing, and we were in bed by 9 or 10.
Sunday morning we got up at 5 to watch the sunrise over the Shore Path and then went back to bed. Just that little moment felt like the ultimate expression of vacation.
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| Sunrise from the lawn |
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| Sunrise from the Shore Path |
We got back up at 8:30 to catch the free breakfast (blueberry pancakes, toast, English muffins, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, and fruit salad, oh my!); Andrew made some peanut butter and blueberry sandwiches for our day of hiking; and we got ready to hit some more trails in Acadia.
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| Spring Trail |
We started hiking at Jordan Pond at about 10 am, got a little lost trying to find our trail head, but eventually made it the Spring Trail that would take us to the Penobscot Mountain Trail and then on to the Sargent Mountain Trail. Spring started off pretty brutal and had us climbing straight up through rock crevices and such, but I had a wider buffer between myself and the drop to certain death, so I was much chiller than the day before.
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| Need to work on this |
And it evened out pretty quickly when we got to the Penobscot Trail. From there I settled in for a continuous but manageable slog uphill for about an hour and a half to the top of Penobscot Mountain. I tried to take those fun, jumping pictures at the summit but it's not a good look for me.
Then we pulled out our walking poles (breaking them in for Kilimanjaro) and headed down into a little valley between Penobscot and Sargent Mountains. Not long afterward we started going back uphill and put the poles back in our bags. Then it was about another hour to the top of Sargent where we took our lunch break. FYI, peanut butter and blueberry sandwiches are delicious.
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| View from Sargent |
Then we pulled the hiking poles back out and started down Sargent Mountain. It was dreadful. I dislike going downhill under normal conditions, but Sargent was pretty strenuous, which meant I hated it. I stumbled and slid down jumbles of rocks as I tried to keep up with Andrew, who never seems fazed by any of this stuff. I had to take a break about halfway down because I was getting too grumpy.
But then we crossed a little stream and the downhill got better. Still downhill, but on a trail with manageable rocks and even over some stairs. And before I knew it we were emerging on Jordan Pond. It was a beautiful site, taking over the horizon through the deep trees, getting bigger as we got closer. The trail was flat and a chipmunk greeted us as soon as we came out of the woods.
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| Acadia |
From there it was only about 30 minutes back, over some more rocks and then onto a makeshift boardwalk consisting of two planks running parallel a couple feet off the ground. I was convinced I’d break my ankle on them after making it all the way down Sargent uninjured. But I didn’t and we made it back to the car safe and sound. All told, we hiked about four hours, went 6.5 miles, and summited two mountains. Not too shabby!
We went back to our charming temporary home and cleaned up before going back into the thick of Bar Harbor. The town is adorable and everyone knows it, so it’s a mess of tourists all summer long. We darted around them on the sidewalk as we made our way to the Atlantic Brewery. Call me a brewery snob, but this one simply wasn’t worth the time. A flight of six beer samples is only $5, so I guess if you have nothing else to do, sure. But the beer was pretty meh and it was served in an empty room with a bar against the side wall. No tables or even barstools, but one very disinterested, inattentive bartender.
After our flight we headed two doors down to a bar with happy hour, but after a drink and a snack we were both ready for dinner. Again, it was 5 and we still didn’t give a shit. Being old is awesome. We went to Epi’s because they have Andrew’s favorite sandwich (the Cadillac) and got dinner to go. We ate in the park in the heart of downtown, overlooking the water.
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| Dinner spot |
Then we decided to repeat the previous night because it was so nice, so we went back to the grocery store (which was a mob scene both times we were there), picked up a bottle of wine, and then chilled on the lawn again. That’s currently what we’re doing as I’m writing, but we’re going to head back in town soon (I say that like it’s far; it’s maybe three blocks when we don’t take the Shore Path) for ice cream at CJ’s. Andrew says it’s the best. I’ll let you know.
Nope! Ice cream is supposed to be a joyful experience but CJ’s stressed me out. Crowds of people mobbing the counters so I couldn’t see the flavors, and workers yelling at everyone to come up and order. Nope, nope. The ice cream was good, though. After dessert we went back to the hotel for another gloriously early night.
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| Cadillac selfie |
Monday morning (it came too soon!) we had another delicious breakfast on the porch of the B&B before saying farewell to Bar Harbor. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain (tallest peak in Acadia) because I couldn't leave without seeing it. Then Andrew drove me through Bangor, his hometown, and I got to see the house he grew up in before we had lunch at his favorite sandwich place. Then we drove to Freeport to visit LL Bean (which I think is a required pilgrimage for Mainers) with all the tourists who weren’t in Bar Harbor. Soon after we were driving back to Portland to spend our last night in Maine with Andrew’s stepbrother and his fiancé (Rob and Jessie), who live close to the airport and were letting us stay at their house (we had another early flight).
We had one last beer in the Old Port with Andrew’s parents (who drove in just to say goodbye) before going to Rob and Jessie’s. They took us out for great pizza (Portland Pie), we chilled for a bit at their house, and then I crawled in bed early (as usual) anticipating that 5 am alarm that would force me out of bed and out of Maine, but only temporarily.
