A Little Nashville, A Little More Maine

I just wrapped another 2017 mini-break! I hope I'm not starting to sound obnoxious with all these little trips I've been taking. I promise they're much more economical than they probably sound. This latest started with a work trip to Nashville (so all expenses paid!), followed by five days in Maine.

I was in Nashville from Saturday through Wednesday, but working every day, so my sightseeing was limited to eating. But I think I did pretty great on that front. On Saturday night I went to Husk, a highly recommended restaurant near the convention center, with two coworkers. It's in an adorable old house, but we had to sit in the basement bar because I didn't make reservations. It was still charming, though, even if the bartenders were snobby tools and not good communicators (I'd recommend you confirm if you're ordering a glass of beer or a two-liter bottle of beer. And who knew butter could be so complicated?).

So charming

My blurry but tasty grilled catfish, zucchini, and grits on the left; Lindsay and Allan displaying the $36 beer our bartender failed to warn her about on the right.

Sunday I worked through dinner at the convention center with all of my coworkers, but on Monday we were able to go out to dinner again. This time a few of us headed to Broadway (where all the tourist-trap honky tonks are) and chose Acme Feed and Seed for dinner. It had four levels, with a band on the first and a rooptop deck on the fourth. They make you order at the counter and wait around by the registers for your food to come out, which was a little awkward (and loud thanks to the band, but I'm old and grumpy), but then we took our plates and drinks up to the second level to eat. Afterward we were able to score some spots on the roof for a couple drinks while the sun set.

Walking down Broadway

 

Acme Feed and Seed: sunset from the roof, inside on the first floor

Delicious scallops from Etch

See the guitar?

For our last dinner on Tuesday, my boss took me and my team out for the best meal of the trip. We walked a few blocks to Etch, and again sat at the bar because we didn't have reservations, but this time the service was excellent. We had roasted cauliflower as an appetizer (highly recommend) and I ordered scallops for dinner. They were gigantic and delicious, but overpriced enough to make me very grateful that my boss was paying. After dinner we headed back to the hotel bar before going out for the all-staff party (an annual tradition on the last night of the conference), and I noticed for the first time that the convention center I'd spent the last four days inside was shaped like a guitar. Well played, Nashville.

Classy travelin' with a GooGoo

At 1:00 pm on Wednesday I was released with most of my conference compatriots, and it was time for me to fly to Maine! The best part about adding a personal trip to the end of a work trip is my company generously paid me the amount they would have spent flying me home from Nashville to Austin, so I was able to put that toward my Maine flights. I flew to Charlotte and on to Portland, arriving late on Wednesday. Andrew, who had arrived earlier that day, picked me up at the airport. We made it to his parents' house in an hour and went right to bed. The next morning I woke up to Dunkin' Donuts and a variety pack of Whoopie Pies, best Maine welcome ever.

Running errands pre-party with Calo

Steamer clams

Andrew's parents planned a cookout for Thursday afternoon, and around noon friends and family started showing up. We played ladder golf, the guys built a bonfire as usual, we ate clams and beer-can chicken and grilled shrimp and veggies, and drank too much. It was a gorgeous day, too.

Eat here!

Andrew with Karen's bounty

On Friday we slept in a little before packing up and driving down to Boothbay Harbor, where the wedding was going to be. The rehearsal dinner was tonight, and Andrew and I scored invites without any responsibilities. Win-win. On the way we stopped for lunch at a little food trailer in Wiscasset called Karen's Hideaway, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Karen (I'm assuming) and her partner we so sweet and welcoming, and the food was deeeelicious. And plentiful and reasonably priced. (It was $45 for four of us to be stuffed and have leftover fries and onion rings.) Definitely stop by if you're in the area, but bring cash because they don't accept cards.










We arrived at the Newagen (a little town near Boothbay Harbor) Seaside Inn and settled in our room with a balcony overlooking the lawn and the harbor before heading down to the wedding rehearsal. Then it was time for cocktails and yet more amazing seafood (don't judge that all of my food photos are seafood). After dinner they set up a s'mores station on the lawn by the fire pit and a game of cornhole. Unfortunately, June in Maine means mosquitoes, and I forgot bug spray. At one point in the evening I looked over at Andrew and saw no fewer than ten mosquitoes swarming his head. That's when I had to call it a night.
 

View from our room: we made s'mores over that fire.

The next morning, after our free hotel breakfast buffet (jackpot), Andrew and I drove into Boothbay Harbor for a little shopping (Priority #1: bug repellent) and sightseeing. The town is picturesque with narrow streets, shops and cafes, and boats in the harbor.

Boothbay Harbor: Downtown street on the left, coffee break on the top right, botanical gardens on the bottom right

After wandering around town a bit, we went for a quick walk through a nature preserve and then to the botanical gardens. It was in the 70s and pretty much perfect (sorry, I'm not bragging; Maine is just idyllic).

The wedding was gorgeous

Another amazing meal

Sunset at the wedding

We headed back to the hotel with plenty of time to spare before the 4:00 wedding, set out on the lawn in front of the harbor, looking like a postcard. Afterrward there was cocktail hour in the gazebo, followed by another amazing seafood dinner, and then lots of me dancing like a jackass.







Sadly, Sunday came, and we had to pack up and check out of the room. Andrew and I drove back to Portland for our flight home, but not before stopping at a lighthouse for photos and a fish market for a thank-you present for my parents (aka my pet sitters). Maine, until next time! xoxoxoxo

2017: The Year of Mini-Breaks

This guy is getting a lot play time in 2017.

This year I'm hoping to take a few short trips, as compared to my big trip in 2016 (Tanzania). So I'm calling 2017 the Year of Mini-Breaks. There will be one international trip at the end of the year (there has to be, per this blog!), but it won't be a budget-buster like last year, which gives me a little wiggle room for small trips scattered throughout the year. Which turns out to be excellent timing, since the boyfriend has a couple of out-of-state weddings to attend that I want to tag along for. And it allows me to take my semi-annual California trip with my best friend and my sister. Here's my anticipated line up for the year:

• Long weekend in NYC to see the sister: February, already happened
• West Texas with the boyfriend's family: April, already happened, post coming soon
• Colorado (near Boulder) for boyfriend's friend's wedding: May
• Nashville: June, this is a work trip, but I still count it because I'm going to try to find good places to eat (and food = travel)
• Maine (near Booth Bay) for boyfriend's step-brother's wedding: June
• California: August, hiking in Yosemite and lazing in Big Sur with Sarah and Michele
• Cuba (I hope!!): December, week trip with friends and boyfriend

Does anyone have recommendations for any of these spots? Especially food recommendations (vegetarian or pescatarian friendly), but anything that could fit into a long weekend is appreciated!

Vacationland!

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Sand beach from above

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.

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.

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.

Sunrise from the lawn

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.