Summer Vacation Part 6 - Gulf of Maine & Portland

This will be my last post about Maine! The next day the weather was beautiful! Finally! It was a perfect day for whale watching. I'm glad we decided to reschedule our boat trip. We were supposed to drive to Portland, ME and spend the day there but we just shortened our time in Portland.

Getting ready to leave the dock.

Making our way past the lobster boats.

We stopped first at this island where the puffins are. I wish we could see them up close. We used our binoculars and could kind of see them.

Then we met some whales! There were 4 fin back whales and one humpback!

Our camera wasn't fast enough to catch all the cool things happening so you only get a glimpse!

When we got out to the open water, it was cold! We all had our sweatshirts or jackets on with our hoods on. Not the same as going out on the water in VA.

We also saw lots of seals.

After our whale watching trip we went back to Bar Harbour and ate some lunch. Then we made our way to Portland, ME. We got there in time for dinner. We stopped first at this lighthouse. It was very pretty and free!

We were disappointed with downtown Portland. It was pretty but it seemed to be a pub crawling town. We hoped to eat dinner downtown but parking was horrendous! The millions of lobster shacks were no were to be found. There were so many every where else we had been.

We just drove back to S. Portland where our hotel was and ate at a restaurant near the hotel. Ronnie got his last lobster of the trip! The non-seafood food there was not good (meaning what I ate). Therefore we went and got cold stone after. :)

The next day we woke up and drove home. We went through nine states in one day.

Bye Maine!

Well that's our summer vacation!

Summer Vacation Part 5 - Maine's Coast

The next day we were planning to go whale watching. Unfortunately, they canceled the trip because of the weather. It was raining and foggy again... We switched our tickets for the next day but were stuck deciding what we were going to do that day. We ended up deciding to take the "Scenic" Route 1 (I think) up the coast of Maine and see a couple places on the way (from our Blue Moon book).

First stop Jasper Beach. It was all rocks. It was kind of hard to walk on. It was pretty but I wouldn't want to bring a blanket to lay on this beach...there were black spiders in the rocks.

Next was the Point of Maine. This stop had some pretty views.

 We found an Idaho rock.

These rocks looked purple!

 Next we stopped at a random local place to eat. Ronnie tried clams. I had the blueberry lemonade. They had a blueberry plant down the street and you could smell the blueberries in the air. We also had desert which was pretty good; blueberry pie and strawberry pie.

 After lunch we kept driving to visit a lighthouse. This is a view on the way.

Off in the distance is a little lighthouse. I think it must have been a buoy. 

Here is the lighthouse. I guess you had to pay $3 in a box to go see it and we didn't have any cash so we admired from down the street.

 Our next and final stop was Lubec, ME.

Oh, hello Canada.

We walked out on this stone pier.

Ronnie is in America.

I'm in Canada.

Ronnie and I were proud of ourselves for planning a day trip on the fly. :)

Things we noticed about Maine on this drive....There don't seem to be any crop growing farms except for blueberries and cranberries. Their growing season must be pretty short because the corn people had in their gardens was not even a foot yet! (The corn in VA is pretty much done) There are tons of small towns and not really any fast food places except Dunkin Donuts...they were every where! Although, the drive was scenic and we stopped at some beautiful places...it wasn't the "jaw dropping views" the blue moon book said it would be.

And now, Ronnie has been to Canada....haha.

Next up....we finally go whale watching!

Summer Vacation Part 4 - Acadia Cont'd

We continued our hikes on the 4th of July (I think I forgot to mention it was the 4th). A great way to spend the 4th, enjoying American outdoors!

There are tons of these harbours in Maine filled with lobster boats.

We drove up to Cadillac Mountain. It is a popular site. There were tons of tourists....

I think they said it is the highest point on the coast. You could either drive or hike...we drove.

The next place we stopped was Sandy Beach. This, I guess, is their beach! People were actually swimming. Um, it was chilly and rainy. No thank you. We just saw and left. 

 Ronnie was in the restroom and this seagull was just chillin' with me.

Our last hike of the day. I can't remember the name of this one but it was very rocky and more difficult then the rest. I was quite tired from not sleeping that great all week so it was probably made it feel harder than it was.

Sandy Beach from our hike up. 

 To the top and I'm pooped!

 Ronnie's on top of the world!

Views. 

The way back we went a different way. It was called "Beach Cliffs", although I never saw the beach.

That night we went to Bar Harbour for fireworks. Apparently, 4th of July is a big deal there. It was pretty touristy. We went early to make sure we got a parking spot and then ate at a local pizza place. Pretty yummy! Then we found a spot on the curb to watch the fireworks. I guess there was some debate whether they were going to do them or not since it was so foggy. But they ended up doing them. It was the first time on the 4th that we used our blanket to cover us instead of sit on!

 Here is my lame shot of a firework. They were dull but it was still a good show.

The weather was a bit dissapointing but we still had fun exploring Acadia National Park.

I'll probably do 3 more blog posts on our trip...Having a blog really helps keep track of what you do and I really enjoy going back to see what we've done in previous years, etc. Thank you for endulging me!

Stay tuned! We explore Maine's Coast and get a view of Canada!