We had the best east coast adventure for our summer getaway. Going to Boston has been on our list for the obvious touristy reasons, but the real reason, was to see and stay with my college friend, Becky, and her family. They live in Charlestown and we loved every second with them, we truly felt like locals and had a great time. We explored Charlestown, caught a Red Sox/Dodgers game, walked the Freedom Trail, explored Old Ironsides, walked through the Boston Common, did a Duck Boat tour, but most importably, had loads of time to connect with Becky, Dan, Maya, and Sonny. 5 star rating.
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| Boston Public Library |
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| Old Ironsides |
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| The Duck Boat Tour |
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| Go Red Sox! |
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| Freedom Trail cooldown. |
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| Old North Church |
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| Boston Commons |
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| Sully and Sonny |
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| Exploring Charlestown on wheels. |
We moved on to Portland, ME, for a few nights, and stopped in Portsmouth, NH for lunch and to explore the town which was picturesque and really charming. Portland was a great slow down, we walked the eclectic streets, stopped for slow dinners, explored a nearby famous light house while indulging in lobster rolls and grilled cheeses at our makeshift picnic spot, it was really nice. We followed that up with a lobster boat tour, major highlight. The kids were so squeamish for the first 20 minutes and by the end of the experience, most (no way Greta was going near that) were covered in lobster water and loved handling them (with their pinchers banded, of course). It was pure joy for everyone. We made it back to dry off and get changed and walked to pizza. We loved Portland.
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Portsmouth, ME
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| Lobster tour fun. |
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| Portland Head Lighthouse |
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| Portland Vibes |
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| Lobster rolls and cheese pulls. |
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| Seasside stroll in Portland at dusk. |
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Androscoggin Swinging Bridge on the way to Bar Harbor
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| Roadside stop to stretch our legs and calm out stomachs. |
Bar Harbor was our final destination, we stayed at a great hotel/resort right on the water with a great pool, hot tubs, and atmosphere. We ventured into Acadia a couple of days for hikes, a highlight was Jordan Pond for popovers, but the lowlight was the bumblebees, the kids could not handle it :). We hike the three miles around the pond and loved the beautiful scenery along the way, the kids loved the boardwalks and rocky spots, the terrain variety kept them engaged in a great way, who knew?! Another great hike was the Ship Harbor Trail, it was short and easy and had a big payout with views and interesting topography. We also did the Sandbar Hike out to Bar Island which was a great little outing. We took the time to sit along the shoreline to watch the tide come in and gradually make the trail disappear. On our final day, we drove to Bangor to catch our flight the next morning. We made the most of our drive and hit a couple of recommended detours, we saw the oreo cows (the Belted Galloway) near Camden, ME, and had hot dogs at Wasesses Hot Dog stand in Rockland. We made it to Bangor in time for an ok Mexican dinner and an early bed time. Our flights home the following day were easy and early, a nice change from our previous adventures.
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| Piper on pool duty. |
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| Ship Harbor Trail |
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| More Ship Harbor Trail |
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| Jordan Pond Trail |
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| Popovers at Jordan Pond, one bumblebee by Greta's head. |
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| Watching the shoreline on the Sandbar Trail |
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| Bar Island |
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| Lighthouse Trail in Rockland |
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| Oreo Cows with oreos in Camden |
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| Wasses Hot Dogs |
