There are words that cannot describe the beauty of Maine.
On June 4, 2008, we embarked on our journey to Maine. ChemGuy had talked about visiting Maine from the day we met. I knew he was excited as we left Boston and headed north. With some great CDs playing in the car (after we figured out how to set the new CD player to work the first time), we drove through spotty rain showers. We visited the DeLorme world headquarters. DeLorme makes the gazetteers for the 50 states; ChemGuy and I have acquired many of them through the years. Someday, we'll have them all. The gazetteers include all sorts of interesting information (e.g. names of geographical features, locations of lighthouses) that may be missing from other maps. We love having them along on trips. We also stopped at the LL Bean headquarters, which is more like a compound. ChemGuy purchased a new pair of "everyday hiking" boots on sale; I found a swim suit bottom in the clearance section that went great with my exisiting top. We had a quick bite to eat and wandered around town a bit. Then we finished the drive up to our ultimate destination: Bar Harbor (pronounced Bah Hahbah) and Acadia National Park.
Bar Harbor is on an island, so we drove along bays and inlets as we approached. Neither of us had ever seen the Atlantic Ocean so far north; each view got prettier and prettier.
We passed cabins on the shore; ChemGuy said we'd own one some day. The trees were green and lush; each drop of rain smelled sweet and mingled with the smell of the ocean. We relaxed more and more with each passing mile. We arrived at our bed and breakfast and discovered a beautiully restored home and fresh-baked peanut butter cookies. (There were fresh-baked cookies every afternoon; the peanut butter ones were by far the best. I really should've asked for her recipe.) The caretakers offered up their favorite restaurant suggestions. After a brief rest and time to freshen up, ChemGuy and I set out to wander about town. Our bed and breakfast was just a few blocks from the marina, surrounded by other lovely homes, unique local stores, and one yummy sounding restaurant after another. We finally selected a really cute cafe in a converted home as our dinner choice. I wasted no time before enjoying Maine's seafood and selected a lobster pasta for dinner; we also enjoyed crab cakes as an appetizer. We're both pretty sure ChemGuy selected a wood-fired pizza for dinner, topped with the sorts of cheeses I find too strong. We were excited because the cafe had a couple of wines from of our favorite Santa Barbara-area wineries on the list. I didn't have a glass of either of them, but it was both comforting and exciting to see that small winery's offerings on the other side of the country.
After dinner, we wandered around a bit more and returned back to the B&B. The caretakers had an extensive collection of books and other information about what to do in Bar Harbor and Acadia, and recommended that we drive the Park Loop Road as our introduction to the area. They even had a Park Loop Road driving guide and accompanying CD to explain the history of the area and recommend interesting spots to pull-off and explore. ChemGuy and I decided that sounded like a good way to begin our exploration of Acadia the next day.
Bar Harbor is on an island, so we drove along bays and inlets as we approached. Neither of us had ever seen the Atlantic Ocean so far north; each view got prettier and prettier.
We passed cabins on the shore; ChemGuy said we'd own one some day. The trees were green and lush; each drop of rain smelled sweet and mingled with the smell of the ocean. We relaxed more and more with each passing mile. We arrived at our bed and breakfast and discovered a beautiully restored home and fresh-baked peanut butter cookies. (There were fresh-baked cookies every afternoon; the peanut butter ones were by far the best. I really should've asked for her recipe.) The caretakers offered up their favorite restaurant suggestions. After a brief rest and time to freshen up, ChemGuy and I set out to wander about town. Our bed and breakfast was just a few blocks from the marina, surrounded by other lovely homes, unique local stores, and one yummy sounding restaurant after another. We finally selected a really cute cafe in a converted home as our dinner choice. I wasted no time before enjoying Maine's seafood and selected a lobster pasta for dinner; we also enjoyed crab cakes as an appetizer. We're both pretty sure ChemGuy selected a wood-fired pizza for dinner, topped with the sorts of cheeses I find too strong. We were excited because the cafe had a couple of wines from of our favorite Santa Barbara-area wineries on the list. I didn't have a glass of either of them, but it was both comforting and exciting to see that small winery's offerings on the other side of the country.
After dinner, we wandered around a bit more and returned back to the B&B. The caretakers had an extensive collection of books and other information about what to do in Bar Harbor and Acadia, and recommended that we drive the Park Loop Road as our introduction to the area. They even had a Park Loop Road driving guide and accompanying CD to explain the history of the area and recommend interesting spots to pull-off and explore. ChemGuy and I decided that sounded like a good way to begin our exploration of Acadia the next day.