Cape Cod, then Madeleine & Acadia National Park!

The Cape!

Off to ‘The Cape’. I was so excited to see all the things, but traffic…. OMG. I arrived in East Falmouth and asked the check in people what are the best thing/s to do in the area. They told me, honestly, Falmouth is one of the cutest towns. ‘Oh,’ I replied. I was wondering about Provincetown and Martha’s Vineyard. ‘Also, what about Hyannis?’. Their response was Provincetown is very cool, but it’s two hours each way, Martha’s Vineyard is a day, and walking there are some things to see, but might not be the best use of your time.’ I had 3 nights at a great park, Sun Retreats.

Time to check out Falmouth. It was so cute! I had a great time walking, shopping and eating with Lambert, of course! Day two off to Hyannis, I mean, come on, it’s where JFK went, it has to be nice. Nope…. I kept trying to find the ‘cute’ area. I drove through gorgeous neighborhoods and parked where near ‘main street’. The camp host was right, it was nothing. I did pop into a dog spa and Lambert’s had a nail trim! Then to a restaurant from Bring Fido; Baxter’s Cape Cod. We sat on the patio. I tried the calamari (so so). Lambert loved the chicken!! The view was cool. I asked the waitress if there was a cute area in town and she said, ‘Not really’. Good to know!

I needed some groceries so I stopped at what I thought was a grocery store. (It had groceries in its sign.) It was more like a HUGE liquor store with a little side of groceries. I did get what I needed and headed back. Now what to do on my last day??? I kept thinking about Martha’s but thought it may be too long a day and not that satisfying. So I chose to go to Woods Hole and found some walks I could do with Lambert, unfortunately there was no parking. So we had a nice scenic drive, stopped at a brewery and made our way back to camp.

Boston (Bad Hotel Experiance)!

Onto a hotel night!! WOO HOO!! Maddy is taking a red eye to Boston and I am a quick, FREE train ride away. So I will meet her there in the AM. Just to be clear, before I relate this story. I ALWAYS do my due diligence when I book a hotel. No matter what the web site says I call and ask to speak to someone AT the hotel and ask about parking. I do not want to park the van offsite. So…..I booked my stay at The Westin Boston Seaport

When I arrive and leave the van in the front to check in. So, I am all checked in and ask about parking, showing the check-in guy my van. I let him know that I called to make sure they had space for the van (gave them the height) and they told me yes, they could park the van. He tells me that valet will take care of it. So I go talk to the valet and they tell me I can’t park it at the hotel. I tried to tell them I had called and they kept interrupting telling me no, I can’t leave it here and they can’t park it. Okay…. So I go back in and tell the check-in guy. He calls the manager and they are supposed to get back to me with a solution. I go get my stuff and head to my room.

On my way another staff member stops me to let me know the manager will be in touch and he repeats to me that I cannot park my van here. Time to repeat the story AGAIN and he replies, no one here would ever say that you could park here. While staring him in the eyes I ask if he is calling me a liar, he replies, call it what you will. I lost it, 100% lost it! I told him F YOU! Now I’m shaking and so mad and can’t believe I said that to him. UGGHHH

I chose this hotel not only because it was close to the airport, but it was south. Jaylen has a hockey game the evening I am in Boston, so I am planning to go. But the manager did not call me until 4pm and the game was at 5, so that’s frustrating! He tells me that they don’t have a place for the van. (I am thinking to myself, there is plenty of room where it is. It might not be a Jaguar, but the price tag is similar!) I let him know if he can’t find a place to park it then he can call other hotels where I can park it and pay for my room. TADA, he may have a solution. He calls me back to let me know I can park it in the loading zone, just have to be out by 11am. What a day!

Maddy is here!

I walk to the bus station to meet Maddy and Lambert is sooooooo excited! She takes a nap while Lambert and I walk. Then we’re off for New Hampshire, a fun stop at Portsmouth for some window shopping and lunch. Then onto Camden, stopping at a brewery for some food and a quick grocery stop before heading to the park for an overnight stay. The next day on to Acadia National Park. I told Maddy how much I hated these Turnpikes, there is literally no way off of them! She didn’t 100% believe me so we got off on an exit to go near Kennebunkport and then she googled going this way and it was hours longer! So we had to find a way back onto the dumb turnpike.

Acadia, Bar Harbor and more!

Just some stops along the way!

Once we were on regular highways the drive was lovely and there were tons of swap meets and thrift/antique shops. We pledged to stop on our way out of the park. We got to the park, first stop, Lobster Rolls in Bernard. I am not a lobster fan, but when in Maine… Maine supplies 80% of the lobster in the US. The amount of traps we saw in and out of the water was unbelievable. Want to know about the sustainability, calorie content and more? Click here! My thoughts on the roll, ummmm, not horrid, not my favorite.The meat to bread ratio was too much meat and the meat was in big chunks, making it kind of hard to eat. This is only the first one…this is the ‘workers’ lobster roll. Lobster was the poor man’s food, initially.

Next stop, Bar Harbor. It was so cute! Maddy had some recs from a friend so after wandering we stopped for a cocktail at the Ivy Manor Inn, an old home, covered in ivy with a vast lawn right on the bustling street! Lambert was obsessed with the server, kept trying to play with him. Thankfully he was game to play! then another cocktail with dinner…. It was a fun night and Lambert got to taste his first Lobster Risotto!

Back to camp to get some sleep, we have a hike planned in the AM! After a quick bite we set out to hike Gorham Mountain Loop. We were VERY thankful we rallied and started early. When we were going down the other side of the hike, it was getting HOT. One stop for more groceries. For the second time we see RED hot dogs. We googled it. The gross news…The practice of dyeing hot dogs red might have originated in Europe and been adopted as a way to distinguish products or disguise the appearance of older sausages. And the not so gross news…In Maine, the red color became a marketing strategy to make the hot dogs stand out, and it eventually became a tradition and a source of regional identity. Maybe a little in between grossness… they call them Red Snappers and have to explain on menus…. read more on Food & Wine if you like!

Sunrise…Sunset

Snacks for dinner (no hot dogs)! We need to get to sleep; 2:45am wake up to catch our ride to Cadillac Mountain to see the sunrise! It’s the first place you see the sun rise in the continental USA. (My van is 2 feet too long for the road!) It is dark as hell and freezing!!!!! I had gloves and a hat, should have worn everything I had in the van! It was quite a wait for the sun to rise and it was cloudy and foggy, so it wasn’t looking good. We found a spot to wait and watch and TADA!!! The clouds and fog broke and the sun was rising. It was so beautiful! We stopped on the drive down and got a photo of the sun shining on the river. So many selfies!! But someone asked if they could take our picture – yes!!!

Back in Bar Harbor and we wandered until an outdoor breakfast place opened, then off to nap! We have a sunset cruise tonight. Sunrise and sunset in one day! Back to Bar Harbor to do some more sight seeing before the cruise. We enjoy a quick snack (and cocktail). Then brought the rest onboard. They said you could bring snacks, no alcohol, that’s for sale on the boat. We boarded the Schooner and quikcly realized there is no way we will be able to eat anything on this tour. We are packed in!

It was getting so full of people we worried about Lambert and wondered if this was going to be any fun!, Lambert was thinking what the hell is this and why am I on it? (Then he says to himself, OMG Maddy’s here again and I have to do so many weird things when she’s here). And I say, I GET to do so many fun things when she’s here!! The people that took our picture at sunrise sat across from us, so we did the favor for each other again. Lambert was such a good puppy and he made so many friends! (The star of the schooner!) Perfect evening! Glad our first impression was wrong. Though we could NOT eat our snack and the canned wine was $12 each… OH WELL!

More Acadia

After three wonderful nights at the Seawall campground we moved to a new Schoodic Woods campground, visited by only 4% of those who visit the park. It was so peaceful with lots of trails. We started out (and went the wrong way – not my fault). Luckily there’s a shuttle with set stops, but it’s so quiet there they’ll stop and pick you up wherever and drop you at another stop. So we were able to see all that we wanted to see. The views were amazing! I wanted to go to blueberry hill. The blueberries were amazing, tiny, sweet and perfect! AND you can pick 2 quarts a day… again they’re tiny! We picked for quite a while and had maybe 2 inches of a water bottle full. HAHA! We had enough for blueberry pancakes in the morning and a smoothie a few days later!

Now it’s on to Boothbay for more adventures! On the way we stop at the fun shops we missed on the way. Maddy bought a camera that takes actual film ( and I think you have to wind it). I bought a cute turquoise ring. They were half antique, half junk and fun to peruse!

Observations

• I relayed my Boston exchange to friends that lived in Boston, their reply.. People in Boston are rude… okay
• People in Maine are very friendly
• still lots of churches, graveyards yada yada
• the small towns are more quaint than you can imagine
• BRIDGES… so many awesome bridges!!!
• Having Maddy with me means LOTS of photos!!