From mountains to beaches!

Niagara falls, Lake George, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and now….THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND BEACHES!

We pulled away from New Hampshire, headed for the great state of Maine!  It was just a couple of hours to get there, and the drive was beautiful!  Every little town is prettier than the one before it!

We pulled into the campground in Maine, and the best part was that the weather had FINALLY cooled off!!! AND….our campsite was in the shade, with trees everywhere!

We arrived in the middle of the afternoon, so we decided to just go do a little “exploring” to find what we wanted to do the next couple of days.  Leonard and I had been to this area 23 years ago, and had remembered a beautiful walk along the ocean shore, where there are homes on one side and the ocean on the other! It’s called the Marginal Way and we decided to stroll there for a while!  WOW!  It’s hard to capture the beauty of it, but hopefully some of these photos will give you all some idea!

Another thing Leonard had remembered from 23 years ago was a restaurant called THE OGUNQUIT LOBSTER POUND!  So…of course we found our way there and had dinner!  AMAZING!

If you are a lobster lover (which HE is and I am not) then this is the place to go – there is a big outdoor tank filled with lobsters swimming around – not having ANY idea what their fate is! – and if you order the whole lobster, they let you choose the one you want for dinner!  Out it comes and it is weighed and sent off to be steamed for the customer!

After a short time at the table, the main event arrives!

Leonard and Bob were happy guys and they enjoyed their dinner so much – even with all the work involved to get to the white lobster meat!  Bobbi and I  shared a dinner of lobster alfredo, which, I must say, was DELICIOUS!!!!!  So many chunks of lobster and the most yummy, creamy alfredo sauce!!! WAY better than the whole lobster AND no work involved except putting the forkful of food into our mouths! Haha

It was a great meal after a beautiful stroll along the ocean!

Day two in Maine had us going to Kennebunkport!  We were all so excited to go there and see the town and do a little exploring.  What a beautiful town right on the water – so much to see and do!  One of the things that was part of the day was a lobster roll (YES, MORE LOBSTER!) at a place called The Clam Shack!  It has been a Kennebunkport staple for over 50 years!  It was name one of “America’s Best Lobster Rolls” by Food and Wine Magazine – it was also included in Travel + Leisure’s “101 Places Every Traveler Should Know”!  I will say, even though a lobster roll isn’t my favorite food, it WAS delish!  The best part about it for me was the experience of eating at the Clam Shack.  It’s right by the water and views and ocean breeze make the perfect backdrop for a fun and delicious lunch!

After lunch and shopping at the quaint little stores in town, we headed off to another place we were excited to see – THE BUSH COMPOUND! 

What an amazing place!  We stood there and pictured what it would be like to live there or even just visit!

Since we had a bigger lunch, we all decided that we would have a “light” dinner of……ICE CREAM! We had heard about a place called the Scoop Deck (clever name) and that they had, not only delicious ice cream, but almost 100 flavors to choose from!  Let me just say, the hype was CORRECT!!!  WOW! The hardest part was choosing a flavor (or flavors) to get!  Some of you know how much I like ice cream, and I have to say it was some of the BEST ice cream I have ever had!

Next stop….BAR HARBOR!

We were here for four days and we are so glad we had that much time – SO much to see and do!  The town itself is so pretty and picturesque! Shops adorn the streets, boats are anchored out in the harbor, beautiful flowers are everywhere, people are just enjoying it all!!!  After walking around for a bit, we headed to the campground for a relaxing evening!

The next morning we had a 9:00 reservation to drive up Cadillac Mountain – It is located in Acadia National Park, and is the highest point on the U.S.  Atlantic Coast.  It’s also the first place in the U.S. to see the sunrise during certain times of the year.  You can drive to the summit on a paved road, or if you’re up for it, hike up one of a couple of trails to the top – needless to say, we drove!

That afternoon we had reservations to rent E-bikes to ride around Acadia National Park on what are called the carriage roads.  It was so much fun and the scenery was amazing!  We rode 20 miles and enjoyed every minute.  Last year we had ridden E-bikes a the Grand Canyon and loved it so we decided to do it again!

Two more days and then I’ll be done – haha!  The next day brought another fun place that lots of people want to see and enjoy – JORDAN POND and the JORDAN POND HOUSE RESTAURANT.  I had seen videos of it on YouTube and it looked fun and like something we should do – the restaurant is famous for their POPOVERS – wow!  That was my lunch!  Two popovers with butter and homemade strawberry jam, and Maine blueberry lemonade!!!  I had never had a popover and now I have – and I am glad!  What a great experience and after lunch we walked a bit and looked at Jordan Pond – such a beautiful area!

Okay, it’s the last day….(thanks for hanging in there with me!)

Friends had told us that we HAD to walk the Ocean Path Trail which is part of Acadia National Park – they were right!  The views of the ocean and the cliffs and the rocks and the trees was spectacular!  One of the places along the path is called Thunder Hole – you can witness the power of the ocean tides and if you are lucky enough to show up at high tide, the experience is AMAZING!!!!  The sound as the waves are forced into a narrow channel sounds like thunder!!  Wave sprays here have been seen to reach over 40 feet in height!  (I will say, there were lots of people that got SOAKED when the waves came in – lots didn’t have any idea they would get that wet!)

This was definitely one of the highlights because we arrived at the PERFECT time!  It was high tide and the waves were crazy!  Such an amazing part of creation and seeing what waves and water can do! WOW!

IMG_5301

We stayed for a long time and just watched the water, and then strolled part of the Ocean Path Trail.  Enjoy some of the beautiful scenery that we got to witness ….

IMG_5293

IMG_5360 IMG_5349

 

Tomorrow is a big day for us – haha – we head over the border into Canada with our trailers, and we’re all a bit anxious – there are lots of rules and regulations, and we are making sure we are prepared for any scenario that might come about – we have eaten up all of our fruits and vegetables because you can’t take them in – and have looked over the list of what we can and can’t have!  We are ready!  I’ll report back on how it went!  We are excited and the places on our schedule for the next couple of weeks look amazing – I can’t wait to share them with you!

So, for now…so long good ol’ USof A – Canada here we come!

Until next time…