The Adventures of Troy and Genevieve: Maine

On a whim, your daddy and I decided to plan an impromptu trip to Maine. We gave ourselves three weeks to plan a week long trip to Bar Harbor and luckily everything fell into place. I made sure to journal our experiences daily and all I can say is that we had an amazing adventure with you two and Scout. We crossed 9 states in two days to get there {Virginia-Maryland-Delaware-New Jersey-New York-Connecticut-Massachusetts-New Hampshire-Maine} and here are the highlights of the trip:

Friday October 16th:

*Left home around lunch time after 2 weeks of packing

*Crammed into truck---absolutely no more room for anything else, Scout had his head on the back of my seat most of the way

*Went across Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

*Stopped at Casa Hispania in Nassawaddox on the Eastern Shore for tortas, tacos and stale patries

*Drove past NYC skyline at night

*Made it to hotel in Milford, CT @ 10:30 all in one piece

Saturday October 17th:

*Woke-up at 5:30am and on the road by 6

*At daybreak we had our first glimpse of fall foliage in Connecticut

*Stopped in Worchster, MS for Dunkin Donuts

*Took the longer but more scenic route thru Maine

*We stopped for lunch at Carrier's Mainly Lobster in Bucksport and had our first lobster roll ($19) and haddock chowder. It was a great outdoor lunch with a playground for the kids to stretch their legs on.

*Got to Blackwoods Campgrounds located in Acadia National Park at 3pm---campsite A11

*Set up camp and ate chili and toasted marshmallows

*Got down to 30 degrees over night and Scout ended up in the tent with us

Sunday October 18th:

*COLD!

*Ate egg and chili burritos for breakfast

*Drove to Otter Pointe, parked and hiked along rocky shore to Thunder Hole. Kids did a scavenger hunt along the way.

*Ate a picnic lunch of PB&Js on the rocky cliffs

*Drove back to campsite for a quick break and then took a walk on the forest trail that leads to Cadillac Mtn. Genevieve took the lead following the blue blazes.

*Eric made a really tasty pot pie for dinner

*Kids were tired at sundown so we snuggled in the tent and watched half of the movie Turbo on the iPad and were asleep by 7pm

Monday October 19th:

*Pancake and sausage breakfast

*Drove to the top of Cadillac Mtn.---awesome views, cold and windy, checked out eco-store

*Drove to Jordan Pond and walked about half of the loop trail with the cool boardwalk along the water

*Walked up to Jordan Pond House for a quick nibble of their famous popovers, a warm crab and goat cheese dip with beer and OJs.

*Drove to Northeast Harbor and stopped by the marina. We watched a crew of lobster men come in with their catch

*Back at campsite, we made a bacon and potato hash for dinner.

*At dark, we took a quick walk to an overlook to see the starry night sky and finished the night with MORE marshmallows

Tuesday October 20th:

*Woke-up at 5:30am (dark) to drive to top of Cadillac Mtn again for a sunrise but it was rainy and cloudy

*Went and broke down a wet camp

*Crossed the sand bar at low-tide to Bar Island and hiked to top where there was an overlook facing the town of Bar Harbor. Raced back down, afraid we wouldn't get back across before high-tide

*Ate at BeerWorks restaurant---blah. But Troy got his first blueberry soda (Gen doesn't care for soda)

*Then drove one and a half hours to get to cottage in Harrington, ME, out in the middle of nowhere

*Made a steak and potato dinner and got to take our first (glorious) hot showers in 3 days.

*Watched Toy Story Halloween special and went to bed early

Wednesday October 21st:

*Good nights sleep in warm beds, boys in one---girls in the other

*Planned day out during our pancake breakfast

*Drove back to Bar Harbor and found the Anemone sea cave which was amazing. Also, played around in tidal pools on the rocky cliffs

*Went into town and ate lunch at the Lazy Lobster. Lobster rolls ($17) and a Hawaiian pizza for the kids, yummy.

*Bar Harbor Brewing Co. for beer tasting---bought 6pk of blueberry soda for Troy

*Went shopping through out town and found a Christmas ornament for our tree---a jingle bell lobster

*Headed back to cottage with pit stops at a lobster pound for 2 live lobsters, a Halloween themed farmers market for veggies and grocery store for tomorrows meals

*Played hide-n-seek and ate lobsters for dinner