Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Home safe!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
New Hampshuh revisited
Then we got to Portsmouth.
Built in 1771, rebuilt in 1804, and finally re-rebuilt in 1878, the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse is a fully-functioning lighthouse which has been under the control of the U.S. Coast Guard since the late 1940’s. Luckily for us, a few lighthouse enthusiasts started up the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and they agreed to a deal with the Coast Guard – they will work on the upkeep of the lighthouse, and they also get to give tours of the lighthouse. We (obviously) took the tour.
The stairway leading up to the top of the lighthouse.
After the lighthouse, Kelly took us on a whirlwind tour of the rest of the city of Portsmouth.
Our hostess and tour guide, Kelly
Lunch was a phenomenal jumbo lobster roll from Petey's
Kelly and Emily exploring the rocky shores of New Hampshire
The rocky shores of New Hampshire (that's Whaleback Lighthouse in the distance)
We spent the rest of the evening enjoying good food and good company, and a great view from the dock outside Kelly's house. Tomorrow we begin the trip home - next stop, New Jersey!
Our New England vacation is finally complete!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
The ORIGINAL Portland
Next stop? Portland – a cool, funky, artsy city by the water... sounds familiar...
Friday, August 12, 2011
Acadia Part 2: Onward-er and Upward-er
We started our way up Mt. Huguenaut with a good example of rock paving.
After crossing Huguenaut, we made our way up Mt. Champlain, "Cliffhanger" style.
Made it!
Exploring the peak of Champlain
Another one of those amazing Acadia views
Our ranger buddy suggested we take a different trail down the mountain, doubling back to follow a new trail around the face of the mountain, then finally meeting up with a fourth trail to climb down. He warned us that there was a lot of tough terrain, and he was absolutely right. It was very strenuous, and really, really fun.
The last 500 feet down involved climbing over, under, and straight down huge boulders.
Taking in one last view of the ocean
After a hike like that, we definitely needed a shower - luckily Acadia has coin-operated showers in the park. $2 in quarters bought you 4 minutes of wonderful hot water... we've never showered as efficiently as we did today. We got ourselves dressed, and on the recommendation of Roadfood.com, we drove out to Beal's Lobster Pound for authentic Maine lobster rolls (and an authentic Maine blueberry sodee pop).
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Acadia Part 1: Onward and Upward
Covering most of Mt. Desert Island, Acadia is easily one of the most beautiful spots on the East Coast. It has mountains, forests, an ocean shoreline, and some truly wild hiking trails. We had gotten a good recommendation from our friend T.L. to check out the Beehive, a 520-foot peak overlooking the Atlantic shoreline. It's an intense hike with a good deal of vertical climbing, but the ocean view was well worth the effort.
...a twisted, crazy, 500-foot high ladder.
We made our way down the mountain and headed back to our campsite. We could have gone and picked up something to cook over the fire, but we're on vacation here! We hopped in the car and headed straight for Bar Harbor, an old fishing village right by Acadia that has become a quaint tourist destination.
Bar Harbor is filled with fun and funky stores (including not one, not two, but THREE separate year-round Christmas shoppes!) If you can put a picture of a lobster on something, you can buy it in Maine. We had a sunset dinner at the Bar Harbor Inn - we sat on the terrace and had a great view of the water.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
New Hampshuh!
We spotted a sign for blueberry picking, and a quick five minute detour led us up to Stonybrook Farm, where we encountered the ripest, most delicious blueberries either of us had ever tasted.
The blueberries were huge!
Superberries. So good!
The fruits of our labor (pun fully intended).