We decided to island hop a bit today which meant an early rise and shine to catch the Point Judith Ferry over to Block Island.

It was a bit cloudy with a few drizzles on our way but nothing too much… what we didn’t know was that there was a small craft advisory due to wind and swells until Friday morning… today is Thursday 😳 So in pure ignorant bliss, we boarded the 55-minute ferry to Block Island.

Good views as we left and slightly chilly breeze…

And then, it started. White caps on the breakers and in the open water.

It was so rough that they ran out of Dramamine. People were dropping like flies on the ship, and more importantly to me, my poor guys with motion issues felt horrible.. Let me tell you, that was a LONG 55 minutes across the water. Finally – land!

As soon as we stepped off the boat, I went to switch our return trip back to the High-Speed Ferry. It may be just as rough, but it will only be 30 minutes instead of 55 minutes. Mike and Leo were great! After a few minutes on the land, they rallied and were ready for a full day of exploring.

Block Island is south of the Rhode Island Coast and East of Montauk. Sort of a larger Bald Head Island that allows cars. There is one school on the island that serves K-12 and has about 130 students. We didn’t bring our car, so we decided to rent bikes to explore the island. We rented bikes from Rose’s Bike Shop. It was about a half mile walk from the dock, but great bikes, cheaper and included helmets and locks. And the view wasn’t bad either! Geared up, we headed out.

We biked and stopped to explore cliffs and overhangs. WOW – these views! Even the boys wanted photos 😊

Back on our bikes, we decided to find some of the lighthouses. This one, the Southeast Lighthouse, was built in 1873, but had to be moved in 1993 due to erosion. According to the plaque 😉, the farmers told the federal agents when they built it that it was too close to the edge of the cliffs. The farmers had to move their fence lines every decade or so due to erosion of the Mohegan Bluffs.

They didn’t listen, and 120 years and $2 million later, the farmers turned out to be right. Gotta be the most expensive I told you so ever!

The area around the Lighthouse was beautiful. So we decided it was a perfect place for a picnic – and who knew? Mom’s Cafe is now serving on Block Island. 😀

The views were awesome! There were stairs nearby that led ALL the way down to the beach years ago but erosion has eaten them away and the stairs are too shaky to climb. We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t climb the stairs but it was still absolutely beautiful!

They had a food truck nearby and while we weren’t hungry after our picnic, we did need some italian ice to cool off before resuming our bike trek. There’s always room for dessert, right?

Geared back up and off we went again…

We rode by painted rock (literally just a rock that people keep painting 😂) and then all along the roads of the island. The drivers were friendly and gave lots of room as they passed.

We decided to spend our last hour at Cresant Beach, which was nice and relaxing for our tired legs and toushies (bike seats are not well padded 😳😬). The water is definitely colder up here, and while Rhode Island has more sand than Maine, it is still incredibly rocky when you walk out in the ocean a bit. But its still good for water wrestling 🤦🏻‍♀️

We headed back to the bike shop to return our bikes, and then walked around town for a while to explore the shops. It may be an island off the coast of Rhode Island, but they used the same gimmicks as a Myrtle Beach Wings to get you in the door: “Sweatshirts Buy One Get One Free” then you get inside and find a $80 sweatshirt 🤣 We did however see the largest dog we’d ever seen. Seriously, we thought the guy had a bear walking beside him until we got closer. He didn’t fit in the front of the truck so he happily rode in the bed.

Let me say that throughout the day, I prayed for the weather to clear for our ride back, and the good Lord heard me ♥️ The ride back was absolutely faster and so much better! We met really nice family from Connecticut who had 2 little boys – one with straight blond and one with curly brown. It was like looking through a time machine from 13 years ago of these 2

With clear skies, we could some form of land almost the entire ride, which made things SO much better!

We made it!

We had about an hour drive back to Warwick, so we decided to get dinner on the way. The AirBnB folks had recommended Chelo’s for a meal, so we decided to check it out. It was really good food and the set up was fun – indoor seating, outdoor deck seating, upper outside deck seating, and outside lawn seating. We took the lawn and although it was warm in the sun, there was a nice breeze since we were on the waterfront. We became enthralled with a mother and baby bunny, who clearly had no fear of people as they hopped around eating grass… now when the next table arrived with a puppy, that was a different story 😀

We were home by 6:45pm, and while I offered to take the boys back down to the beach, they asked to just stay home and “chill.” Leo said “mom, not everyone likes 18 hour vacation days.” What???

Leo broke in his new goalkeeper gloves with Mike in the back yard, and Michael helped me finish my puzzle, and again, we showed them the awesomeness of the A-Team. “If you’ve got a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, then maybe you can hire the A-Team” 😂🤣

One last thing about the hydrangeas (sorry, they’re my favorite)… again, they were EVERYWHERE! According to Google, hydrangeas are having a banner year as a result of a very mild winter and a wet spring. They were so abundant that even the boys noticed!

One more full day and we will have conquered the entire Continental United States. 🇺🇸

No one woke anyone up today, and we finally made it out of the house by the crack of 12:30pm. I will admit, it was nice to have PJ coffee on vacation (lazy coffee in your PJs). The boys were sleeping so soundly, I went to check in on them…

We decided to head over to Newport for the day for a late lunch and a little exploring. The drive over was pretty but it looked like the fog followed us from Maine. Thankfully, it was only at the peak of the bridges, so we were clear on either side.

We explored a few of the shops while trying to decide where to eat, and finally decided on The Mooring. Everyone had some kind of seafood from hot buttered lobster rolls to salmon to fish &chips, and we all had a cup of clam crowder (that’s the white one not the red).

As a rule, we don’t let the boys have their phones at the table BUT England was playing the Netherlands in the Euro Semifinals so we made an exception. The restaurant manager noticed them watching the match on their phone and turned on the television for them in the RawBar… a quick seat switch, and they were thrilled!

Of course then this was our view for the rest of lunch 🤣

After lunch, we desperately needed to walk a while and find a little sweet for dessert… boys chose to skip dessert and spend $5 each in the arcade, Mike and I chose dessert. And thankfully both locations were beside each other 😁

Newport is nice, but it’s like Old Salem, Bald Head Island, and Myrtle Beach had a baby… how do I know? Lots of historical homes and buildings, beautiful beach town with great views and food, a gabillion touristy shops all in a row (granted, it’s not a Wings, but it’s the same stuff… t-shirts, hats, keychains, tiny spoons and thimbles with the location’s name) and an arcade where you earn tickets for crappy prizes.

Don’t get us wrong, we earned our arcade tickets and were thrilled with our crappy toys. We went in the touristy shops and got our shirts with “Newport, RI” printed on them. We drove around and took pictures of old buildings. Never said we didn’t like it, just pointing out the obvious 🤣😁

Newport is also home to the highest concentration of “Gilded Age” mansions – think Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Biltmore House size mansions. The crazy part is that a good number of these are privately owned! They are gorgeous! But I feel like sometimes we barely see the boys in our little house… we would completely lose them in these monster mansions. But I guess if you’re living here, you’re not gathered at the kitchen table eating fruit loops in the morning 😉

The views, however, we would take in a heartbeat!

There were few for sale so of course we had to look them up. If you’ve got $12.5 million burning a hole in your pocket, they could be yours… but keep in mind, the cost of living in Newport is 123% higher than the national average 😳

Something we have noticed EVERYWHERE in Rhode Island is the hydrangeas! I have never so many blooms on the bushes! In Newport, Im sure it is due to professional gardeners, but every single plant is just heavy with blooms. It’s unreal looking.

We headed back to our AirBnB, and since dinner was ready in crock pot, the boys and I headed to check out the beach. Mike said he would skip the beach and fix the rice and rolls for dinner. So off we went. There is a state park at the end of our road, so went there and while one area was nosy and crowded, we found a few quiet area… that the boys quickly made loud with some soccer and wrestling 🤣

And then they just started being goofballs 🤦🏻‍♀️

We saw these cool plants. They look like tomatoes but they are heard as rocks! There was a pink flower before the fruit. We’re still trying to figure out what they are.

After a hot shower, we ate WAY too much stew beef and rice, and managed to accomplish nothing except a puzzle for me and the COPA semifinals for the boys for the rest of the night.

As the biggest Celtics fan, today is probably what Michael has been looking forward to most: BOSTON. And it did not disappoint!

Sheer exhaustion kept us in bed until 9, but we rallied and were up and out of the room by 10am. The late check out worked out perfectly, because we could have everything packed and ready to go but didn’t have to take it to car. To maximize the day, we grabbed breakfast on the go from Dunkin’ Donuts (fear the day with a fully caffeinated Mom after a large frozen coffee) and off we went!

We are staying across the street from TD Garden (Home of the Celtics), so off we went to explore the ProShop and see all things Celtics. As we approached, there were green and white balloons with people dressed in green and white everywhere. We realized it was the dedication ceremony of the new team sponsor Amicus Insurance. Now we could care less about the sponsor but Holy Moly! The 2024 NBA Championship Trophy sure got our attention! (I hope these people don’t mind being a part of our adventure blog 🤣)

And then we went into the Boston ProShop. The store is predominantly Celtics gear with some Bruins as well. And when we say Celtics gear, we mean EVERYTHING Celtics!

Celtics Earrings? ☑️

Celtics Golf Balls? ☑️

Celtics Shoes? ☑️

Celtics Pet Gear? ☑️

And this guy couldn’t be happier!

After we left TD Gardens, we grabbed an Uber (to maximize time) and headed for the heart of Boston and all things treasonous!😁

The Boston Tea Party is one of the best stories of the American Revolution. It was flashy and bold and gave a big old FIE to the King!Unsure what Fie is? Take you whole open hand ✋🏼 , put your thumb on your nose and wave you fingers. In Colonial times, it was a way a to show disgust or outrage. (I apologize now to the boys’ teachers when they do this to be funny this year 😉)

When I was younger, I went to the Boston Tea Party ship with my parents and cousin and loved throwing the “tea” in the harbor. So we decided to do the same with the boys.

The Museum does a really nice job of giving the build up to the Tea Party and the taxation frustrations of the Colonies. Plus, we got to be characters in the town meeting and shout “Huzzah” or stomp your feet when you liked or appreciated something, or to hiss/shout Fie! when you did not. Of course, Mike and I were fully into this and even the boys were laughingly participating.

First, we heard from Mrs. Parker, and then Sam Adams (but not his cousin, from Boston 😂) spoke to rally the meeting to plan the revolt. We shouted Huzzah! and Fie! We shook our fists and stomped our feet – Go forth in treason!!!

Then we went on to their ship – We listened to our guide and shouted Huzzah (even my boys were voluntarily shouting) at the right times. It was cheesy and fun!

I am going to assume no one was claustraphobic at this time because there was not a lot of room in the cargo area. And these ceilings were about 3-4 inches higher than they were at the time 😬

The boys were awesome to play along with their mom ♥️

The final part of the tour was inside the museum with a few movies/presentation about the pressure faced by those who supported the Rebels, a re-enactment of the letters between England and the colonies, and the “shot heard round the world” at the Battles of Lexington and Concord. These were incredibly well made, and would be a great way to start a study of the American Revolution. The museum also has the Robinson Chest. The last known chest to remain from the Boston Tea Party! Legend says that Mr. Robinson found the box in a cove and took it home and hid it in his cellar during the Revolutionary War. After the War, it was displayed and brought out to tell children of the courage of the colonies. Then it became a doll house, a home for kittens, and even had a game board carved in the bottom. They said each of the families’ children would take the box to school show and tells 😊Eventually a member of the family realized the significance of the box and donated it to the museum, who, after verification of age and authenticity, now display.

We loved the museum and even the boys said they had fun 😀

The architecture of the buildings in Boston is incredible. They don’t think a thing in the world about knocking out a piece or part to make it stand out. It was so different that Leo has decided that maybe architecture is what he may want to do. He even started looking up licensing for architects 🤷🏻‍♀️

We then went to find a little more history along the Freedom Trail which runs all through Boston.

The boys love Raising Canes so we stopped in and grabbed it for lunch since Mom’s Cafe is serving dinner tonight at the Warwick, Rhode Island location.

We took an indirect route out of town to stop by a few more famous Boston locations: Boston Public Library, JFK School of Government at Harvard and Harvard itself… The boys said it looked a lot less nerdy than they expected 🤣 We will definitely be back to Boston!

Here we go…. State #47

For the next 3 nights, we are in one location. The boys told us that their favorite parts of vacation are when we are still. Of course, that’s probably because we always do Griswold vacations. If they did “still” vacations, they would want Griswold. Anyway, to balance our trip and compromise a bit, we will be still for 3 nights in Rhode Island. However, it will be a platform to go all around it. On the way to our AirBnB, we passed the largest cemetery we’d ever seen… Lincoln Park Cemetery in Warwick, Rhode Island is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in the country with over 20,000 graves.

Here we are – home for 3 full nights in Warwick, Rhode Island. We have a lagoon beside us and the water across the street.

The beaches up here are very different than what we are used to… rocky not shelly, and no real waves to speak of, but it is still beautiful. There is a state park at the end of the road, so boys took a run to check it out (after Mike and I already checked when we went to grocery store 😉)

Mom’s cafe was open for dinner tonight serving our vacation favorite of Fajitas and rumor has it that crock pot stew beef and rice is on the menu for tomorrow night 😁And at the request of my boys, we had a pitcher of Mom’s sweet tea (not sweetened tea that they try to pass off up North 😉)

We enjoyed a lazy night of watching TV and relaxing. We found a station showing ’80s TV and we introduced the boys to the awesomeness of The A Team! Leo finally put his Lego set together… and it was what else? Capt America!🇺🇸♥️

And we got an update from Rachael on the puppies ♥️

We started today in Gloucester and are saying goodnight in Boston, and in between we spent the day watching some of the largest animals on the planet. Not a bad way to spend a day.

Leo woke up early to get a run in before it got too hot. The boys have been so dedicated in keeping up with their runs for soccer over vacation. Leo said the views on this run were much better than his normal run around our neighborhood.

Not a bad view for us either.

We read several reviews about the restaurant on site, so we definitely wanted to give it a try. It lived up to every review! Some people were tired of my picture-taking, so we did a selfie without them – I’m sure they are devastated 🤣 we did learn that the restuarant was clearly a spot for locals. Two older ladies came in and sat behind us. I feel fairly certain that if we stayed there for another 20 minutes, I would have all the dirt on everyone in Gloucester.

When we left, I wanted a picture of the beautiful flowers and landscaping. The landscaping is so pretty that it looks fake, so I asked Leo to take a picture of us. While we ended up with a great picture, we also got 37 pictures of a trash can. Clearly, we starting laughing during our photo session 🤣

We also did a little exploring around the Inn since we still had time before checkout.

Everyone enjoyed the views ♥️

After we checked out, we had a couple of hours before our next adventure, so we did a little exploring around Gloucester. It is a gorgeous town that we will definitely come back to one day. And today we learned that Gloucester is home to the Gorton’s Fisherman (you know, the fishstick guy in the yellow slicker). Certainly makes sense with all the fishing around here.

We saw the coolest draw bridge that doesn’t go straight up. Instead, both sides lift and twist to allow even taller boats through. It raises and lowers 3-4 times per hour, so it thankfully isn’t a terribly long process.

Along the ocean walk is a memorial to the Gloucester fishermen who have died since the 1800’s. Some years have hundreds of names and others only a few. A storm in 1862 and another in 1879 killed over 120 men each. The most famous names (at least to us) were in 1991 on a ship named the Andrea Gail. If that didn’t trigger anything, it was the ship and sailors portrayed in the movie The Perfect Storm.

We still had 45 minutes to kill before our adventure, so the boys changed into their swimsuits and messed around in the water and rocks. Apparently they don’t have shells here (I could only find one shell) just rocks, but I did find a few stones to add to my collection from our travels. I cannot imagine how these two are swimming, because this water is frigid! 🥶

All done and ready to head back to the car for dry clothes.

By now, we could check in for today’s adventure – Whale Watching! We had no idea what to expect today, but in planning the trip, the 7 Seas Whale Watching Company had the highest reviews for actually seeing whales. We were a little worried about Mike and Leo with the sea travel but it was like glass today! The waves were so calm, it was almost like being on a lake. (Prayers answered!) Plus, the cool air and wrist bands (on pressure points) made for a great day for everyone and their stomachs!

Another reason I booked this tour was the naturalist onboard. She gave a ton of information about what kinds of animals we might see today. But they were quick to remind us, that these animals are wild. They aren’t trained to come to the boat. So in a really nice way, she said “you get what you get and you don’t pitch a fit!” 🤣

When we first left the harbor, we went along the coast, and again the beautiful Gloucester coastline.

Thankfully, we could see the horizon for a long time, which helped with seasickness. We saw lighthouses and the boys found their own entertainment 🤦🏻‍♀️. We were starting to get hungry and then… Bam, Mom’s cafe goes nautical!

We made it about an hour, when we saw our first humpback whale! They are huge, and peaceful and graceful and amazing! Clearly, we were in awe.

We continued following this guy, named Pickard, and then it got crazy!

Look on the left (port) side!

Look on the right (starboard) side!

⬆️ this is a basking shark who don’t usually eat people but it would still give me a heart attack!

Back to port… back to starboard… we were making the boat rock running back and forth!

It was simply incredible! Then they announced would we be okay being a little late getting back because one of most elusive animals may be near… um, yea, we can absolutely do that!

On our way to see whatever we were going to see, we saw a mola mola – the largest bony fish in the ocean. Look it up. It’s not an attractive fish but it is huge! Think of a giant flounder who swim sideways and have one shiny side.

We thought the mola mola was big until we saw what we were really looking for – a blue whale! These whales weigh 80,000 to 90,000 pounds, and a rarely seen in Maine Harbor. Our naturalist said they were hoping to see one this year because they’ve had such a great year for krill. This was the first year they’ve been seen here since 2011!

As excited as we were, I wish we could explain the crew and naturalists response. They were so cute to see – like kids at Christmas!

We made it back to shore, and I convinced my people to take one silly picture… but my word! The ordeal of the guy with took our photo… first, he tried to take it behind the scene, then he tried to take it 18 inches in front, then we were certain his fingers were in front of the lens (thank goodness for iPhones multi cameras!) BUT after all that, the picture itself isn’t awful 🤣

Back in the car, we headed out for Boston. Oh Lawd, the traffic! But in Boston’s defense, it was 5:45/6pm.

We made it to Boston!

We had a bit of an issue when we checked into the hotel: we booked a 2 queen room, but they didn’t have any available so they put us in king suite with sofa bed… the boys barely fit on queen bed together so we thought we were going to have to find somewhere else to stay. But Dean at check in said we could have rollaway bed AND 2pm late checkout… it ended up working out fine because the king suite had a plenty of room for us. We unloaded and headed out for dinner. Mike wanted sushi so we found a great place, Fuji at Ink Block, just a short Uber ride away.

We all really appreciated the architecture of Boston. It definitely is not a city of straight-up boring skyscrapers. Tomorrow we head out to explore Boston in the day time with a little history and a little NBA 🏀

We feel like we saw a whole new Acadia today. Finally, the fog lifted and we could see how gorgeous Acadia, the coastline and the mountains were. Here’s an example of the same location from us and from my friend, Amy:

We could literally watch the fog lifting. Oh, well. At least we have a reason to come back now. At breakfast, we ranked our favorite National Parks, and Acadia is definitely in our top 5. Although, it is only top 10 for Michael the Contrarian. 🤣 It will be hard for any park to ever beat Zion, Glacier, Grand Teton and Yellowstone to us.

We tried to get back to Thunder Hole to see if it really was louder at or near high tide. I think we missed the timing for the full effect, plus sea was much calmer today with waves coming in at an angle. But, still very cool to see.

And with no mist (and remembering to wear sneakers not crocs), the boys could do a little more climbing around on the rocks. I have to admit, I completely understand why they like climbing around here. It really is fun to scurry around on the rock/cliffs.

We made our way around Park Loop Road – stopping to take some more photos now that the sun was co-operating. These came out even better than they looked with my naked eye. It was beautiful! I say it every year, but our National Park system is amazing! Even with the crowd/traffic, I am so so thankful to be able to see these with my favorite people.

We started our last long drive of the trip… 4-5 hours to end the day in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Let me tell you Maine is a LOOOONNNG state. We did mix in some US Highways with the Interstate, and the little towns along the way, they were just perfect pieces of Americana. But it took forever to finally cross back into New Hampshire.

We decided to stay off the Interestate for a while so we could miss a traffic mess in Portsmouth. We traveled through Berwick (North and South), Dover, Durham and Exeter. They were the cutest towns. I think we need plan another trip up here to just stay in the cottages and bed & Breakfasts that we passed.

We made it to Massachusetts… State #46!

The scenery changed a bit in Massachusetts. Most of the houses were built in the 1800’s or older. The towns were full of Flags and reminded us that we love to travel around the 4th of July!

We made it to Gloucester, and it is just what you would expect a Massachusetts beach town to be like – lots of fishermen, beautiful homes and coastal views.

Our hotel. Atlantis Oceanfront Inn, made Mike and I nostalgic for the Myrtle Beach motels growing up… think circa 1980. But really really clean. It was awesome! The bathroom has the open sink and sliding doors for the tubs, the door locks to say “Do not Disturb”, and we have actual keys!

DeeDee at the front office said we should definitely try The Lobster, so off we went! Holy Cow! This was so good and so reasonable – $22 for 2 lobsters! Yes, I did eat them both! Poor Mike had to fight for the last bit of blond brownie and ice cream.

We took the long way home so we could scope out a running route for the boys in the morning, and to see a little more of Gloucester. I’m not sure about the rest of the town, but the sunset and coast are gorgeous! We will check out more tomorrow.

Not a bad place to write a blog 😁

The weather this morning was making us a bit nervous… so much so that I started searching for “things to do indoors in Bar Harbor.” But thank the good Lord, “rainy” in Bar Harbor should be called “misting” because that’s what it did most of the day. We were headed out for a hike this morning with a couple of stipulations: not more than 4-5 miles; not too hard; not too high; and include swimming. Thankfully, the AllTrails app lets you set all kinds of perimeters, and after a bit of searching while the boys slept this morning, we were all set to tackle the Beech Cliff Ladder and Canada Cliff Loop. After a bit of a hiccup at the hotel breakfast, we grabbed some breakfast bars and packed our bags for the day.

Today’s hike took us to the southwest side of Acadia. It is much less crowded on this side of the park, and it seemed like there was a mandate for all the houses to be white. If we ever come back, we would stay in Southwest Harbor area. There are so many fewer people and traffic, and the town looks like a movie set.

We were able to drive in pretty quickly, park and check out Echo Lake Beach before we hit the trail.

AllTrails suggested we go counterclockwise on the trail, and I am so glad we did. It started off easy enough (famous last words), with a gently slope upwards, and then the stairs/rocks started. We followed the blue marks all the way up. The first 3/4 of the trail feel like they are straight up, on rocks and ladders! Not sure we (read I) could have done this on the backend of the trail.

We did pretty well with the climb. Granted, the boys were WAY faster than Mike and I, but we all made it. to the top. It was pretty creepy up on top because we couldn’t see anything with this fog! But still surreal to have a sandwich and just sit inside a cloud.

Mom’s Cafe now serving in the clouds 🤣

We laughed at our top of the climb picture… with the fog, we could literally be anywhere 😂

We headed back down the Canada Cliffs Trails. Again, just following the blue marks.

Have mercy, they still find sticks to be light sabers and guns ♥️😊

My friend, Amy, always has a Snickers on the trail, and this is my trail reward ♥️ Don’t worry, I drank almost 32 ounces of water on the way up 🤪

The Canada Falls Trail reminded us of Endor (where the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi), Muir Woods (with smaller trees) and the woods from the Hunger Games.

WE DID IT! It was only 2 miles but 492 feet of elevation with crazy fog and humidity made it feel much further!

Boys decided to cool off in Echo Lake. At first, they were just up to their feet… then they agreed to both go under. Michael backed out after Leo went under (I’m not sure how long the little brother is going to fall for that), but eventually peer pressure won out and they were both in. It was cold (Although not as cold as the beach yesterday or the Kennepac River from white water rafting). After a while, they were just numb so it didn’t really matter so why not swim all the way out to the bouys?

Again, it was a creepy with the fog – this time it looked like the set of Twilight! The video doesn’t show it well, but there were just waves of mist and fog rolling in.

We decided to drive all the way along the south end of the park, and then the western side but a collaped sea wall had other plans.

A bit of remapping later, and we were back on our way to the Bass Harbor Light House (at the Southern tip) We waited our turn to park (thankfully a old woman drove by every car to tell them they were just waiting to park 🤦🏻‍♀️), and then hopped out to see the lighthouse. The Bass Harbor Lighthouse was built in 1858 and automated in 1974. There is still a coastguard family residing here today. (Ya know how I know this? A plaque!)

Back in the car, we finished our trip all the way around Acadia. This fog is crazy but it has decreased the crowd a bit, so there’s a give and take. We made our way back to hotel to shower and get ready to head to Cadillac Mountain and dinner. Cadillac Mountain has gotten so popular that the park service now requires timed entry. The sunrise and sunset passes are released in waves starting 6 weeks ahead of time, and then 2 days ahead. We weren’t able to get sunrise or sunset passes but we did have a pass for 6:30 this evening… but again, THIS FOG was crazy.

We may be at Cadillac Mountain in these pictures or we may be on the rocks in front of the hotel? (We are at Cadillac Mountain, but how can you tell!?!?!) I will say I sure am glad we didn’t have sunrise tickets, wake up at 4:30a, and then not see a thing other than fog! We decided to just make the best of it, and decided it will be a fun story 😊

We descended out of the fog and headed back into Bar Harbor for dinner. Tonight we tried Paddy’s, an Irish Pub, and the boys were thrilled that they were showing the CopaAmerica games (soccer). I love watching soccer with them because they can explain why something is good or bad, beyond just scoring and blocking shots.

After dinner, the boys hit the gym, and Mike and I hit the laundry room one more… this time we used the game while we waited.

The trip I took to Bar Harbor was one of my favorite trips with my parents, and I think this may be true for the boys too. We’re hoping tomorrow we get a little sun so they can actually the coastline at least once before we head to Massachusetts 🤞🏼

We woke up for our last morning in the Yurt.  It’s been fun but I am not going to miss the 5am Sunshine alarm! ☀️ After one last trip to the bathhouse and some coffee, we said packed the car, said goodbye to Parker and his chocolate lab friend, and headed eastto Bar Harbor.

We made our way to Bangor, Maine.  Full disclosure, after seeing such beautiful scenery in the North Woods of Maine, Bangor wasn’t our favorite. Bangor did have a cute downtown, with some cool decorations.

The majority of Bangor was  tiny rundown row homes… until you got to the neighborhood of Bangor’s most famous former resident, Stephen King. 

Our short drive of only 2 hours today, gave us plenty of time to stop for lunch going into Bar Harbor and try the famous Maine Lobstah’s.  (Don’t worry – mom’s restaurant will be up and moving for picnic tomorrow inside Acadia) The Travelin’ Lobster is a fisherman owned and operated place just outside of Bar Harbor that’s famous for its lobstah rolls.  Based on the line about 30 people deep when we arrived, we picked the right place.  

Bar Harbor is such a quintessential New England town. Michael said “Now this is what I thought Maine would look like.”

Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we headed into Acadia National Park to do some exploring. The entrance to the park was a hot mess.  If you ever wanted to see government inefficiencies at work, this was for you! You had 3 lanes of cars coming into the park, and only 2 of 3 guard shacks open. The Rangers were chatty and causing more delay.  And people without passes were ready with money. Lawd have mercy!  It was so bad that we were starting to think that if the entire park was like this, we were going to have to find something else to do in Bar Harbor. Thankfully, once we got into the park, everywhere else was fine.  Crowded but fine.

Our plan is to spend the day hiking tomorrow, so we went to some of the spots that we thought would be more crowded tomorrow.  The boys LOVED Sand Beach… especially the rocks!  I can still remember coming here when I was about 12 with my parents and my cousin. It was so much fun to climb on these rocks! And I can remember my mom and dad saying exactly what Mike and I did today: “be careful”; “not so high”;  “don’t fall!” 

We left Sand Beach and headed toward Thunder Hole but along the way, we stopped to climb on more rocks.  It’s looked like too much fun, so Mike and I had to join in too!

Thunder Hole is an inlet into the rocks carved out by the waves/tides.  When the waves come in, the collision of water inside the cave/inlet makes a clap like thunder.  Supposedly at high tide, the spray can reach 40 feet in the air.  We’ll verify that tomorrow.  It was cool to see today, but can’t wait to see it tomorrow around high tide!

We climbed on some more rocks – honestly, I think we could skip all the trails and just let the boys climb rocks and they’d be totally happy! But the views were spectacular! 

We decided to head all the way to Northeast Harbor, and just see what was there. It was wonderful! Gorgeous homes, and NO crowd. I imagine it is what Bar Harbor looks like in November. 

We headed back to our hotel and got our luggage into the room. The hotel is perfect! We like having a balcony and a little yard outside.

The plan is to wash all the laundry after dinner while the boys swim or go to gym, so we got everything sorted and ready to go.

We headed into Bar Harbor for dinner and parked about half a mile away from the square and walked into town. It was a beautiful walk. The houses looked like a movie set!

We lucked into a 4-top table at Galyn’s on the square (thankfully the people who had a reservation didn’t show up within their 10 minute hold window – stinks for them, but awesome for us 😀). Everything was fantastic! We all put our phones away and just enjoyed talking. We each picked our favorite location from our trips and what we would do if we could live there. My mama’s heart was bursting ♥️

Of course, no evening is complete without dessert, so Leo and Mike snagged ice cream while Michael and I went to donuts! You just cannot beat a maple bacon donut and a coffee.

After all our desserts, we decided which restautrant we could have dinner at on Saturday night (you gotta be prepared 😉), and then headed back to the car.  I am so thankful for the walk to walk off some of the dinner and dessert. I’m still full, but not miserable.   Once we got back to the hotel, the boys headed to the pool and hot tub, and we headed to laundry room.  

Three loads later, we are refreshed and ready for another week with clean clothes!

Good morning from the yurt!  Did we mention that the circle top of the yurt is clear – it is beautiful for star gazing, but it makes for an early morning wake  up call from the sun about 5:15 🤣

Thankfully, we had a nice rain shower overnight and early morning, so it lulled us right back to sleep.  Mike and I headed to the office for coffee (see it really is glamping), and then came back to wake the boys.  We are headed out for whitewater rafting down the Kennipac River today, so they were pretty easy to get moving this morning.

Geared up and ready to get on the bus and head to the rapids! Mike is not a fan of any bus ride and this one was ROUGH!!  Pretty sure we were airborne from our seats a couple of times. They use old logging roads to make the trip to the river 45 minutes instead of 2 ½ hours, but oh my word!  That was the roughest riding road we have every been on – imagine the biggest pothole of your life, duplicated over and over, and then driving on it at 40 mps on a bus.  That was how we started the fourth with teeth chattering traveling!

We were grouped with a family of 4 from Connecticut, and a couple from Charlotte – all very nice – and our guide Derek

After carrying the raft to the put in site, we used the rails to get the raft into the water, and off we went.

The Kennipac River is beautiful, and the water was COLD! Not quite as cold as Glacier but honestly, when its freezing, what do 10° matter, right?  The rapids were amazing!  The boys did great listening to Derek’s commands and having the best time.  Their ears perked up a bit when he said they were always looking for new guides and offered a 7-day Guide Certification Course. Maybe Mike and I will do that when we retire🤣

We had a few spots when we could jump in to “swim” the rapids, and honestly, when will we get this chance again? So 💦 in we went! After about 2-3 minutes, you started to numb up so the cold didn’t bother you so much.  But oh my word, trying to get back in the raft!  It was like landing a marlin, they just snatched up back n and it was as ungraceful as possible!

Rafting, swimming, rafting swimming… it was wonderful.  The weather was great and the scenario was beautiful and our raft mates couldn’t have been better.

We put out of the water 14 miles down river and after deflating our rafts, we loaded back on the bus to head to the shelter.  The crew cooked lunch while we dried off, and after eating and relaxing a bit, we loaded back up and headed home.  With bellies full and exhausting from the day we caught a few naps despite the bumpy roads – but the boys especially loved Parker, one of the owners’ dogs.  Clearly Parker was comfortable with people and buses

Conquered the Kennipac River!

After a really nice hot shower, we rested a bit and then headed into the town of Greenville for dinner.  Derek,our raft guide, suggested  the “Stress Free Moose” for dinner so off we went.  It was a great location and the food was delicious. Greenville looks exactly like you would imagine ideal lake-side town in Maine would look like, and off course we found some post-dinner Ice cream for dessert.

We decided to go ahead and get our fire going so we could celebrate the 4th of July with campfire S’mores, and they were fantastic!  

Michael found an orange that we have had since Niagara Falls and decided he would see what happened when you burn an orange (answer: nothing, it turns into a hard ball then ash).  

We also used the “fire color” stuff we bought in camp store – it changes the color of the fire. The boys loved it – I thought it looked like we were burning the Wicked Witch of the West.  Either way, we relaxed and watched the fire burn… what is it about a campfire that just makes you stare at it?

We finished the night finished our last 5 hands of Garbage (Mike crushed everyone!)

And then headed to the bathhouse to brush teeth before bed.  While we were at the bathhouse we got a sweet picture from Charlotte Stewart of the puppies for 4th of July ♥️🇺🇸

Absolutely zero rush this morning.  The only thing we needed to do was end our day in Shirley Mills, Maine (almost 6 ½ hours away) and make it down for the hotel breakfast before they stopped serving at 10am.  Three-fourths of us made it… one chose sleep over breakfast.  Any guesses on the identity of this noggin?

When we came back from eating, a few hits from the pillows and then tickled feet, and we finally got him stirring… at least enough to start stirring.

After everyone was upright and the car was loaded, we headed off to our first adventure, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream factory. We had about 30 minutes to kill before our tour started so we visited the Flavor Graveyard… the finally resting place of their retired flavors.

I thought this was really cute… The boys not so much.

The Waterbury, Vermont location is their original factory. Since Ben & Jerry sold the business to Unilever for a gabilliondollars, they now have 2 other Vermont plants and another in Holland.

The ice cream and cow puns were hilarious. There was the Vanilla-vator (elevator) and a Moo-vie (movie), I am almost 16 pints tall, and we followed the herd as we went through the factory. 🤣

We couldn’t take many pictures inside the factory – they said they never knew when a Hagen-daz spy was present 😉, but it was fun to watch to milk, cream and sugar moved through the facory and assembly line.   The Mooovie told us about the start of Ben & Jerry’s. Two cool tidbits: they started after taking a $5 ice cream making course from Penn State; and Ben had a terrible sense of taste and smell, so the chunks were left in the ice cream originally for Ben, but became part of their signature style.  

For the most part, everything was automated within the factory, but human supervision was required, and that’s where the real show was.  As we are watched the ice cream containers being filled, they would move to a spot where the caps would be put on, and then the containers were flipped over, so the expiration date could be put on the bottom. We noticed that the caps got jammed up on one line, but Lineworker Garrett was checking his email on his phone. So the containers were filled, not capped, then flipped, which spilled ice cream. One after the other after the other, and Garrett is still scrolling email.  Mike and I were tapping on the window to try to get his attention, but clearly, he couldn’t hear us. Finally, he glanced up from his phone and noticed ALL the spilled ice cream down the line. He cleared the jam, and the line was up and running properly again. But then the containers started coming down on the left side empty and uncapped.  Poor Garrett just started collecting the empty containers and throwing them in the trash.  Eventually, another guy came to help, but it was just too funny to us as we listened to our guide rave about the technological marvels of their factory while the actual factory looked like something on Laverne & Shirley!  Poor Garrett.  I sure hope his line got straightened out.

After the tour, we decided we needed a little more than the tour samples, so we got in line for more ice cream.  This sign caught our eye.  No tips allowed.  Seemed like a good idea at first, but after watching Lineworker Garrett inside for a while, I wondered if maybe we ought to reward those who work a little harder?

We snagged one more picture and then said goodbye to Ben & Jerry’s (and Garrett) 😁

Off we went headed to the capital of Vermont , Montpelier.  The Capital itself was impressive, but the architecture on the old homes was really cool.  Absolutely no cookie-cutter homes here – Everything was old and distinct.

We made a pit stop to explore Morse Maple Syrup Farm. Leo loved their homemade tree art.

We learned some interesting information on maple syrup, and now know why REAL maple syrup is expensive. Did you know it takes 4 forty-year-old trees over six weeks to make enough sap to create 1 gallon of maple syrup! The trees are “tapped” and then tubing runs from the tap all the way down to the sugarhouse.  This was just an example at the farm, but as we drove through Vermont, we could see the lines running through the woods.  Also, did you know maple syrup can be darker and lighter just depending on the blend of trees? Neither did we.

The sugar house isn’t in season right now.  Tapping is usually during the fall, but we got to explore on our own. I loved the lifecycle of the tree. The center marker notes it’s start: 1834 small, winged seed flutters to the ground. 1898 Great-Great-Grandpa John Morse died, and 1994 160-year-old tree dies Wayne and Rebecca Morse cut it down.  Clearly the Morse family has been here a very long time.

They had a great souvenir shop, with lot of maple syrupy things (clearly they believe in the power of maple syrup) and some hats that we almost brought home.

Vermont is a beautiful state.  Lots of Mountains and wide openspots, with these beautiful, old barns all along the drive.

Then we crossed into New Hampshire… State # 44!

We have had a long day of driving and these two have been such troopers… plus it helps that Mom’s Café is now serving New Hampshire too

We followed this truck FOREVER and loved watched this gigantic dog! He had his own “tent” in the back of the truck for shade and every now and then he would peek out to check where the truck was.  Mike said he was an akita. Boys and I thought he was part wolf.

Again, the scenery looked like something out of a painting.

I’m not sure who names the towns around here, but at one intersection we could go left for Mexico and right for Peru.  The boys didn’t think this was nearly as funny as Mike and I did.

We made a stop at Walmart for s’more supplies (I’m still giddy from all the Ben & Jerry puns and we really are getting supplies for S’mores) and we rolled on through northern New Hampshire, and then…

Maine… State #45!  I know Maine has some big towns and cities, but it is littered with these tiny little towns and hamlets.  Each with a downtown straight out of a Hallmark movie.

Since we knew we were going to do a late check-in for tonight, we decided to stop in for dinner in Guilford, Maine.  Pronounced WAY different than our Guilford. Here it is Gill (like what a fish uses to breath) and Fudd (like Elmer Fudd). Gill-Fudd. We saw great reviews for the Red Maple Inn so we decided to give it a try.  Great folks, great food, and great location!  We are even thinking of driving the 20 minutes back for 4th of July.  They have an American Flag painted on one wall and they ask all active duty military or veterans to sign the flag, and when they do everyone in the restaurant stands ♥️🇺🇸

As the sun started to set, we arrived at our home for the next 2 nights, Northeast Whitewater Lodge and Guides. We loaded up the luggage but left anything that wouldn’t go in the mini-fridge due to the critters it could attract. 

We walked and turned the corner, Surprise!  We are staying in a Yurt!

Mike hates camping but we are compromising with the yurt – it is insulated with fans, mini-fridge and electricity. It is so cool! It has beds for 6 people so plenty of room to spread out and relax. No internet at the yurt, but you can get a signal up at the office/bathhouse.  Did I mention bathhouse?  Of yes, good old fashioned shared camping bathhouse.  

We got settled and played cards, and then before bed had to get redressed to use the restroom one more time. (they loved my bathhouse outfit).  

Never in my life will I forget today. Niagara Falls was a bucket list item that met everything we thought it would be. Then we ended the day with the best Mexican food ever all with my favorite people… yep, Best Day Ever!

We started this morning in Niagara Falls, NY. We slept in a bit and then packed up the car. Thankfully, we can walk to the Falls from our hotel, so we could leave the car at the hotel, fully loaded to hit the road later. No free hotel breakfast this morning, so we snagged a few pop tarts from the car and stopped in a local coffee spot, literally called “The Spot” for coffee and smoothies. These two were entertained by the tic-tac-toe board while Mike went to change his shirt.

We crossed the street and made our way into Niagara Falls State Park.

The State Park is really nice. Plenty of walking/running trails with lots of shade and a nice breeze coming off the water. The weather could not have been better.

We decided to do the Cave of the Winds first, and based on the line as we were leaving, we made the right call. The Cave of Winds takes you down to the bottom of the Falls, gives you a really cool yellow poncho,

and then turns you lose to get as wet as you want… and we absolutely did!

The Falls were everything we thought they would be. Just amazing!

We were so soaked and laughing so hard 🤣 It will be one of my favorite days forever and ever… and it was only 11am! Some of us did not use the hood of our poncho, nor did they hold the edges of their ponchos tightly… wanna guess who?

We spent a little time exploring the gift shop and State Park… and of course took a few pictures.

We even managed to catch the Rainbow over the falls at one of the overlooks.

We then made our way to the Maid of Mist, and while the line at first made us nervous, it was only about a 10 minute wait.  This time, we got a blue poncho and some great views of the water around the Falls.

And off we went to the falls.  The Maid of the Mist boat takes you right up to the bottom of the falls and it is windy, and loud, and wet and AWESOME!

After we docked, we climbed the stairs on the other side of the Falls for one more chance to get soaked 😁

We went out on the observation deck for one last look.  Absolutely worth the trip across the state

We trekked back to the car and started making our way toward Vermont.  Mom’s Cafe – Now with service in Upstate NY!

The closest route took us off the Interstate and through some really cute small towns in Central and Upstate New York.  We decided that the town of Spectator should have been Spectactular, because 1) that’s a way better name and 2) the marketing/tourism plan practically writes itself!  And they had a road called “The Lane” – it turned out to be a boring residental road, but how cool would it be to live on The Lane in Spectactular, NY?

The old school metal bridge were definitely something you don’t see anymore.

When I pointed this sign out, I was quickly told by my people that no one was going in any caves today. BOO!😒

We loved the flags throughout the town of Crown Point, NY honoring their veterans.  Crown Point calls itself the “Birthplace of the Electrical Age” which honestly seemed like a pretty bold claim for a really small town.  But, after some internet sleuthing, it turns out that Ironville, a hamlet of Crown Point, was the firstplace in the world to use electrivity commercially for industrial purposes.  While an incredibly specific claim, it must be true because we found a plaque!

It wouldn’t be a Brown Family Adventure if we didn’t find ourselves on an unmarked road at least once, so we can mark this as done. And we found some random interesting things, like an orchard totally covering their apple trees from birds and insects. ☑️ and ☑️

But the views today made it so hard to believe that the NYC and Upstate are actually the same state.  I guess the same could be said for North Carolina when you think of the mountains to the beaches to the cities.

Finally we made to The Bridge, the one that separates New York and Vermont at the midpoint.

This drive was gorgeous.  Mike said with these views and the low population, maybe we needed to think of moving… I reminded him that it was July, not January.  Could he handle an average of 6-8 feet of snow per winter? We’ll just stay where we are, but wow!  These views…

Apparently everyone likes the views because every now and then, we saw these “Viewing Area” pulloffs. Nothing to actually see other than pretty landscape so maybe everyone thinks it’s gorgeous?

We did get tickled by these signs… apparently in Vermont you don’t take things to Goodwill.  You just put them in your yard with a sign?

We decided to grab dinner in Burlington, Vermont – home to the University of Vermont. The boys wanted Mexican (the boys always want Mexican), and we found this little renovated downtown diner that was a “farm to table to taco” theme.  Not sure what that means, but reviews were good so…  Other that the crowd of high young people hanging out under the stairs of a parking deck, the Downtown area was really cool.

El Cortijo was absolutely amazing! It was small but the food was so good, and the wait staff was friendly and welcoming (people are very interested in our accents). I think we are going to have a hard time eating Mexican food anywhere else and not comparing it to here. Of course, Michael, ever the contrarian when we all rave about a restaurant, said Amigos is better (our local Mexican restaurant). 🤦🏻‍♀️

After dinner, the boys decided to use the hotel gym to exercise and I decided to use to whirlpool to not exercise 🤣  Then they joined me in the pool area. I had a flashback to when they were little and could spend hours wrestling and sliding and wrestling, and did I mention wrestling?

Total miles today was 5 miles and ~11,000 steps, of course that was by 1pm so not too shabby 😊