Mike & Kris - Enjoying The Ride

You have to love it when your expectations of a place are not just met but blown away in the awesomeness of it all.  We just spent eight days in Maine enjoying all it has to offer.  The first few days we explored Portland.  A historic seaport and fishing haven filled with lobster shacks, lighthouses, and so much more.  Not only is this area historic, it is also quite picturesque.

Unlike New York or Washington DC, Maine is best explored in a vehicle.  We spent hours driving the jagged coastline around Portland discovering every nook and cranny village we could find.

We headed north and discovered Bailey Island and nearby South Freeport, Maine.

They have the coolest t-shirt design:  So  Free  Me–I loved it.  Mike took some amazing pictures that capture our feelings of this place.  We also discovered some terrific seafood.  We had lunch at Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster.

We ate so much we didn’t even need dinner.

The next day we headed south and explored the Cape Elizabeth area.  The picture at the top of this blog is from Fort Williams Park in this area.  This is the Portland Head Lighthouse.  But again, everywhere you turn is another opportunity for beautiful landscape and a lobster shack or too!

The shacks are everywhere and they have successfully created a “fishing boat to table” experience that never gets old.  The huge lobster pots are outside (usually in front) with sea water boiling away.

You tell them what or which one you want and into the pot it goes.

Of course our quest for the best lobster roll continued and this time I included a couple if pictures (for you Bridget!)

 Although we couldn’t pick one favorite, we decided that Maine wins for not just the lobster rolls but for the whole lobster experience.

After our short stay in Portland, we headed a bit further north to Mount Desert Island.

This is the location of Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor Village, and many other small fishing villages.  Although the national park takes up the majority of the island, there are many small fishing villages out on the edges.  It makes for a beautiful national park experience with quaint villages to stop along the way.  And to see all of this undisturbed coastline was a sight to see, there is water everywhere!

We hiked with a ranger which was informative and fun, we drove to the top of the highest peak in New England-Cadillac Mountain (only 1500 feet above sea level but the views were amazing), and we trekked out to Bass Harbor Lighthouse.  It is a stunningly beautiful national park.

We continued our seafood only dining by checking out every stand we had heard or read about.

We made it to Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound (close to our RV), Union River Lobster Pot (in nearby Ellsworth), Thurston’s Lobster Pound (Bernard Village),

and Beal’s Lobster Pier (in Southwest Harbor Village).  I wanted to make sure and list them here so we will know where to go when we make it back here.  And make it back here we will!