Going with the Garcias

For our 15th wedding anniversary, Thomas and I decided to journey to Maine. (As Florida residents, any “break” from the dog days of summer are welcomed with open arms.) And with this being the first anniversary trip without our baby kitty in tow, we were looking forward to a nice relaxing long-weekend free of litter and smelly cat food. (Don’t worry, he was safe at home with the wonderful cat sitter we found!)

We intentionally didn’t plan each day like we normally do. We knew we wanted to start in Bar Harbor with some time in Acadia National Park, and end in Portland. We did determine a halfway point, for lodging purposes, but didn’t book anything else in advance. (For many people, that’s still very planned, but for us, it’s flying by the seat of our pants.)

On day one we flew into Bar Harbor on a very small plane. (Shout-out to Cape Air!) No, seriously, it only had eight seats. The co-pilot was the young pilot’s backpack. I’m not going to lie, I was VERY nervous about the flight, but that’s what we had to book to get to Bar Harbor due to our schedule. And I’m so glad we did not chicken out! I can’t begin to describe the views from the plane as we glided through the air just above 5,000 feet. (And I know that number because I could see the instrument panel from my seat.) The flight was honestly one of my favorite parts of the trip.

When we landed in the smallest airport I’ve ever seen, we got our bags and rental car, and set off to Acadia National Park. (The day before we left I did purchase our park pass and reservation pass for Cadillac Mountain…there has to be a little planning sometimes.) We had heard Cadillac Mountain would get very busy, so we went there first. As we drove up the winding road, we quickly understood why this is a hot spot. The road offers some areas to pull off and take in the beautiful views, not to mention the paths along the summit, once you park. After we took in every angle imaginable, we continued our trek in Acadia around Park Loop Road stopping at the spots that most people include: Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Otter Point, and Jordan Pond. As Florida natives, seeing Sand Beach was cool; we’re not used to such amazing trees and root systems being just yards away from crashing waves. Thunder Hole boomed as the waves hit the rocks and caves. Otter Point was disappointing since we did not see any otters. And Jordan Pond was beautiful and if we had more time, we would have enjoyed it longer.

After Acadia, we checked into our hotel for the night and walked around downtown Bar Harbor. That city became one of my favorites during the trip (and Thomas’s too). It’s just as cute and quaint as you see in its photos. (When we go back to Maine, we will spend more time here.)

On day two, we set out on our journey south-ish on Highway 1. We walked through the downtown areas of several cities including Ellsworth, Belfast, and Camden, stopping in so many cutes shops. During the drive, out of what seemed like nowhere, we saw a fort that looked pretty cool. Well, Thomas loves forts, so we stopped. We learned the first Fort Knox was actually in Maine before it was decommissioned and the one in Kentucky was built. It was also near what’s called the Penobscot Narrow Observatory which is currently the only bridge observation tower in the U.S. and sits 420 feet in the air. This became the moment in our trip where we were glad we hadn’t planned every day out because if we had, we would have missed this amazing piece of history!

For the night we settled in a boutique hotel in Rockland, which was my favorite place we stayed during the trip. The town around the hotel closed earlier than we anticipated, but as we walked down the downtown area to a restaurant for supper, we could tell it also offered the same charm as the other towns we had been in earlier.

For day three, we loaded the car again but instead of hitting the road, we hopped over to the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. Built in 1902, this lighthouse sits at the end of a 7/8-mile long stretch of granite. As you walk (carefully) on the path, you can hear the waves break, the seagulls cry, and smell the ocean breeze. (This was my other favorite part of our trip.) After we walked there and back, we continued our drive through towns stopping in Wiscasset to tour Castle Tucker, Bath (for a book store), Brunswick for lunch at Elevenses, and Freeport for the LL Bean Flagship Store. The day was full of walking, amazing sights, smells, and sounds.

We ended the day at our hotel in the Old Port District of Portland. Luckily for us, we came in on a Friday and the Portland Museum of Art was holding “free art Friday,” so we walked to the museum for a tour. After hitting a comic book store, we were exhausted and called it a night.

The following day was our last day and were due to fly out that evening. After packing our car with our luggage, we decided to tour a mansion we stumbled on (also not on our list of “cool” places consider visiting). Our docent at Victoria Mansion (Penny) was so knowledgeable and we could tell she enjoyed helping preserve part of history. It’s a stunning house with 90% of the interiors and furnishings belonging to the original owners — this is one that should not be missed.

With only a few hours left of our day, we drove south of Portland to Cape Elizabeth to view the lighthouse that is seen on almost any piece of Maine promotional material, at least for the Portland area — the Portland Head Light. About this time, it started to sprinkle. (Outer bands were starting to come in from a nearby nor’easter. We really know how to pick great times to travel.)

Overall our first trip to Maine proved to be breathtaking and a great moment to get away from the mundane things of everyday life. We learned a lot of lessons: sometimes it pays off not to plan each day, maybe smaller towns are better than big ones, and the weather man really doesn’t know when the rain is coming (so the airline does not know if your flight will be delayed).

There’s spots we learned we liked more than others. And there’s things we missed due to time, so we want to go back and visit those places. A few people have asked for our itinerary for their future trips to Maine. So here it is. Enjoy. We hope it gives you a good foundation for a trip to Vacationland (yes, that’s Maine’s nickname) that is full of only the best memories.