MAINE SUMMARY

Day 1 - We departed the brown grassy plains of Denver Colorado and flew to Portland Maine, where we were greeted by thick green forests and emerald waters filled with lighthouses. We picked up a new Toyota Corolla rental car for the week and drove to our hotel in an outer section of town. Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant where Sean began his lobster tasting with tacos.

Day 2 -We drove up to Augusta where we took a tour of the capitol building. Afterwards we went to a restaurant downtown and Sean had some lobster stew. Across the river was Old Fort Western where all the volunteers wore 1700s attire. Our guide demonstrated firing a musket, carving a wooden shingle and even how to tighten a rope bed. In Winslow, we visited the ruins of Fort Halifax as well as walked across the Ticonic (aka Two Cent toll) Footbridge across the Kennebec river. Our hotel in Bangor for the next week was the charming Country Inn. We had some free coffee and hot chocolate and sat on the front porch for a while before heading into town to grab some dinner at an Irish pub.

Day 3 - After a lovely hotel breakfast, we took a gorgeous stroll along the Orono Bog boardwalk (with ferns, orchids and pitcher plants). We then drove to the Maine Forest Logging Museum (which was closed so we couldn't see inside the old saw mills or historic cabins). As we continued north, we crossed the 45th parallel (halfway between the equator and the North Pole). We grabbed some lunch in Greenville on the shores of Moosehead Lake, then headed up to Lily Bay State Park, hoping to do some walking along the lakeshore. Unfortunately everything was set up for boat launches and not hiking. We tried again at Prong Pond with the same result. At least we got some pretty views. On the way back, we took a short jaunt on the Appalachian Trail to Goodell Brook Falls. We also enjoyed a stop at Robyville covered bridge. We savored another warm beverage on our hotel's porch.

Day 4 - We had a 10 am reservation for Cadillac Summit (elevation 1,530 feet) in Acadia National Park. Our plan was then to catch the free shuttle to see other areas of the park. By the time returned to the visitor center, however, there was absolutely no parking to be had. So we set out for another section of the island. We started with a visit the Bass Harbor Head Light Station, which still had quite a long (but doable) line of cars. We then found two smaller hikes nearby with less traffic: Ship Harbor Trail and Wonderland Trail. We grabbed a quick lunch of burritos in the town of Southwest Harbor then made another attempt at Acadia. By 4:30 pm, most of the traffic was gone and we were able to drive the loop ourselves. We made stops at Thunder Hole, Otter Cliffs, and watched the sun begin to set over Jordan Pond.

Day 5 - We took a flight on a Cessna 172 over Mt. Desert Island and beyond. The weather was perfect and the views were amazing! We saw many islands, quite a few lighthouses and even ventured a bit up the Penobscot River with a view of Fort Knox. We then visited the Bird Acre Sanctuary which was home to injured raptors. In Bangor, we paid a quick visit to a large Paul Bunyan statue. We made it back to the hotel just before a big rainstorm hit. It was nice to take a rest since we weren't used to this East Coast humidity!

Day 6 - Happy 4ht of July! We began the day with a visit to Mount Hope Cemetery. We were then taking a stroll along the Penobscot River when we heard and saw a parade starting on the bridge. We hurried up to enjoy it. We then drove out to Stephen King's house and took a walk around the neighborhood with its gorgeous houses. It was then time to catch our historic ride on the Downeast Scenic Train in Hancock. Afterwards we managed to catch a shuttle into Bar Harbor where we walked around and enjoyed the music. Sean had grilled lobster tail and we split a piece of Maine blueberry pie. At 8 pm, we hopped on a boat for our fireworks cruise. After getting a view of a nearby lighthouse, we returned to the harbor to watch the fireworks explode over the water.

Day 7 - Today we packed in two site-seeing cruises... one to see puffins and lighthouses and the other for whale watching way out in the Atlantic Ocean (officially we were even in Canadian waters). We couldn't get too close to the puffins but several humpback whales played near the boat. We also saw seals, terns, cormorants and some bald eagles. We learned that terns are very protective... which we witnessed as they relentlessly attacked one of the puffin island volunteers.

Day 8 - We said good-bye to our lovely hotel and started making our way back south towards Portland, although we took the coastal route this time. Our first stop was Fort Knox, which we had viewed from our scenic flight. This place was a fun maze of rooms and dark tunnels! In Camden we drove to the top of Mt. Battie and got some amazing views from the tower. Rockport was home to some historic lime kilns and Andre the seal. In Rockland we visited the Project Puffin visitor center, which had a live cam of a baby puffin in its nest. It was also the location of Claws, the restaurant where Sean got a full lobster meal. We arrived at the Pemaquid lighthouse just before closing but were still able to do a quick climb into the tower. In Woolrich we saw the world's largest inflatable lobster then checked into our hotel in Brunswick. We could't resist an amazing desert of gelato (I even got 4 flavors in 1 cup)!

Day 9 - Breakfast included a stop at Holy Donut, famous for their potato donuts. We said hello to the Big F Indian in Freeport and the spectacular Eartha Globe in Yarmouth. We still had some time to visit the Preble Fort Light and the lighthouse at Fort Williams. We returned the rental car, grabbed some lunch in the airport and hopped on our flight home.