Lee spent the first week of October in New York City for his last week of ITLP training.  We took advantage of him being on the east coast and both flew into Boston early on Friday, October 5.  We rented a car and headed straight for Maine.  The Boston freeways had us a little confused and it took a few wrong turns before we were going in the right direction.  The weather was marginal that morning, but by mid-afternoon it was beautiful. We opted to take the long way and drove along much of the coast between Portland, Maine and Bar Harbor, Maine.  Our first stop was York, where we got out to appreciate the Cape Neddick Lighthouse and then stopped for brunch.  We ate at the Stolen Menu Cafe and I loved it.  Lee's breakfast wasn't anything to rave about, but mine was amazing!  Sticky bun french toast.  The best of both worlds!

From there we drove through Kennebunkport and were pretty sure we passed by the Bush residence - it was huge and flying a Texas flag.  We drove past several cute and quaint little towns, stopping only in Rockport before reaching our destination in Bar Harbor.  We stayed at a little cottage/motel just outside of town for three nights.  And despite the wet and foggy weather which we experienced for half the time we were there, we LOVED it.  Maine was beautiful!  The rugged coastline, the changing leaves, the laid back people and the seafood were just wonderful.  We really wish Maine were closer, we'd go all the time!

Friday night we found the most delicious restaurant, Galyn's, before crashing.  It was definitely worth the wait and so good we went back again for dinner on Sunday.  It was a fabulous find.   Saturday morning we got up early for our boat trip to view the lighthouses near and in the national park.  We only learned once we got there that the trip had been canceled due to bad weather.  So, we rescheduled for the following day and headed straight for the park.  The weather didn't lend itself to us seeing much, but we did take the scenic route and stopped in a few places.  The view was limited with the fog, but we had a couple of moments when things cleared up and you could see the beautiful coastline.  We stopped for a late lunch at Jordon Pond, supposedly famous for their popovers and location.  Unfortunately the location didn't matter much in the fog, and although the popovers were tasty, the meal wasn't all that good and definitely overpriced.  We learned the hard way.....  Given the weather, we then headed back to the cute town of Bar Harbor to wander around the shops.  We had noticed an elaborate miniature "adventure" golf course outside of town and we decided to hit it up.  It was our first golfing experience together and Lee's skills trounced my own.  I stopped keeping score....

The clouds cleared overnight and we got up early in order to drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain (1,500 feet above sea level and the highest point on the eastern seaboard) for sunrise.  The view was spectacular.  One of my favorites.  Definitely cold.  But spectacular.  It was worth the short night of sleep.

Following a hot breakfast, we headed for our the lighthouse boat tour.  We lucked out with clear weather and fairly calm oceans and had a great time.  We were out on the water for a few hours and saw several lighthouses:  Bear Island, Great Duck Island (which rarely can be accessed given the tumultuous waters, so we were lucky),  Baker Island, Winter Harbor Lighthouse, and Bar Harbor Lighthouse.   Once we were off the boat, we only had an hour or so to grab lunch before getting back on another boat.  This time we boarded the Margaret Todd, a 151 foot schooner with several sails, to check out Frenchman's Bay.  It wasn't exactly what we expected and the weather had changed over the course of lunch, but still a fun thing to do and try.

Monday we had the long drive back to Boston, but before leaving that afternoon we explored a little more of the park.  We went back to check out Jordon Pond in the sunlight and then drove to the Bass Harbor Lighthouse and had lunch on the Wonderland Trail.  We lucked out with a beautiful day and a gorgeous drive.   We drove back via Penobscot and stopped to go to the Penobscot bridge observation tower.  The views were awesome and I'm so glad we stopped!

We got to Boston pretty late on Monday night and didn't have time to go into downtown (we stayed near the airport).  Instead we rallied early on Tuesday morning to make the most of our day there.  We headed first to Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall and then made several stops along the Freedom Trail before catching the subway out to Harvard where we caught up with an old friend of Lee's for lunch.  That afternoon we finished the Freedom Trail, passing through Boston Commons and touring the U.S.S. Constitution before we had to head back to the hotel and on to the airport.  We didn't quite make it to Bunker Hill, but we appreciated the monument from a distance.  :)

We really had a wonderful weekend and fell in love with Maine.  I'm so glad we've visited and I can't wait for an opportunity to go back!

For more pictures, go to the gallery.