Acadia; Day 7 - Saturday August 18, 2018

Today kind of sucked.  Nick returned the rental car after paying $46 to park overnight.  We got ready and went downstairs and asked an employee where the “free continental breakfast” was and she just stared at us.  The guy had totally lied to us yesterday.  She tried to make it right by giving us the breakfast but it took a while and we were rushed getting to the airport.  The shuttle took awhile but after that, everything went smoothly. 

We had an uneventful trip home and overall, it was a great trip.  It wasn’t Utah but it was still enjoyable and the kids have now been to 26 states (Ryan’s been to 27 states) and they’re 10 and 12 years old.  And oh did I mention that they’ve been to 31 national parks??? 😊

Acadia: Day 6 - Friday August 17, 2018

This morning Nick and I walked down to a Starbucks and got drinks and breakfast for us all.  We ate in the room then drove to Boston.  Our first destination was the Harvard campus.  We drove by Harvard Square but didn’t get out because of course there’s no place to park.  Nick made several comments about how all the kids there were snowflakes as we drove around the campus and joked about the bad investment all these people were making.  I didn’t realize that Harvard was founded in 1636.  That’s hard to believe. Then we drove by MIT, then along the Charles River to the Museum of Science.  You can park at the museum and get on a duck (DUKW) boat.  We had a little bit of time before our tour started at 12 so we grabbed lunch inside the museum and the café looked out onto the river, facing the Longfellow Bridge. 

We took a tour from 12-1:15 and it was pretty interesting but our guide was a little over the top and annoying.  But overall, I’m glad we did it.

From there we drove to the airport Hilton and it was a mess.  I paid for a corner room but the guy didn’t give us one because he “upgraded” us to executive floor which included a free continental breakfast. Hmmm…suspicious -especially since he didn’t tell me about the upgrade until after I came back downstairs and asked where my corner room was.

Oh well.  We did have a nice view of Boston… we got cleaned up then took the hotel shuttle to the Airport Blue Line Station and the kids enjoyed their first subway experience.  

It was so hot on the train.  We had to switch to the Green Line at the Government Center stop then we got off at the Kenmore Street Station.  Then we walked and SAW IT – FENWAY with the lights on.

While we were on the subway it started raining but when we got off the subway, it had stopped.  But as we approached the ballpark, it started up again.  So we went on inside and grabbed some food then took our seats, which happened to be covered!  There’s not a lot of covered seats so we got pretty lucky. 

The food was good and we got to sit through a great storm – thunder, lightning, wind, all of it.  We were on the very back row of the bottom section so we could turn around and see the city.  It poured and the game was maybe 5 minutes delayed.  The rain stopped and it was a perfect night. 

The Sox played the Rays and were down three runs after the top of the first inning but ended up winning the game.  Nick talked to a nice guy from Louisiana sitting next to him and he gave Grant a little bag of Fenway dirt.  And the accents were awesome.  Every time the Sox scored they played Irish music that everyone clapped along to and in between the innings they played Aretha Franklin songs because she died yesterday morning. 

And of course, we didn’t leave until after the middle of the 8^th inning when they play Sweet Caroline – it was awesome.  I’d always thought it was played during the 7^th inning stretch but it’s actually the 8^th inning stretch.  And dumb me, I thought the Green Monster was a center field wall but it’s really the left field wall. 

We left as soon as Sweet Caroline ended and got turned around walking to the subway station so we didn’t dodge any of the crowd – IT WAS CROWDED and taking the stairs down into the station, I felt the muggiest air I’ve literally ever felt.  We managed to make it back without incident but it was late and the kids were exhausted. 

Luckily the beds are comfortable and Nick and I got to mark something off our bucket list today – FENWAY – check!

Acadia: Day 6 - Thursday August 16, 2018

This morning we left the room in Stowe around 8am and stopped for breakfast at Stowe Bee’s Bakery.  Then we began our 5-states-in-one-day drive.  We went from Vermont to New Hampshire then to Mass (stopped near Lowell at a Subway for lunch).  Then we went slightly out of the way so that we could cut the corner of Connecticut (just so the kids could say they’ve been there) and drove into Rhode Island.  We arrived in Newport around 2:45 and drove around, looking at the mansions and historic buildings including the childhood home of Jackie Kennedy and the church where she and John got married. 

We checked into our very old four-story hotel, the America’s Cup Inn and it’s amazing.  It’s very old and a little smelly but on the fourth floor is an outdoor deck and we have a window unit that cools the room down a lot.  There are parakeets in a cage on the first floor (four of them) and Ryan would go by them when they were chirping and say, “Ssshhh” and they’d all get quiet. 

Ryan, Nick and I walked around for 35 minutes and man was it hot outside – like 92 degrees and humid.  Grant stayed in the room and played Fortnight, which is all he’s been doing this entire trip.  He’s even wearing his headphones and “talking” (aka yelling) to his friends and we’re constantly shushing him. 

After our walk, we came back to the room and got ready for dinner at The Gas Lantern, which was right by our hotel on Thames Street.  It was great.  I was wearing a ballcap with the Dallas Cowboys star on it (that’s all) and our waitress told me she liked my hat – I think she’s the fifth person on this trip to say they like it – surprising! 

After dinner we walked around a bit – Ryan got a sweatshirt, Grant got some taffy, I got a “Green Monstah” ballcap because Nick said I can’t wear my cowboys cap to the Red Sox game tomorrow night.  Then Nick got a cupcake mixed in with soft serve ice cream (it’s called a Whirlie) at Charlie’s Cupcakes across from our hotel, then it was back to the room.

Grant got back on Fortnight, Ryan’s attached to her computer, and now Nick’s on day 2 or 3 of his 30-day challenge exercise routine…we’ll see…

I can’t believe this trip is almost over.  It’s been fun but it’s felt very short.

Acadia: Day 5 - Wednesday August 15, 2018

This was a fun day.  I got up and “ran” but it was literally 99% humidity and drizzling and it was hard to breathe.  But it was still beautiful outside.  Once I got back and showered and everyone was ready, we stopped for breakfast at The Bagel, then drove south to the village of Waterbury where we went on a Ben & Jerry’s factory tour.  We were able to sample a flavor that they created in the factory and isn’t sold to the public – Summer Tea Party – it was ice cream that tasted like orange sherbet but was supposedly grapefruit.  Then we each bought a flavor and sat outside and ate it.  The kids hadn’t ever had Ben & Jerry’s ice cream before.

From there we drove back to Stowe and drove past the Trapp Family Lodge (it has a great view).  Then we drove up to Mount Mansfield and bought a family pass to ride the gondola up the mountain.  The lady who sold us the tickets recommended we take a .7 mi hike up to the summit – the trail was called The Cliffs.  She said it was steep but fun.

We started off and it was amazing – very challenging to climb up.  Everyone was having fun and we were only about .05 miles into the hike when Grant and I came upon a porcupine!  Grant was in the lead and I was behind him so Ryan and Nick didn’t get to see him because he climbed back into his cave.

Porcupine cave!

It was a little unnerving continuing on but right after that we got to a spot that we couldn’t traverse.  We were in a narrow slit and there was a huge drop off that the kids wouldn’t have been able to get across. 

I was surprised that the lady, after looking at Grant, recommended the trail.  So sadly we had to turn around but it was still spectacular.

We went back down the gondola and stopped at the Sunset Grilled for drinks and snacks.  We sat outside and listened to good classic rock on the radio and ate root beer floats, pepsi, sangria, beer, nachos, fries and mozzarella sticks.  It was fun!

We went back to the room and chilled for a bit then we went outside by the pool and Grant and Nick threw the ball for a while.

We then left the kids in the room and went out to get some wine and pick up some dinner.  We ate in the room and are now watching Beauty and the Beast in our room.

It just stormed outside so I think we’re in for the night.  We’ll leave tomorrow morning and start our drive down to Rhode Island.

Acadia: Day 4 - Tuesday August 14, 2018

Today we woke around 7:30, packed up, ate breakfast and got on the road for a rather long drive to Stowe, Vermont.  We hit a lot of rain along the way but we stopped in Augusta, Maine (the 3^rd least populated capitol city in the county – population 19,000 ish) and saw Fort Western, the oldest still-standing wooden fort, built in the mid-1700’s and used by Benedict Arnold to assemble his troops prior to the Battle of Quebec.  I thought Grant might find it interested because he had just studied all of this in fourth grade American History class.

From Augusta, we headed east but it was slow going and a lot more rain.  We settled on lunch in Bethel, ME (population sub 3,000 and we ate at Bethel House of Pizza, the only restaurant we’d seen in hours.  The restaurant was in a house and it was some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. The cook said he makes the dough every morning.  What a surprise – best meal of the trip.

We pulled into Stowe around 4pm and checked into the Stoweflake Resort & Spa.  Our room is big and neat and old– it has a gas fireplace (which doesn’t work).  Nick and I headed out on a walk along the city rec trail and it follows the river that runs through town.  We headed “north” towards the ski mountain and the air smelled like Cannon Beach.  Kids were playing and swimming in the river. 

After we returned to the room, we grabbed the kids and drove about 5 miles up the road to the Bingham waterfalls.  

The trail was completely covered in trees and was very short but once we got down to the falls, we crossed over the river so that we could get a good view of the third fall (the tallest of them all).  They were very cool – cut down deep into the earth.  But the air was so thick that your hands felt wet. 

We got back in the car and drove back into town.  We drove around a bit and drove up Covered Bridge Rd (the first one we’ve driven over/through).  

Then we had dinner at the Depot Street Malt Shop and the food was surprisingly delicious.  Nick and I each had French onion soup and a salad and I think it was the best French onion I’ve had.  Grant got a root beer float and Ryan had a burger.

Now we’re back in the room (it’s 8:30pm) and we’re settling in for the night.

There are lots of interesting things we want to do tomorrow so we’ll be up early!

Acadia: Day 3 - Monday August 13, 2018

Today has been GREAT!  We slept late (I slept from 9pm until 8am and decided to not take all of my stupid vitamins that Grant’s nutritionist had recommended (he saw a nutritionist a few weeks back who tested him for a million things to see if he was having sensitivities to anything that would cause his tics to get worse.  Then he put Grant on a crazy vitamin regimen and told me I should be taking zinc and vitamin A but it was giving me a really bad headache).

We had breakfast then decided to tackle the Western side of Mount Desert Island (the name of the entire island on which Bar Harbor is located and on which is most of Acadia National Park).  We drove down Hwy 102 and stopped at Echo Lake Beach. 

We took a very convoluted hike up to the summit of Beech Mountain (there was a lookout tower at the top) and then found our way back to the car, inadvertently hiking a little more than 4 miles (it was steep going up!). 

Once we got back to the car, we walked over to Echo Lake Beach (which was beautiful) and had another picnic of pepperoni sandwiches.  We put our hands and feet in the lake (it was strange because on your had, the water felt hot but on Ryan’s feet, she said it was freezing.)

At this point it was around 1:30pm.  So we got back in the car and drove the clockwise loop down through Southwest Harbor, then through the Seawall campgrounds, around to Seal Cove and up past Pretty Marsh.

We drove back to the main entrance so we could take pictures in front of the sign (the sign wasn’t very special but it did the trick). 

From there we stopped at Udderly Heaven for ice cream (Grant milked a cow) The ice cream store was just east and across the street from our motel). Then we went home and sat outside/played catch.

It’s now 5:15 and we’re driving to The Travelin’ Lobster for dinner.  It’s a lobster “shack” so we’ll see.  More later…

Dinner was a lot of fun.  Nick ordered a hot buttered lobster roll and the kids and I ordered crab rolls.  The kids thought the food was so-so, as did I but Nick loved his lobster roll.  We ate outside and it was a nice evening.  

Afterwards we returned to the motel for smores in front of the fire circle.  The kids loved doing that.   

After a little bit of playing catch, packing and cleaning up, Ryan and I settled on the Food Network for a kids’ cooking competition followed by Reality Bites Cupcakes, which was really good.

Then it was off to bed.

Acadia: Day 2 - Sunday August 12, 2018

This morning we had breakfast at the hotel after “sleeping in” until 8am.  Then we drove into Bar Harbor to get groceries and hydrogen peroxide for Grant’s ear.  From there we finally entered the park and headed to the Hull Center Visitor Center to pay for an annual pass ($80 instead of $30 just to get into Acadia) and to get our passbooks stamped and to buy magnets and hat pins.  It was about 10:30 when we arrive at the visitor’s center and it was crowded!

From there, we opted to take the Park Loop Road (you can only drive clockwise) down to Sand Beach and from there we hiked a pretty challenging hike to The Beehive and The Bowl (we were just southeast of Bar Harbor at this point).  

While we were on the hike, my mom texted that Dad made it on his run (inside but nevertheless, it counted!) I started crying and immediately felt better.  It was very humid so the hike was very hard and I was really sweaty but it was fun – lots of metal bars and ladders to get up but interesting and very pretty views from the top.  

At the top we ate a meal of pepperoni on Ritz crackers with cream cheese – a trick Ryan learned in June on her Appalachian Trail hike.  It was good!  We also threw back some red grapes and then moved onto the next stop.

We continued driving clockwise through Northeast Harbor then back towards the motel (The Best Western on State Hwy 3 (we love it).  We played 18 holes of mini golf at Pirate’s Cove which was just ½ mile or so east of our motel.  It was really fun.  Nick finished first, then Ryan, then me, then Grant. 

Then we headed back to the motel and dropped the kids off and Nick and I headed out in search of a gas station, beer and wine.  We stopped for gas and I bought a bottle of Abstract from a “roadside” wine store.  We then drove back into town and got beer at the grocery store and then drove back to the motel.

We chilled by the firepit (which is right outside of our room) and Nick and Grant played catch for a bit. 

After we cleaned up (and I lost 10,000 more hairs in the shower) we drove into town and had dinner at Side Street Café.  It was good but Grant and I both ordered crab cakes and they weren’t very good.  From there, we walked around town a bit and got very average ice cream from a very crowded ice cream store on Main Street.  I grabbed a pair of hiking socks from an outdoor store then we drove back to the motel and I essentially passed out at 9pm. 

It was a relief to know that my dad ran and that he seemed to be doing better today. 

Acadia: Day 1 - Saturday August 11, 2018

Whew.  Today’s been long!  I got up at 5 and walked before getting the kids up, showering, packing and getting out the door at 7:30. 

The trip itself was pretty uneventful – our flight to Boston was a little late but we made up the time in the air.  I watched Lady Bird (it was great).  But when we landed I got a text from Becky telling me that my dad was admitted into the ER and lost all of his memories from the past week. 

By the time I’d gotten the messages, he seemed to have gotten slightly better.  Very scary and definitely a vacation killer.

We grabbed our black Toyota Camry from Logan Airport and began the long drive from Boston to Bar Harbor, Maine.  We stayed on the toll roads for half of the trip until we pulled off at Brunswick, ME and ate dinner at Cameron’s Lobster House.  It was like a Sonic and a seafood restaurant combined and it was fun.  We sat outside and it was relaxing.  The previous 2.5 hours of driving had been in a hard rain so it was nice to get out of the car, walk around and eat.

Rather than get back on the toll roads, we decided to take the scenic route the rest of the way and it was really beautiful.  We’re surprised at how similar to Oregon it seems up here. 

We finally checked into the Bar Harbor Best Western at 9pm ET and our room’s great.  I called my mom and also spoke with my dad and he’s down. The doctor told him that he absolutely can’t run anymore and I’m heartbroken.  I don’t know what he’ll decide to do tomorrow and I hate not being there with him.  He’ll spend the night at the hospital tonight and then we’ll see what happens. 

Also, Grant, whose ear had been bothering him for a few days, but yesterday said it felt fine, is now miserable with an ear infection so we’re researching urgent care facilities in Bar Harbor.

I sure hope this trip gets better.