New England & Down East Maine
The rocky coasts of Maine get more and more dramatic — more and more rugged — with each passing mile “down east.” This road trip was one of our longest treks, and each day was an adventure bringing new smells, sights, sounds and of course inspiration!
Because each day of our trip essentially was a leg which involved extensive travel, this trip was anything but leisurely or slow-paced. And yet, it was relaxing beyond measure. It’s because I felt so far away, so removed from all of life’s minutiae and routines. The weather in Maine helped to reinforce this because it was so dramatically different from home. It was about thirty degrees cooler, with misty evergreen coastal views that seem to conjure visions of fishermen and the sounds of eerie foghorns. We seem to favor remote locations, and our stay at the Schoodic Peninsula was just about as remote as we got!
Our trip started at our front door, and eventually wound us all the way through New England. The only state we did not enter was Rhode Island, but we did touch down in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut sometime within our travels to and from Maine.
VERMONT
Vermont was our first stop in the long journey to Maine! One of the undeniable highlights was stopping at the Vermont Country Store, a pinnacle of countryside charm and simple living! I had my sights set on some items I had been looking forward to purchasing, but there was so much more that I didn’t expect to fall in love with. We entered early (at the store’s opening) and were the first customers in the door; it was wonderful to have an almost private shopping experience!
Unfortunately, these pictures are the only ones from my camera that I took during our stay in the Green Mountain State. The number of photos do not come close to nearly representing my affinity for Vermont! I love visiting, and as I’ve told S on our first trip, I’d move here in a heartbeat!
NEW HAMPSHIRE
We took the backroads through New Hampshire to get to our “Maine” destination (pun intended!). It was a day of driving in the car, so unfortunately I have no other pictures than these from a pond which we stopped for Mom’s beloved rock samples. If my memory serves me right, I believe it was called Wallace Pond. What struck me about NH was the state’s stunning views, even from the road — gorges, bright blue streams, thickly forested mountains.
MAINE
We visited SO many towns and fishing villages in Maine, it would be an exhaustive list! Never really resting our heads for more than one night per town, we were on the move often and ended up going quite far, in the some of the remotest parts of Down East Maine. We were greeted with the hallmark weather you might expect in coastal northern New England: gloom, fog, clouds, and cool temperatures.
We made a very brief stop in Kennebunkport, which was teeming with crowds and not conducive to our kind of exploring. We enjoyed the Dock Square Emporium but it was a relatively quick visit. It was charming and had the signature look of a coastal village, with lots of options for eating, shopping and I am sure boating. It was a long day in the car, so I was tapped out and not really in the mood to explore anyway. But the next visit to Freeport was delightful! It is the home of the LL Bean flagship store, which garners a lot of attention and tourism. We made a smart move to arrive early, so we could take our time without the crowds. We did just that, and really got to enjoy the full experience. It was also nice to be on foot and walk around the town, popping in and out of shops and enjoying bites to eat. I had some fantastic minestrone soup at Cafe 1912, and later that afternoon we enjoyed simple hot dogs from a hot dog stand.
Our drive to Belfast was absolutely stunning. More inland, less coastal, it was reminiscent of the Vermont mountains. We passed through a breathtaking lavender farm and were treated to mountaintop views of lakes and streams and green valleys dotted with quaint farms and houses. Route 1 was our best friend on this leg of the journey! Finally, we arrived in Belfast and were able to rest. We grabbed a pizza and delicious seasoned fries and marveled at the different, quite historic feel of the town.
From here, our travels found us in more and more remote places. We ventured down the various peninsulas of Maine to find moody, nautical views of moored boats in fog-shrouded inlets and islands crowded with tall pines. Cell service started to get limited as we creeped closer and closer to the ocean. A major highlight for me was seeing a true Maine lighthouse, and one that was very special to me (they look so different than what I am used to in the OBX and LBI!)
Marshall Point
Aaaaaaand there you have it, my not-so-little anthology of our New England trip! Truth be told, I know for a fact that I didn’t come close to capturing it all. There are some more pictures from my phone, and honestly no photos can ever really do justice to such dramatic landscapes like these. My final photos capture our arrival to a remote part of Acadia National Park, where we stayed and embarked on a professional development workshop for three days. Staying in a cabin at the secluded Schoodic Institute, we hiked, explored trails, waded in tidepools, and gazed at the rocky cliffsides with wonder and appreciation for nature and time’s beauty.
Captured on iphone
