Fall is, without fail, the best season in all the land.
Many tend to argue with this stated fact (how one can argue with a fact is beyond me, but whatever) by citing summertime as the best season in all the land... especially in Chicago. But I beg to differ. I mean, clearly those people seem to be conveniently forgetting all about excessive heat and humidity that comes with summertime fun. Ugh.
But fall. Oh fall. The flavors of the season, the colors of the season, the MERRIMENT OF THE SEASON THAT'S RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER?!?!?!?!?
I rest my case.
Anyway, it's been a dream of mine to do a road trip through the New England states in the Fall. Sipping warm cozy beverages, admiring the lovely fall foliage, enjoying the quaintness that IS New England... if that doesn't scream all things happy in the world, I just don't know what does.
Imagine my surprise when I unveiled this grand dream to one of my friends/co-workers who surprisingly responded with the fact that her good friend had the SAME dream?!? Well, OBVIOUSLY we had to seize the opportunity! Carpe diem, if you will.
After much planning (completely on their part... thanks again, Purvi and Rina!)... the fall foliage trip to end all fall foliage trips finally took place!! And I have to say... while I had QUITE high expectations, Maine 100% surpassed all of my expectations. Sigh- it seriously was everything I hoped and dreamed it to be and more!
There were five of us who ended up embarking on this little adventure last weekend (thank GOD it was last weekend and not this weekend... yikes, Mother Nature). We flew into Boston Friday evening... oh wait, before I begin. Let me introduce the characters that are involved here... I think the pictures can speak for themselves.
Purvi...
Rina...
Trang...
And Ruma...
And, then, well, me. There are pictures of me all over this blog so no need for a separate profile picture. Anyway! Back to the trip!
Okay, so we flew in Friday night (after a slight flight delay) and drove up to Portland, Maine that same night. Did you know that Portland is only a couple of hours away from Boston?? I had no idea. Anyway, it was all very delightful. Check out the COZIEST LITTLE INN THAT WE STAYED IN OUR FIRST NIGHT!!!
Okay- so maybe it was a Howard Johnson. But whatever. Doesn't it SCREAM log cabin-y coziness?!?
Anyway, that Saturday morning, we had some time to just enjoy Portland. Despite the gray skies and drizzle, Portland's quaint, cozy charm was clearly evident.
With lots of cozy, happy beverages...
And a little stalking of local barbers who just happen to be the most adorable men in the world thrown in for good measure...
After perusing the finer offerings of downtown Portland, we hit the road again. While the end destination was Bar Harbor in Acadia National Park (3 hours from Portland), we had a few pit stops along the way...
Obviously, stop #1 had to be the LL Bean store. This thing sounded ridiculous... and it kind of was.
Yes, that is a giant boot.Anyway, it was an interesting enough stop, but none of us were overly wow'ed by it... granted, we had pretty sky-high expectations given the descriptions Rina had found of this place but still. I mean, if you can't kayak in an indoor pond at LL Bean, where CAN you do that?
Anyway, quickly moving on... time to find some lighthouses!
After navigating some windy roads and getting lost just a couple of times (no road trip would be complete without getting lost, right?), we finally found the first lighthouse that we were going to stop at. It was a little windy and slightly drizzly, making the walk to the lighthouse (which we were even questioning as BEING a lighthouse to begin with) a bit treacherous, but we powered through... well, at least for a little bit. But the water was SCARY! So we stopped walking the path about halfway through and turned around.
And we were off again! This time to Bar Harbor, Maine. I was so excited to see this bed and breakfast that we were staying in, I just couldn't WAIT.
And for good reason too. I can safely say that the Inn at Southwest bed and breakfast is one of the best bed and breakfasts...ever. We were greeted by the cutest co-owner (Esther) who had fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies just waiting for us!! Happiness, if you will.
Saturday night was pretty mellow, since everything closes by like 7 PM over there. We just hung out in our cozy bed and breakfast and went to bed early since we had to be up early the next morning... for rock climbing!
Well, some of us went rock climbing (how scaling rocks that are hanging over treacherous waters is appealing to anyone... well, I will certainly never understand).
Others went for little strolls in the forest. CHECK OUT THESE PICTURES!!!
All in all, it was a DELIGHTFUL Sunday morning. I'm so proud/happy for the rock climbers! It was clearly a worthwhile, exhilarating experience. After the morning activities, we reconvened for lunch and... well, a mini photo session apparently (note: I am not posting ALL the photos we took in this one area because... quite frankly, we spent way more time than was healthy posing for pictures in this one location).
I love, love, love pictures of people laughing! It just makes me so HAPPY!
Anyway, after THAT nonsense, we ended up setting off for the peak of Cadillac Mountain to watch a brilliant sunset.
I honestly can't express how peaceful and PERFECT the top of this mountain was. It was just view after view after view. Perfection.
Anyway, amidst that perfection, it was also a tad bit COLD. So we snapped some pictures before heading right back into that heated car of ours to head back to our cozy, cozy bed and breakfast.
Since nothing is really open past like 7 PM in Bar Harbor (at least at this time of year), we decided to order in (two feet of) pizza from the local gas station. How many things are wrong with that sentence? Sigh. Anyway. A story for another time...
And that was Sunday night. We ended up hanging out in the bed and breakfast, eating that pizza and mingling with some of the fellow guests (sigh. They were just so adorable) before calling it a night. We had another early morning on Monday, since we were now beginning the drive back down the state to get back to Boston in time for our evening flights!
After the slightly disappointing "lighthouse" pit stop we'd had on the way to Bar Harbor on Saturday, we figured we needed to give it another go. So the group pinpointed another lighthouse they wanted to check out and we headed straight for it.
Sweet. Success.
It really was quite beautiful. Once that mission was accomplished, we headed back to that car. Next stop? Pit stop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for lunch and... well, shenanigans.
*A HUGE THANK YOU TO ESTHER AND SANDY for making our experience at your Inn at Southwest bed and breakfast one of the best experiences ever! We are truly appreciative of your efforts and hospitality and will DEFINITELY be advertising this place to future visitors of Bar Harbor. :)
**Special thanks to (all of) the photogs on this trip! Purvi, Rina, Ruma and Trang- your pictures were FANTASTIC (iPhones and all... ;))
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