our trip to Boston and Maine

This summer, Tonia and I took Brennan and Daniel to Boston and Maine on an eight-day trip from July 30 - August 7. (We left eight days after my return from Zambia, July 12-22, so it's been a wild month!) With "the boys" getting older, it's become more challenging to do any sort of family vacation-- in terms of their interest and availability. We thought we'd do this trip as a couple, but we offered it to the boys, thinking we'd take 'em if we got two or more. We got two, so it became a family trip instead of a getaway for me and T!

I was excited to knock out the last of the contiguous states. (Tonia is still missing a few. I don't know when we'll get to those. But we hope to do Alaska next year and then maybe Hawaii on my next sabbatical.) Far beyond merely completing a list, the trip surpassed my (high) expectations. I'm not sure we can beat our trip from SF to Glacier in 2016. But this fits with other excellent vacations we've taken: New York State in 2011, SD and eastern CO in 2012, and Arizona in 2020. (We've taken many smaller trips that were roughly equivalent to each other: Chicago, NC/SC twice, Atlanta/Florida, Michigan twice [mostly southern and northern], St. Louis/Memphis, and Chattanooga.) 

I really wanted to (finally) see a game in Fenway Park. I had been to 20 major league parks and more than 200 major league games. Problem: nobody else in my family likes baseball at all. So, after we flew in on Tuesday afternoon and grabbed dinner in a Japanese restaurant, we walked the mile from our hotel to Fenway; I stayed and they spent the evening walking around downtown Boston. I got a seat on the 13th row for $100 (including $28 in Vivid Seat fees). I arrived early and walked all around the park-- from the location of Ted Williams' longest home run to the top of the Green Monster. I sat beside a couple from Nashville and a family of three from SC. Good times in a great stadium! (As for the game, Rafael Devers was impressive at the plate, but defensive gaffes by the Sox led to a Mariners' victory.)

The next morning, we did a guided tour on the "Freedom Trail". It started at "Boston Common"-- a lovely, but much smaller version of Central Park in NY. (TB&D had spent some time there the night before; Tonia and I returned on our last night.) We did the 90-minute "Walk into History"; our guide was entertaining and otherwise effective, dropping knowledge on us along the way. My favorite factoid: Georgia's gold was taken at the end of the Civil War to replace the bronze on the dome of the Massachusetts State House.

The tour ended in a light but steady rain at Faneuil Hall/Market. We went into the Hall, an historically important building with an enormous and famous painting/frame of Daniel Webster they were restoring. We got lunch across a courtyard (in an entire/large building of restaurants) and then walked to four other historical stops: Paul Revere House; Old North Church; USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides"); and Bunker Hill monument/museum. All of them were at least solid; none of them took a ton of time to see; the first two were inexpensive and the second two were free. We all agreed that the church and the ship were the most interesting. If you want a physical challenge, the 294 steps to the top of the BH monument should be on your list.

From there, we Uber'ed to the amazing Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) Museum. It's a huge, stained-glass globe depicting the world in 1935. You walk through it on an elevated platform and it has cool/amazing acoustics. Then, we went across the street to Bodega-- what looks like an ordinary convenience store, but with nice clothes/shoes in a room behind a sliding door in the form of a soda machine! 

After a quick dinner, we Uber'ed to the JFK Presidential Library, which turned out to be open late and free the day we were there! It's an impressive building with beautiful surroundings on the water. It's funny that Tonia and the boys were not excited about visiting; they thought it was only a library, so their expectations were easily exceeded. It was good to read about his life and presidency.

I'd say the closest comparison is to Clinton: a mess morally (none of which is described in the museum, of course) and a mixed bag on policy, but overall relatively effective. I'd probably rate him even with Clinton, well behind Reagan, but maybe the best since then back to Coolidge. I'm not sure what to think about the Peace Corps. (They apparently do a lot of good work with minimal taxation, but is it a role for govt? Bottom line: not something that's high on my list of things to fight!). His supply-side tax cut is impressive; he was the original "supply-sider" in reducing the top marginal tax rate from 91% to 70%. (Reagan and the Dems cut it to 28% in the 1980s.) His foreign policy is probably most notable: his stand in Berlin and his work during the Cold War vs. the Bay of Pigs fiasco and extending the effort in Vietnam.

After our time in Maine, we returned to Boston and caught the Harvard Museum of Natural History. It wasn't on my list originally, but the cooper at Strawbery Banke recommended the "Glass Flowers" exhibit highly-- and he was absolutely correct. Along with getting to see the animals, rocks, and the bias on climate change, it was definitely worth a stop, along with a bit of hanging around the campus of Harvard.

Heading out of Boston up the coast, we stopped in Portsmouth, NH. (Yes, NH has a ten-mile strip of coastland!) We saw Strawbery Banke-- a sibling of Colonial Williamsburg or Ford's Greenfield Village in Detroit-- with period buildings, furnishing, costumes, and actors. The USS Albacore Navy sub was ok-- and good if you haven't seen something like it before. (We have, so the value-added was not so high.) Portsmouth is a nice little town too, with ops for meals, shopping, and walking around.

Moving into Maine, we saw our first lighthouse in York. The Nubble LH is popular in pictures and art-- and quite lovely. You can only survey the grounds, but it's definitely worth the brief stop. From there, we drove to Ogunquit, a nice but busy beach town. Kathleen Turner was in a local theatrical production (!) and the traffic was otherwise rough. The highlight there for us was the "Marginal Way"-- a beautiful mile-long path between the homes/resorts and the ocean shore. From there, we drove to Kennebunkport, a ritzy town and home to the Bushes at "Walker's Point Estate". We didn't stop in town, but really enjoyed seeing the amazing houses on the coast.

We spent the night in Portland and then hit the Holy Donut first thing in the morning. (We were warned to go early because they can run out. We got there about 9:30 and had full choice.) They have creative flavors of potato-based donuts. Our family generally liked them, but some of us more than others. We visited the Spring Point Ledge LH-- a solid lighthouse and a breakwater where you can walk into the bay on top of huge rocks. (The purpose of the "breakwater" is to break the water that comes in from storms.) The Portland Head LH is the oldest and often rated the best. Like most of the others, you can only go on the grounds, but they also had a good museum and some good, light hiking. Then, we headed downtown for lunch and to shop at Siempre Mas and other stores.  

Just outside of town, we thoroughly enjoyed the Mackworth Island Hiking Trail-- a highly-rated light trail where you can look over the bay to Portland for half of the stroll, and enjoy quietness in the woods and on the water throughout. Then, just a bit northw, e saw "Eartha" in Yarmouth: another huge globe-- this one, modern, spinning, and employee-produced-- at the headquarters of Garmin (GPS). (They are supposedly open M-F 9-3, but we were still able to get inside at 4:30. Even if not, you can see/enjoy it from outside the building well enough to make the brief stop.) 

After Portland (and vicinity), the trip changed a bit. I'm used to miles = minutes, when traveling on highways. In Maine (and coastal areas more broadly), you can take the interstate. Or you can use "Route 1" (or somesuch), which is quick in rural areas but slow through the frequent small towns. And then you have ops to get off of Route 1 and drive to the coast to see the sites. In any case, the miles don't translate easily to minutes.

As such, we headed to Freeport, a small town with ritzy shopping. We were there for a quick visit to the original LL Bean (open 24/7). We wrapped up the day at Bailey Island with the Giant's Stairs (very cool), before getting a great seafood dinner (more later) and heading to Brunswick to spend the night. (Justin and Ashley Weece are doing a church plant there and Brennan got to have breakfast with his friend Haley the next morning.)

The next day, we hit Pemaquid Point LH, including a really nice little local art museum and an op to get out on the rocks again. Then, we went to Marshall Point LH with its famed wooden walkway to the lighthouse (recently disabled by a winter storm). Why is it famous? Forrest Gump runs to Santa Monica pier (which we happened to see on our most recent big trip!) to this lighthouse before stopping abruptly. Then, we went to Owls Head LH at Penobscot Bay. (Unfortunately, there were no volunteers staffing it that day, so we could only see it from the outside.) Then, we went to Rockland Breakwater-- a nearly-one-mile walk on huge rocks to a lighthouse at the end. The lighthouse isn't much (compared to the others), but the walk on the breakwater was crazy. (We also got to see a wedding at a resort nearby.) Prepping for Acadia NP the next day, we drove to our hotel in Trenton and on the way, saw the quirkiest thing on this trip: "Wentworth's Iron Art" (1069 Bar Harbor Rd).  

Acadia was as amazing as advertised. (In prepping the trip, I was surprised to hear about so many people going to Maine, but not getting to Acadia. Afterwards, I can only express regret at them missing it!) Beautiful in many different ways; pictures don't do it justice (as is often the case with such things). Large enough (and not always marked well enough) that it was sometimes difficult to comprehend where you were and what to do.

Bar Harbor was surprisingly good-- a lovely town with nice restaurants and shopping, not too much traffic, good views on the water. (They also have an island you can reach by foot during low tide, but we didn't do it.) On the island, we didn't stop at any other small towns except Northeast Harbor, where we encountered two rip-offs: I was over-charged at a candy store-- and they were handing out parking tickets like candy with virtually no signage. (I thought about asking the attendant how I could contribute to helping them buy more signs.) The Bass Harbor Head LH was fine (the only one with a red light) and the drive around the western part of the island had its moments.

Of (hiking) note, the Jordan Pond Trail was great and the Gorham Mountain Trail was really good. At the top of the Jordan Pond Trail, you could get to Bubble Rock. This was the highlight of the trip for the boys, but Tonia couldn't manage one part of the hike, so we had to stop short. (Approaching Bubble Rock from the other direction would have been manageable.) It's noteworthy that Acadia has such a wide range of trails. In addition to Bubble Rock, Bee Hive Loop is famous but apparently, even more "strenuous". But there were also a ton of easy trails for strolls/hikes, especially along the ocean.

From Acadia, we drove back to Boston (by interstate), enjoyed a bit more of the big city, and flew out early the next morning. Our travel arrangements were modestly interesting: non-stop flights to/from Boston with Delta, Uber and rail in Boston, and a rental car (from Hertz) when not in Boston. You can have a car in Boston, but parking is expensive overnight.

Lodging was really expensive-- in Boston and at least during the Summer in Maine (what about Fall and Spring?)-- rivaling what we found on our trip to SoCal. I usually rely on Hotels.com and then Google if needed. Knowing what I know now-- and seeing so many hotels, motels, cottages, etc. in Maine that aren't on the big websites (seemed like every 4th or 5th building)-- I probably would have pressed into the internet search with a little more granular work.

Two notables here: First, we stayed at The Arcadian in Boston three nights. It was excellent, reasonably priced, close to downtown, modern in tastes, and thus, a business model I don't fully understand. If you want to be near downtown, it was easily the best choice. Second, we stayed in an AirBnB in Appleton-- in a really nice tent at a Water Buffalo farm. (We had a rough cabin option also, but Tonia chose the tent.) We were looking at more than $300 for an ehh hotel, so I tried AirBnB-- and didn't find much, but found these. We did have modest trouble with bugs (only happened twice on the trip-- and never major.) It was a cool and memorable experience-- that would have been excellent if a bit cooler and without rain the next morning.

We also had some noteworthy food moments. We had steak (with onions) and eggs at McD's. Our second-best meal was at the Thirsty Whale in Bar Harbor. I got Clam Chowder and a Lobster Roll; the others got Blackened Fish and Chips. Our best meal was at Cook's Lobster and Ale on Bailey Island. Brennan and Daniel tried lobster and clams for the first time. (Their verdict: lobster excellent; clams ok/good.) Tonia and I had excellent side dishes to keep the bill more reasonable!

All in all, a great trip! After the fact, I was really happy with my research and planning. Before we went, despite my work to figure it out, I was still uneasy going into it. I was never quite sure what to do with Maine, but I settled on five days and was pleased with the results. I can imagine as few as four days (a day less in Acadia or a quicker trip with fewer stops to get there) and I can imagine as many as seven days (adding another day in Acadia and going further up the coast, to the Culver/Bold Coast trail [supposed to be amazing] and then another half-hour to Lubec on the border with Canada). I hope you get there someday!

 

Maybe next time / worth considering:  

-In Boston, we didn't swing by the original Cheers bar and I don't remember seeing the Edgar Allan Poe statue. We walked by the Coolidge Corner movie theater a few times-- and the boys thought about watching Long Legs-- but it didn't pan out. I caught the game at Fenway, but couldn't swing the tour of the stadium. 

-On the way north, we didn't sample The Franklin [for its oysters], Ray's Seafood [for calamari and lobster rolls], or Petey's. We didn't catch the Art Museum in Ogunquit. We didn't do the Stephen King tour in Bangor.

-At Acadia, Tonia was struggling and the path was crowded, so we didn't do the famous "Bee Hive Loop". We went to Bar Harbor, but did not walk to the nearby island at low tide. Cadillac Mtn looked great, but would be a chunk of a day. If you go, you need a reservation and should dress really warm, especially if you're trying to see the "1st sunrise" [well, for at least much of the year vs. Mars Hill]).

Too far away: 

-We strongly considered hiking the Cutler / Bold Coast Trail and driving a bit further to Lubec (the far-eastern point of the US). But ultimately, we decided to avoid four more hours of driving and to spend more time in Acadia-- a wise choice for us, given five days. 

-There's a ton to see in the middle of the state, but we were on the coast. If we go back and range away from the coast, then we'll consider Mt. Kineo, Gulf Hagas / Katahdin, the 8 Waterfalls Loop, RoadKill Cafe in (Greenville), the South Solon Meeting House, and the Fawcett's Toy Museum in Waldsboro. 

-If we end up seeing NH and VT, we'd consider Flume Gorge (NH); the Trapp family lodge and the original Ben & Jerry's (Stowe, VT). 

-In Massachusetts, I still have Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard on the list (including the Black Dog Tavern), along with Lexington & Concord (Revolutionary War; Walden Pond), and Salem (get a tour guide).