sheryl Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 DH and I just returned from our 8 day vacation to Maine and states in between. Special thanks to MeMama and PamCT for helping with my itinerary, answering questions, making suggestions, etc. It was WONDERFUL! It was short in duration and we packed it in but it was nice. I did have a sore lower back from driving 2 days up and 2 days back. LOL! My chiro said to do leg lifts and other exercises while sitting in car which I did. What helped the most was ever so carefully and while sitting, to twist my torso only a bit to each side. Also, I cupped my hands on my head/chin and twisted my head to each side. Perhaps the lower back issue though was related to walking on the rocks, I don't know. Sure need to get a handle on this to plan other long-distance vacations. Would like to go out west, etc. That will be longer than to Maine. Our first night was in a hotel in Carlisle which was disgusting. Reviews were good but we ended up in a room where the water did NOT drain from the tub. The bed did not look "fresh" and I was concerned it wasn't. Talked to very UNhelpful staff and at our request to be moved to another room they were going to charge us to move to another room! UGH! We stopped in Hershey, PA. Yes, we took the tour that was free. We've taken it twice before and since we were in the area we decided to go again. I did buy candy as I've worked very hard to lower my glucose and recently found out it is 83. So, I splurged. Otherwise, sugar is not great for people and imo everyone should eat it sparingly. 🙂 On to Seabrook, NH to spend night just south of Portsmouth, NH - adorable city. The hotel room was nice in Seabrook but the attendant was incredibly rude and unprofessional. Made a very bad comment! UGH again! Really like this quaint, little place, Portsmouth. Did not find the cobblestone streets but our stay there was short. Just a quick lunch at Gas Light (yummy), browsing a couple shops, driving through the d.t. a bit and onward to Portland, ME. Along the way we did stop off at Kennebunk and Kennebunkport (saw the Bush compound, I believe). Adorable little villages! Did not have time to window shop but we did sit on the wall in Kennebunk and snapped a couple pics. One pic was so cool - dh snapped the water spray up from behind us. I have that as my home page now on my phone. Spent the night in Portland at an AirBnB. It was nice! Host was great! Good location, etc. All good. We seemed to keep going in circles in Portland LOL. Quaint, cute. Went to Hannaford for some things. This is a n.e. based grocery store. We had one here in early 2000's or so and I enjoyed shopping there. Sadly they pulled out. Really like that store! Onward to Ellsworth where we camped out for a few days in another Air BnB full house. Right on a lake. Nice. Great hosts. Went to Bar Harbor and Acadia. So beautiful and I just kept thinking about our next trip here. We did go to summit of Cadillac Mtn. So peaceful and beautiful. Our Whale Watch excursion was canceled due to rough sea conditions. We rebooked and that too was canceled for same reason. Wish we could have gone out to spot a whale but we couldn't. It was warmer than I expected ME to be. This past Wed was just hot - for me. Thursday or Friday (forget which) we woke up to putting the heater on for a few minutes. What DH and I noticed immediately is that ME is largely undisturbed. With few people living in the state there is much in natural resources b/c it hasn't been developed. So many trees. LOVE that! We respect that we were not bombarded with billboards. I don't remember if we saw any but if we did it wasn't very many. Billboards serve a purpose but honestly can be overdone and then becomes cheesy-looking. Trees! Small mountains! Joy! So interesting to have a small mountain next to the ocean! We prefer that over sandy beaches which we have here in NC. Drove to Bangor and headed home. On our way there we stopped at an antique/flea market. Overall it was nice with the exception of those 2 hotels and the driving was erratic. Poor drivers are everywhere but there were several instances (stretched through all the states) where drivers were speeding beyond speeding and reckless with their cutting in/out of traffic. Twice I saw semis staying in the right lane TOO LONG, the lane drops, and there was another semi it was going to run into. That semi couldn't do much because there were cars in the left lane! Yikes! That happened to me here in our city a couple of years ago. Terrifying. And, our routes had many, many semis and cars! Not picking on the ne b/c poor drivers are everywhere, unfortunately, but it was magnified b/c of the heavier traffic. Many cars, many semis! Would like to go back! Would also like to visit CT and Delaware - go antique shopping. We did not have time to drive to VT and would love to go there too! I think someone here was thinking about a trip to the same general area (?) and HTH! The food was absolutely delicious! We were not disappointed with any restaurant. 🙂 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 Glad you had a good trip. Unfortunately the color is very late this year due to this summer's drought and heat. No billboards in Maine. I take it for granted until we travel and am reminded how lucky we are. Massachusetts drivers have a…special…nickname, but honestly Mainers are by far worse. My theory is it's because we’re not used to much traffic so we get impatient easily. I catch myself sometimes moaning about having to wait for two or three cars in a busy intersection, lol. We're pretty spoiled up here. Glad you enjoyed it! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmith Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 Sounds like a great trip! We were just discussing a Maine trip - we haven't been in quite a few years and I love the Maine coast. Did you visit the US Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle? The Heritage Trail is really cool. We only found it while looking for a Starbucks on one of our road trips, and it was a great find! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 Sounds fun! I've never been to Maine, but after seeing beautiful photos from friends' trips to Acadia National Park, I want to go! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheryl Posted September 19, 2022 Author Share Posted September 19, 2022 6 hours ago, dsmith said: Sounds like a great trip! We were just discussing a Maine trip - we haven't been in quite a few years and I love the Maine coast. Did you visit the US Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle? The Heritage Trail is really cool. We only found it while looking for a Starbucks on one of our road trips, and it was a great find! Hi there! No, we didn't have the time carved out for that. As it turns out we wouldn't have had the time unless we dropped something else along the way. Starbucks lol. We were pleased to see Dunkin Donuts on nearly every turn (well, not really but there were a lot)! 🙂 1 hour ago, mom2scouts said: Sounds fun! I've never been to Maine, but after seeing beautiful photos from friends' trips to Acadia National Park, I want to go! Plan a trip! We are glad that we went "off season". As MEmama and PamCt told me it would still be busy at the time we went but less busy than before Labor Day. Parking alone can be a small issue even when we went. Peak season would find it more challenging. Wish we had another full week "up" there but we'll just have to plan another trip! 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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