Our annual trip to Maine this year was as good as it gets. The weather was crisp and breezy and the fall leaves were in full swing. The first weekend we were there, our friends Matthew and Mary Rose joined us with their kids, Helen and Heston. We spent the first day just hanging around the property, letting the kids run wild in the lawn, and sitting by the fire. I wish we could do this every day.
The next day we went into Bar Harbor and walked on the sand bar this town was named after at low tide. Over the years, developers have tried to build a road over the bar to connect Mount Dessert Island to a neighboring island but no plans were every passed and the sand bar remains in its natural state for tourists to visit and walk across the harbor. The kids had fun finding rocks and sea life before we walked into town for lunch.
I was so excited to take Matthew and Mary Rose to the carriage roads in Acadia National Park. These trails were built by Rockefeller in the early 1900's and they go all through the park. We biked through them about 3 years ago in the fall and all the colors of the leaves were so beautiful, we wanted to share this experience with our friends. The only thing we didn't really consider is that the last time, we didn't have children... While the roads were just as beautiful as we remembered, the bike ride was definitely more difficult than we remember, partly because we were toting children on our bikes this time around.
After biking uphill for what seemed like 10 miles, we arrived at Jordan Pond House for lunch. The views were incredible and we all enjoyed some much needed adult beverages before beginning the long journey back.
After Matthew and Mary Rose left, we spent some time enjoying the weather, walking the beach, and picking apples in the yard. There are about 10 to 15 apple trees on the property and they grow the absolute BEST apples for pie. This is another reason I love going up in the fall because they are in season and we can actually eat them! Leon loved picking apples and putting them in the basket but when he got tired of that, he decided he wanted to trade places with me and take pictures while Townsend and I got more apples. And he actually took some great shots that are featured below :)
In the middle of the week we took a little day trip to Camden, Maine, which is about an hour south of our house. We like to try to fit in a day trip or two while we are there just to see different parts of Maine and Camden has been on the list for a while. It was a lovely little town with a beautiful harbor. They had tons of really cute shops, restaurants, and markets that we spent the day enjoying. We had lunch overlooking the harbor before beginning our drive back.
The next weekend we had some other friends visit, Amber and Jeremy and their son Parker. The first day they were there, the guys spent time collecting mussels at low tide. We were planning to just have them as an appetizer but we ended up just eating mussels and bread as our dinner because they were so delicious. These were some of the biggest mussels I have ever seen and Leon and Parker had so much fun helping clean them.
The rest of the weekend we spent shopping in Bar Harbor, exploring Acadia National Park, and of course, paying a visit to Atlantic Brewing, our favorite place for BBQ and a beer!
One last picture of the beautiful starry sky. The stars are so bright and clear up there because there is so little light pollution. My dream is to see the northern lights from our property someday but its a very rare sight so for now I am happy with the stars. It was another amazing trip, I'm ready to go back already!
