Our Trip to Maine: Part 1 of 4

A Couple of Days on the Atlantic Coast

I am embarrassed that it has taken me almost a month to share these pictures.  My grandma's (mom's mom) family decided to have a family reunion this year, which I was pretty excited about.  Because we all live all over the country it is difficult for our family to get together more than once a year--add in 2 more families with college & beyond aged children, and a get-together seems nearly impossible.

When my mom's family was together at Christmas for my grandpa's surprise 80th birthday party, we started planning a family reunion in Maine in July.  Why Maine?  Well aside from it being an absolutely beautiful place (as I found out last month) it is where my grandma grew up, and where her brother still has a cabin in a place called Millinocket, on Lake Ambejejus at the foot of Mt. Katahdin (one of the ends of the Appalachian Trail). Quite a mouthful, I know.

Map from the Maine Office of Tourism

We flew into Portland, ME, on Wednesday and met my parents and brother.  They had a chance to scope out the area the day before so they took us to a great restaurant right on the water called the Portland Lobster Company.  They had picnic tables lined up and you got your food and drink at a little hut.  They gave you these cute lobster that would light up when your food was ready.

Eric also got to have an ever-popular lobster roll (the first of many).

We did a little shopping in Portland (such a cute little place!) and loaded up to head Freeport to the headquarters of L.L. Bean (and a few other outlet stores).  

Us with the giant boot @ L.L. Bean

 Ready for school!

We found a few things we could not live without but only stayed for a few hours because we still had a 2 hours drive to Bar Harbor.  It was absolutely beautiful there.  We stayed at a hotel right on the water.

Eric and I on our balcony

 The view to the left

 The view to the right

It was absolutely beautiful there.  The next day we wanted to go on a tour of the Bar Harbor Brewery but tours did not start until 2pm and we had to be out of the hotel by 10am.  We resolved the problem with a trip to Bar Harbor Cellars Winery for a wine tasting!  It was quite tasty, too!  They had the traditional wines, but they also had several fruit wines like Blueberry (made with Maine blueberries) and Cranberry Apple Wine.  They were all delicious, and yes we purchased a few bottles to take with us. 

After the wine tasting we had a little more time to kill, so we ventured into downtown Bar Harbor.  The boys decided to find a bar to try out the local brews, while Mom and I did some more shopping (of course!).  We met up with the boys @ The Thirsty Whale Tavern.  It was here that I decided to bite the bullet and try my first lobster roll.  Unfortunately my taste buds were not as excited about it as my mind was.  I don't know if I was expecting it to be warm or the texture or a combination of both, but I will be alright if I do not eat another lobster roll in my lifetime. Call me crazy, but I am ok with it. 

Ready for a day in Bar Harbor

My ill-fated Lobster Roll...it looked so pretty!

After lunch, we headed to the Bar Harbor Brewing Company for a tour of their distillery and to sample some of their wares.  The short and sweet, which made the boys happy. The tasting was an interesting experience.   They gave us mini-dixie cups to sample each beer in, I mean how much beer could they put in it, right?  For some reason, the guy who was pouring the samples got a heavy hand every time he filled my cup up.  I thought it was just my imagination at first but my dad, Eric and my brother all noticed it after the 3rd sample.  I would have twice as much as they did. I am not much of a beer fan (I am a wine kinda girl), so I ended up trading cups with either Eric or my brother several times after they had finished their cups (they did not complain).

After the beer tasting we were off to the Big Moose Lodge (ahh-ooh!) by Lake Ambajejus for some great family fun!  But that will have to wait for another day!  Buy I leave you with this beautiful sunset on Lake Ambajejus!