Vermont - The Hills Were Alive!

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In Vermont the hills truly were alive - with fall foliage and the sound of music. I had been looking forward to Vermont our entire trip because of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory tour. What I didn’t realize was how much more there is to Vermont than ice cream! They have cheese, glorious cheese and the Trapp Lodge, which is where the von Trapp family from the Sound of Music settled and now run a mountain lodge. As for the Greiner family, we settled in a cabin on Lake Eden, which we affectionately refer to as the Lake House. It was a wonderful week!

Here are some highlights from Vermont:

Best Meal: Bove’s in Burlington. Bove’s was featured on the Food Network not once, but twice. The first time was in 2007 on a Throwdown with Bobby Flay for their lasagna and more recently in 2010 on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” for one of their sauces. When we went to Bove’s, we sat in a cute, little booth where the waitress could barely scrunch in near us to take our lasagna orders. The portions were so large that Chloe and I split one and still had plenty. It was delicious - no melty, gooey cheese on top like Mom's but still good none the less!

Cheesiest Meal: We didn’t eat out enough to have a worst meal, but we did have a meal consisting entirely of cheese!  The tour at the Cabot Cheese Visitor's Center was a little dry, but the real pay off came at the end when you were unleashed with the cheese samples.  They had a variety of delightful cheeses like Hand Rubbed Tuscan Cheddar, Hand Rubbed Chili Lime Cheddar, and Sage Cheddar to name a few.  Believe me, none of us wanted to eat a real meal after that!

Best Tour: Ben & Jerry’s. The movie at the onset of the tour gives you the history of the company and some insight into Ben and Jerry’s personalities. Suddenly, the quirky names of the ice cream made sense! While the movie was riveting, the best part of the tour was the finale:  a sample of Milk and Cookies ice cream.  It was our first taste of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream ever, since I had never forked out the small fortune for their little, teeny pint of ice cream before, and it was amazing! I’m still not sure I’ll pay that much for a pint, but we’ll certainly salivate and have to debate about it now.

“Stuffy-ist" Tour: Vermont Teddy Bear factory tour where you see teddy bears being stitched and stuffed. The Vermont Teddy Bear tour was somewhat disappointing, but then again, we did go immediately following our Ben & Jerry’s tour, and it would be hard to follow free, delicious ice cream! There really was nowhere to go but down now that I think about it.

I appreciated the history behind Vermont Teddy Bear. In 1980, the founder was picking up his kid’s toys and discovered none were made in America, so he sat down at his wife’s sewing machine, and the rest is history. The tour was pretty much a sales pitch for their teddy bear, but the hospital and other touches were cute indeed. I think if our kids were younger and into teddy bears, it would have been more enthralling for us.

Funniest Memory: As they were going to bed, our kids freaked out over a spider in their bedroom at the Lake House. Super Dad came to the rescue when he saved the day by killing it with his flip flop.

Best Memory: Watching fireworks from our Lake House porch.  The Lake House was stocked with all sorts of fun board games which we took full advantage of almost every evening.  One evening all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye, I saw fireworks in the sky over the lake. We thought at first it was just a neighbor shooting off a bottle rocket or something like that, but the fireworks continued and were amazing. In fact, they were the best we’ve ever seen…EVER because as they lit the night sky, they painted it the color of the fireworks.  Making it even more beautiful was the reflection on the lake in the darkness of the night, not dusk like it normally is while watching fireworks on the 4th of July. We stood watching in awe. (As we later learned, they were in celebration of the Boy Scouts 100th year, but the simple fact that we were there to see them was like a gift from God.) 

Worst Memory: The kids were so excited about fishing at the Lake House. We even bought some cheap rods for them to use while we were there, so it was heartbreaking to see Chloe going out again and again with such determination and never catching any fish.  (Don't feel too bad for her; she had fun anyway!)

Worst Closure: Nothing was closed, but we had several days of rainy weather which put a damper on outside activities.

Best Deal: Our Lake House cabin. It was actually big enough to sleep 10! We’re so thankful to the family who worked with us so we could stay there on our limited budget. We had a great time there and many wonderful memories from our week in Vermont.  If you haven't already, check out the pictures of the views!

Best Drive:  Every single one.  How could it not with the beautiful views in Vermont?

Most Beautiful Spot: Trapp Family Lodge grounds in Stowe. The view of the mountains is beautiful. It’s a must see in Vermont but not just for the view. At first I didn’t even realize what the Trapp Family Lodge was:  it's a mountain lodge resort in the European tradition run by the von Trapp family from The Sound of Music. We learned on their history tour that they dropped the “von” when they came to America as a singing group in the 1940’s and 50’s. They didn’t think “von” would work well in America. What they don’t realize is that now most people know them from the movie, not the singing group. If I were doing marketing for the Trapp’s, which as you know I’m not that priviledged, I’d put the “von” back in the Trapp family.

Most Inspirational Spot: Yes, I admit it. I’m an avid fan of The Sound of Music, so when I learned of the history tour at Trapp Lodge, it was a non-negotiable “must do” for Vermont. The rest of the family begrudgingly came along but later agreed it was absolutely worthwhile. We learned so much from the tour and  BBC documentary made about Maria, filmed the last time she visited Austria.  Obviously I have always enjoyed the Sound of Music, but now I have so much more respect for Maria and Captain von Trapp after learning the true story behind the movie. The movie is mostly true, but there’s so much more that Hollywood doesn’t tell!  Their faith and lives are truly inspirational.

Biggest Surprise: How incredible the fall foliage really was. I've heard so much about it, but "wow!"  If you haven’t been to New England during the fall, schedule a trip.

Biggest Disappointment: After visiting the Trapp Lodge, we wanted to watch The Sound of Music again, but we weren’t able to find it in the local Redboxes. You’d think they’d stock it in Stowe with the Trapps there!

Biggest Twinge of Homesickness: Talking to friends and family. With all the rainy days at the Lake House, I was able to catch up with several friends that I hadn’t been able to talk to in awhile.

Biggest Revelation: The von Trapps didn’t sing those songs in Austria...their songs were in German!

My VT Hike: Walking around the extensive grounds at Trapp Lodge. With the views of the mountains, I can see why the Trapp family settled there; however, I don’t see the similarity that Maria did between the mountains in Stowe and those in Austria. I think the Austrian Alps are just a touch taller!  

We were able to see the chapel that Kurt von Trapp, one of Captain von Trapp's sons, built. He was fighting in a grave battle in WWII and didn’t think he’d survive, so he pleaded for his life with God and promised that he’d dedicate a chapel to Him if he lived. Kurt lived, and he poured himself in the chapel spending 4 years building it. How many times in my life have I made a promise to God and yet have never spent 4 long years of hard work pouring myself into it?  Ouch!  

What We Did Miss: A maple syrup sugar shack and skiing - both recommended to us, but we were in VT at the wrong time of the year for those activities.

In Summary: Vermont, you’re the most beautiful state so far with your "hills."  I’m not sure I can handle your winters, though!  Is it possible to store up enough Cabot cheese and Ben & Jerry's ice cream to be able hibernate all winter?

The Mom

Vermont - Not for the Lactose Intolerant

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Have you ever been outside fishing - wearing a sweater with a hood up but no shoes? I did in Vermont. In Vermont we stayed at a log cabin. We visited Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory, the Cabot cheese factory, and an amazing lasagna restaurant called Bove's.

The cabin we stayed at was really fun. Nobody had stayed in it recently though. There was a ton of large spiders. In the cabin there was a downstairs and an upstairs. We never really went down there, but sometimes Levi and I would go down to shoot rubber bands at each other. We also had a huge backyard! We played a ton of games at the cabin, like Scrabble, Taboo, Pictionary, and Solitaire.

There was a lake right next to the cabin, so we also went fishing a lot! We never caught anything, but it was still fun. One day it was so cold, I went outside to fish in a sweater with my hood up but no shoes. My toes were so cold I felt like they were going to freeze! Levi and I slept upstairs in a room with two beds. The very first night we went to bed we saw a spider which was huge! Luckily my dad had a brand new pair of flip-flops which he used to kill the spider. We nicknamed that pair of flip-flops The Spider Killers.

Ben & Jerry's ice cream was the best ice cream I've ever tasted! My favorite flavor was called Milk and Cookies. It was awesome! The tour was cool too because I was able to sample an ice cream flavor.

One of my favorite places at Ben & Jerry's was the Ice Cream Graveyard. The Ice Cream Graveyard was all of the old flavors that weren't getting bought. Some of them sounded really good.  Aloha Macadamia is made of milk chocolate cashew butter ice cream with macadamia nuts covered in white and dark fudge and a touch of milk chocolate. Here's another one that I wish I could have tried Apple Crumble which is made of brown sugar ice cream with cinnamon, apples, and a little bit of caramel.

The Cabot cheese factory wasn't the best, but we were able to sample about everything they made there. They had tons of products such as cheese, maple syrup, cheese shake, and chip dip. My favorite item was the cheese shake. Cheese shake has the same texture as parmesan cheese, but cheese shake tastes better. I usually put cheese shake on popcorn, but some people put it on vegetables or pasta. Cabot's regular cheese doesn't taste as good as the cheese shake. In my opinion Walmart's cheese tastes better than Cabot's regular cheese.

Since we're in hotel rooms every night, we watch a lot of TV. Because it always has a good show on, our favorite channel is Food. One of the shows is called Throwndown with Bobby Flay. There is also a show called Iron Chef America. Bobby Flay is an Iron Chef. He's my favorite because I've only seen him lose once or twice. On Throwdown with Bobby Flay that's a different story.  On that show I've only seen him win once or twice. Throwdown with Bobby Flay is a show where Flay challenges somebody who has a restaurant and a really great recipe. Then he makes the same thing that the restaurant that he challenged is making but with his own twist. Each of their foods are judged. The judges pick the food item that was the best.

Bove's is a restaurant that was challenged in a throwdown. Bove's won, and I can see why. Their lasagna was out of this world! It was the second best lasagna I've ever tasted! (The best lasagna I've ever tasted is my grandma's.) I think I liked Bove's lasagna so much because it was really saucy, and it wasn't too cheesy or chewy.

Overall Vermont was one of my favorite states. I would highly recommend staying at a cabin that has been used recently. I would also recommend Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Cabot cheese shake, and Bove's. With all that good stuff, the only thing I was scared about was the fish would bite my toes because I wasn't wearing shoes while fishing.

The Daughter

Vermont - Tour de Vermont

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Vermont was a state to remember because we toured a teddy bear factory. In Vermont we did several fun things. We toured Ben & Jerry's and the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. We also stayed at a cottage and toured Cabot Creamery Visitor's Center.

Ben & Jerry's ice cream is some of the best ice cream ever. When you tour their factory, you are able to sample some of their flavors. One of the flavors I sampled was Milk and Cookies which was super good. The tour itself was okay. You watch a movie and look at all the machinery. I was slightly bored, but at the end the samples made it worthwhile.

Vermont Teddy Bear Factory is self explanatory. You walk in, and they have teddy bears that are big and small. They even have a teddy bear that smells like popcorn. The tour walks you around the factory while showing you all the machines. We went there when they weren't really making bears, so all we saw were completely still machines. They did have some funny parts though. Aside from the bear jokes which were unBEARable, they had a hospital for bears and a giant bear which you could control with a string.

The cottage we stayed at was very large and next to a lake. It had four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two kitchens, and a partridge in a pear tree. Almost every day Chloe and I would go down to the lake to throw rocks at my flip flops to try to sink them in the shallow water. We also played fencing with the plastic bats they provided for us. Sadly though it rained most of the time, so we had to play inside. That was okay because aside from school I was able to play with my army men. I usually set them up and then shot them down with rubber bands.

One of the big problems at the cottage was the spiders. We saw some that were bigger than my thumb. I even lost sleep just thinking about them freely crawling all over my body. I am not that scared of spiders, but when they get bigger than my thumb, I get uneasy. This is what I call the Rule of Thumb. One thing I loved about the cottage was the kitchen because I was able to make my chipotle sandwiches. This is one of my favorite sandwiches ever. I also loved the kitchen table because we played many games on it.  My favorite of which was Scrabble.

Cabot Creamery Visitor's Center is the factory where they make Cabot cheese. We went there and were able to tour the factory. The tour itself was really cold and lame. We did see some curds and whey being stirred though, but what pulled the tour through yet again was the free samples. They had about fifteen cheeses that you could try. If you're not a fan of cheese, like me, then you can try their jellies or spicy mustard. My favorite thing though was their sprinkle cheese. You can put it on anything, but I say it goes best on popcorn.

Vermont was a state of tours. We toured Cabot, a teddy bear factory, and Ben & Jerry's. The highlight though was snuggling with my teddy bear in the cottage where he protected me from giant spiders.

The Son

New Hampshire - How Much Does Free Freedom Cost?

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Like it or not, first impressions are important because they are so hard to change. Ride along with us in our cramped minivan for our first impression of New Hampshire. As we cross the state line from Maine into New Hampshire, we see the typical "Welcome to New Hampshire" sign; we hear Chloe from the back screaming, “We’re in New Hampshire!” and we feel the difference in the roads. Next comes the usual welcome center rest area with tourist information and state liquor store…whoa!  Put the brakes on. A state liquor store? Yep, that’s right, a state liquor store at the interstate rest area. They even advertise that it’s always tax free, so stock up and save.

In case you didn’t catch that, let me repeat it while it sinks in.  The rest area where you take a rest from driving a vehicle had a liquor store encouraging you to purchase alcohol.  It’s no wonder the first sign we saw on the interstate in Maine was one warning that they prosecute drunk drivers. 

In addition we learned NH is also the only state without a law requiring seat belts.  “Live Free or Die” is New Hampshire’s state motto. Suddenly it all makes sense. They take their freedom seriously here. I actually tried driving without a seat belt, but it felt so weird not wearing one that I put it on - that and the fact that the van kept making an annoying dinging noise until I put it on. To me, it just wasn’t worth living free if it meant I had a headache. 

Here are some highlights from our week in New Hampshire:

Best Meal: The Melt Away in Tilton. Okay, so I may be just a little biased because they hosted us for a donor signup promotion at their restaurant, but it is such a cute place! The restaurant is “housed” in a remodeled old house, which is now half ice cream shoppe and half sandwich shop. The Grate Grilled Cheese really hit the spot - comfort food on a rainy day. 

We also had to try a frappe since they were giving one away to each new organ donor who signed up at the event. I always thought a frappe was some sort of a fancy coffee drink, but I noticed they had a strawberry flavor, and that just didn’t make sense to me. After a little research, which of course included trying one, we discovered that in New England a frappe is a milkshake. Now, there’s a New England quirk I like!

Worst Meal: Christy’s Pizza in Hampton Beach. Since we had a several hour drive to the coast for our fishing trip, we purposefully waited to grab a bite to eat until we arrived in Hampton Beach.  Making sure we didn’t miss the boat was just a little more important than eating lunch. What we didn’t realize was that Hampton Beach is a tourist town and pretty much closes up after Labor Day…it was deserted to say the least. The only place we found that wasn’t all boarded up for the winter was Christy’s Pizza. It was a walk-up window where the slices are ready in 5 minutes, so it was quick, edible, and cheap, but that’s about all you can say about it. By the way, we would have taken our lunch in the cooler, but no one wanted to eat after touching fish!

Best Deal: At Ninety Nine Restaurant, kids eat free after the Boston Red Sox win. Go Sox! They even had free popcorn and a decent lunch menu. I loved the Portabello Mushroom Sandwich, and much to my surprise Levi enjoyed the Crispy Haddock BLT. 

Biggest Surprise: New Hampshire has everything!  It has mountains, a lakes region, and a small section of coastline touching the Atlantic Ocean. We stayed centrally in order to see it all. What we didn’t plan for was the rain that poured that week, preventing us from seeing much of it. 

Biggest Disappointment: Not being able to ride the oldest floating Post Office in the U.S. because it stopped running for the season about two weeks earlier. Each year the Sophie C delivers mail daily to five islands and, in addition, sells stamps and ice cream to passengers and visitors on Lake Winnipesaukee - before mid-September anyway.  To make matters worse, I had been purposefully holding off purchasing stamps, so we had a good excuse to go on the Sophie C mail boat. 

Biggest Twinge of Homesickness: I don’t think I had one. Am I getting used to this travel thing?

Best Tourist Spot: The whole lakes region, including Squam Lake where On Golden Pond was filmed. All the usual lake activities are there, including plenty of places to play mini golf, which we did of course in keeping with Levi's goal of mini golfing in every state.

Best Drive: Driving thru the White Mountains on the way to Vermont. The fall colors were plentiful, and the view was incredible around every bend.  Mike and I were like kids in a candy store with each new view.

Best Memory: Watching the kids mackerel fishing. We went fishing on the Atlantic Ocean. The bluefish weren’t biting at all, but the mate brought out mackerel poles for the kids and taught them how to catch mackerel. It was super easy, and you didn’t even have to bait the hook! You just plunked your pole out in the water, jerked it up, and bam, you got a fish. As a double bonus, you didn’t need to pull the fish off the hook either. You just turned the hook upside down and shook it until the mackerel came off and plopped into the bucket. Now that’s my kind of fishing, and the kids had a ball because there was a lot of action.

Funniest Memory: Chloe’s face when she was baiting her hook with herring. The herring was bigger than most of the fish she’s ever caught! To make matters worse, you had to push the hook through the herring’s eyes, and the eyes would sometimes pop out and stick to the end of the hook. It was gross! (Now do you see why no one wanted to take lunch in a cooler?) The pictures of her expressions are priceless, though.  Be sure to check them out.

Worst Memory: Interestingly enough it was on the same fishing boat. Everyone around us was smoking, and if their second hand smoke wasn’t annoying enough, I was appalled to see one group toss their butts in the water! Cigarette butts discarded on dry land are bad enough.  The kids and I have spent many Earth Days picking up litter, the majority of which is cigarette butts, but butts floating in the ocean just seem even worse. Their lack of respect for others and the Earth is very sad to me.

My NH Hike: Franconia Notch State Park Flume Gorge. At the park, we forked out the money for the four of us to hike the Flume Gorge and then ride the tram to the top of Cannon Mountain. Oh, how I wished it were a national park and qualified on our park pass. The Flume Gorge was a nice 2 mile hike through a covered bridge, small gorge, waterfall, and 2 small caves. The kids were relatively bored after the freedom hiking at Acadia National Park in Maine and across the rocks to the lighthouse in Massachusetts, but the adventures of Bear Cave and Wolf Den saved the hike.

The tram ride was nice to do. Apparently, the haze we missed in Maine when we were at Penobscott Observatory and were able to see further than they had all year settled in New Hampshire, so the view from Cannon Mountain was diminished as a result. There was one fun part: walking the rim trail. It had rock ledges where it appeared as if you could fall hundreds of feet down the mountain. It freaked Mike out a little, so we had fun toying with him.  

Biggest Revelation: The best way to register organ donors is one-on-one conversations with them. For us, we're more effective at conquering the myths about organ donation that people hold on to when we talk to people personally. Now, somehow, we just need to talk to every American who's not registered. Only 10% of New Hampshirites are registered, so we especially needed to talk to them.

What We Did Miss: Castle in the Clouds because of the rain; Old Man on the Mountain (the one on the back of the NH quarter) because it already collapsed; and other places recommended to us.

In Summary: New Hampshire, what a slogan you have! We love your attitude.  Can you please apply it towards organ donor registration as well and raise your meager 10% registered?

The Mom

New Hampshire - More Mackerel Than You Can Shake a Stick at...

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In New Hampshire we had some ice cream that just melted away. That is because we ate the ice cream at Melt Away. In New Hampshire we also ate at Green Ginger and fished in the Atlantic Ocean.

Green Ginger is a Chinese restaurant found in Tilton, New Hampshire. Besides Panda Express the only other Chinese or Japanese restaurant we have eaten at are in malls. When I walked in, I was really surprised that it was a fancy, sit down restaurant. The food was over priced and not worth the price. We ordered three different chicken dishes. Two of them were labeled spicy but were disappointingly bland. The best type of chicken was the pineapple chicken. It had a nice, juicy taste and was very moist. I would rather just go to another food court Chinese restaurant than eat there again.

Another restaurant we ate at in Tilton was Melt Away. When you walk into Melt Away, it seems more like a house, but it's actually an amazing restaurant. Melt Away serves ice cream, sandwiches, soup, and pasta salads. I ordered a kid's meal which came with a sandwich, pasta salad, and ice cream. My chicken tenders were very good. I liked the sauce that I ordered with them. I am not a big pasta salad fan, but I enjoyed my pasta salad at Melt Away. Finally my ice cream was super amazing! I ordered a mousse like vanilla ice cream with super large chunks of Reese's peanut butter cups. You had to take two bites for some of the Reese's because they were so big. Another reason I like Melt Away is they held a Donate Life event with us. If you had come in when we were there, you could have gotten a free scoop of ice cream if you had registered to be an organ donor.

In New Hampshire we went fishing. The boat was as clean as any fishing boat can be. The only big fish caught by anyone on the entire boat was at the very beginning. Other than that Chloe and I were the only ones to catch fish, and we only caught small fish. One of the crew trained us in mackerel fishing. Mackerel are really dumb fish, so you just need a fake fish, shake it around in the water, and they bite. Chloe, a crew member, and I had a mackerel fishing contest. I won, of course, with no competition. I think without the mackerel fishing, the trip would have been really terrible. The company had no fishing spots. They just fished where everyone else fished. Since we only caught some small fish, I would probably just fish in another state.

New Hampshire was an exiting state. We ate and fished. I enjoyed the eating the most. I think if I eaten any more though, I would have melted away.

The Son  

New Hampshire - Holy Mackerel!

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What's a mackerel fish's favorite food? Mac and scales! (Instead of mac and cheese) In New Hampshire we went fishing, but the only fish we caught were mackerel and incredibly scaly. Because we went on that fishing trip, my hands had more scales than you could ever imagine! We also visited Franconia Notch State Park and spent a day at Melt Away.

The fishing trip was pretty fun, but definitely not as good as the fishing trip in Rhode Island. Levi and I caught a million mackerel! We were originally fishing for big fish, but the employee who was very nice let us fish for mackerel because we couldn't catch any big fish. We had a contest that whoever caught ten mackerel first, won a free candy bar. Levi won that contest, but then the employee and I played again, and I won. My mom caught one mackerel and my dad caught none, but my dad didn't get a chance to fish for mackerel.

Franconia Notch State Park, which was beautiful, had an amazing hike. My favorite part about the hike was the caves. They had two very small caves. One cave was a bear cave, and the other cave was a wolf cave. The bear cave was small for a bear and was a dead end. The only way out was either the way you went in or a hole on the side of the roof. The hole was a triangular shape but very small. I quickly slipped through the hole because I like challenging experiences.

The wolf cave was extremely small and challenging. I could barely fit through it. The cave, which was pitch black, was long and narrow. There was a small slit to get out, but you couldn't get out without getting your hands muddy.  My dad didn't have as much fun because he's claustrophobic.

Melt Away, a delicious restaurant, is a family owned business and has great customer service. They have great sandwiches, amazing ice cream, and awesome pasta salad. We spent a day at Melt Away signing up people as organ donors.

Overall New Hampshire was an okay state, but I don't really want to live there. I would recommend Franconia Notch State Park if you're not claustrophobic; Melt Away if you like sandwiches, ice cream, and pasta salad; and the fishing trip if you're okay with still finding scales on your hands three months after fishing for mackerel.

The Daughter

Maine - The Maine Thing

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We stayed in a cottage the week we were in Maine. It seemed like the Maine thing to do. It was our first time staying in a cottage, and we really enjoyed the break from hotels. It was nice to have a kitchen, and even more so, a kitchen table to sit around, to eat around, and to play games.

We ate lobster in Maine. It seemed like the Maine thing to do. Speaking of the Maine thing to do, here are some highlights of those and other Maine things during our week there:

Most Authentic Meal: Thurston’s Lobster Pound. We had gone out on a boat earlier in the day and learned about the lobstering process. Now we had to complete the circle and eat lobster, and Thurston’s was highly recommended. Once inside the pound, decided to pick out a big dude and share him. Seeing that we were newbies, the lady helped us and even asked if Levi wanted to hold it. He did and named it, “Bob.” Then the lady said he needed to go “hot-tubbing.” Cute.

We waited anxiously for Bob. Donning our bibs, the kids went to retrieve Bob. The lady showed them how to pull him apart and what parts to eat and not eat. Whew, I was worried we’d get Bob on a platter and have no clue what to do! By the time we got Bob apart to eat him, he was pretty lukewarm, if that. Let’s be clear, lukewarm lobster just isn’t very good. We ate a little and moved on down the road for dinner, I’m ashamed to say.

Favorite Meal: Lunch with a view. Being in a cottage, we ate most of our meals in, but we did take a few picnic lunches. For one of them, we drove up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. Seeing the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain is highly recommended, partially because you’re the first in the US to see it rise. Unfortunately the hour and a half drive from the cottage made sunrise out of the question; however, we did find a nice rock to enjoy lunch and the view. Cadillac isn’t your typical snow peak mountain. I’m not sure it’s really even a mountain by Western standards. Having said that, we enjoyed that there weren’t any steep drops and had a great time exploring on the rocks after lunch.

Worst Meal: The one I went all out to make at the cottage. I tried to recreate a favorite chicken dish of ours without breaking the bank on all the different spices and such, so the dish turned out bland and very disappointing.

New Foods: Raspberry Fluff. It’s raspberry flavored marshmallow crème. The kids loved it instead of jelly on their peanut butter sandwiches. I’ll be hard pressed to replace the banana on my peanut butter sandwich, though. 

Biggest Surprise: Spiders. Staying in hotels, we’ve been immune to creepy crawly things…Yes, even bed bugs! Staying in the cottage, we found we had unwelcome guests. The biggest surprise was the large spider in the towel! There are some advantages to hotels...

Biggest Disappointment: Missing the blueberry harvest. We were too late in the year for blueberries, so we couldn’t pick and eat until our fingers turned blue. In addition, the apples weren’t quite ready yet.

Biggest Twinge of Homesickness: Staying in the cottage because it felt like a house. (It even had a teapot!) Seeing the kids play ball in the parking lot nearby made me miss our old backyard where we spent hours playing kickball, badminton, catch, etc.

Worst Closure: The fishing boats. We had such fun fishing off the coast that we wanted to go out again. We tried and tried unsuccessfully to find a fishing boat where we could combine fishing and lobstering. The only boats that went out within driving distance of our cottage weren’t sailing because of either a funeral or tendering the cruise ship anchored off the coast.

Thus, we found ourselves on an afternoon cruise to see lighthouses and the lobstering process firsthand. We tooled around the sound and only saw one lighthouse. The kids were quite bored. We did see and learn about how they catch lobster, so that was fascinating! We think there was a bit of deception, though. The captain, wearing khakis and a turtleneck sweater said he “forgot” to bring the bait for the lobster cage, but considering his attire, we thought he always “forgets” and drops an empty cage for show. It was still great to go out on the boat and experience lobstering, even without any bait…or lobster.

Best Tourist Spot: Acadia National Park. I had read this was one of the most visited national parks and was amazed it ranked up there with Yellowstone, but after seeing it, I understand why. It’s gorgeous! You’ve got the mountain; you’ve got the ocean; you’ve got a beach; you’ve got hiking; you’ve got it all, except extra batteries for the camera. Be sure to check out the pictures we did get.

Best Deal: National park pass. Acadia National Park, like every national park, was free with the annual park pass. Wha hoo!

Worst Memory: Knee pain. I went for a morning run in the cute port town we were staying in, but later while walking around town, I had such severe pain in my knee that I had to walk downhill backwards to alleviate the pain! Oddly enough, Mike’s suggestion actually helped, but I’ve since given up running. I need my knees in good shape for all the places we walk on the trip.

Best Memory: Each night after dinner, we took advantage of the cottage’s kitchen table and played games. It was like family night every night.

Funniest Memory: Playing games around the table, of course! It was always late by the time we played Catch Phrase, and we always ended up laughing over something goofy. For instance, have you ever heard of the famous king named King Jerry?!? I didn’t think so…Maybe you had to be there to find it funny.

Best Drive: Driving thru the cute port towns like Camden and Belfast. The fall foliage was just beginning, mo making the drive even better.

Worst Drive: The one we spent searching for the hospital in order for Mike to get his routine lab work done. Most of the time, the GPS and even Google are accurate, but this time we were taken on a wild goose chase.

My ME Hike: Acadia National Park. We hiked the Great Head Trail from Sand Beach. I’m declaring this to be my favorite hike, surpassing even Cliff Walk in Rhode Island. Great Head had fun elements, such as climbing on rocks instead of just a path, and breathtaking scenery. My all-time favorite view on the trip was here: a spot where we paused to take in the beach below with the gorgeous aqua water in the cove and the mountain off to the right. All that, plus the sound of the waves crashing! Unfortunately, my camera battery died just before that moment, so you’ll have to trust me on this one. Mike did take a picture or two with his phone, but it just doesn’t do it justice.

Biggest Revelation: That’s why Maine has so many lighthouses! It has a plethora of inlets, bays, harbors, and sounds - all requiring lighthouses.

What We Did Miss: Lighthouses, lighthouses, and more lighthouses – and other places recommended to us.

In Summary: Maine, you’re “mainely” lobstah but so much more!

The Mom

Maine - Tastes like Chicken

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In Maine we "mainely" stayed at our cottage. We did go to Fort Knox, Thurston's Lobster Pound, and the Penobscot Observatory.

Fort Knox is not the fort with all the gold, but it is still an awesome fort. It was in operation during the Civil War. We were able to walk around the fort. It was amazing how thick the walls are. Their cannons were at least seven feet long and fired huge cannon balls. The fort never saw action, but if it had it would have sunk any ship. The architecture and everything was awesome. I especially liked the upper section with millions of cannons.

Thurston's Lobster Pound is a restaurant all about lobster. When you walk in and order, you can pick out your lobster personally. Then you tell the clerk how you want it cooked. After that you wait. It's about a thirty minute process, but when you finally get your lobster, they also give you a free bib. Once you have the bib on, you're ready to eat. Whichever parent told me it tastes like chicken has got it all wrong. I could say it tastes like duck though. Besides the taste, the other thing I don't like about lobster is the work. Lobsters have very tough shells. When I go to a restaurant, I want my meal made for me. That brings up the second problem which is the edibility. When I get my meal on a plate, I want it to be one hundred percent edible, but at this restaurant they give you some fast instruction, then you're on your own to eat anything, including inedible things on the plate. I think after that, I am done with lobster.

The Penobscot Observatory is right next to Fort Knox. It is four hundred and twenty feet in the air and is currently the tallest public bridge observatory. We went up, and it was scary because you could feel the tower swaying a little bit with the wind.

We stayed at a cute, little cottage in Maine. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a small living room, and a dining room. It was an improvement, though, from our hotel living. I especially enjoyed having a kitchen. We don't usually get to cook on the road, so that itself was a treat. My chipotle sandwich was my favorite. Another benefit was having a big dining room table to play games. We played Scrabble, Catch Phrase, Quadruple Solitaire, and Monopoly Deal. We don't usually have a big, square table in our hotel rooms. The third advantage was the separate bedroom from the parents, not that I haven't gotten used to my dad's snoring.

Maine was a fun-filled state. We ate some lobster and went to Fort Knox, the Penobscot Observatory, and a cottage. I think that Maine "maine-tained" its reputation as a good state.

Maine - No One was Crabby, Just Lobstery

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Have you ever seen a spider as big as a refrigerator? Okay, maybe that was a little bit of a exaggeration. I'll tell you how big it really is in the next paragraph. In Maine we stayed in a cottage for a few days, went out on a lobster boat, tackled eating a lobster, and visited Acadia National Park.

In Maine we "lived" at a cottage for the week instead of a hotel . The cottage was very nice except there was one problem: spiders everywhere! We found one spider that was as big as a huge moth! Even though it was infested with spiders, we still had a great time at the cottage because we played a ton of games. Every morning my Mom and I would go out for a walk around town. One day we went across a little footbridge, and I realized how fun kicking an apple is. There was also a parking lot across the street that no one really used, so Levi and I played volleyball. (I won most of the volleyball games we played.)

When we were at the cottage, my Mom made my favorite kind of chicken. It's called Mediterranean Chicken. I think it's my favorite chicken because it has a lot of olives in it, and I love olives. Also I think it's my favorite chicken because the sauce is delicious!

The lobster boat wasn't exactly a lobster boat. It was more of a tour in a boat that tries and fails to catch lobster. They try very hard to catch lobster, but they just don't catch any. It was pretty boring. Levi and I had to entertain ourselves. We had to play I Spy. It was really hard because we could only spy in the boat because we were moving so fast.

Lobster tastes horrible! It's fun to rip apart, but it tastes horrible! We were told that in Maine we had to eat lobster, and we found a restaurant that everybody recommended, so we decided to try it out. Levi actually was able to hold the lobster when it was still alive. I didn't hold the lobster because it's just wrong.  If you hold it, you're holding something that you're going to eat.

Acadia National Park was the absolute best! It was the most challenging hike I've ever been on. It wasn't that challenging for me, but my Mom and Dad had a hard time climbing all the steep rocks. Acadia National Park had a beautiful sight everywhere you went.

In Maine I would highly recommend Acadia National Park, lobster if you're a seafood fan, and getting a cottage for a few days (just watch out for huge spiders). In Maine we had a really fun time. I would like to go back to Maine, but definitely not live there.

Massachusetts - A Rockin' Good Time

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The rock, that I thought would rock, didn't rock, and the rocks, that I thought wouldn't rock, rocked. In Massachusetts we visited Plymouth Rock, an extremely awesome hike, Cape Cod Potato Chips, and a cranberry farm.

Plymouth Rock didn't exactly rock. It was a rock, but it was just like any rock. It wasn't anymore exciting than a regular rock. It's a rock that's half in the water and surrounded by pillars. We did get to look around on a replica of the Mayflower. Now that was pretty cool! There were a few people acting like they traveled on the Mayflower. They were dressed up in old-time costumes.

The rocks that I thought would be boring were awesome. In Massachusetts we went on the best hike in the world! I have no idea what it was called, but it was awesome! On the hike we had to jump from rock to rock to get across an inlet. We were supposed to be going to a lighthouse (the inlet was the only way to get to the lighthouse), but we didn't want to be stuck on the island because of high tide. We decided to turn around. Jumping from rock to rock, I dropped my shoe in between two rocks. It was really deep, but fortunately I was able to grab my shoe. Levi and I had a extremely fun time jumping from rock to rock (except for when I dropped my shoe).

Cape Cod Potato Chips are amazing. The factory was far from amazing, but the chips themselves are out of this world! The factory was boring because it was short and not very explanatory. The assembly line wasn't even moving when we were there. My favorite flavor was called Parmesan Garlic.

The cranberry farm was interesting, but it wasn't harvest time. They had a big machine that separates the good and bad cranberries. Good cranberries bounce and the bad cranberries don't bounce. We bought cranberry flavored powder that you put in water, and then it tastes like cranberries. The reason we bought it was because it very portable.

Massachusetts was an okay state, but I do not want to go back because I have better places to go. I would highly recommend the extremely awesome hike to the lighthouse and getting a bag of Cape Cod Potato Chips. What I've learned from Massachusetts is never judge a rock by its history or look.

The Daughter

Massachusetts - A Mass of Food

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Massachusetts had a great theme. That theme was food. In Massachusetts we went to the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory, Flax Pond Cranberry Farm, and Boston.

The Cape Cod Potato Chip factory lets you take a tour to see how potato chips are made. The tour itself was really lame because I was expecting to go in the work area, but instead you are just watching the process from behind glass. They did have some signs that explained the process, and watching the machines at work was really interesting too. The best part of the tour was the free samples. At the end they had a gift shop with all their chip flavors. You could pick out two small bags of chips as part of the tour. We also bought two extra flavors: Sweet & Spicy Jalapeno and Parmesan & Roasted Garlic. The Sweet & Spicy Jalapeno was hot. It had a little more spice than sweet. The Parmesan & Roasted Garlic was amazing though. Since then I have eaten them in several different states.

The Flax Pond Farms is one place where Ocean Spray gets some of its berries from. One of the cool parts is when the guys in the commercials are standing waist deep in cranberries, they don't have to fake it. People who work at Flax Pond Farms round up the cranberries by wading in waist deep to corral them onto a conveyor belt. Then they are shipped off to make juice or sell them. They also have a museum as well as the farm. The have old reapers that farmers from the 1800's used. They also had an old cranberry separating machine that still works. It was designed to separate the good cranberries from the bad. It was so cool because the good cranberries bounce and the bad ones don't. The machine would drop the cranberries down a two foot drop. The good ones would bounce back up onto a conveyer belt. The bad ones would just stay down there. That was pretty much it for the Flax Pond Farm.

Boston is one of America's older big cities and very large, as we found out. We took a Freedom Trail walk through the city. It went through some famous sights of Boston. We saw the USS Constitution. It's nickname is "Old Ironsides." It was nicknamed that because in the War of 1812 the cannonballs bounced off it. We took a brief look at it, but it was really neat.

Another thing we did in Boston was eat at Subway.  I wanted to pick my new favorite place to eat, but it wasn't in Boston. That's right, Boston Market does not exist in Boston.  I am still bitter about that. The third thing we did around Boston was ride the subway which was a nice break from the miles of walking. I have to say, though, no one has heard of personal space on the subway.

Massachusetts was really fun. We went to see chips being made and went to Boston. Now I just need to get an extra large size pants.

The Son