Last year we had a big trip to Maine planned to visit Acadia National Park and to visit Dad, Nancy, and Nana, but of course COVID-19 cancelled it all. We were able to get credits for our airfare. lodging, and rental car and once we knew vaccinations were on the way, we re-booked our trip!
It was really fun to take Max on his first "adventure vacation" (all our other family vacations have been low key beach trips), and to see family we haven't seen in-person in years. In fact, Nana hadn't seen Max in-person since he was a baby!
Max's only plane ride has been as a little baby (which he obviously doesn't remember), so gearing up to ride MARTA (the train / public transportation to the airport) and the airplane was half the fun! We left home around 5:30AM to drive to the train, hopped aboard, and rode down to the airport as the sun was coming up!
Pumped to be on the airplane! (Masks were required in the airport and on the plane unless you were eating or drinking.... or taking a quick photo!)
Max was such a great little traveler. He stayed right with us in the busy airports, did a great job getting through security, never complained during the long, boring layover, and had a positive and helpful attitude even though he was hungry and tired by the time we got to the rental. He is such a big kid now!
We'd planned to sleep in after our long travel day, but the sun comes up at 4:30 in the morning in Maine, so none of us slept all that late! Nonetheless, we were excited so after breakfast and packing up a picnic lunch we hit the road to Acadia National Park.
At Sand Beach, we took off our shoes to walk around in the sand and dip our toes in the (freezing cold!!) ocean! Max loved getting his feet wet and running away screaming. Haha
We walked along Ocean Path to Thunder Hole and Otter Cliffs. Unfortunately it was low tide when we visited Thunder Hole so it was more like "Slosh Hole." It was kind of crowded at that spot (and not very impressive) so we didn't take any photos or stay too long and moved on. Otter Cliffs were beautiful (and ironically do not have any otters) and we had fun exploring the area!
Blonde hair blowing in the wind, a sandy freckled nose, and a giant smile! He's the best. :-)
The rocks on this beach were HUGE and smooth. We joked that they were giant pebbles... as in it would be like a pebble to a giant!
The hike around Jordan Pond was probably Max's favorite. It was a mix of a path through the woods, boardwalks, and scrambling over rocks. There were little platforms (you can see one in the photo below) so you could "pull off" and let other people pass by. Max seemed to think this was fun. :-)
Photo by Max. Haha!
The mountains in the distance are called "The Bubbles" which we intended to hike the next day, but it didn't work out (details to come!).
Of course, we had to pause our hike to throw rocks in the pond!
Ben and Max both tried to move this boulder that got stuck between two trees. No luck! ;-)
On our second day in Acadia we hiked up Cadillac Mountain - the highest peak on the coast at 1,529 feet tall! This was a really neat hike and probably the most challenging we've ever done as a family. There were some normal "path through the woods" portions, but also some steep climbs, clambering over boulders, and walking up sections that were just open, bare granite.
It was a really fun adventure, but unfortunately it was HOT. Maine happened to have a heat wave during the Acadia portion of our trip, so we did this hike in 96 degree weather. Toward the end of the hike (on the way back down) we bumped in to some Park Rangers who mentioned the Park had already had to rescue some people from heat related issues; and when we got back to the apartment and were looking on the National Park Service app to plan our next day we saw they'd issued an advisory to avoid strenuous activities due to the heat. Oops.
We'd planned to do a second hike up the Bubble Mountains to
Bubble Rock that day, too, but we were all so hot and tired that we opted to head back to the apartment and call it a day. The hike up and down Cadillac also took significantly longer than anticipated since we had to stop to rest so many times.
Heat aside, this hike was REALLY fun and it was a great bonding experience for our little family. I wouldn't mind trying it again in cooler weather as I don't think it would be quite as challenging without the heat! Also, a shoutout to Ben who - of the three of us - was least affected by the heat and carried the backpack the whole time and took amazing care of me and Max when we were melting!
We were excited to spot the first blue trail blaze (on the rock below) and headed off on our big adventure! (Note that it was still early and not enormously hot yet! Also, Max's legs look SO long in this photo!!)
There were cairns along the way in addition to the blazes (rock piles that point the way), and Max noticed this cairn had wild blueberries growing next to it!
Gaining some elevation and starting to see some pretty views!
Sweaty water and snack break! Max is happier than he looks in this photo, and is having fun. Promise! Haha
This was a moment where Ben and Max hiked on a bit ahead of me while I rested in the little shade I could find (I tend to get red faced when hot and/or exercising - it's not a sunburn). I remember that at this point in the hike I'd started to think about how much I'd be willing to pay someone to give me a ride back down the mountain in an air conditioned car (I think I decided on $50 haha). At least the view was incredible!!
We finally made it to the top of the mountain! After celebrating pushing through - mentally and physically - to the summit, we went to the air conditioned gift shop and Max and I had no shame in finding a corner of the crowded store to sit on the floor to cool off. :-) People who drove up the mountain (and were therefore not hot, sweaty, and tired) gave us funny looks, but it felt so good that we didn't care.
After cooling off and refilling our water bottles, we walked around to take in the beautiful views and enjoy a picnic lunch!
Don't we look beautiful with our layer of sweat, red faces, and squinting in to the wind and bright sun? Haha Not our most photogenic moment, but we were happy and having fun!
I promise the boys are not about to walk off the edge of a cliff in this photo!
We stopped for ice cream on our way back to the apartment - yum!
Day Four:
On our third and final day at Acadia, we headed out for some tide pooling! We covered a few trails and beach / tide pool areas on different parts of Mt. Desert Island (where Acadia is located) including Wonderland Trail, Bar Island Path (a sand bar that emerges at low tide and allows you to walk from the mainland out to Bar Harbor Island), and Compass Harbor Trail.
We visited Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, too! The parking lot was really small and there was a long line of cars to get in, so Max and I hopped out of the car and ran down the road to look. We overheard someone say they saw a seal, and we ran to the rail just in time to see it's head out of the water while it swam. Max thought this was pretty exciting!
Eventually Ben found a parking spot and joined us to take in the views for a few minutes.
At this point, we'd hiked about 30 miles in 2.5 (hot!) days and although Ben and I were up for more hiking, Max was starting to waver and while he was having fun, he was clearly ready for a little down time. With that, we went to Seawall Trail and its picnic area to enjoy a beautiful view while we ate a picnic lunch, and then headed back to the apartment for the afternoon.
Excited to be freshly showered, wearing clean (non-sweaty!) clothes, and snuggling on the couch to do silly Mad Libs and watch a movie!
I'd cooked simple dinners at our place during our trip, but for our last night we went to Perry's Pier a few miles from our apartment to try lobster for dinner! We had an hour wait, so we strolled to a nearby rocky beach to play for a bit.
Throwing more rocks!
We finally got a table and ended up waiting another hour for our food. Max entertained himself by making teeny-tiny paper airplanes out of the little papers that wrapped around our silverware.
Unfortunately dinner was a bit of a (very expensive and 2.5 hour) bust. We ordered a lobster roll and a crab roll to share (each sandwich was probably five bites and had no sides), and a kids cheeseburger. Ben thought the lobster and crab rolls were just okay, I didn't really like either one but ate part of a lobster roll because I was starving, and Max thought both were gross but fortunately liked the cheeseburger. He was also sweet and let us steal a new of his potato chips! Oh, well! You can't visit Maine without trying lobster.
Days Five, Six, and Seven
After an amazing hiking and sightseeing adventure in Acadia, we headed on to spend a few days with Dad, Nancy, and Nana!
Our first stop was to meet-up with Dad about halfway between Acadia and his house at Fort Knox, ME. Dad visited as a kid, and thought it would be fun to take Max! When we got our tickets at the guard house, the lady joked with Max that the day before they'd been offering to blast kids out of the cannons. Haha
We haven't seen Dad in several years and once we spotted him, Max ran down the hill to give him a big hug. So sweet! Max loved visiting the Fort. There were lots of dark underground passageways (we had to use flashlights!) that crisscrossed the Fort, staircases that popped you out at different points, cannons, and lots of room to run. Perfect for an energetic, curious little boy!
Getting shot out of a cannon!
If you look carefully, Ben is photobombing Dad and Max. Haha!
After the Fort, we headed on to Dad's house in Jefferson, ME for the rest of the week!
Check out the size of this hosta compared to Max!
Max LOVED Dad and Nancy's dog, Penny. Max was the first child Penny has ever met, and I think it was love at first sight. Penny followed Max everywhere he went - it was so cute!
Driving the tractor with Grandpa!
The school where Nana (Max's great grandmother) attended junior high!
Visiting Owl's Head lighthouse in the town where Nana lived as a girl!
Visiting Max's great-great grandparents (the MacPhail's) and their best friends.
Amma (Nancy) had the whole Harry Potter series, and Max was pumped about it! He polished off two of the books (over 1,200 pages!) during our visit!
Roasting marshmallows and making s'mores with Amma!
Penny the lap dog!
Trying on Grandpa's Scottish hat! (He didn't want to try on the kilt - haha)
After starting the week with a major heatwave, it was in the 50s by the end of the week! Max enjoyed learning about the pellet stove and helping Grandpa get it all setup to heat the house a bit.
The Heinlein sisters, Penny and Laura! (Max isn't the only one who loved hanging out with sweet Penny!!)
Giggling while Penny gave him lots of kisses!
Spending time with Nana was the BEST. Thanks to Dad who snapped a few candid photos!
No clue what we are talking about, but this photo cracked me up! I'm clearly pumped up about something and Nana is a bit concerned. Haha
A silly photo at the local ice cream shop!
Nana snuggles are the best! Too bad I don't fit in her lap anymore. Haha
Max loved "riding" the electric recliner!
Penny has SO much energy (just turned two years old!) and loves playing. I had a lot of fun playing catch / fetch with her!
Day Eight:
After one last photo with Nana, lots of big hugs and goodbyes, we headed to the airport!
The trip home was (fortunately!) much less of an ordeal than our trip out. Max had on a Batman shirt and when we went through security, one of the security guards said, "I thought you looked familiar - it's Batman!" Then, when we got on the plane one of the flight attendants said, "Welcome aboard, Batman!" :-)
Max asked if we could get this life sized stuffed giraffe at the airport (umm... no). I just noticed the giraffe is wearing a mask - haha!
One tired kiddo after a big adventure! He used my arm as a pillow for a while, and eventually curled up to lay down.
All in all, it was an amazing week! We loved having so much time together and getting to go on an adventure and spend time with family. Until next time!
P.S. A few days after we got home, Dad sent us this photo of Penny laying on the floor in the room where Max slept. <3 We miss you too, Penny!!
