Traveling in New England; Maine

After many hours of driving through Vermont and New Hampshire, we finally arrived in Maine. The drive was nothing short of spectacular -- every town was as picturesque as the next. We stopped at the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont--here is the grave of Maria and Captain Von Trapp. Several children are buried nearby, and a couple still live in the area. The family chose Vermont because it reminded them of their home in Switzerland. Having been there, I can see what they saw in it. Really beautiful vistas. Below is mom and dad in front of the lodge.

Our first stop in Maine (after sleeping in the Burlington Coat Factory parking lot) was Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor. We have seen a lot in our travels, but gazing down from the top of the park onto the Maine coast was breath-taking, with the rocky shores and tree-covered islands. The "beach" was cold, but the locals and the Europeans were right at home in the 60-degree weather. We stopped at a restaurant with a lobster out front to have some Chowdah and a Lobstah Roll. Yum!!

Down in Kennebunkport, we experienced more cold, rainy weather. It broke just enough for us to drive into town and shop for a while. Finally, some shopping!!

A spin along the coast yielded a view of the Bush compound, which is situated on a PRIME piece of property out on the point. We have seen some unbelievable properties on this trip--private homes, b&bs, restaurants, etc. Too bad we haven't seen the INSIDE OF ANY OF THEM!!! Again, I see a girl's or couple's weekend in my future. We stopped at one of the Maine lighthouses and took some great photographs. I'll add several here:

Finally, we stopped at a place called Warren's on the way down to Massachusetts to have what we understood to be the best chow-dah in Maine. And it was. Last year I lost five pounds on the trip. This year, it's not gonna happen. Too much good food in New England. (I don't know if I mentioned earlier that we knoshed on free cheese at the Cabot cheese factory... on top of all the crab in Baltimore, chocolate in Hershey, maple syrup in Vermont... you get the picture.) Cameron sat down in the restaurant and announced that he was "having lobster."

To humor him, I ordered the lobster. But as soon as I cracked the claw and pulled out some meat, he said, "No way." Good thing he doesn't have to kill his own food every day. By the way, I thoroughly enjoyed the lobstah by myself.

We drove through Salem, Mass. on our way to Revere, Mass. to visit my dad's Aunt Gladys and her daughter, Jude. We are now hijacking Internet in a parking lot near her house were we are camping for the night. Aunt Gladys was so glad to see us -- she is 82 and doesn't get around very well. She had a ton of old pictures of our family, including some really good pics of our dad's grandfather, Quince Holland at around 73 years old. Cheryl and I have his same high cheekbones, and dad does, too.

Tomorrow, we are on to Boston. Guess we'll have some baked beans!!! Please leave us a comment - we know our friends are reading. :) We miss you!