Beautiful Vacation Land

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent a week in Maine earlier this month with friends Emily Cox, Paul Isabella, & Cory Brown. The four of us rented a car in Brooklyn and we drove it all the way up to Calais, ME to stay with my Mema & Papa in their sweet Red Beach home. We actually stayed in the beautiful apartment above the garage that my grandfather built a few years ago. Every morning we were woken at 8 am by Papa on his intercom system: " It's time to get up, your burnin' daylight!" and 10 minutes later he would be at our door with a home cooked breakfast! It was so cute, we really enjoyed it! I also loved visiting with my grandparents and listening to the stories of their youth. I love my grandparents and I am happy my friends got to enjoy them too.

So, after breakfast each day we would usually go back to sleep for a bit and then we would head out for a day filled with exploring (or cycling for Paul, look here at his beautiful cycling blog). Most days we hiked in the beautiful Maine forests, we climbed the granite boulders of Red Beach and combed the "sand" for treasures and one day we swam in the old red-granite quarry where the guys jumped off the 30 & 40 ft cliffs into the quarry- scary! Another day we took a trip to Campobello Island in Canada where we had a picnic on a cliff overlooking a bay and then we hiked out to my favorite light house, East Quoddy Head. You can only reach the lighthouse at low tide and we got there late, so we had to race there and back and when we got back to the mainland we saw humpbacks and wright whales playing just off the coast- so exciting! This was also the day we had TERRIBLE lobster rolls in Lubec, ME, sooo disappointing. Not to mention, they were $13 each!!

To make up for the bad "lobsta" rolls, the next day we drove out to Eastport, my favorite coastal Maine town, for fresh and delicious rolls! Eastport was my favorite outing. Our first stop was Raye's Mustard mill, the sweetest little place that I have been to a million times before and somehow it never gets old. It was here that I realized that my friends are really perfect for me, because they genuinely enjoyed the mill as much if not more than I did- in other words we are all nerds! Then we headed to Eastport's waterfront & downtown area and explored the little shops. We had our lobster rolls & then drove around hunting for our favorite houses- just in case we decide to move there one day! Later, we went for a hike. It was the most beautiful hike, the kind that kept on going and we didn't even care where it took us. I felt like I was lost in another universe and I was completely happy with that, until I realized we were late for our farewell dinner with my grandparents, my great-aunt Robbie, and our favorite Red Beach neighbors: Earl & Erla (really their names and really they are married!!). So as quickly as we could we raced back to Red Beach.

On the way out of town the next morning we all shared our very first moose spotting!! She was so cute, early in the morning and knee deep in a bog. I was so happy, in all the times I had been to Maine, I never got so lucky! Moose and whales!?? Since we where all heading south we stopped off in Lincoln, ME with my grandparents to visit some of their best friends, Arthur & Ruth Taylor. It is always such a treat to see them. They are artists and they are both lovely and inspiring people. I was so happy that my friends got to meet them. It was really a special trip all together, pretty perfect in every way.

P.S. One day I am going to move to gorgeous Maine. I am not sure when, but I promise you that one day you will find me there and I can't wait for that day to come!! Truly I am a Mainer at heart. Sorry, Florida.

xo