May You Have Fair Winds and Following Seas

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a good weekend. Troy and I had a VERY eventful weekend. Troy paid off his final student loan last week (7 years...yes YEARS...ahead of schedule) so we wanted to visit a few places to celebrate!

The little banner I made for Troy on the day he made his last payment. I am SO proud of him!

Not only did we want to celebrate, but it hit us on Oct. 21st that we officially had one month left in Maine before we came home for the Holidays. That lit a spark underneath us to try and get to as many places as possible!

So, we took a quick trip to good ol' Wilton. Of all the places that were on our Maine Bucket List...I told Troy that this was an absolute MUST! I have to be honest, at first glance, we decided that there wasn't MUCH to see in this town. While there were beautiful views along the way and some quaint historical buildings, we quickly jumped to the conclusion that this was going to be a very short little drive through town...just to say we went, you know? However, when we decided to look for somewhere to have dinner, we found an awesome Italian restaurant, 'Calzolaio Pasta Company'. As Troy would put it...it was a "diamond in a haystack, similar to a needle in the rough." It was here that we had some AMAZING pizza, a free round of drinks from the owner and a ton of laughs! After dinner, we visited our favorite bar in Waterville, 'You Know Whose Pub.'

We decided to visit Old Port in Portland (as recommended by my work friends) on Saturday. However, we had to stop at Freeport along the way to visit Troy's favorite store, L.L. Bean. 

Troy took a break from shopping to take a quick swim with the fish...yes this is made for kids.

The town of Freeport is just amazing. Every time we are there, there is some sort of fun event going on. This weekend, they had different pumpkin-related events to raise money for Camp Sunshine. I have NEVER seen so many jack-o-lanterns. We seriously debated staying in Freeport (rather than Portland) for the evening just so we could see them all lit up.

Of course, the crazy cat lady in me had to get a picture of the kitty-o-lantern! 

I 'mustache' you a question.

As WONDERFUL as Freeport is, we chose to continue our mini-vaca in Portland and we were not disappointed. Old Port was SO much fun. Such a charming and exciting place! Filled with fun little shops, cobblestone streets, trolleys and seafood!

 

Although I tripped on them quite a bit...the cobblestone streets were just perfect!

Loved the architecture.

There was even a mini version of the iconic "Love Locks" bridge in Paris! We were SO bummed that we didn't have a lock to add! Maybe we will go back!

A piece of the Berlin Wall.

I will never tire of seeing the coast.

The inspiration for the title of my blog!

We visited a very cute beer shop separated by brewery locations.

We ended our evening with dinner at Sebago Brewing Company (we're suckers for Breweries). Here, we had some amazing crabcakes, a lobster quesadilla and a Vermont panini! (We are trying to eat as much food that we can't get back home while we are still here!) Oh...we also tried a few amazing beers!

 We also hit up the bars for a little night life!

 It was another GREAT weekend exploring Maine. We are bummed that we now have less than a month left, but so excited to come home and see friends and family! Upcoming adventures involve The Appalachian Trail, Rockport, Boston and Canada! Oh, and we are very excited to have our Mommies visit in a couple weeks!

Thanks for reading! Until our next adventure...

Mi Familia!

Hello everyone!

After a morning of running errands for the house I am about to close on (tear), doing laundry at the local laundromat, and cleaning house (or apartment), I decided that I would take a moment to relax and write about my family's recent visit to Maine!

A couple weeks ago, my sister flew home from Denver, CO, hopped in my Mom and Dad's flashy new Impala, and they all made the 22-hr drive to visit us in good ol' Waterville, ME. They arrived on a Monday night and left bright and early Friday morning. Those 3 days FLEW by. We wanted to show them everything that Maine had to offer (or at least what we had found thus far), but we also wanted the trip to be as relaxing as possible. One of the greatest things about Waterville is that it is located in the middle of a lot of great things! We are about an hour from the coast (to the South) and about 2 hours from some amazing State parks (to the North). However, that makes it somewhat difficult for visitors who just drove 22 hours. So, the first day we really just stuck around the Waterville/Augusta area.

We started that beautiful Tuesday morning with what we thought was going to be a lovely, peaceful hike along the Inland Trail. Just as we were merrily walking along, (looking for zombies....we are obsessed with 'The Walking Dead'), enjoying each other's company and taking some pictures, Katie and I suddenly saw something that ended our blissful tranquility right away....something MUCH worse than zombies...a SNAKE! Yes, a snake...an awful, creepy, squiggly, evil, gooey, slimy garter snake...no bigger than a shoelace...really, a glorified worm, but scarier than anything in this world. That woke us right up! And our shrieking and sprinting made the occasion quite comical for Mom and Dad!

Excluding the fact that we couldn't full soak up the beauty of the trail (due to the fact that we were seeing imaginary snakes within every few steps), we definitely got some good pictures.

Katie and her Walking Stick/Zombie 

My beautiful Mama and Me.

After the hike in Waterville, we drove to Augusta to see the Kennebec River Front and check out Viles Arboretum. Word to the wise: best time to visit is probably in the Spring or Summer when the flowers are blooming...unless of course you want to see Fairy Village. (Sidenote: Fairy Village is not as whimsical as it sounds). The trees were very pretty though!

After Augusta, we decided to have lunch at Silver Street Tavern in Waterville (where Troy and I had our first taste of Lobster) so Dad could have his first seafood dish (the lobster roll below) for the trip. While there, we learned that it was Karaoke night...to be continued...

We also took a stroll around town to check out a few little stores and we even tried our first Cannoli...something that has been on my bucket list since arriving in Waterville. YUMMY!

!Holy Cannoli!

...Later that night, we went back to Silver Street Tavern for dinner and had a BLAST singing karaoke (once the parents left). Katie and I also served as Troy's back-up dancers. Even had choreography. We are thinking of going pro. More to come on that.... ;)

Troy and I singing our "go to" - 'Party for Two

Wednesday was our big day of sightseeing. Troy took off work to travel to Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor (or Baa Ha Ba as us resident Mainers call it) with us. If you have been reading my blog, you may know that Troy and I have already visited Acadia National Park. However, that was in the Summer, and while that trip was beautiful...it did not even compare to seeing it in Fall. The various colors of the leaves changing, the nice fall breeze, being with family...everything combined made this a perfect day and one of my favorite days since moving to Maine. 

That little sneak, Katie...

Look at that supermodel!

Wish there were some pics of Dad, but he preferred to be the photographer, not the model!

Aren't we cute? #sisterlylove

Cadillac Mountain

After Acadia, we visited Bar Harbor where we had an amazing dinner right along the coast at Stewman's Downtown where we watched a seagull eat a starfish. It was kind of sad, kind of interesting and kind of gross all at the same time. The restaurant was amazing though. They had the BEST Lobster Bisque and some awesome Haddock sandwiches.

On our 3rd (and last) day, we drove to Freeport to do a little outlet shopping. We weren't surprised when Dad was ready to leave after the first store, but us gals got some pretty good deals!

We ate at Johnny Rockets for lunch. Dad got a dark chocolate shake that was definitely worth the $5. (Does anyone know what movie I am referencing there?) Johnny Rockets is somewhat similar to Steak 'N Shake for those who have never eaten there (not quite as tasty though)! :)

To thank them for coming, and to give them the true Maine experience, Troy brought home 3 steamed lobsters for our last dinner together. Troy and Dad had some fun with that...Mom and I enjoyed the efforts (grabbing pieces of lobster to nibble on as they did all the work), and Katie (not an avid seafood fan) kept her distance!

While it was fun to explore Maine together, my favorite part about their trip was just being with them. I am surprised at how well I have handled being so far away, but seeing them made me realize how much I missed them. I truly needed that. It was a breath of fresh air. I just wish they could have stayed longer (or forever)! And I wish my Grandma could have come with! Troy and I have met some great people here in Maine, but nothing compares to being around people we know and love. We are SO thankful that they paid us a visit! :)