A Laid Back Vacation in Maine
It’s little shy of a year after we moved to New England, this trip to Maine was a celebration of the anniversary, as well as a farewell party for the summer 2021. According to our neighbors and Quentin, endless 95 degree days its a bit out of ordinary, our escape to Pitcher Pond set us back to a comfortable 70 degrees.
On August 28th, we drove all the way up to Newburyport Massachusetts, lunch at a beautiful city in Portland Maine, later at Gardiner we bought groceries that will sustain us for a week, and at last, we arrived at our vacation spot at 4pm check in time.
Pitcher Pond
The house we booked is directly facing the Pitcher Pond, we have our private dock! Kayaks and paddle board are just laying on the side, it takes 2 minutes to drag a boat into the water and off you go!
We jumped into the 80 degree water from the dock with no plan and time pressing us. I’ve never set up a vacation like this before, just a place to stay for a week.
While the weather is right, we will either be in the water or the boat, TT jumped ship a few times when I took him out kayaking just because he couldn’t make up his mind whether he wanted to be on my Kayak or Quentin’s. He also went on several rescue trips for me while I was just enjoying my time in the pond. I would follow him back to the land and go straight back into the water, TT then came after me again and again. I was touched by his determination, but TT must be thinking I am not a smart human being, just can’t keep myself from drowning.
Bald Rock Mountain Trail
- Route : Out and back
- Length : 3.8 mi
- Elevation : 1033 ft
On a sunny day we ventured to hike up Bald Rock Mountain and found lots of frogs living in a tiny puddle close to the vista point. This hike reminds me of Black Star Canyon Falls Trail, a hike located near Silverado, California. Both of them are boring on our way in, the fun part starts 30 minutes later.
During our stay in Maine, a hurricane swept across parts of New England. It dumped more than six inches of rain in some areas. I tried to not think too much about whether our garden will take a hit. Lincolnville, which is the city we were at was fine. The sky gave us a few days of burning sunsets and not too much rain. Even on rainy days, it never lasts for more than a few hours. We read, cooked and played games inside.
Moose Point State Park
We also visited several beaches, such as Belfast City Park, Lincolnville Beach, Murray Preserve…etc. whenever it was gloomy and too cold for water sports. Moose Point State Park was so far the most dog friendly area we could let TT explore on his own.
I learned how to play croquet on this trip on an extremely frustrating slope. Quentin created some fun routes, Me and Claire assigned TT to become a moving obstacle that people can use to stop the ball from rolling toward unwanted directions.
TT refused to eat for days, I joked about almost this entire trip he was relying on photosynthesis. Knowing him for more than eight years this behavior was not something out of the norm, but TT not eating still bothers me although I didn’t want to admit it publicly. Consuming food is always his least priority especially when they’re people walking and actions happening around him, or whenever TT believes we will soon be taking him out.
Nevertheless, going to three different ice cream places probably didn’t help TT to finish his meals.
I love the wild blueberry flavor at Chocolate Drop Candy Shoppe. The store looks like an ordinary candy shop, but their ice cream is surprisingly good, ginger is another favorite. Although Wild Cow Creamery offers more interesting flavors, I like the blueberry ice cream from Chocolate Drop Candy Shoppe way more. The dark chocolate sorbet was great, the lemon flavor somehow tasted like Starburst candy, very enjoyable! Super Scoop is the only one offering Doggie Dish, I let TT have his own scoop instead of just a tiny bite of mine.
Super Scoop Ice Cream
Chocolate Drop Candy Shoppe
Wild Cow Creamery
It’s TT’s vacation too! I kept saying this to everyone to justify it, since we don’t give TT any ice cream at home.
We women/man adults proceed on our cheat diet adventures, one night Quentin built a campfire after we gobbled down our dinner. The fire was not for spooky story telling nor singing, we put out the flame right after all humans had two cancer tasting blackened s’mores.
Belfast Harbor Walk
- Route : Out and back
- Length : 1.6 mi
The last day in Maine we came to Belfast once again for a small walk. The temperature was in the high 60s, still very hard to believe we were living in 90 degrees only a week ago. Alicia picked some nasturtium seeds from this beautiful barrel flower bed. I couldn’t help but collect some too, because I was quite disappointed by my mixed color nasturtium seed pack that only gave me yellow flowers, planning for more red color popping in my garden next year.
On the day we left Linconville, David made a crazy left turn in Gardiner, we lost them there and went on our own way back to Massachusetts, the drive took forever until I realized I had my navigation set to avoid toll roads. That was never a problem in California since there’s always another highway to the same destination, but somehow in New England, a one and half hour drive turned into a four hours ordeal.
I returned to a garden that was fully intact, Moreover, it bears way too much food for us to pick and eat. Our raspberry bushes exploded, pumpkin vines flooded, and asters I struggled to grow for the entire growing season finally bloomed for me. I need more vacations to stop being a helicopter mom for my plants.
At last, TT finished his dinner that night at home like nothing happened, all my worries thinking about if he is sick in Maine was just a waste of my brain cells once again.
I am glad that you are happy and fine.
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