May 4-8, 2019
Our trip was shortened by a day when our flight on Friday was cancelled. Nevertheless, we still managed to squeeze in everything we wanted to do on this short road trip. We flew out from Nashville early Saturday morning and had a layover in Baltimore before arriving in Portland, Maine. We picked up our rental SUV and made our first of many stops at Dunkin Donuts for coffee. I love Dunkin and the fact that there are so many in the Northeast made me so happy!
With our setback from the flight cancellation we decided to skip Portland and drive to Wiscassett, Maine to have an early dinner at Red’s Eats where we had the lobster rolls. They did not disappoint.
From there we drove to Bar Harbor and checked into the Grand Bar Harbor Hotel for a two night stay.
On Sunday, after a good breakfast at the hotel we drove to Acadia National Park. We started by driving the park loop and then went up to Cadillac Mountain for a great view of the park, Bar Harbor and the ocean.
Next, we set out on our big hike of the day, the Beehive Trail. The steepest part consisted of us climbing vertically using metal ladder rungs on our way to the Beehive Summit. We continued down the Bowl Trail to reach the Pond. Then we headed back down via the Gorham Mountain trail with more amazing views. Later, we walked down the Ocean Path and checked out the Sand Beach area. Finally, we made our way back to the car to drive back to Bar Harbor for lunch.
Being the off season, many of the restaurants in the town of Bar Harbor were still closed for the season and would not be opening until Mother’s Day weekend. We found a restaurant that was open called Peekytoe Provisions. It was ok but I would not recommend it.
After lunch we drove back into the park to see the Bass Harbor Head Light Lighthouse. This took some rock climbing down to the ocean to get a good glimpse of the lighthouse. We then drove to Jordan Pond and walked a portion of the path around the pond.
For dinner, we decided on West St. Cafe and it was delicious. We tried the lobster, crabcakes along with some chowder and bisque.
On Monday we checked out of the hotel (which I would stay in again) and hit the road back to Portland. We stopped for the most amazing potato donuts (yes potato and yes they are a must if you are ever in Portland) at The Holy Donut. We walked down to the piers while we enjoyed the donuts.
Then it was on to Cape Elizabeth to visit the Portland Head Light lighthouse. This lighthouse was first operated in 1791 under the authorization of President George Washington. It is one of the oldest lighthouses in continuous use in the country.
After leaving the lighthouse, we had lunch at the Lobster Shack at Two Lights Restaurant where we had crab rolls and chowder.
Next we stopped in Kennebunkport and walked around the town and then drove to Walker Point to see the summer home of former President George H. W. Bush and the nice anchor memorial the town has to honor him.
Our road trip then continued to Salem, Massachusetts where we had some delicious pizza at The Flying Saucer before our tour with Witch City Walking Tours.
On our tour we learned that in the late 1700s Salem was the 6th largest city in the United States and it was the wealthiest city in the U.S. at that time. Also, Salem had the most millionaires per capita of any other city. In current times, during the month of October the city has a million people visit each year.
We saw the “Witch House” and the Salem Witch Trials Memorial.
We walked down Chestnut Street which is referred to as “the street that pepper built”. When the houses on this street were built, pepper was being traded from China and the prices were being marked up 800%. Therefore, the houses on this street were both massive and beautiful.
Our tour guide also took us to the Ropes Mansion and the Joshua Ward house to tell us some ghost stories.
On our tour we made a quick stop at the storefront of Hex Old World Witchery which is owned by witches who practice wiccan. Within the store you could see an alter with a skull (who they named “Robert”). According to our tour guide, hand written messages for the deceased are left on the alter by their loved ones. Each year the witches take bags full of the slips of paper and read each one of them at a bonfire. After each of the pieces of paper are read they are thrown into the fire. Our tour guide told us it took them almost a full 24 hours the previous year to read all the slips of paper…. what dedication!
We also saw the Samantha statue (from the “Bewitched” tv show) in Salem. We later learned that Salem did not get recognition of the witch trials until the tv show filmed an episode of “Bewiched” there in the 1970s when “Samantha” attended a “witch convention”. The people of Salem did not like the attention being brought to their witch history and some of the people in the town have even tried to destroy the statue.
Hotels in Salem where a little pricey so we stayed at the Wylie Inn in nearby Beverly, Mass for the night. Before leaving Salem we went to Melt for some yummy ice cream!
The next morning we drove into Boston for a full day of touring. We first did the hop on/hop off trolley tour in order to see the entire city and some of the history.
We had lunch at the Cheer’s Bar because “sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came”.
After the trolley, we decided to walk the Freedom Trail which is Boston’s iconic 2.5 mile red brick line leading you through the city by nationally significant historic sites. Along the red brick path we saw the Bunker Hill Monument. The battle of Bunker Hill was the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution in 1775. We then boarded the USS Constitution “Old Ironsides” a vessel that is over 220 years old. To this day, it is still a commissioned US Navy warship with a crew of naval officers and enlisted personnel. We stopped at the Old North Church where Paul Revere used the signal lanterns to warn that the British were coming. Later on the trail we saw Paul Revere’s house. We also saw the Old State House, the site of the site of the Boston Massacre. We walked through the cemetery where Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, James Otis and John Hancock are buried.
During our walk on the Freedom Trail we stopped for cookies and cannolis at Mike’s Pastry.
For dinner we ate at Ye Olde Union Oyster House that was established in 1826 and is the oldest continually operated restaurant in the US. Apparently it was a favorite of JKF and you can even ask to sit in his booth. The food was ok, but it’s more of a touristy place due to the history of the restaurant.
Like Salem the prices of hotels in Boston were pricey so we stayed in Stoughton, Mass at the Hampton Inn.
The next morning we took a tour of Fenway Park where the Boston Red Sox have played since 1912. The grandstand seats are the original wooden seats. We got to sit in the “green monster” seats, check out the press box, see the garden/farm on the roof and the baseball museum at the stadium.
The grandstand seats are the original wooden seats
We had a some extra time before our flight, so we took a tour of the Sam Adams Brewery and tried some beers before going back to Fenway Park for lunch at the Bleacher Bar.
All in all we loved Boston and the northeast!
So Many Places So Little Time 