A couple years ago we ventured out West as a family to explore as many of the National Parks as we could in the Utah/Arizona region in a week. This year we decided to check another National Park off for the girls, but head up the New England coast to Acadia National Park. After exploring airport options in that region, we routed our trip through Boston and drove up the coast to Bar Harbor.
After flying into Boston and renting a car, we headed to get dinner from a fun new restaurant I discovered on Instagram, Boston Pizza Cupcakes, serving pizza cupcakes. It was a fun concept and we all got to pick out the flavors we wanted to try. The toppings were good, but all thought the dough was too thick and could use a little work.
After dinner, I made Jonathan drive 30 minutes away to a sugar shack in the woods. Another Instagram find, and something you just have to do once. You can pull up any time of day, pick a treat and send the owner Venmo payment or leave cash.
Sunday, from our hotel in Boston we were able to walk to worship with a local congregation, and then spend the afternoon walking and exploring along the Freedom Trail downtown. We were told, you have to try the cannoli from Mike’s Pastry while in Boston! So we enjoyed one of the many authentic Italian restaurants, La Famiglia Giorgio’s for dinner and walked to Mike’s to try one of the 20+ different flavors of cannoli.
Highlight Reel of Our Day in Boston
Monday we began our journey up the coast with a stop in Gloucester, MA. We enjoyed a self-guided tour through the medieval-style Hammond Castle and spotted our first lighthouse across the bay. While at Hammond Castle, we did a quick senior photo shoot with Savannah, and then routed our way around to the Eastern Point Lighthouse. It was fun taking in the views from the concrete jetty.
From there we drove up the MA coast to Rockport. Rockport is a picturesque small seaside town. They have a charming shopping and dining district to explore.
I learned this red building, simply called Motif #1, a red fisherman shack, is one of the most painted and photographed buildings in the world. You know I had to make this stop on our journey, just for this picture!
On our way to Portland, ME, we stopped at Nubble Lighthouse and Lobster Point Lighthouse. The afternoon sun was beautiful reflecting off the white lighthouse against the blue sky. The girls could have spent hours climbing the rocks around each lighthouse we stopped at.
We spent 2 nights in Portland, ME with a day to explore Portland by bicycle. The bicycle tour took us by 5 lighthouses in the Portland area, with the final stop at the famous Portland Head Lighthouse.
We tried the obligatory Maine lobster rolls from a food truck for lunch on our bicycle tour.
The next day we headed north again with a morning stop in Freeport, Maine. In Freeport you have to check out the L.L. Bean flagship store and there are a bunch of other outlet stores that have built up around it.
From there we made a stop at the Marshall Point Lighthouse that was in the famous Forrest Gump running scene.
Our next stop up the coast was the picturesque Owl Head Lighthouse.
By the time we made it to our last lighthouse stop, Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, everyone was a little tired of looking at lighthouses and they vetoed walking out on the long concrete jetty to see it.
Lighthouses Between Boston and Bar Harbor
We rented Lucky Stone Retreat, a cozy VRBO, for a couple nights outside of Bar Harbor that had the best waterfront views.
I caught an amazing early sunrise at low tide the first night
On the 4th of July we drove up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. We were met with chilly temps and high winds.
We spent some time walking around and checking out the shops in downtown Bar Harbor.
We ended the day back at our rental house with our own private fireworks show from the neighbors on either side of us!
On Friday, we met the real Bar Harbor with a foggy harbor cruise. After our boat tour, we had just enough time with low tide to walk out on the Bar Island trail.
On Saturday we began our trek back to Boston, but first we made a stop to cuddle with a few alpaca at The Northern Solstice Alpaca Farm. It was a fun experience and I recommend getting some alpaca wool socks!
For more details, pictures and stories from the trip check out my Boston and Maine story highlights on Instagram.
The 4 of us enjoyed our time together as a family before Savannah heads off to college in August. While this would be an amazing trip to take in the Fall with cooler temps and the leaves changing, it was just as charming an enjoyable during the middle of Summer.
