Maine Part 2: Bar Harbor in the Rain

Our original plan for our second day in the great state of Maine was to spend the morning and afternoon hiking Acadia National Park. Unfortunately for us, Mother Nature had other plans.

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Our sweet little rental…complete with umbrellas!

We woke up to pouring rain and a forecast that predicted the same throughout the day. No worries, we decided we would simply switch our itinerary around and spend the day exploring Bar Harbor. We figured it would be a little more wet, but just as fun and we would save Acadia for the following day which was supposed to be clear. We found umbrellas in the closet of our rented house and made our way down to the 2 Cats Restaurant and Inn for breakfast.

2 Cats was located in a big yellow house and looked like it came straight out of Mystic Pizza. The lower level had been converted into a restaurant and there were rooms above. We were seated immediately and wasted no time ordering coffee and lobster.

I opted for the lobster benedict while Anna and Michelle both got lobster omelets. EVERYTHING was delicious, including the homemade biscuits with strawberry butter.

When we couldn’t eat another bite we ventured back out into the rain and began our exploration of Bar Harbor. Most of the shops are located on the Main Street downtown (perpendicular to 2 Cats) so we began at the end closest to the water and went uphill from there.

Did I mention it was rainy and VERY windy?

Bar Harbor is a very touristy town and I won’t lie to you, most of the shops are full of souvenirs and tourist junk, but there are a few gems.

 

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We bought gifts and souvenirs at a few shops and then popped into the Bar Harbor popcorn company, where we snacked on blueberry popcorn and kettle corn to tide us over until dinner. We also stopped at a general store and sampled Maine’s famous soft drink, Moxie.

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It tasted a bit like a spicy root beer. It wasn’t terrible, but I think it’s probably an acquired taste.

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Maine Part 1: Portland & a Road Trip Up the Coast

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! I so enjoyed the few days off spending time with family, relaxing, doing a little early Christmas shopping and of course eating almost everything in sight. I also finally had a little time to sit down and start recapping Maine! Another trip where I ate almost everything in sight…or at least all the lobster in sight. So lets get right to it shall we?

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Anna and Michelle were my college roommates and are still two of my very best friends. The three of us had been discussing a girl’s trip for a year or two and finally decided to make it a reality. We booked and planned our trip about a month and a half out and landed in Portland the Wednesday before Halloween.

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We woke up early Thursday and headed out to Hot Suppa for brunch. There was a short wait so we grabbed lattes across the street at Yordprom Coffee Shop while we waited.

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Quaint and artsy inside, Hot Suppa’s menu is southern inspired and it was well worth the wait. I ordered a corned beef and egg breakfast sandwich with baby kale on the side and it was delicious.

After brunch we drove around Portland a bit sightseeing and then hit the road on our way to Bar Harbor.

We drove up the coast and stopped liberally along the way.

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We stopped to take photos of giant lobsters:

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We stopped to take photos of the most picturesque blueberry fields:

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And of course we stopped to explore some adorable coastal towns along the way:

Wiscasset was our favorite and looked like something out of a movie. We popped into a few shops, got more coffee in a cute little general store and stretched our legs with a stroll down to the water.

Eventually we made it to Bar Harbor where we quickly checked into our VRBO rental and then promptly set about exploring the waterfront.

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The sun was starting to set and we wanted to watch from Cadillac Mountain so that was our next stop.

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Of course pictures hardly do it justice, but I tried!

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It was getting late and VERY cold so we headed back into town to find dinner. We landed at the Dog and Pony Tavern, a recommendation from our VRBO owner.

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We started with a round of Black and Blueberries, a Maine special, and all ordered some variation of lobster. Duh.

Full of lobster and beer we called it a fairly early night in anticipation of a long day exploring Bar Harbor in the morning!

Girls’ Weekend in DC!

Happy Tuesday! After another busy weekend away I am back to the grind and ready to recap my super fun extended weekend in DC with my best friend Caite! Caite and I have been best friends since high school and I was so glad she made a trip down to SC to visit me last April, so it was high time I returned the favor!

Caite and I

She lives in Virginia so we made big plans to meet in DC for the weekend, and by ‘we’ I mean ‘she’ because she planned our entire trip and boy did she do a great job!

Caite met me at the airport late Thursday evening and we went straight to our AirBnB in the city. I have never used AirBnB before but Caite is a pro and she was not overly impressed with our digs. We stayed in the bottom of a row house that had been turned into a one bedroom apartment.

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Our “Row”

It was clean and the location was great but our upstairs neighbors were horrendously loud (or maybe they own horses?). Oh well, it was a bed and a shower which is more or less all we required.

On Friday morning we grabbed some delicious vanilla latte’s at The Coffee Bar, a hip little coffee shop around the corner and hit the streets!

One of my favorite things about big cities is that you can walk almost everywhere. Walking everywhere with a latte that has coffee art in the foam is an added bonus.

We popped into a few cute shops before deciding it was time for a big late breakfast, Ted’s Bulletin to the rescue!

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When Robert and I were last in DC a few years ago our friend Bud raved about Ted’s Bulletin and their homemade pop tarts so I was excited to check it out.

Caite and I agreed to split one but were both way too full by the time we actually finished our food… next time!

After breakfast we did a little more shopping and then decided to make up for our missed poptarts and satisfy our sweet tooth with a few macarons.

We ogled all the pretty colors and unique flavors and went all in for the sampler pack.

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As always with macarons I thought they looked a lot prettier than they actually tasted (I’m looking at you fruity pebbles…bleh). The almond and salted caramel were pretty yummy but I won’t be converting to a macaron lover any time soon (Ice cream forever!).

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