Maine Mania

Dan and I enjoyed a beautiful trip to Acadia National Park in northeast Maine, where my friends Montie and Tom tied the knot. This was our first visit to Maine. Even though I had pretty much covered all of New England (via trips made during university or cross-country family vacations), Maine was the one state in this area that had eluded me.

Our original intention was to land in Portland and immediately make the 4-hour drive to Mt. Desert Island, where the wedding was going to take place. But our plane was delayed in Newark, NJ due to an air traffic control "computer glitch." Note to self: try to avoid Newark Airport if you can. We were delayed about 3 hours (We were also delayed AN EXTRA DAY on the return trip). Since it was late at night and we were jet-lagged when we arrived, we decided to spend the night in Portland. Fortunately we found a Howard Johnsons that had rooms available, which brought me back to those childhood days of family road-trips to Disney World.

Woke up the next day and made the journey refreshed and in daylight, and we were glad we did-the drive to Mt. Desert Island was gorgeous. The wedding was held at The Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbor, and it was a beautiful sunny day. As it was a Dartmouth wedding, the Big Green held its spell on everyone, and it was great to catch up with friends. After the ceremony, we had a fantastic lobster dinner. The food on this trip was amazing, though Dan and I are currently undergoing a detox diet as I make this post. After four solid days of eating hearty American breakfasts, beers, steak, and lobster, we needed to fast.

At the Jordan Pond House in the nat'l park, we stopped for lunch and saw that they offered something called a "popover," which was a local specialty. We ordered it out of curiosity, and realized that it's a Yorkshire Pudding! They served it with strawberry jam, which actually tasted pretty good.

The day after the wedding, we went around Acadia National Park. We also visited the Asticou Azalea Gardens and the Atlantic Brewing Company, a microbrewery on the island. It was a beautiful trip, and our time in Maine generally consisted of walking around in the blissful sunshine, enjoying the views, tasting great food, and having our hearts warmed by the laid-back locals.

We fell in love with the place, and hope to return someday. Thanks Montie & Tom for inviting us out there! Pics here.