-Lily, NYLily, NYLily, NLily, Lily,LilyLilLiL-Lily, NY-
Living in New York has been a treat all my life. But, oftentimes I need a little escape from the hustle and bustle and the “work to live” mentality instead of the “live to work” mentality. For the past 4 years I have been traveling all over the world– from Asia, to Europe to Central America– for months at a time. Those long trips were eye opening, cathartic, simply incredible…yet, I feel the same way when I travel up north from NYC and make my way to Maine. Maine is the home of Acadia National Park, and some of the best food found in the US right in their little city of Portland.. From hiking and biking, to swimming in chilly ocean waves, to eating the best buttery lobster roll…Maine simply has my heart.
Where we went:
From Kennenbunkport to Acadia National Park
How we traveled:
Mercedes built-out sprinter van.
Where we slept:
On a full size mattress perfectly above the ‘garage’ of the sprinter, nuzzled in the back.
Who we went with:
My boyfriend at the time…
Some things we packed:
Camp Kitchen, 65 L Backpack, Aeropress Coffee Maker, the best hiking boots by La Sportiva, LuminAID Packlite, bags of Right Rice because it's tasty, a lightweight tent for camping under the stars, lots of jerky, a rain jacket, leggings, and some nice clothes for meals out.
What we ate/ drank around the fire:
Aeropress coffee with a dash of half and half alongside a turkey ‘burrito’ with lettuce, mustard and tomato + sometimes we’d make soft boiled eggs. Night time would consist of something cooked in a cast iron skillet over an open flame at our campsite, and something boiled in our jetboil– potatoes, shrimp, pasta, etc. 2-3 ounces of Bourbon in a mug (it never mattered what kind) with lemon or orange brewed tea and cinnamon was always a must as well.
What activities we did:
Kenenbunkport was our first stop– we ate good food and slept by the beach. Next, we drove all the way to Bar Harbor, to eat a lobster roll before making our way to Acadia National Park where we stayed for 3 days. In Acadia we hiked The Beehive trail and other various routes, rock climbed, and slept under the stars at Cadillac Mountain. As we began our descent towards NY, we stopped over at Red's Eats for the best Maine Lobster Roll (Anthony Bourdain said so!), and slept over in Portland. Portland was amazing for all things beer, and farm to table eats– we parked on the street near the harbor. To cut our ride from Portland to NYC a bit shorter, we stopped over in Rochester Maine where we had a really nice dinner and managed to find the only public parking lot for us to sleep in– at a drive in movie theater! The next day we drove home.
A word to describe the trip:
Just what I needed
Favorite moment of the trip:
Being in acadia with hot coffee in hand, surrounded by beautiful trees and birds chirping.
What you took a mental picture of but couldn’t capture with a photo?
Hearing the sound of the ocean from inside our cozy van.
Did anything remarkable or synchronous happen?
Stopping at Red’s Eats wasn't part of the plan until we drove past it and saw a ginormous line out the door. People were waiting for an hour at that point for the joint to open up. As we stood in line, we met a couple who drove up from Florida just to get some lobster rolls and fried onion rings…
What we listened to or a theme song for the trip:
Automobile by KALEO
Was it kid or dog-kid friendly?
100%
Would you bring your grandma?
Absolutely– although she wouldn’t hike with us. She’d just sit back and eat lobster.
Would you visit again?
I try to do a Maine trip once a year, if not more!
Lessons-learned for future trips/ visit tips you’d share with your friends:
Never underestimate the beauty that can be found in your backyard, up the road, a few hours away.
What’s up next on your bucket list?
Van life throughout Hawaii!
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