We took a taxi to our hotel. Our hotel is on the edge of Chinatown. We’re really in the heart of Boston. Really close to a lot of the historical places. Surprisingly, the city is not nearly as large and I expected.

Once we got checked in we walked to get some lunch. We just had Halal Guys because it was really close and we like that. But it was meh. After we ate we walked a bit to a subway station and a nice man working there helped us figure out what to purchase. The people here have actually been really nice.

We rode to Cambridge, and walked around Harvard. There wasn’t as grand of an entrance or anything as you would expect.

After we walked around for a while we took the subway back to the hotel and took a little nap…remember we got up at 4:30…

After resting for a bit we took an Uber to the seaport district and ate at The Barking Crab.

It was good and expensive! 😂

Then we walked around the pier and ubered back to the hotel. Our TV is not working in our room and they tried to fix it but couldn’t yet. We should probably get bonus points in our Marriott account for the inconvenience so there’s that!

We’ll see what adventure Wednesday holds. Planning to see sights on the hop on/hop off bus.

Finally, we headed out and walked over to find the hop on hop off tour. Oh yeah, we walked out to this beautiful weather…

We’re happy to be on the bus…

Some of the first sights

We made our way to Little Italy and had an amazing lunch at Carmelita’s. Everything in this area is very old and very compact. Lunch was amazing, probably the best chicken Parmesan we’ve ever eaten. We also loved the potato gnocchi.

Once we survived the hangry episodes we took a short walk to Paul Revere’s house.

From there we walked to the North Church. This was where the lanterns were hung to warn of the British coming.

It was very interesting inside. Families used to pay for their own “box”. They even decorated them with their own paint and furnishings. During a restoration it was all painted white.

Our family didn’t quite all fit in the main seat of this “box”. There was an extra little seat in the corner…we think maybe the unruly child was placed there…

The pulpit was raised so you could see the minister…we assume anyways.

Back on the bus to the Charlestown Navy Yard stop. Here Dan was able to get stamps for his National Park Passport Book(that’s real important 😂). This is where we toured the USS Constitution.

On the ship we actually bought our own U.S. flag(made in China🙄) and Jack was able to hoist up and fly it!

Dan and Jack briefly toured this ship before it closed. Dan said he’s wanted to go on this ship since he was a little boy!

After we finished at the Navy Yard we made our way back to the hotel. Part of the trek was through Boston Common, a large, historical city park.

After a quick pit stop we made our way to the iconic Fenway park via the subway. The four of us and I think what felt like all of Boston!

Dan sporting his New England look!

The game was fun and the Red Sox won.

The subway trip back was quite a bit less hectic.

It was a very full and fun day…I don’t think any of us had any issues falling asleep even though we’re sharing double size beds!

Thursday’s adventures should include some Chinatown exploration, Cheers, the Tea Party and Ships museum, and maybe a fort.

All of our ventures today were on foot, no subway or Ubers. Drill Sergeant Dan had us walking! Our first trek was to the Boston Tea Party museums. This was a little disappointing. It was more “tourist trap” than actual museum. But oh well, we made the most of it.

After this we walked over to the main entrance of Chinatown.

Then we had lunch at Double Chin, a modern Asian cafe. This was Caleb’s pick from his Internet search. It was good food, different, the ambience wasn’t our favorite.

When we finished here we walked back to our hotel…it was a little rainy so we decided to go back for a nap. It is vacation and see above about walking!

After everyone was rested up we headed back out and went to see Kings Church, founded in 1686. The graveyard with it dated back to 1603! One of the women buried here was from the Mayflower!

From here we walked around a little and made our way over to Cheers. Along the way we saw this building. There’s so much interesting architecture here..it’s really amazing.

I think this was built in the late 1800s.

We made it Cheers…but everyone did not know my name!

Dan and I split a hamburger and Caleb had Frazier’s chicken panini. He loves Frazier..he’s watched the entire series.

After we ate we tried to go see the actual set but there was a private event. We did see this though and it’s pretty cool!

Finally we made it back to our hotel to rest and recharge. We’re ready to leave the city and move on to Vermont tomorrow.

We’re getting wheels tomorrow!

Over the top delicious food!

Happy campers all around we loaded back up and headed to Concord to visit the Minuteman National Park. This was the sight of the first actual battle between the British and colonists.

There were also some really neat trees…I liked those enough to take a picture. \240We didn’t actually stop in the town of Concord but it was really pretty and looked VERY expensive.

Now we had to do some driving. We headed north up through New Hampshire. Finally, we made it to Vermont to our hotel. Our hotel is really close to the NH and Vermont state line. Once we got checked in we headed back out to Woodstock. By the way, not the site of the famous music festival, that was in NY. Woodstock, VT is a cozy little New England town.

Of course, we had to try out the local ice cream shop. Dan and I had Vermont Maple Cremee. Jack had a shake and Caleb didn’t want anything.

It was kind of like pancake ice cream.

Something I was really looking forward to was seeing some covered bridges. They are beautiful, and the craftsmanship was amazing. I think most of them have been rebuilt.

In the evening we ate again…

And the most exciting thing of the day, it was vacation laundry day. This trip was too long to pack enough clothes so I planned to wash on this day. Unfortunately, there was only one washer and dryer so it did take a bit!

A mama’s job…it never stops!

We did experience sticker shock at this turnpike stop. They had a Popeyes and the boys wanted a snack from there but Caleb was offended by the prices!

We finally made it to our motel…I did say motel and not hotel. Lodging is crazy expensive in Bar Harbor and there’s very little chain lodging. Two nights at the Holiday Inn was about $1200. Our little motel works fine for about $350! It’s clean and we actually have three beds. Side note, I do really miss my Tempurpedic! It’s a little cramped in this room but it’s a fun part of the journey.

Once we unloaded we headed down the road to Bar Harbor. First things first, we had to eat dinner! Surprisingly, we didn’t have to wait and we had fabulous seating right on the water. Look away if you must.

The food was amazing. The chips and dip had lobster and other seafood. Jack’s was a crab and lobster cake. Dan and Caleb split the big fish plate. I had fish…fresh, local haddock. It was so good! The blueberry pie was amazing!

Bar Harbor is beautiful and really what you would think of for coastal Maine.

After we walked around for a bit we headed back to our little motel and settled in for the night. Planning to be up early to explore Acadia!

Onward to the park! First up, Cadillac Mountain. You can see so much from up there.

We walked the Cadillac Mountain trail and took it all in. It’s really hard for a picture to do it justice.

There are several of these \240neat bridges in the park.

Another part of the park is Sand Beach.

This was really pretty! I didn’t expect to the water to be such a beautiful color. It was really clear turquoise and deep blue. Jack was brave enough to take off his shoes and put his foot in the water, briefly. He confirmed for us, that it was indeed very cold!

There are several miles of coast line that are stunning in the park too!

After we were finished exploring the park we went into Northeast Harbor. This is another little town, much smaller than Bar Harbor. We walked around a little bit and had lunch there.

Normal food but Caleb did mistakenly order a veggie burger. He saw oats and thought it was the for the roll. He ate it, he said it didn’t have a lot of taste. Jack had chicken fingers, which Dan tried and he said they were really good, like real chicken!

After all of this we decided we wanted to rest for a bit so we went back to our cozy little motel and just \240chilled and took a nap. We just hung out with our windows open, and enjoyed the Maine breeze.

After our refreshing Sunday nap time we went back to Bar Harbor and walked around the downtown area, there were lots of shops there.

Once we checked all that out we headed over to our boat tour. This was a lot of fun! We enjoyed a sunset and nature cruise. It was really interesting to go out on the water. Actually, it’s how you see a lot Acadia too. Several of the bay islands are part of the park. We got to see seals, shorebirds, a lighthouse, and some really fancy cottages, otherwise known as mansions!

Also, I got pretty cold at certain points of this boat ride!

Once we got off the boat we went to eat dinner. We liked our dinner so much that we went back to the same place we had last night! The guys all had the same choices except I had a Cobb salad with Lobster, and of course, minus the egg!

And yes, I had more blueberry pie…and it was amazing!

Not only does the sun come up early but it stays up longer too. At 9:30 it’s still a little hint of daylight. After we ate we drove back to the park. Finally, at about 10pm it is dark. Driving around in the park at night is kind of strange, it’s VERY dark! That’s why you go though, for stargazing.

We saw a deer along the way, and eventually found a spot to look at the stars. When you turn off your lights there it is VERY dark! We did see some pretty stars and certainly more than we can generally see but Dan and Caleb said it still doesn’t compare to how they saw stars in South Texas a few years ago.

We saw stars, and shared lots of laughs with the boys, they were \240in a silly mood. It was a really fun evening. Finally, we made our way back to our little motel for our last night in this location.

Tomorrow we meander back across Maine to Kennebunk.

We also stopped to shop in Freeman, Maine. Mostly at the huge flagship L.L. bean store. It was a lot of fun to see!

Side note to some unique sodas we tried. Caleb loves to try unique sodas.

The Moxie soda was for sure distinctly different as it said. It tasted sort of medicine like. The blueberry soda wasn’t too bad but Caleb wasn’t a fan.

Outside of Portland we found a Chick Fil A. The boys were dying for a CFA meal! I didn’t take a picture as I know you are all very familiar with what that looks like. 😝

So, we arrived about 3pm to our final accommodations for the trip. They are, let’s say unconventional…

Well, it’s an inn, and we’re more Marriott people but it’s also a fun experience. The biggest issue is that there was no elevator…oops!

The shower is most interesting. You feel like a caged giraffe in there! I do believe our is the hardest bed I’ve ever slept in. I’ll say again, missing my bed!

A few sights from Kennebunk.

The fire hydrants have locator poles for when it snows!

Later Dan and I went to explore a little, the boys stayed and lounged. We drove over to Kennebunkport. The two towns really kind of run together.

One thing we had to check out was the Bush compound in Kennebunkport.

In the evening we walked to a local place called Duffy’s and had dinner. My phone was dead so I didn’t get pictures.

The rest of the evening we chilled and watched TV in our room. Tomorrow is whale watching day!

There’s so guarantee on a whale watching trip and in Maine it can be hit or miss sometimes.

But….we were very fortunate to see several Humpback whales!!! It’s really hard to capture the experience.

I was so excited!

We also saw some seals from a distance. I had a pretty good view from by binoculars. They were on this island with the lighthouse.

Caleb really can sleep anywhere.

An interesting sight on the way out. I think it’s changing rooms for the beach.

A Maine seaside resort

After our whale watching tour we explored more of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.

We drove around quite a bit and went to the unique little shops and stores.

In the early evening we ate dinner right on the water and had our last hurrah to New England seafood.

We drove around a little more to see more houses. The architecture and style is so interesting. There are no brick houses, just occasional brick buildings. Some of these are beach houses and some just around town.

Finally, we made our way to Gooch Beach. It’s very pretty and a lot different than southern beaches. We all put our feet in…and it didn’t take long to make your feet hurt it was so cold! We had fun walking the beach and picking up neat rocks. A perfect end to a wonderful day.

Tomorrow we pack, which will be interesting, and head back to Boston to fly home in the evening.

From here we drove on into Boston. We decided to go check out MIT since we hadn’t done that previously.

The campus was much more modern than Harvard. While we were there we decided to find some lunch and found this well known Boston favorite, Dumpling Daughter.

Jack did not eat much of his…actually no one ate much of that! Otherwise, it was really good!

After this we drove around a bit and tried to go see Independance Fort on Castle Island. It was closed but we saw the outside a little.

This was an interesting bridge in Boston that is trimmed on copper. The patina is really pretty.

After trying to find another historical park and not having any luck we decided to head to the airport. It was a good thing, it was so busy!

Other than a really detailed, aggressive security screening where I received an extensive pat down all went really well. Neither of our flights was delayed. Actually, both our arrival and departure flights landed early!

Back to reality we go. I do have one more day off work to recoup, do laundry, etc. It will be a busy and quick turn around for all the guys. The boys head to church camp next week, Jack as a student, Caleb as a chaperone. Then on Tuesday, Dan heads out to Pittsburgh for a business trip.

We are beyond blessed to take these types of trips as a family. I read somewhere once that you absolutely have to be there for your kids day in and day out but vacations are what \240makes special memories. I hope someday our boys really look back and cherish these times, I know I do, and will for years to come. Until next time…

Adventure Awaits!