We started our road trip from Massachusetts to two new states, New Hampshire and Maine.

Our first stop was Manchester, NH, where Dad wanted to see some frank Lloyd wright houses and a museum. I had to work, so stayed in a coffeeshop while my parents visited those. I did find time for a little walk around the Main Street and river front, industrial but full of color! 

From there we continued on to Popham Beach in Maine where we stayed in a cute little beachside cabin. It was dark when we arrived and rainy the next day. I took a run down the beach and we visited two forts, Popham and Baldwin. The site we came to see was a bit underwhelming, the location of the Popham Colony founded by some of our ancestors in the same year as Jamestown. 

You could see nothing of the colony structures but a plaque commemorating the first British ship built here, the Virginia.

We took a scenic route on a foggy day up the coast of Maine, stopping for lobster and lighthouses on the way.

Acadia National Park

Our next house was in the town of Ellsworth, close to Acadia national park and with plenty of pretty views of its own.

The highlight of the trip, 3 gloriously sunny days in Acadia National Park. I hiked up the east coast’s tallest ‘peak,’ Cadillac mountain.

We continued from there around the Park Loop road that took us past aptly-named Sand Beach, the roaring tides at Thunder Hole, rocky coast of Otter Point and the tranquil meadow of Jordan Pond. We stopped at the restaurant there for the famous popovers, and then went home to make our own lobster dinner.

The next day we explored the town of Bar Harbor, a little TOO bustling tourist town. At low tide, there is a sandbar to walk out to a nearby island. In the evening, we took a boat tour around the bay to see seals, shores and sunset. 

On our last day in Acadia we visited a less crowded portion of the park, Schoodic Peninsula, for even more island views without the crowds.

But we weren't done with the scenery yet! We took a very scenic byway inland toward the Canadian boarder, with a stop for a short hike at "Reed's Creek" and a short waterfall.

We arrived in our final home exchange in Quebec after dark, so like you, we had to wait a while to see what that looked like.