Scotty and Ashley: August 2011

Recently we celebrated two different anniversaries...

The First - As of July 31st, we have been married 3 years now! I am not big into doing anything big for anniversaries, but we decided to count our Maine trip as our anniversary. The trip was amazing and I think that was a great anniversary gift for the two of us. On our real anniversary day we had both forgotten about it. All I was thinking about that day was calling my brother David for his birthday. So we were sitting in church, and Scott leans over to me and says "oh, Happy Anniversary!" I start laughing because I realize that I had forgotten also. It was a funny moment because it shows how big of a deal we make out of our anniversary:) I am so grateful to be married to Scott! I feel like each year we grow closer and closer.

The Second - We are celebrating is 2 years living in New York City! We have come so far! I think I have changed the most living here. It's funny to read my blog posts from then and seeing the difference. I remember first moving here and being terrified to leave my apartment, and not knowing how to get anywhere. Now I go everywhere by myself and sometimes Scott asks me for subway directions;) I feel like after living here I could live anywhere. I have to admit that I think my patience has gotten worse since living here. I also have become more assertive which can be either good or bad. I am glad we have the chance to live here for a few years at this time in our lives. It will make me grateful for that day when we have cars, a dishwasher, a washer and dryer of our own, etc.

Scott had a one week break the end of July, so we decided to do a road trip up to Maine. Since Scott is 25 now, we were able to get a rental car for a good price. We were excited to be able to get out of the city and drive! We planned things to do while we were there, but also allowed for flexibility. I'll try my best to give details so if you ever plan a Maine trip you can have some recommendations. It was a really enjoyable trip, and very relaxing. Maine is very beautiful! It was also nice to see Scott for an entire week because that has not happened in a very long time.

We began our trip, and decided one place we would stop on the way would be Salem, Massachusetts. One thing we discovered is that there isn't really anything there... We ended up finding Puleo's Dairy to have lunch and some ice cream. The ice cream was very good, the food was just okay. We decided to have fun and take some pictures.

After Salem, Massachusetts we headed to Kittery, Maine where I heard about an outlet mall. In my opinion is was quite a find! We found some great deals and Scott was also able to find some things. If you are going through Maine I recommend stopping at the Kittery Outlets. While we were in Kittery we needed a place for dinner and went to Bob's Clam Hut. It had been featured on the Food Network on Diner's Drive-ins and Dives. We had read that they have good fish and chips and I'm sure clams:) We ended up getting the haddock and chips, and Scott also had some clam chowder.

We left Kittery and headed to Portland, Maine which wasn't too far away. We ended up staying at the Travelodge there. Definitely nothing spectacular but it was a decent place to stay along the way. In the morning we continued heading North to get to Bar Harbor, Maine. We stopped at lighthouses along the way and other things that interested us. We stopped at a Cape Elizabeth to see a lighthouse. It was beautiful to walk on the rocks and see the ocean. The funny thing was every few minutes a loud blaring foghorn would go off a few times. So we had to keep covering our ears when we walked close to the horn. Here are a few pictures.

We also stopped along to see a few more lighthouses which I don't know all the names to. Here are some more pictures:

Those of you that know me when I see a sign that says "Wet Paint" I have to touch it. So you won't be surprised that when I see a sign that says "Keep off the Grass" I just cant... and want a picture:)

We found this random metal lobster and decided Scott needed a picture with it.

We kept heading north and ended up stopping in Booth Bay, which was a small touristy little town with shops and restaurants. We ended up going to a restaurant and getting a lobster roll, and lobster stew to share. It was really good. I can't remember what the name of the restaurant was.

In Booth Bay Scott saw a store that had Whoopie pies and blueberry soda. Here's a picture with his treats and a random stuffed bear.

We continued our way to Bar Harbor, where we had a reservation at a bed and breakfast to stay. We decided to check in and get settled before going out that night. The bed and breakfast was called: The Collier House. This wasn't a traditional B&B, as we stayed in a separate building outside of the main house. We stayed in the "Pond House." The room was good, and the hostess was really nice to tell us things to do around there. Breakfast was kind of awkward the next morning because no one was talking, and the people next to us, we weren't sure if they spoke much English. Other than the awkward breakfast we had a good stay.

For dinner that night we went to Thurston's Lobster Pound for our first whole lobster dinner. It was right on the water, and you could see all the lobster cages so we knew we would get some fresh lobster. Basically you choose the size of lobster you want, and any sides that you want, and when it's ready they call you up to get it. It's very casual eating the lobster on paper products. I was amazed the kind of food we got for the price, it was a major deal. Here are a few pictures:

Everywhere we went in Maine they were so many ice cream places. We had ice cream on a few occasions and it was very good. I had no idea that there would be so many ice cream places.

The next day we were going on a Whale Watch through Bar Harbor Whales. We hung around downtown until our whale watching excursion. It was quite the experience! We were able to see a few different kinds of whales as well as seeing the same 3 Humpback whales multiple times. I was worried going that we might not see anything but we saw a lot! The only downside was that Scott was feeling sick on the boat but he was a trooper and enjoyed the whales also.

We checked into our second bed and breakfast in Bar Harbor which was Canterbury Cottage. This was a traditional B&B being right in the main house. We met the hostess and she gave us some recommendations as well as showing us to our room. It was funny because it felt like we were staying at Grandma's house. The decor was very flowery, with lots of nick-knacks. We found out there was a honeymoon couple staying there for the week. I would never have stayed at a place that felt like Grandma's house for my honeymoon! Breakfast the next morning was really good with blueberry pancakes. It was also less awkward because people talked unlike the previous one we were at.

The night that we were there we decided to go out to dinner at a place that Scott could get his lobster and I could get some fried Maine shrimp which is what I was craving. We ended up going to the Fish House Grill. The food was really good, I especially was very impressed with the cornbread. I have never had such moist cornbread before. I had my shrimp and Scott had his New England Lobster Bake which included a lobster, clams, mussels, and clam chowder. Here are some pictures:

The next day we started our way back home. We first went to Acadia National Park to drive the loop. It was a beautiful drive and we stopped to take pictures along the way. For some of them we got a bit silly and decided to start jumping which made us start laughing hysterically. I think we were entertaining anyone who was walking by.

At this point we were talking about "planking" and how weird of a trend it is. So we decide to get a picture of Scott planking lol.

So Scott was joking to me about watching out for bears. As we were taking pictures I told him there was a bear behind him because there was a dog that looked like a bear behind him. I thought it was so funny! Here's a picture of the dog.

We stopped at Toot's for ice cream. We were really craving ice cream so we typed it into the GPS and it led us there. It was good ice cream but very funny, seeing all these farm animals while you are eating ice cream.

We also stopped at a beach at Cape Cod on our way home. We got into our swimsuits, lounged, and waded in the water. It was very nice and relaxing! I feel like I never get to feel the sun living in New York. I am the palest I think I've ever been in my life:) I think Cape Cod is a place where you could spend a lot more time. We didn't get very far into it because we were not wanting to get home too late.

It was a great trip and I'm so glad we had the chance to go. If you ever have a chance to go up the coast, I definitely recommend it. It is absolutely beautiful. It was amazing food, amazing views and so nice to be able to see Scott for an extended period of time.

The only bad part of our trip was driving into the city and dealing with tons of traffic, and finding a parking spot. We were lucky with the parking spot but driving in traffic was not fun.

P.S. If you don't like seafood, Maine is not really the trip for you. We ate lots of seafood!