Lobster Rolls and Lofty Peaks

 Our last hurrah of summer was inspired by the latest heatwave to hit the Green Mountain State in this already long and hot season. We scoured the northeast for a respite from the heat and humidity and found it in a town park that our friends from Maine helped us discover the previous year. We didn't plan to go to Maine this summer since we drove the length of the coast last year on our trip to Nova Scotia, but we packed the car and headed down east!

After a late lunch at Gusanoz Mexican Restaurant in Lebanon, New Hampshire we found ourselves at Winslow Park around dinner time. Annabel played on the playground while we filled her with as much dinner as we could distract her with before bed. We set up our tent on our 'glamping' site for the next three nights - site 53...very private, in view of the playground and it had WiFi. No living off twigs and berries like we usually do in the backcountry on this trip.

Our first day was mostly spent around Winslow park. We spent more time at the aforementioned playground (which even had a pirate ship with a fireman's pole...) and walked the shore looking for hermit crabs. Annabel liked talking to them but didn't want to touch one. We did take a short drive into the town of Freeport to have Annabel's kindergarten backpack and lunchbox monogrammed but other than that it was a quiet and relaxing day.

On our second day in Maine, we packed the car and headed to the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. The museum was much more extensive than we were picturing and celebrated Maine's wooden shipbuilding years. However, we were tipped off to an exhibit of Chris Van Dusen's artwork (one of Annabel's favorite authors) so we spent much of our day in that section of the museum. It was air-conditioned and no one was complaining.

In the evening we met our friends Brian and Emily and their children for dinner in Yarmouth. We had a great time catching up and walked to get ice cream...an impossible activity at home.

Our third morning in Maine was spent with more time on the playground (noticing a theme) and another short stint on the shore to say goodbye to the hermit crabs. I'm sure that they were really sad to see us go but we redirected the car away from the sea and headed west. We grabbed lunch at the Maine Diner so that we could consume the seafood that Maine requires you to eat before you leave. It was a solid meal.

We pointed our car into the mountains of Vermont and camped for the evening in a lean-to (Boxelder) at Coolidge State Park in Plymouth. We were able to snag one of the sites with a view of the mountains and enjoyed our quesadillas while watching the sun sink over the Greens. It was magical to start our day lounging at the ocean and finish in the cool mountain air.

In the morning, we packed our things and enjoyed the view from the pavilion at Coolidge State Park before descending to the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site. It was a whole village! Annabel required a beeline to the cheese factory and we obliged since we were also hungry! After our "lunch" we toured the historic buildings before eventually finding our way to Route 7 for the long journey home.