Welp, here it goes... the last video of my summer trip last year. When Kyle and I began our excursion, we started off at Boston, spent three days there, rented a car, and drove to Maine for the rest of our trip. We got a round trip bus from NYC to Boston for like $36 so how can you beat that?! On our first day there, we went to the Sam Adams Brewery, watched a baseball game at Fenway Park, ate lots of hot dogs, and traveled an hour out to get the best ice cream on our list. I actually had ice cream 6/9 days on this trip so...hehe. Anyway, Kyle and I jam packed all of our days and literally woke up so early each day to fit all the activities and find time to hit up food in between. We visited college campuses, wore ponchos out in the pouring rain, rode on trollies, traveled through subways, rented bikes for a day, and walked. A WHOLE LOT. We also ate more food on this trip than I'm willing to admit. I'll be posting an itinerary of our trip with all the food spots we hit up in case anyone wanted the recommendations. There are so many things to do in Boston, and even if we were up and out from 8-11 every day, we still feel like there is so much we didn't get to see. But with $36 round trip tickets, I'm sure we'll find ourselves back there one of these days for a weekend trip. Here are a few more pictures and the video I put together (where Kyle spills the beans on the secret to getting into MIT) ;)
Portland, Maine
So I guess I'm going backwards with my posts because Portland was the second stop of my summer vacation trip with Kyle. This town is beautiful. It's small, artsy, and filled with good coffee and good food! In fact two of my favorite meals of all time were from Portland (post about ALL my food from this trip will be posted later). Anyway we talked to a lot of locals who seem to have the same love for Portland, but unfortunately (& fortunately) the tourist scene in taking over the town. We stayed at an AirBnB of a woman whose apartment was right by the water. She was being kicked out because she just couldn't afford paying for rent after living in Portland for over 20 years. Because of the increase in tourist, there's a drive for summer homes, nicer looking apartments, and of course only people who can afford to pay for them. Many of the locals were now being pushed on the outskirts of the city because of how quickly Portland was booming and transforming. A few shop owners we talked to had mixed feelings about the whole thing because it was awesome to see their town grow in the music, arts, and food scene, but sad to see it come from a small town where almost everyone knew each other to, at times, an overpopulated place filled with tourists.
We loved it here and everyone was SUPER nice! We visited the Portland Lighthouse (which is the lighthouse showcased for Red Lobster) and it was absolutely beautiful. Kyle and I try to visit all the lighthouses we can and this was the most breathtaking one. Unfortunately, we went on a gloomy day but I can just imagine how much more beautiful it would be on a bright, sunny day. We also visited Allagash Brewing Company and Mt. Battle in Camden, Maine... not Camden, New Jersey! ;)
And of course, here's a quick video of our time here :)
Bar Harbor, Maine
Ah! It's been forever since i've posted on here but I've been incredibly busy these past few months. Hence, this super late post about my trip with Kyle back in August. Kyle and I went on our first (long) vacation together! It was about 10 days and we split it between Boston, Portland, and Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor was our last spot, but had to be our favorite out of the three. Everything about this area was beautiful. We stayed at another AirBnB home and our hosts were the best we've had so far. They had this cozy house that they completely renovated to follow a nautical theme, and it just reminded me of home. We spent most of our time in Acadia National Park and eating a lot of food and lobsters. Acadia was my first National Park that I had been to and by the looks of it, it surely won't be my last. Kyle's lifetime goal is to hike all the National Parks and this was his 13th. Way more to go! However, I did have a scary first hike up Acadia. That day we were suppose to check out a few trails, walk to the beach, and look at a few scenic lookouts, so Kyle said I didn't have to wear any sneaks or activewear yet. So naturally, I wore flip-flops and we ended up hiking up an extremely difficult trail. I found myself holding onto thick metal rungs in order to climb up rocks or walk across a VERY narrow edge. I remember when I came across the first one, I was panicking and telling Kyle we had to go back down. There was a family right behind us catching up so I felt all the pressure behind me, got super anxious, almost cried, and decided to just go for it the rest of the way. There were times when I just took my flip flops off and threw them over the ledge and climbed the metal with just my feet because my feet would sweat from all the nervousness leading to a few slippery, scary situations. :/ BUT.. no matter how scary it was going up, the view was just absolutely breathtaking. I had to take a minute to catch my breath (literally) and take in all the beauty. Not sure if I would say it was worth it... but I would definitely do it again (with sneakers).
And of course, here's a little video compilation of our trip here :)
