Maine

A little while back we decided that we wanted to try to squeeze one more trip in before Josh had to start work. Several attorneys at Josh's firm had suggested that it's good to take advantage of the time while you can . . .

So, we headed out to Maine to check out the coast and drive to Prince Edward Island. We saw lots of lighthouses, ate some great food, and had a good time. Maine is lots of fun. We flew in and out of Portland, Maine. Ainslie was pretty good on the planes. She loved The Incredibles and Hannah Montana on the planes that had TV's in the seats. We had a few layovers each way, so we ran around the airports trying to get her good and worn out in hopes that this would happen . . .
Ainslie was good in the car too. We spent a LOT of time driving, but with the help of a few DVD's, a laptop, and Phineas and Ferb on the iPod, Ainslie did just fine.
She did get burned out on the videos every once in a while and took it upon herself to come up with other entertainment. Like experimenting with her wardrobe while giving some goldfish crackers a chance to take a swim . . .
And we'd stop to run around or play at McDonald's when we needed a break.
The drive was worth it. We saw lots of beautiful lighthouses.
And there were lots of other beautiful things to see too.
We stopped in Freeport to see the LL Bean headquarters and check out some of the other stores there. Janae wanted to see the giant LL Bean boot, but Ainslie was kind of scared of the boot and opted to relax on some of the chairs they had out front.









We loved the view from the top of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.
The weather didn't really cooperate when we visited Acadia National Park, but we loved Bar Harbor and want to go back to see more of what the fog was hiding in the park.
Ainslie was especially fond of the fountain in the city park in Bar Harbor. That night there was a jazz concert in the park, so we bought a pizza and had a picnic on the grass while Ainslie danced away to the music. When the pizza was gone we moved on to blueberry pie and blueberry ice cream. Delicious.Maine is pretty proud of their blueberries, and we ate lots of them. We also ate whoopie pies. But our favorite was the lobster rolls. We loved the lobster, Ainslie loved the lobster buzzer they gave us to let us know when our food was ready. She also loved posing as a lobster ("crabby") when we ate at Shaw's Wharf.
We ate some great food, but Ainslie's favorites were the "worm babies" and other treats that she ate in the car. Lots of candy. We stayed in some pretty good hotels as we went. We found some online beforehand, but other nights we took our chances and stayed wherever we could find a room. One night turned out extra adventurous when we got into Camden a little later than we thought. Most of the places to stay were starting to close, and we ended up staying in a little cottage that was threatening to fall off the hillside. The shifting had left a sizeable opening under the front door. This left plenty of room for a mouse who decided to join us for the night . . .
One of our favorite parts of the whole trip was the sunset boat ride that we took around Casco Bay. We had been hoping that we would find a windjammer that would be Ainslie-friendly, and Frances was perfect. The sights around the bay were amazing.Ainslie loved to ring the bell on the boat more than anything else about the ride.

At the very end of our trip, we drove down to Boston to walk the Freedom Trail. Our hotel in Boston was very fancy, and being in the big city really made us feel like we were in a different country. But we loved Boston. Once again, Ainslie was more interested in the playground at the park, but we managed to drag her along as we walked the Freedom Trail. We loved seeing Paul Revere's home,

seeing where many of the important events leading up to the Revolutionary War happened in downtown Boston,

and although we decided not to go onboard the USS Constitution (they say ringing bells on the ship is a big no-no, and Ainslie REALLY liked ringing the bell on our boat ride) we thought the ship was amazing.

We also got to see the church where the lanterns were hung before Paul Revere's famous ride.Lots to see in Boston. Lots to see in Maine. And we haven't said anything about Canada. It was a pretty big trip, and we all came home exhausted. But it was great.