A rainy day in Maine

Our first full day in Maine started as a rainy Sunday morning.  We attended church services in Bangor and then gassed up the car ($4.15/gal) and headed out to see some more of the state.  At one point in our planning, I had considered driving up to the top of the state where US 1’snorthern terminus is as we had been to the end of the road in Key West last year.  But it would have added at least one extra day for us, so we decided to be practical and just go slightly out of the way.

We headed east to Calais, Maine, where we planned to get lunch from a food truck called Grill on the Corner.  They have baked potatoes (loaded with pulled pork and other goodness) as well as other items.  We often get potatoes like these on Sundays from Hamaknockers, so it seemed like a great idea.  The night before, I double checked the times and location for the truck only to find they had moved from their usual spot as the place had new owners so the truck had to go somewhere else.  I had a phone number, so I reached out and they told me where they would be and that they would be sure to hold two potatoes for us!

While driving over to Calais in the rain, we noticed one of our wiper blades wasn’t working quite right, so when we got to Calais, we stopped at the Maine Visitor Information Center (to use the restroom, too) and DH was able to fix the blade.  Whew!  At least there was a NAPA Auto Parts store in Calais that was open on a Sunday afternoon if we’d needed them.  Also this was the second of four Maine Visitor Information Centers we would visit on our trip (they only have seven).

We found the food truck and got our lunch, but it was still raining and we didn’t really want to eat it in the car, so we decided to drive down to our next point which was the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, about 15 minutes away.  This is a National Park Service site, the only international one run by the NPS.  It’s where the French landed in what would become the United States.  They have a small visitor center in the ranger station, and they had picnic tables on their covered front porch, so that made a nice place to have our lunch even in the rain.  After we ate, we watched the 3-minute film about the area, and then we walked through the interpretive trail as it was only drizzling by then.  They have bronze sculptures set up to tell the story of the French at St. Croix Island.

From there, we headed to another Atlas Obscura find – and this one was one DH thought was much better than the filing cabinet in Burlington.  There’s a roadside marker at the 45^th parallel – which means it marks the place that is halfway between the equator and the North Pole.  It reminded me of when we stopped to take a quick picture at the Continental Divide when we were out west several years ago.  I like taking notice of things that are geographically significant.  And this wouldn’t be our only geographically significant point of our time in Maine.  It also reminded me that one thing I’d like to do (I don’t like calling it a bucket list) is go south of the Equator.  DH has been as he’s been to Australia, but I’ve not made it – yet!

The rain continued through the afternoon but we finally made it to the motel for the night.  We stayed at the Eastland Motel just outside of Lubec, Maine.  The current owners have had the place for 16 years and it’s obvious that they have put a lot of care and work into modernization as well as upkeep.  The beds were the most comfortable we’ve had on the whole trip up to this point.  And the water pressure in the shower was amazing, unlike some of the hotel chains that modulate the water pressure so you can barely get rinsed off.

My favorite part (besides the great night’s sleep) of staying at the Eastland Motel was chatting with the desk clerk (who also bakes the muffins in the morning and does the laundry).  She moved from Connecticut with her family because they just fell in love with the quieter life of the fishing village of 2,000 people (in summer – they drop to 500 in the winter when everyone else goes to Florida).  I asked her if there was anything we ought to see on the way from Lubec to Portland, and she gave me a great recommendation – something that hadn’t even come up in my research – but you’ll have to wait a few days to find out what it is!

Up next:  Canada!

~ Cindy D.

Welcome to New Hampshire and Maine!

Welcome to New Hampshire!  We spent a night in Lincoln, New Hampshire, preparing to go across the Kancamagus Highway over to Maine.  We chose this route because it’s one of the most scenic drives through the White Mountains of the state.

We had dinner at The Common Man restaurant.  They serve a variety of meals and are well-known among the gluten-free New Hampshire community.  It was another good suggestion from the people of the internet who helped us plan our trip.  I couldn’t decide what to order at first until I thought about it – we’re in New England, so it’s obvious that I should have the New England pot roast.  It was so delicious!

We got gas in Lincoln before heading out for the day as we were going as far as Bangor, Maine, so it would be a long driving day.  It was $4.29/gallon.

The Kancamagus Highway is named for its proximity to Mount Kancamagus.  It goes through the White Mountain National Forest.  The road is windy but is well maintained, unlike some of the other roads we’ve found ourselves on this trip.

There are several waypoints and trailheads along the highway.  Before we left home, I had picked out one that I wanted to stop and see.  It’s the Sabbaday Falls trail – a short walk (0.7 round trip) with slight elevation to a little waterfall.  It was a cooler morning, so as we went into the forest, it got even cooler, so I was glad to have a light jacket.  It was the first morning we felt like we needed them.  The walk to the falls was pretty easy and it was worth the time to go see it.

       

Shortly after completing the Kancamagus Highway, we were in the state of Maine.  This is significant because this is when DH achieved visiting his 50th state!  There was a Maine Tourist Information center just after we entered the state, so we stopped there.  The lady at the desk asked if she could help us with anything, so I told her she could officially welcome him to his 50th state.  She smiled, said congratulations, and then pulled out a certificate for him commemorating his arrival into his 50th state.  She said they get quite a few people coming through that finish their 50 states in Maine.  It was so sweet!  And he was so happy.

When we stopped in Augusta, Maine, later at a Shaw’s Pharmacy and grocery store, we learned that in the state of Maine, they charge you a nickel for every bag you get from a store.  And they also charge a bottle fee for plastic bottles.  We had this happen with cans in Michigan.  I haven’t figured out where we could return our empty bottles to get our nickel back.  I’ve started asking each time I make a purchase if they are going to charge me for something extra!

We eventually made it to our hotel in Bangor, Maine.  We stayed at the Comfort Inn, and it was pretty comfortable.  We also liked that there was a Mexican restaurant, Las Palapas, in the parking lot that offered 10% off to hotel guests!  It made it nice to not have to figure out what to have for dinner after a long driving day.

The next morning was a wonderful surprise for me at breakfast.  Not only did they offer gluten free bread pre-wrapped, they made a gluten-free toaster available for use.  It wasn’t one they just keep out – it has its own shelf in the staff area and is clearly labeled gluten-free.  They use clean gloves when bringing it out for guests, and as soon as you’re done with it, they get another pair of clean gloves to take it and put it away again.  I’ve never seen a designated gluten-free toaster at a hotel breakfast bar before.  It was a lovely beginning to the week we were spending in Maine.

Up next: headed to geographically significant points.

~ Cindy D.

So long, Vermont (and cheese and syrup and a tour of the State House)

Well, dear readers, I know you’ve been waiting to find out whether we made it to see the World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet in Burlington, Vermont.  We had some debate about whether we would attempt to see it the next morning because we had several other things on our agenda for the day, and it was located beyond where we needed to get on the highway.

We drive a Subaru Outback which we love.  In the early 2000’s, I had a conference in Oregon, and DH and our sons went with us.  While there, our rental car was a Subaru Outback.  DH had so much fun driving it and declared then that that would be the type of vehicle he wanted for our retirement years.  We’ve been driving Subarus since 2016 when we started with a Forrester but graduated to Outbacks by 2018 and 2019.  I’m telling you all this because whenever we travel, we always look for Subaru dealerships and let our cars say hello to their cousins.  I know, it’s silly – but on this trip, it seems like there have been Subaru dealerships in most of the cities and towns we’ve been in, and it seems that we always go by them.

Well, in Burlington, we had driven by several car dealerships but had not seen a Subaru one.  We thought there surely should be one in Burlington, especially after how many Subarus we saw driving around the city.  When I was getting our directions for the day, I happened to notice the Subaru dealership pop up on my Google Maps – and it was just two blocks from the World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet – and just five blocks past where we needed to be.  DH wasn’t crazy about it, but I told him we needed to drive by the Subaru dealership so Maisey (our car, she’s Amazing!) could say hi to her Vermont cousins.  And since we’d already be there, we should just go see the filing cabinet.

Y’all, this man loves me so much!  We drove by Subaru, beep-beeped, and then went to see the filing cabinet.  Obscure roadside attraction, check!

There aren’t many ways to go across the state of Vermont that don’t involve an interstate highway or an extra several hours.  So for this day, we started out taking the interstate over towards Montpelier in the middle of the state.  But before we could get to Montpelier, we had a very important stop- the Cabot Creamery store!  It didn’t open until 10:30 AM (thus creating time for us to go see the filing cabinet), so we were there right when it opened.  They had several cheeses set out for sampling along with some jam pairings.  We bought a couple of cheddars including one that is “private label” that has been aged for 16 years.

Next we drove into Montpelier, taking the state highway into town which led us right to State Street where the Vermont State Capitol building is.  It was so crazy that you could just pull up on the street in front of the Capitol, put a few quarters into the meter, and head on up the steps to go inside.  It was such a beautiful day and really gave the Capitol a chance to shine.  And the trees in the yard were beginning to change colors, too.

It’s important to note that our visit was on September 11^th.  When we got to the Capitol, a naturalization ceremony was happening, and there were several people who became U.S. Citizens while we were at the building.  That was very inspiring to see how excited these new citizens were!

The Vermont State House offers free guided tours on the hour, so we were there in time for the noon tour.  The guide talked with us about the history of the building and some of the more notable people who had passed through its doors.  She told us how there was a fire that was caused by the custodian not knowing how to vent and operate some of the heating components.  She showed us the picture of George Washington that was rescued from the fire.  We saw the statue of Ethan Allen.

After the tour, we drove a few miles out of town to visit Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks, a family owned and operated establishment that taps their trees and makes syrup.  They have a place where you can watch a video about the process and, if it’s during sugar season, you can watch an actual syrup-making demonstration.  You can also walk up into the woods where there are some trees that are tapped and see the rigging for getting the sap out pretty efficiently.

Morse Farm also has a store where they offer tastings of the syrup from the very light colored early sugar to the darker, richer flavored end of season syrup.  My favorite was an in-between flavor.  We bought some syrup from there even though we had gotten some at Shelburne Farms.

The best part of the store, though, was they serve maple creemees (and a few other flavors).  We each got one and then sat out on a swinging bench in the yard to enjoy the cooler air and sunshine along with this tasty treat!

By then it was getting near 3 PM and we still had a two hour drive to Lincoln, New Hampshire for the night.  We thought it was a nice way to say “so long” to Vermont.  While we weren't crazy about Burlington, we really did like the rest of the state that we saw.

Up next: Crossing New Hampshire, and DH gets his 50^th state.

~ Cindy D.

A day in Burlington

We spent two nights of our trip in Burlington, Vermont.  This was a welcome reprieve as the last four nights had been a new place each night.  We stayed in South Burlington as it had been hard to find a reasonably priced hotel closer to the downtown area.  And that’s not saying that the South Burlington area was much better price-wise, but we did get a room with a separate living room and kitchenette which worked out well for us as we had dinner in the room both nights we were there.

We also discovered that the leaves were just beginning to change while we were there.

So we had one full day to explore Burlington, and there were several things we wanted to do.  In a pre-trip blog entry, I wrote about having to rearrange our schedule because the trolley tour was sold out for the morning.

We started the day by going to the Ethan Allen Homestead and Museum just north of Burlington.  They have a film about the area and about Ethan Allen and his time in the Burlington area.  Then there is a guided tour of the property and inside the house.  The house was built in 1787, and there are parts of the house that are original in spite of having been owned and occupied by others for many years.

We had learned about Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys contribution to battles at Fort Ticonderoga.   What we found out later was that Ethan Allen ended up a prisoner of war and was sent across the pond for over 900 days during the American Revolution.  What I also found out was that he had absolutely nothing to do with Ethan Allen furniture.  This was a great disappointment to me for the day because I really had no idea that he wasn’t a great furniture maker.  I didn’t know anything about him, really, until we made this trip.  (You can read about the furniture company here.)

There was a small statue of Ethan Allen at the museum, but they told us there aren’t any pictures or portraits of him, so it’s just a guess at what he would have looked like,  There is the same statue only not green at the Vermont State Capitol which we saw the next day.

Our second activity of the day was a tour on Lake Champlain on the Spirit of Ethan Allen III.  Before that, I had researched and found a recommended restaurant for lunch in the Church Street area of Burlington.  So we found parking in a garage, figured out how to pay in the app, and then went to the restaurant, only to find it was closed for the lunch period.  I had even double-checked hours online the night before and there was no indication that it would not be open.  So we sat on a bench to try to figure out where to eat lunch and watched a few other people also discover that they couldn’t have lunch at the restaurant.

This actually turned out to be a good thing because we ended up at Henry’s Diner which has been in business for over 101 years.  It was so cute in the traditional diner way, and the best part was that they could make me a gluten-free grilled cheese – and not just any grilled cheese, they used Vermont cheddar!  I mean, how much better could it get than to have a perfectly cooked grilled cheese in Vermont with Vermont cheddar?!  It may end up being my most favorite meal of the trip!  (They have a section of the grill that they use for gluten-free cooking and have a process for cleaning it before using it to handle cross-contamination issues.)  DH had a BLT – also a diner classic.

We were about 30 minutes early for the boat ride, so we enjoyed sitting at the waterfront.  The temperature was cool, but not cold.  We kept commenting on how great it felt!  Then before we boarded, I saw that the waterfront restaurant had creemees.  These are Vermont’s version of soft-serve, so I got us each a maple and vanilla swirl creemee.  Just in case we didn’t get a chance to get one before we left Vermont the next day.  It was really good – but we had a better one outside Montpelier the next day.

A friend had been to Burlington a few times for work-related conferences, and he had been out on the Spirit of Ethan Allen III for a dinner cruise.  He suggested we might enjoy taking the ride out onto the lake and learning about the area.  It was a good suggestion.  We spent about 90 minutes on the water while there was pre-recorded narration (think like the pre-recorded narration on the riverboat ride at Walt Disney World).  It was informative and entertaining.  We learned that the lake freezes over and you’re allowed to drive your car onto the lake.  We also learned that your auto insurance doesn’t cover you on the lake, and if your car falls through, you have 24 hours to get it removed or you can lose your license.  We also learned that there is a lake monster named Champ who lives in the lake, similar to his cousin Nessie.

The night before, I had gotten a call from the trolley operator to see if we would be able to come a little early for the tour because they were going to need to cut the tour short due to an overlaying booking.  We told them we could be 15 minutes early because we were getting off the boat tour at 3:30.  The trolley was supposed to be an hour-long tour of the city, but instead it ended up being 30 minutes and we missed about half of what we were supposed to see.  And it turned out the reason it had been cut short was that one couple on the tour had requested that they be back in time so they could get on the dinner cruise on the boat.  The tour operator offered for people to come back the next day but of course that didn’t work for us.  I wasn’t happy about it, but by that point in the day, I was pretty done with Burlington anyway.

We retrieved our car and headed to our next stop for the day – the Lake Champlain Chocolate’s flagship store.  This stop on our itinerary was not a bust!  It was everything we hoped for – lots of chocolates to select from!  DH got some salted caramel chocolate covered pretzel clusters that were BOGO, so he’s been alternating those with the Vermont blueberry pie.

From the chocolate store, I wanted to go see the World’s Tallest Filing Cabinet – something I had read about on Atlas Obscura.  DH wasn’t crazy about it, but I told him it was like the giant ball of twine and that we should go by and gawk like every good tourist should do.  Unfortunately, the traffic wasn’t cooperative as it was backed up a couple of blocks from the location, so we just stopped for gas ($4.46/gal) and went back to the hotel for the night.

So that was our day in Burlington.  When DH asked me what was my best for the day, my answer was Henry’s Diner.

Up next: Did we ever get to see the filing cabinet?

~ Cindy D.

50, baby!

The afternoon of the day we visited Fort Ticonderoga was a big day for us – because when we left from the Fort, we boarded the Fort Ti Ferry for an 8-minute crossing of Lake Champlain from New York to Vermont.  Vermont was DH’s 49th state, but for me, it was number 5-0!  That’s right, folks!  I achieved my goal of visiting all 50 states!   And entering Vermont by ferry just made it even more special.  We were the only ones on the ferry, and Captain Jack was so fun to celebrate with.  He pointed out where we would find the Vermont state line sign just after off-loading from the ferry.  It was a bit overgrown, but we stopped to get the picture of the sign anyway!

Captain Jack recommended that we stop at a nearby country grocery store and get a fresh homemade pie, so we did (blueberry).  DH has been eating on it for nearly a week now.  I can’t have any because of my celiac, but he’s been enjoying it.

We celebrated next by stopping in Vergennes, Vermont, for ice cream at lu∙lu ice cream shop.  This is a farm-to-scoop small batch ice cream store in Vermont’s oldest town.  They have a variety of flavors including Garden Basil which sounds weird as an ice cream flavor but was remarkably refreshing.  I also had another flavor called The Walking Dead; it had raspberries and chocolate and vanilla and marshmallows.  DH got the seriously chocolate, and it was seriously chocolate!  We had Vergennes on our itinerary because my hair stylist mentioned it to me several months ago.

From Vergennes, our next stop was the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory where we were in time for a tour.  It was really informative and so interesting to see the history and evolution of these well-loved bears and their friends as well as how they are carefully constructed and made by hand.  We got to watch several parts of the process as people were working.

One of the most interesting parts of the tour was seeing the Bear Hospital where Vermont Teddys that have had unfortunate mishaps are stitched up and repaired (or replaced, but usually with the original much-loved stuffing).  There is just one woman who does the Bear Hospital work and she’s been doing it for a long time – she took over after another lady retired.  The Vermont Teddy Bear company began in 1964.

Our last stop of the day before getting to the hotel was Shelburne Farms.  It had started raining before we got to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and had not let up when we were ready to go to the farm.  But really we were just interested in going to the Farm Store to buy some Vermont cheese and syrup.  So weather didn’t really matter!  We bought both cheese and syrup.  The cheese has been so good!  We had read before traveling that Shelburne Farms was a great place in the Burlington area to get both cheese and syrup.

It was still raining when we checked into our hotel in South Burlington, so we decided to just have cheese for dinner.  Okay, we had a few other things from the cooler with it, but the cheese was the highlight!  A nice 6-month aged Vermont cheddar.  We also bought a year-old one for later.  (And on another day in another place, we bought private-label 16 year aged cheese, but that’s for another blog post.)

Up next:  We spent two nights in Burlington, with a full day’s agenda for the next day.

~ Cindy D.

Another Fort, and the King's Garden

After spending a day at the Saratoga battlefield, our next history stop was at Fort Ticonderoga in New York.  While not part of the National Park Service, the friends of Fort Ticonderoga have done an excellent job in preserving and re-telling the history of life at the fort over time.  Because this is the nation’s 250th anniversary year, they have set and staffed the fort to be set in 1776.  The fort has many artifacts in its museum and they change them out based on what time period is being portrayed.  It reminded us of our visit to Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City, Michigan, on our Middle States tour.

We arrived shortly after the site opened so we’d have time to get our bearings before the 10:15 orientation talk.  We find these talks are helpful in setting the stage for what we are about to observe, sometimes even helping us to immerse ourselves in the time period.  We learned about the events that took place at Fort Ticonderoga involving Ethan Allen (whose homestead we would see the following day in Burlington) and Benedict Arnold (before he became a traitor).  We learned why the Fort was coveted by the British and the Americans, and we learned how it changed hands a few times during its heyday.

The museum collection is in the upper floors of the barracks buildings, and the most interesting things to me were the powder horns on display.  They were etched with names, poetry, and figures, personalizing each man’s powder horn.

If you’ve been to a fort before, you know one of the best parts is getting to walk around the top and take in the views.  Fort Ticonderoga doesn’t disappoint as you can see the southern portion of Lake Champlain as well as the Adirondacks of New York and the lush green mountains of Vermont.

Another part of the Fort Ticonderoga experience was a visit to the King’s Garden.  If you read my post the other day about Winterthur Gardens and my comment about needing to get over the fact that gardens doesn’t always mean flowers, well, the King’s Garden restored my faith in gardens!  This was truly spectacular.  The vibrant colors, the arrangements of the plants together, and the fragrance of the blooms – well, it was magical!  I walked around telling each flower how beautiful she was before taking so many pictures!

But wait?  What’s behind that brick wall?

When I walked through and saw even more flowers, I got so teary-eyed at the beauty of the place.  I also thought of my sister-in-law who recently passed away and her love of flowers, too, and how I wished I could send her the pictures.  I did send them to my mom and my kids.  And shared a few on Instagram!  Here are a few of my favorites!

In addition to the flowers, the garden also has herbs and vegetables that are used in the Fort’s restaurant in the spirit of farm-to-table.

Up next:  My 50^th State!

~ Cindy D.

Saratoga Springs, DVC or Saratoga Springs, NY

About 20 years ago, we bought into the Disney Vacation Club and our membership began with the DVC Saratoga Springs Resort.  At Saratoga Springs Resort, they have five areas:  the Springs, the Paddock, the Grandstands, Congress Park, and the Carousel.  We knew that the resort was themed after Saratoga Springs, New York, so when we planned this trip, we thought it would be fun to spend a night in the actual Saratoga Springs!

We also decided we would splurge and stay at the Embassy Suites in Saratoga Springs.  When we checked in, it felt luxurious and the suite was spacious, much like the DVC rooms.  And while there wasn’t a washer/dryer in our room, our suite was right near the laundry room for the hotel which made it convenient to get some laundry done!

The hotel was two blocks from the actual Congress Park, so we walked down to the visitor center and through the park to see where the inspiration for the Disney property came from.  At the visitor center, they give you a paper cup so you can try the water coming from four springs within the park.  While I opted to not try any, DH did.  One was really terrible - it reminded us of how at the Coca-Cola center at EPCOT, there's the Beverly flavor that is awful.  So it seemed kinda fitting.  We also saw the actual Carousel.  It was closed (open on weekends) but it’s in a glass enclosure so we could see it and take some photos.  Here are a few.

After walking around Congress Park, we went to a restaurant nearby that came highly recommended from the Gluten-Free Travel group on Facebook.  It was called Cantina and they served Mexican food.  This was the first Mexican food we’d had on our trip so far.

The Embassy Suites was our favorite hotel so far.  They offered the ability to stream SiriusXM through the television, so it was nice to listen to some music while writing blog entries, working on my smash-book, and sorting through the day’s pictures.  They have an evening reception so we got a couple of Diet Cokes and some snacks.  And the breakfast is the absolute best!

Next up:  Getting to my 50^th state!

~ Cindy D.