Rob and Cindy's Maine Getaway

In September 2002 we went on a relaxing trip to see the beginning of fall in Maine. While we were hiking and enjoying the views, Alex was on his own vacation with his grandparents in Pennsylvania. It was hard to be separated from Alex for that long, especially for Cindy who had never been away from Alex, but it was also nice for us to get to sleep late and relax...

Day 0 - Driving to Hotel Skytop

On Friday night, after a lot of frantic packing and finishing things up, by nine in the evening we were on our way to Emmaus (only two hours later than we had initially hoped...). Alex was up all that time, exploring the apartment and checking out what Mom and Dad were up to. But when we put him in his carseat, he fell asleep as soon as the car began to move, and slept soundly all the way. When we arrived in Emmaus, half an hour before midnight, we were welcomed by Cindy's parents. We took Alex out of the car seat, into the house with all the bright lights, up the stairs, and put hime to bed, but Alex noticed little of the transfer.

The four of us talked for a while, and when midnight came we congratulated Dan on his 60th birthday! After that, we all went to bed in a hurry because we had to get up early the next morning.

Day 1 - On Our Way to Maine

At five o'clock in the morning the alarm went off. Even though we are used to getting up at odd hours because of Alex, five o'clock still felt way too early to get up. The main reason for doing this was not so much to get to the airport in time (we could have slept almost an hour longer and still be there in time), but mostly to give Alex a chance to refamiliarize himself with his grandparents, whom he had not seen in almost two months. And of course for us to see Alex before we left! From quarter past five to quarter past six Alex happily played with his new toys, his grandparents, and us. Fortunately, Alex was very happy and content being with his grandparents, but after his unexpected early morning play hour he was ready to go back to bed, and by the time Dan drove us to the airport, Alex was already soundly asleep.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, even enough for Cindy to indulge herself with a Cinnabon. The flights from Newark to Boston and then on to Bangor were nicely smooth and uneventful. The only remarkable event was that Rob was picked for additional random security checks on both flights - possibly his unshaven look and the arabic print on his mostly Dutch T-shirt contributed to his fortune.

In Bangor we picked up our car and drove to Millinocket, located in central Maine close to Baxter State Park with Maine famous Katahdin Mountain. By four o'clock we arrived at the Katahdin Inn, our hotel for the first half of our vacation. The hotel and the room we were in were nice enough, but the beds proved a little harder than our backs found comfortable.

We made ourselves comfortable in our room and relaxed, until it was time for dinner. On our way to the hotel we had seen a few restaurants, and we figured we would find a place to eat by driving back on the way we came. But before we knew it, we had already left the bustling downtown of Millinocket... While we were looking for a place to turn around and head back to town, we unexpectedly saw a sign to restaurant and decided to go for it. Five minutes later we sat down in the River Driver restaurant, which turned out to be the best restaurant in miles and miles. Needless to say, Rob's salmon en croute and Cindy's caramelized scallops were delicious. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a dark spot and looked at the amazingly clear sky (even by Rob's standard).

Day 2 - Baxter State Park

The main events we had planned for Day 2 were a hike in Baxter State park and see mount Katahdin. But first we had to sleep late - it was vacation after all! After a disappoiting hotel breakfast we got on the road, and a quick drive later we stopped at a lake near the entrance of the park to have lunch. We soon discovered that the weather was a lot colder and windier than we had hoped, but fortunately we had brought sweaters and wind jacks so that we could have a fairly comfortable lunch, and pose for pictures:


While we were digesting our lunches, we continued our drive. The roads in the park were narrow, winding dirt roads that gently sloped up and down. Driving on them was particularly interesting because of the more frequent than desirable encounters with people going in the opposite direction. About twenty minutes of twisting and turning later we found a nice starting point for a hike up the sides of mount Katahdin. It was about 2:30 pm when we started our hike, much too late to go to the top, but we had no intention of doing that in the first place, as it had been quite a while since either of us had hiked that much. We decided to hike up the trail, with the only goal to find a nice viewpoint somewhere along the line.

The hike up was fairly strenuous, not only because of the at times steep slope, but also because at some points the hike was more like rock climbing than like walking. A nice viewpoint proved hard to find, because the trees were constantly blocking the view. We pledged that we would continue another 10 minutes, but still there was no viewpoint. Another 5 minutes, but no viewpoint... Slowly, though, the trees started to be fewer and farther between, and the path became more and more rocky, and at some point we reached a rocky outcropping that provided us with a nice view, an excellent reward after the tiring hike. We enjoyed the view for a while, and then hiked back down almost twice as fast as the way up. We found the car patiently waiting for us, and we drove back to the hotel, and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Day 3 - Exploring Central Maine

For day three we had a rather unambitious goal: visit the Moose on the Roof gift shop. That goal was perfectly compatible with sleeping late, and so we did. Before we set out on the road, we had to switch rooms in the hotel, because we had planned to spend the last night in the Katahdin in a room with a nice jacuzzi!

After we had lunch, we visited the Moose on the Roof. We found some souvenirs for Cindy's parents, for Alex, and ourselves.

Because it was such a beautiful day, we decided to explore the backroads in central Maine. We drove around for almost two hours over the rolling hills. All trees were surprisingly green... we had hoped to see the trees adorned with lots of yellow and red. Usually this time of year the colors are at peak, but the weather had been uncharacteristically warm this year. Undeterred by this setback, we scouted miles and miles of forests and managed to find a few trees that were ahead of the rest:


Back in the hotel we enjoyed the bubbling jacuzzi for a while, and soon we were all clean and spiffy. Later that evening we went to the Chinese restaurant in town. The looks of the restaurant left much to be desired, but the food was very good.

Day 4 - Camden

Rob started the day with another bath in the jacuzzi, and Cindy kindly served him breakfast in bath. A great way to start the day! Later in the morning we drove south to the Comfort Inn in Belfast, our hotel for the next night. The hotel had a very nice pool and a nice hot tub, but sadly we had not brought our swimming gear, so we could only look at the pool... Because it was around lunchtime after we had inspected our room, we set forth and walked all the way to the Thai restaurant, conveniently located across the street.

After we digested our lunch, we went to Camden, a half hour's drive from Belfast. We walked around in the harbor area and checked out some stores. At six we met Kristen and Paul, two friends of Cindy's, for dinner in Peter Ott's, a very nice restaurant, where Cindy had the lobster she had been planning to have for quite a while.

Day 5 - Bar Harbor

We planned the morning in the hotel carefully around the checkout time of 11 am. First we slept as late as the breakfast serving time allowed, which, unfortunately was not all that late. Next, we had the deluxe breakfast, and compared to the breakfast in the Katahdin Inn it certainly was luxurious (freshly baked danishes and muffins vs. toast with jam). After that we went back to our room and got ready to leave, and by 10:58 am we walked out the hotel!

From Belfast it was a one and a half hour drive to Bar Harbor. Once there, we had a quick lunch, and we checked out Bar Harbor's main street. It is littered with all sorts of tourist trap shops. We gave in, and went into one of the shops to get a T-shirt for Rob, and one for Alex.

All that strolling and standing in the stores had made us a little tired, especially because it was very warm that day. Hence we went to the bed and breakfast we would stay in for the next two nights: the Cleftstone Manor. It was a very nice place to stay. Our room, the Kebo Vally Room, consisted of two parts, one with our bed, and one with a sitting area. We enjoyed the tea and freshly baked cookies, and once we felt rested and invigorated, it was time for our next, exhausting activity: a 36 hole mini-golf course!

That evening we ate in Bar Harbor at a very nice restaurant named Havana. It was recommended to us by Kristen and Paul, and it truly was a great restaurant.

Day 6 - Acadia National Park

Before we fully realized it, the last full day of the vacation was already upon us. It was a bittersweet feeling, because on the one hand it meant that our vacation was almost over, but on the other it meant we would see Alex the next day!

We started the day with a very nice three-course breakfast. A great way to start the day, even for Rob who usually eats little or no breakfast. After that hardy start, we got ready for our activity of the day: Acadia National Park.

Fortunately, that day it was a lot colder than the day before, with a high of a little under 60 degrees. That made being outside and in particular the hiking a lot more pleasant.

Acadia was clearly a lot more popular than any of the other places we had seen. Lots of people everywhere, who, like us, wanted to see all the nice spots.

Our first stop was a little stretch of beach. This time we were not as disappointed that we did not have swimming gear with us, because the Atlantic water was very cold, and we only stuck our hands in the water.

As we continued driving in the park, we did manage to find a quiet spot. It was nice to enjoy the beauty of Acadia in a quiet manner, with only the sounds of the wind, the breaking of the waves on the rocks below, and the birds to listen to.


We had lunch at the Jordan Pond House, in the middle of Acadia National Park. It was an excellent place to have lunch, not only because it provides an excellent view of the lake and an excellent lunch, it also is a great starting point for a hike around the lake. After the tasty lunch, which included Jordan Pond House's much acclaimed popovers, we started the hike around the lake. While contemplating which way to go, we had an excellent view of the Bubbles, two suggestively shaped hills at the north side of the lake. We decided to hike clockwise, and that proved to be a great decision. This way, we started the hike with the bit over tree roots and narrow planks, and ended with the easy stretch on gravel.


We thought the best way finish our visit to Acadia National Park was to enjoy the view from Cadillac Mountain. Although the real outdoorsmen probably think that the true way to appreciate the view from the top is to hike to the top, we took the easy way out and drove there. Nonetheless, we greatly enjoyed the spectacular views.

Upon our return to the Bed and Breakfast, we again enjoyed the afternoon tea and the freshly baked cookies, and considered where to eat that evening. The decision was the Chart Room, which turned out to be a fairly good, and very busy restaurant.

Day 7 - Back Home

Alas, time had come to go back home... away from the relaxing days in strangely green Maine but back home to the cutest baby in the world!

The last two nights while we in Maine had been a lot colder than all of the other ones, and as a result the trees had just begun to turn color, and on the way to the airport we saw many more trees than in the days before that showed some color. It seemed as if the trees were teasing us...

Things on the way home seemed to go smoothly, until just after we boarded the plane. We had just started taxiing, when the pilot announced there was a ground stop in Boston, because a VIP, probably president Bush would be arriving there, and we would have to wait until we got clearance to take off. We were sitting in the plane, waiting, waiting, waiting... About an hour and a half later, we were finally given clearance, and we took off for Boston. Our outbound plane was still waiting, because it also could not take off. On our way to Newark we incurred a few more delays. Fortunately, we had already informed Cindy's father, who would pick us up at the airport, of our delay, and he was ready to pick us up right after we picked up our luggage. We were worried we would not make it back before Alex went to bed, but luckily we arrived only a few minutes after his usual bedtime, and Kathy had kept Alex up until we got home. Alex was very happy to see us, and we were very happy to see him!

What did Bush do? He went to New Hampshire, where he announced: ``I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats stood with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a clear statement of purpose: you disarm, or we will.'' (Speaking about Saddam Hussein, Manchester, N.H., Oct. 5, 2002.)

Now that was worth the wait...