New England To New Opportunity

When I left Atlanta Tuesday morning, the low was 72. the high in Maine was 75. When I returned early Sunday morning, Atlanta was a high of 89. What better time to go to New England where the highs are in the 70s and low 80s?

Stats:

1294 miles traveled

6 ice creams

5 days & nights

4 states

3 national and state parks

2 AirBnBs

1 baseball game

Vacations between jobs are the best. My new job starts on Monday, July 15, and my last day at Georgia Tech was Monday, July 8. I knew when my vacation was over, I would walk into my new job with an empty inbox, and no list of things to do after being out for a week. I flew into Boston, and picked up my rental car around 11am.

My first stop? Kennebunkport for a lobster roll, ice cream, and a stroll around this exquisite slice of Americana.

  

  

I found a rental about a half hour from Acadia National Park that was on the water. It took awhile to get there because I took the scenic route on Route 1, and kept stopping to enjoy the views and take photos, including the Penobscot Narrows Bridge over the Penobscot River.

By the time I got to the rental, it was getting dark, and I was greeted with a beautiful sunset behind the house.

The second day, I set out for Acadia National Park, the initial reason I decided to make New England my destination for this trip. I decided to go ahead and get an annual pass for National Park Service; considering how much I visit state and national parks, I think it will be a great investment! I hiked the Jordan Pond and Cliffs Trails, and went to the summit of Cadillac Mountain.

     

The town of Bar Harbor, or as the locals say, Bah Hahbah, is close by, so I walked around the waterfront, and grabbed some dinner at Galyn’s – lobster bisque, crab-stuffed mushrooms and a local brew, Allagash White.

  

I turned in early because I wanted to get in early to get to the summit of Cadillac Mountain to watch the sunrise. I was told it was too good to miss, especially after traveling a thousand miles.

My third day started with the sunrise at the highest point of Acadia National Park, and it was well worth getting there at dawn. I didn’t expect so many people to be there to watch the sunrise, but apparently this is one of the highlights of Acadia National Park. I wish I had time to get lunch at Jordan Pond House, where there are beautiful waterfront views from the balcony.

  

 

  

 

One of the trees Frederick Billings planted at Marsh Billings Rockefeller House

The Marsh Billings Rockefeller home is surrounded by several trails which make up the national park. This was the original home of the Marsh and Billings families. The Rockefeller name was added after one of the Billings grandchildren married a Rockefeller. Charles Marsh was a lawyer and conservationist, and later served as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and Italy.

Frederick Billings bought the home after Marsh moved overseas. He was a lawyer and conservationist as well, and served as president of the Northern Pacific Railway. He became known as a conservationist because he noticed how deforestation ruined the wildlife and natural setting of his home state. He bought failing farms that led to the deforestation and planted trees that are still growing to this day. He is also credited with planting vegetation and trees along the railway he ran to replace the trees that were taken down during the railway’s construction, and is the namesake of Billings, Montana. He created the managed forest and trails around his house, and built the farm and the caretaker’s house across the street. The farm was one of the first progressive dairy farm operations in the nation.

   

After touring the house, greenhouse and English gardens, we made ice cream!

  

This was a special treat for even wealthy families in the 19th century. While I had my turn churning the ice cream, I asked about typical flavors for that time period. Vanilla and chocolate, the norms today, were hard to find then. More common were fruits like blueberry, strawberry, blackberry and pumpkin. By the way, that was my second ice cream of the day; I had one at the farm earlier that day.

I wasn’t done with ice cream yet… Ben & Jerry’s was waiting for me in Woodbury. You can’t take photos on the tour of the facility, but there are plenty of grammable moments in the outer part of the factory and the grounds, including the Flavor Graveyard. Yes, the Flavor Graveyard. The touring facility creates five flavors a day, but there is another larger facility nearby that makes the majority of Ben & Jerry’s flavors.