After a night in Saint John, New Brunswick at probably the worst motel we’ve stayed in (what do you expect for £35?!), we headed over the border back into the USA. Having stopped at various visitor centres to collect maps and info, we arrived at the Big Moose Inn near Millinocket and Baxter State Park, in northern Maine. Rooms were a bit pricey so we opted for the campground instead, although this meant braving some serious bugs – there were literally swarms of mosquitoes and black flies! Our first priority was to liberally spray ourselves with repellent before setting up the tent.
The next day we headed into Baxter State Park for some hiking. The first trail we did was to Sandy Stream Pond which is a good spot for moose viewing. We were lucky and saw two moose across the lake, again in the water eating. The second trail we did (Chimney Pond) was pretty tough – a 7.5 mile round trip, halfway up Mount Katadhin which mainly involved boulder clambering so by the end of it my legs and knees we in pieces even though I’d actually remembered to take my walking pole with me!
The views of the mountain from Chimney Pond were great and made it worth the effort though. We also took in the gorgeous 360° vista from Blueberry Knoll, although it was a little early for picking blueberries. As this part of Maine is rugged wilderness with little development, we could see only trees and lakes far into the distance. On the drive back to the campsite we saw yet another moose – our 9th sighting!
We were feeling lazy after all that hiking so we had leftover chili for dinner before retreating once again to the lodge. It was the evening of the final hockey game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins so we had to watch it. However, it didn’t go well for the Canucks and we soon had our heads in our hands. The rest of the bar were happy though as they were all Bruins fans! We were still hungry after all the exercise so I indulged in a dessert of white chocolate crème brulee accompanied by a shot of amaretto, while Le Roux went for a savoury option of spicy chicken wings to go with his beer – naughty but very nice and I think we’d earned it!
That night there seemed to be even more biting things around and I got severely chomped on my butt when I popped out of the tent in the middle of the night for a quick pee! We also had a thunderstorm that night which kept us awake for a while, but it did mean in the morning there were less bugs – thank goodness.
Le Roux was keen to do some canoeing on the huge lake next to the campsite before we headed off to the coast, so we went out paddling for a couple of hours in the gorgeous sunshine. We pretty much had the lake to ourselves, only seeing 3 kayakers towards the end, and it was so peaceful and serene just quietly paddling along. We even managed to creep up quite close to our 10th moose, before she got scared and stormed off into the woods.
Our next destination was Acadia National Park on the coast of Maine. The lonely planet website highlights this as a must see, being one of the few coastal national parks and I have to say it was very pretty and definitely worth the trip. Bar Harbor is the main town in the area, but it is a pretty fancy place so everything was quite expensive. We stopped in at the NP info centre to collect a map and asked where we might find some cheap accommodation. The young lad said he wasn’t supposed to recommend places, but just quietly he knew the cheapest motel in town as he was dating the owner’s daughter! We thanked him profusely as it was so cheap – only $39 a night! - and promised not to tell his bosses.
After a few hours in the car, I was keen to stretch my legs so we walked into town to have an early dinner of lobster – it made sense to have it again while we were on the coast, well that’s how we justified it anyway! The cafe had an early bird special so we ended up trying another seafood chowder (a very good one!) followed by boiled lobster with fries and coleslaw and a dessert of home-made blueberry pie with vanilla icecream, all washed down with a glass of sauvignon blanc – delicious! We rolled out of the café and decided a walk around town was in order. I ended up buying quite a few things – a couple of outdoor tops for me and some presents for my nephews – so it turned out to be an expensive evening!
The next day we explored the park, following the scenic loop drive, with Le Roux pulling over regularly so I could take yet another photo of the lovely coastline. We had a lunch of fish and chips in North East Harbor before wandering around the Asticou Gardens, which were very pretty and colourful, with all the azaleas and rhododendrons in bloom. More photo opportunities for me!
We were feeling lazy after that so we drove up Cadillac Mountain to admire the 360° view of the park and surrounding area, rather than hiking or biking up. It was really windy and quite chilly at the top so we retired to the car to eat our afternoon snack of a “whoopie”. A whoopie is a local bakery delight comprising two rounds of rich dark chocolate cake sandwiched together by a creamy filling. We shared one between us as like everything here in the US, it was huge! Both of us thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m going to have to look up a recipe for them when I get home.
After over 2 weeks of solid touring around, we decided to have a really lazy day and we didn’t actually leave our motel room until 5.15pm the next day! At that point we decided we really ought to get some fresh air so we headed out for a walk around town, which ended up involving a ridiculously large, but delicious icecream (I had the black raspberry with chocolate chunks, while Le Roux had his favourite, cookies n cream), followed by a drink at the pub, which was also huge – they only served drinks in pint glasses so I was handed a pint of G&T! The US is proving very very bad for my waistline! While sipping my enormous drink I tried my luck at the dice challenge, which costs a dollar and you win the pot if you shake 5 of the same number – unfortunately it wasn’t my lucky day. Having eventually finished my drink we headed home for a steak BBQ and the remaining corn on the cob.
After 3 nights in Acadia NP it was time to move on to New Hampshire, and specifically to Mount Washington for ride on the cog train, the world’s 2nd steepest railway (the 1st is in Switzerland). On the drive down as it was a Sunday, we saw over 1,000 motorbikes and Le Roux was very jealous of all the Harleys that drove by. We found a nice campsite by a little river in the White Mountains for one night. However, we’d forgotten to pick up supplies before we got there and with only a tiny camp store to get ingredients from, our planned chicken stir fry dinner became omelette and baked beans!
We were lucky with the weather for once and the sun came out and the skies were pretty clear for our trip up Mount Washington– miracle! The 40 minute ride up on the cog train was lovely, with fantastic views over the valley. As we got closer to the top the clouds kept rolling in and out with the high winds, so one minute you see for miles and the next you couldn’t see anything!
It was very cold at the summit, so we had to pile on the layers – I’d read the guide book the night before and realized that we would need our wooly hats, but it seems other tourists didn’t and Le Roux and I were chuckling at the people shivering in their shorts and flip flops! Random fact: the highest wind speed ever recorded was at the top of Mount Washington in 1934 – 231mph! Despite the unpredictable and inhospitable weather people used to come for holidays as a hotel had been built at the top and although it is still standing, it is now a museum.
That afternoon on the way to New London in New Hampshire, we stopped at North Conway’s outlet village for some bargains as there is no sales tax and the sales were on – double bonus! I managed to spend quite a bit in a very short space of time, but got some great new clothes to replace the tattered, worn out things in my backpack.
In New London we were staying with friends of Le Roux’s parents – Ruth and George – for a couple of nights. They have a lot of wildlife in their garden so that first evening we sat on the patio watching the birds, the woodchuck, and the silver foxes come and go. No bear sightings although there are some that visit the garden each week.
The next day we hiked up nearby Mount Kearsage for fabulous 360° views. On the way up we tried out Geocaching for the first time – a kind of adult treasure hunt using a GPS – which was fun but of the 3 caches on the mountain we only managed to find one - better luck next time. After the hot and sticky hike we headed to the beach by Little Sunapee Lake for lunch and some relaxation. The water was a little cold but we managed to get in for a swim, our first in North America. It was so nice having some good weather after all the hideous rain and fog we’d endured through Nova Scotia and PEI.
Our next destination was Boston, via Salem Massachusetts, home of everything witchy. We were paying for our sunny beach day as the rain was back and it was pouring down. We donned our waterproofs and wandered around Salem visiting various historic places connected with the Witch Trials back in 1692, as well as a number of very odd voodoo and witchcraft shops – an amazing amount of crazy stuff! After a very average seafood lunch we completed our circuit around town and then drove to Boston via REI where I picked up a few more bargains in the sale!
In Boston we stayed with Chris and Jess, a lovely couple Le Roux and I met in Iceland, who lived north of the city in a suburb called Malden. We spent our first day in Boston wandering around Newbury Street, the main shopping street and in the shopping malls as the weather was still pretty wet. We escaped the rain at one point at a fabulous cupcake shop where I just had to indulge in a caramel cappucino one - delicious! We also visited the Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Library which was great – a huge glass globe with the world map on the inside in stained glass. You stand in the middle of the globe on a glass bridge with the world all around you and the acoustics are really intriguing – you only need to whisper and everyone can hear and in the middle you can hear yourself in surround sound.
That night we went out to one of Jess and Chris’ favourite restaurants – Red Bones, which is a very popular Southern Barbeque place. We had massive racks of ribs and plates piled high with pulled pork, coleslaw and baked beans – delicious and very filling, even though we took a large doggy bag home! My absolute new favourite though was the appetizer of deep fried pickles – so tasty!
Le Roux was keen to buy a digital SLR camera for himself and I was keen to take advantage of the cheaper US prices before returning to the UK, so we found a fantastic huge camera shop near Chris and Jess’ house where we spent a far bit. Le Roux managed to get his camera 2nd hand though through Craig’s List which was a result.
It was a busy weekend at Chris and Jess’ as they were having a baby shower so we made ourselves scarce on Saturday and headed out into Boston city again to see the Holocaust Memorial, walk the Freedom Trail, which allowed us to see the key historic sites and admire the lovely architecture, and to visit the Chihuly exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts which was fabulous. We’d seen some of Chihuly’s work at the Bellagio in Las Vegas which was impressive so we were keen to see the exhibit. It was very popular so we had to queue for a while, but it was well worth the wait – I loved his work and if it weren’t for the price tag I’d be buying some!
We decided to go out for a really nice meal as we were getting to the end of our trip so I booked a table at Atlantic Fish based on amazing reviews on Trip Advisor and we weren’t disappointed – the food was fabulous and we had a lovely evening. I chose sea bass served with lobster ravioli and Le Roux had wahoo with chorizo. We topped off the meal with a melting chocolate pudding – it was soooo good that I didn’t want to let Le Roux have any!
After 4 nights in Boston it was time to move on to Finger Lakes in upper New York state as recommended by Jess’ family. It turned out to be a great recommendation as there was a lovely campsite located between Cayuga Lake and the Taughannock Falls, and right in the middle of a wine region. The weather finally improved and we were able to enjoy a sunny day of wine, cider and goat’s cheese tasting followed by a hike to the falls and a leisurely dinner cooked by the lake as the sun went down. We also visited Cornell University in Ithaca where Le Roux’s dad had studied.
Our final destination was Toronto as I was flying home from there. On the way we stopped at Niagara Falls which was a mixed experience. The town of Niagara on the US side is horrible – very tacky and naff with no charm at all but the falls themselves were pretty and worth a few photos. However, Iguazu is still top of the waterfall chart! Having seen the falls Le Roux and I hot footed it out of there as the hordes of tourists were driving us mad. We headed over Rainbow Bridge into Canada and found ourselves a nice quiet café to have lunch and recover from the experience.
On arriving in Toronto we received a very warm welcome from Martin and Carlos who we’d met in the Galapagos. That night we all went out for a proper Indian curry, something Le Roux and I had really been missing since leaving the UK. It was lovely to catch up with Martin and Carlos nearly a year on as they were some of the first people we met on our travels rounds South America. I have to admit to not doing that much in Toronto other than a little shopping and a lot of sorting and packing before my flight home. We considered going up the CN Tower but at $23 each it seemed a bit pricey and we’d done the Space Needle in Seattle at great expense already, so we canned that idea.
I was pretty sad in Toronto as it was the end of the 10 month trip for me and time to say goodbye to Le Roux who is continuing his overseas adventures. He is spending 2 months volunteering at a fishing lodge in remote British Columbia before travelling around South East Asia. Meanwhile I am heading back to the UK to catch up with family and friends before doing a cookery diploma course for 4 weeks in Devon.
I enjoyed our time in New England despite the inclement weather and the bugs, and Boston is a great city which I would love to visit again.
Le Roux was keen to do some canoeing on the huge lake next to the campsite before we headed off to the coast, so we went out paddling for a couple of hours in the gorgeous sunshine. We pretty much had the lake to ourselves, only seeing 3 kayakers towards the end, and it was so peaceful and serene just quietly paddling along. We even managed to creep up quite close to our 10th moose, before she got scared and stormed off into the woods.
