Melissa Ann Goodwin: July 2014

Some of you may remember our stop in Acadia during our 2012 Road Trip in the RV. We lived in Maine for 20 years, but never went to Acadia until that trip! Well, it was one of many highlights of that adventure.

While driving around Acadia, we happened upon the sweetest cottage in Bass Harbor. I fell in love with it and said, "I'd like to stay there some day." Then last year, my friend Marylou and I were messaging on FB and wishing we could hang out together. On a whim, I sent her the link to the cottage, and the next thing we knew, we'd booked it for July 2014 and were counting down the days.

When we landed at Logan Airport in BOSTON, we expected to see Marylou and Jim waiting for us at baggage claim. But the first people we saw standing there were our other dear friends - Elaine and Big Al!

At first I thought, Oh, they must be meeting someone who's flying in too! But NO! There were there just to surprise US! That's what good friends do - they Show Up just because they love you!

Marylou and Jim arrived a few minutes later and it was like a big family reunion at Carousel 6.

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM OUR VACATION:

First stop on our way up the coast - YORK, MAINE, where we lived happily for 13 years.

From left to right: My hubby JR, Me, Marylou, Jim. And starring in the background - Nubble Light.

Marylou and I have known each other since SECOND GRADE! And we went to high school with Jim.

Next stop: Red's Eats in WISCASSET, ME for their world famous lobster rolls. They give you more than one whole lobster! Nothin' but lobstah and a little mayo or drawn butter - your choice. We waited over an hour in line to get to the order window, but it was SO worth it!

Here is the cottage we rented in BASS HARBOR . It's called The Little Island House.

You can see why I fell in love with it!

It's got two units - one up, one down. Perfect for two couples traveling together. Or a family that needs a little separate space :)

The cottage is RIGHT ON BASS HARBOR. I mean, right ON it. The water comes onto the rocks under the lower deck.

The dock in this picture runs right along side. Bass Harbor is a working fishermen's harbor, so those are almost all lobster boats out there.

We had a view of the harbor out of every window - 180 degrees.This is the view to the east from our deck.

Here are a couple of shots taken inside the cottage. See how bright and comfortable it is? And check out the fireplace! Plus a big, roomy kitchen stocked with everything you'd ever need and more.

I'd get up early every morning, wrap myself in blankets and sit out on the deck to watch the fishermen go out:. Someone had to do it!!

There are several mountains on Mt. Desert Island in Acadia.

Here we are at the top of CADILLAC MOUNTAIN:

And a couple more shots from up there:

Gorgeous, HUH?????

A local fisherman named Gott runs an excursion boat from the dock by the Little Island House. It takes you out around the islands and he gives you tons of great information about their inhabitants, what life was like on the islands in the early days of settlement and the evolution of the fishing industry in the area. We saw seals and bald eagles.

This is BASS HARBOR LIGHT seen from the boat:

Those are seals on the rocks:

There's a Windjammer schooner that goes out of BAR HARBOR and we took that on our last day there. That's JR, Me and Marylou (Jim was taking the picture):

And this is just me and my sweetie:

We were sad to leave our lovely Little Island House, but our adventure wasn't quite over yet. On the way back to Massachusetts, we stopped again in York Maine because our high school friend Sue and her husband Alan were starting their vacation there. So I got to see another dear friend, if only for a short time.

This is Me, Marylou and Sue - high school chums:

On our last day, Sunday, we went into the North End in BOSTON. It rained, but we still had a great time eating pizza and getting cannolis from Mr. Mike's - the most amazing Italian bakery on the planet. Here we are having lunch at Quattro's:

This was one of our most FUN VACATIONS EVER! You can see from the pics that we were blessed with amazing weather. Very lucky - as in Maine you could get socked in with rain and fog for a whole week ( OR LONGER!! )

I will treasure memories of this trip always. The place -the harbor, the sweet, comfortable cottage, the views, watching the boats come and go. The boat trips. The FOOD!!! OMG it's diet time!! But most of all the friendship. What a wonderful thing it is to have friends with whom you feel so comfortable and have so much fun. We laughed and smiled the whole time. Right now, I'm feeling very blessed and grateful for our many adventures, but mostly for the love and true friendship in our lives.