Road Trip 2010

Vermont scenery

2010-06-07T20:37:00.001-07:00

Saturday, June 5 - Just as we had hoped, we saw some fantastic scenery as we drove through Vermont. Here are some highlights:

Pancakes and ice cream

2010-06-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 5 - The goal of our last Saturday of the trip was to see a lot of Vermont, and to get some tasty ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. However, we kicked it off with an added bonus: breakfast at a Burlington highlight, The Skinny Pancake. Not only do they make all kinds of sweet and savory crepes, but they were also the venue that night for our new favorite band, Holy Ghost Tent Revival. Too bad we couldn't stay a second night.

We took a quick walk through town before heading to the second most important destination for Sandy on this trip (after L.L. Bean in Freeport): Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, VT. Sandy knows how to pick 'em. L.L. Bean is the most visited tourist destination in Maine, and Ben & Jerry's is the most visited destination in Vermont.

The first thing that you do on the tour at B&J's is to watch the MOO-vie of the history of the company. That's after you take the Vanilla-vator up to the second floor, if you don't want to take the stairs. After you see the factory, you then get a nice-sized sample. Today's flavor: Oatmeal Cookie Crunch.

After the tour, our last stop was the Flavor Graveyard behind the factory, where there's a tombstone for every flavor that has gone to meet its maker. Every flavor has it's own poem, such as:

Wild Maine Blueberry (1990-1992):

Wild Maine Blueberry

From the land of the puffin

Now when we crave you

We turn to the muffin.

Or,

Peanuts! Popcorn! (2000-2000)

Peanuts! Popcorn!

Mix 'em in a pot!

Plop 'em in your ice cream!

Well, maybe not.

Pimp Mobile

2010-06-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

We almost forgot to tell you about the rental car. When we picked up the car at Alamo in Stamford, CT, they told us they were giving us a free upgrade. And we sure got an upgrade. I tell ya, those pimps in Maine were sure jealous of our wheels. Not only was it a new car, we also had the new, orange, New York license plates on it. And we even got comments on the plates. We were at a gas station in Vermont right before the Canadian border on our way to Montreal, and the guy from the car in front of me said, "Whatdaya think about those new New York plates?"

We thought this shot in Acadia National Park was particularly appropriate for the road trip, since we were parked right in front of one of those Cruise America rental RVs (aka 1-800-RV4RENT), which we saw everywhere on our previous two road trips in the national parks in the west. Ah, the memories.

Road Trip 2010 conclusion update:

Final road stats:

68.57 gallons of gas. 1800 miles. Gas price range: $2.69 (Holden, ME) to 3.09 (Darien, CT). 26.25 mpg. Not too bad for that big ride.

Jazz Fest in Burlington

2010-06-06T07:45:00.001-07:00

Friday, June 4 - We couldn't have timed our arrival in Burlington more perfectly. We were pleasantly surprised to find the town rockin' as we drove into downtown -- it was the first night of the 10-day Burlington Jazz Festival! One of the main streets through town, Church Street, is now a

pedestrian mall, and that's where all the action was happening. The first band we saw was Jesse Dee, right in front of City Hall.

After we grabbed a drink and somthing to eat at one of the outdoor cafes, we bumped into another performance going on by a band that literally had the crowd jumping. These guys were mesmerizing to watch. The band is called Holy Ghost Tent Revival, and they have a jazzy, bluesy, bluegrassy, New Orleans-y feel, and they had more energy and excitement than you can imagine.

A picture cannot do these guys justice, so take a look at the video below. It's hard to see in the video, but these guys had so much energy that the stage and tent were shaking. It wouldn't have been shocking if the stage had collapsed. Take a look. The sound isn't that great, but if you watch it all the way through, you can see how they had the crowd in the palm of their hands.

Back to Vermont

2010-06-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 4 - On our way back to Vermont, we passed a wind farm in rural northern New York. We've had a fondness for the wind turbines since we first encountered them on Road Trip '08.

We crossed over from Vermont to New York via a small bridge in rural Rouses Point, NY which is less than a mile from the Canadian border. Despite the great time we had in Montreal, we turned right. So many more new things to see in Vermont!

There were some beautiful views as we drove south through the islands in the northern part of Lake Champlain. It was a race to get to Burlington before sunset!

Mom's hometown

2010-06-06T05:25:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 4 - We had a great visit to my mom's hometown, right on the St. Lawrence River, and were really glad to to spend some time at my aunt's house and have a nice home-cooked lunch. Thanks, Sandy and Don!

Afterward, on our way to Vermont, we drove through the village where my grandfather grew up, and stopped at the road where his family farms were. Great to have a bit of a family history tour on the road trip!

Back to the USA

2010-06-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 5 - Leaving Montreal, we headed to Cornwall, Ontario, in order to make a quick visit to my (Ken's) mom's hometown, Massena, New York on the St. Lawrence River and have lunch with my aunt.

This route gave us an unplanned visit to Ontario (sorry for the blurry freeway pic), adding another State/Province to our list. Had an easy trip through customs to arrive back home in the USA.

Vieux-Montreal

2010-06-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 4 - Did a little bit of shopping in Old Montreal at the Bonsecours Market (domed building) before heading out of town. It's an old government building which has been converted to a space with artist galleries, shops and cafes.

And despite several recommendations, the one thing that we failed to do was sample Montreal's famed poutine. For the uninitiated, poutine is French fries with gravy and cheese curds. We hear that it is delicious, but somehow it didn't get to the top of our list of things to do, see and taste in Montreal.... Maybe next time...?

"Dexter" knife holder?

2010-06-05T06:44:00.001-07:00

Thursday, June 3 - This was in a window of a shop in Montreal. Licensing opportunity?

Exploring Montreal

2010-06-04T05:07:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 3 - Today's been more of a low-key day, which is probably not a bad thing. We started off with breakfast at Eggspectation, one of the places my sister's colleague Anny recommended. Sandy got the "Eggcitement", which was supposed to be strawberry French Toast FLAMBE, but unfortunately, while tasty, it lacked the flambe, which made it a little less eggciting than hoped. I had the "Egg-chilada", which did live up to it's billing. All in all, an eggcellent breakfast.

Walking around Old Montreal was great. And we give our hotel, Le Petit Hotel, high marks. It's a small, boutique hotel that opened less than a year ago. The small staff is super friendly, and will do whatever it takes to help you out. I even accidentally left my camera cable in the lobby/cafe, and they had it for me when we got home after dinner.

We jumped on the Metro and headed up to the Mont Royal area to see the view of the city and river. When walking around up there, we bumped into a stop for the public bicycle system BIXI, where you just swipe your credit card, and you can use a bike. Short term only, though -- after 30 minutes, the price starts to jack up. Not ideal for sightseeing, but great concept, for running errands around town. We also stopped at the St-Viateur Bagel shop, also highly recommended by Anny. We had heard that Montreal bagels are different - and better - than New York bagels. And I have to say, it was really good. Less doughy, more dense. Two thumbs up.

The view of Montreal and the St. Lawrence River is great from up on Mont Royal. Unfortunately, the predicted sunshine didn't break through. However, we did discover that the park at Mont Royal was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who also designed Central Park. Olmstead was a busy guy, because he also designed the Arnold Arboretum and the Emerald Necklace, which we also saw in Boston.

We then headed down the Mont, and went to the Miles Davis exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine arts. Really great and relaxing...

We finished up the day at Restaurant L'Orignal, a new restaurant in Vieux-Montreal that was recommended by the staff at our hotel. As you can see from the moose in the logo for the restaurant, it features local cuisine. However, despite the game on the menu, it is far from backwoods or gamey. It had a great vibe, everyone was super friendly, and Sandy's bison steak was great! I had the halibut, which was also very good.

There's obviously still so much more to see in the city, but we definitely got a great taste today.

Hello Vermont, Boujour Canada

2010-06-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 2 - After such a great day on the canopy tour and relaxing lunch on the porch of the Mount Washington Hotel looking at the mountains, it was really hard get into the car for a 3 hour drive. But, this is a road trip, not a stay in one place trip. You never know what fun is around the corner.

Once on the highway, we entered our 3rd new state for the trip: Vermont. Only passing through today though, en route to Montreal. We'll explore Vermont in a couple of days. And speaking of surprises around the corner, we made a last stop in the USA to get gas before crossing the border in Orleans, VT, and what was right next to the gas station? The home of Ethan Allen furniture.

We got to the border and immediately turned off our data roaming on our iPhones. No Words with Friends or Foursquare checkins for Sandy in Canada. Oh my! (FYI to anyone who's interested: if you want to play Words with Friends with someone, Sandy's always up for a new game. Screenname: sandyg128.)

We broke in our new passports, and when the agent gave them back without stamping them, Sandy asked if she would stamp them for us. "Ok, since there isn't a big line." Guess that's not a big request on the US-Canadian border...

It's funny how it immediately feels different when you leave the US. Neither of us has been out of the country for a while, and it's been even longer since visiting Canada. We made it to Montreal without incident, although there was a flash rainstorm for a few minutes.

We went straight to our hotel in Old Montreal, Le Petit Hotel, and went to a restaurant/wine bar down the street called Modavie, where they have live jazz. Live music + glass of wine + windows open onto the street = very relaxing evening. Feels like Europe!

Zip line canopy tour

2010-06-03T05:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 2 - This was the view from the starting point of our zip line tour. Mount Washington is the tallest peak on the right, and you can see the resort in the valley below. Our trusty guides, Jamie and Bobby, took us through every step of the way, including a ground school - aka "bunny" zip line - to teach us the zipping skills that we would need. Relax, steer to keep going straight, just a little hand pressure to break - think of it as your own personal hammock. Then the fun began.

We were on the tour with our new friends Sedna, Marvin, Jim and Bonnie. You become friends quickly when you are jumping off 100-foot high platforms together... Bobby took my camera to take a movie as he was the first one cross the valley in the longest zip: over 800 feet.

Sandy quickly got the reputation of group cheerleader and screamer. Every one of her zips had a different theme - whoops, "yee-ha!", tarzan... Here are a few action shots:

And there was even repelling:

All in all, it was an amazing experience. A perfect way to experience the White Mountains. Thanks to Jamie, Bobby and our new friends!

Zip line teaser

2010-06-02T13:29:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, June 2 - We had an awesome time on the Canopy Tour through the trees on the zip line this morning. We need to hit the road to head to Montreal, so here's just a teaser. More to come... We even have video.

Perfect Morning

2010-06-02T13:22:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, June 2 - This morning was perfect. I got up and went out for a quick run around the grounds of the resort and through the woods. Plus, it's National Running Day. Couldn't ask for a better day.

2010-06-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 2 - The Mount Washington Hotel is amazing. Built from 1900-1902, it is still as grand as it was at the beginning. It was a little rainy and foggy when we arrived in the evening.

This hotel is famous for the "Bretton Woods Conference" in 1944, when delegates from 45 nations met to form the International Monetary Fund. There are several plaques on guest room doors down the hall from our room which showed which delegates stayed in which rooms, including someone from Iceland, one of our favorite countries.

Heading back to New Hampshire

2010-06-02T11:11:00.003-07:00

Tuesday, June 1 - After coming back from sunrise watch, going back to bed for a while, packing up, and heading back to Cafe This Way in Bar Harbor again for breakfast, we hit the road to head back to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. We felt like we got an extra day in there since we got up at 4am, did some sightseeing and went back to bed again!

Our destination today: The Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, NH. Not quite a direct route from Bar Harbor, but god bless Google Maps on the iPhone for getting us there. Sandy was a bit skeptical about the route, since we were directed to get of the interstate and drive through small towns and country roads. But I assured her we should keep the faith, and after seeing some nice countryside and stopping at our 3rd outlet mall this trip, all was well.

Windy - and very early - sunrise

2010-06-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 1 - We did it. We got up VERY early this morning in order to try to see the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia. At 4:52am. And man, was it windy. When Sandy opened the car door, it almost took it off it's hinges, and she quickly shut it. "Oh my god!" It was a struggle just to walk up the steps to the top. See those two green lumps on the ground behind us? Those are people huddled inside sleeping bags waiting for the sun to come up. You can also see the motley crew of our crazy compatroits crazy enough to be on the top of the mountain in (probably) 50mph winds just to *maybe* see the sun rise through the clouds. That purple sack that guy is carring? A child.

We knew that the weather wasn't going to be as good as yesterday, but since it wasn't raining, we gave it a shot. And while it maybe wasn't the most beautiful sunrise, just a little bit of pink in the sky made it all worth while for Sandy.

At over 1500 feet, Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the Atlantic Coast north of Rio de Janiero. But because it was so windy, it felt a lot higher than it was. We huddled behind a big rock for a while to get some shelter from the wind. It was also pretty funny to see this lone seagull try to battle the wind. Every time he took off, he stationary in mid-air. Sandy took a liking to this little guy, and while I'd gotten back in the car and turned on the heat, she stayed out in the windy cold

Acadia: Take 2

2010-06-01T05:38:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 31 - After driving the Park Loop Road, we went back to town to rent bikes in order to spend a few hours riding on the carriage roads in the park.

The carriage roads and stone bridges are well known because they were built by John D. Rockefeller and donated to the park. Acadia is unusual because it's the only national park where the lands were donated by private citizens. Rockefeller was key in making that happen. Acadia was also the first national park east of the Mississippi.

Acadia National Park

2010-05-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 31 - Ahhhh. It felt great to be back in a national park. Acadia is really beautiful, and it was a picture perfect day.

We started the day by driving the 27-mile Park Loop Road, which has amazing views of the coastline and rocky shore. We talked about trying to get up to watch the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain, but we weren't quite ready to get up for the 4:52am sunrise today. We'll try again tomorrow.

Best Breakfast Ever

2010-05-31T18:19:00.001-07:00

Monday, May 31 - As Sandy knows, I'm always in search of the perfect breakfast. We came pretty darn close today at the Cafe This Way in Bar Harbor. Awesome breakfast burrito, great oatmeal and very tasty yogurt with cinnamon and honey. The last breakfast we had that was this good was last summer at a little place called the Capitol Reef Inn & Cafe outside the Capitol Reef National Park in Utah.

After breakfast and before heading into Acadia National Park, we took a quick walk around downtown Bar Harbor. Really nice, quaint town. It reminds me a lot of Harbor Springs near home in Michigan.

Which direction are we going?

2010-05-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 30 - On the way to Bar Harbor from Wiscasset we found ourselves on a road with three route numbers going three different directions. Is this possible?

Red's Eats

2010-05-31T16:00:00.001-07:00

Sunday, May 30 - There was a big buildup to the visit to Red's Eats in Wiscasset, which is right on Route 1 by the water. First, our friend Lynn - a former Maine resident and current #1 booster - told us that we had to visit. Not only because they have the "best lobster roll in Maine," but also because our friend Wendy's uncle started it, and her cousins still run it. And, it's also featured in "Roadfood" with a "Worth Driving from Anyplace" rating. To top it off, when I told Derek, who I know through work, that I was going on a road trip through Maine, he said out of the blue, "there's this place in a little town called Wiscasset with the best lobster rolls..."

And so, it was meant to be. Everyone in the line (and we hear that there's always a line) was very friendly, and we struck up a conversation with our line neighbors about the Frontier Restaurant, another top 10 road food place in Albuquerque that we had been to last year. Margo and Joe were from Boston, and she was going to visit her daughter in Albuquerque next week. We ordered a lobster roll, fries and one of their famous Whoopie Pies, or as Sandy accidentally ordered it, a Whoopie Cushion. One of the reasons Red's lobster rolls are famous is because you get so much meat in them - over one whole lobster. This picture proves it.

Now, everyone who knows Sandy knows that she's a meat and potatoes girl, and the thought of a lobster meal is about as foreign a concept as a visit to Mars. In other words, it's such a foreign concept that it would never cross her mind, and if it was ever suggested, you'd hear a big "no, thank you." Well, as I tried to persuade, when in Rome... Or, for an analogy closer to our experience, when we were in the Southwest, we ate Mexican, so when we're in Maine, we have to at least try lobster. Ever the good sport, she agreed to a bite. And these photos document that it actually happened. (Although she didn't eat that whole piece.)

We ended up sharing a table with our new friends Joe and Margo, and had a great time sitting behind Red's by the water to eat. On our way out, we were lucky to catch Wendy's cousin Cindy, who is the owner with her sister Debbie. The whole operation is a family affair, and we also met Cindy's son Christopher, and her friend Jill. Everyone was so nice -- such a great experience. It completely lived up to all the hype. So, if you're ever near Wiscasset, you know what you need to do.

Mecca. In Maine.

2010-05-31T06:01:00.001-07:00

Sunday, May 30 - Today marked a milestone in Sandy's life: A visit to the L.L. Bean mothership in Freeport. I think it was at the top of Sandy's list on places to go on this trip, and she was in heaven. It's also the most-visited location in Maine, so she is not alone. The whole town of Freeport has been transformed in to a quaint outlet mall, so needless to say, the credit cards were smoking...

Breakfast at Becky's

2010-05-31T05:48:00.001-07:00

Sunday, May 30 - After a little run around Portland first thing in the morning, our next stop was widely-acclaimed -- by both friends and guidebooks -- Becky's Diner. (They also have a cute website.) The clientele is a mix of locals and tourists, and it's listed in the Road Food book with a rating of "Worth Planning a Day Around." And it was.

They had a sign posted that they are going to be closed one day next week since the Food Network was coming to film. Our server said that Guy Fieri was going to be there for his show Diner, Drive-ins and Dives. Keep your eye out for it.

Portland Old Port

2010-05-31T05:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 29 - We unloaded at the Portland Regency Hotel in the old armory, and headed out to explore the Old Port part of town. We put our name on the list to eat at a highly recommended restaurant called Fore Street, and then since we had over an hour to kill, we walked around Old Port. One of our first stops: one of our friend Lynn's old haunts: Gritty McDuff's. Sandy liked their seasonal "Vacationland" beer, probably more for the tap with the little car and camper on it than for the taste...

We then headed back to Fore Street, where we were hoping just to get a seat at the bar. We had called ahead earlier in the day to try to get a reservation, but the earliest available was at 10pm. So, we decided to try to just walk in. Since their walk-in list for the evening was full by the time we got there at 7:45, we put our name on the bar list. However, somone was looking out for us, and we actually got a table in the dining room.

A lot of their food is cooked in their wood-fired oven, which we had a good view of, since they have an open air kitchen. The dinner was amazing. I had halibut from Nova Scotia, and Sandy had local chicken. Both were fantastic. Sandy made a comment to our server about the oven being 1000 degrees, and she said yes -- it's actually 1000 degrees! No wonder we could feel it at our table. If you ever make it to Portland, you must eat at Fore Street.