Hello friends,

Well it’s back to reality for this girl.  Vacation is over sort of.  I’ll explain in a minute.
Visiting Maine has been on my bucket list for many years.  So when a vacation to Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington North Carolina fell through, because of Hurricane Flo, me and my husband tried to think of a new vacation destination.  Like I said I had always wanted to visit Maine especially in the fall of the year.

As soon as I realized we would have to cancel our Wrightsville Beach trip I started looking at Inns and B&B’s near Bar Harbor or Camden Maine.  There were almost no availabilities near Bar Harbor. I thought this was because places were booked but come to find out it was because many were closed for the season.

I chose an Inn right on the ocean called The Inn at Ocean’s Edge. It is located in the small town of Lincolnville which is just outside Camden.  Lincolnville is about an hour from Bangor, where we flew in, and Bar Harbor and the Acadia National Park. It is a small town of about 3,000 people but beautiful and very laid back.   The Inn was fabulous.   A delicious breakfast is served every morning in a beautiful sunny part of the Inn.  An endless pool ( although it was a little chilly for swimming) that was beautiful and views of the ocean like you just can’t imagine.  Check it out if you visit Maine.  http://www.inn@oceansedge.com

The day after we arrived in Maine we visited the town of Bar Harbor.  Very pretty but lots and lots of people especially when the cruise ships come into town.  So many beautiful inns and antique shops in this area.

We also did a harbor cruise in Camden and saw seals and learned about pulling in the lobster cages.  We even got to hold some of the lobsters and throw the smaller ones back. We also saw the Curtis Island Lighthouse, it is on Curtis Island and only accessible by boat.

      Curtis Island Lighthouse

We also visited the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse.  This one was a little hard to get to.  I had read the reviews that it was almost a mile walk out on huge stones to get to the lighthouse.  Actually 732,277 tons of granite were used to make the breakwater leading to the lighthouse.  So a mile walk out and a mile walk back was not a problem for us but the uneven stones and the large gaps in between made it difficult to walk without really watching what you were doing.  One wrong step and you could wedge your foot or leg between the stones.  All in all it was well worth going to see.

Look at the huge gaps in the stones

I just had to get a shot of this guy

Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse

I discovered a wonderful little basket shop and Indian museum.  It was in a small community called Duck Trap close to where we were staying.  We stopped in one day on our way into town and then I went back another day by myself and did the museum tour and talked to the owners.  The owner Joe Anderson is 88 years old and his friend Nancy is somewhat younger.  Joe is a Penobscot Indian and his family has been making the baskets since 1930.  There is so much history in this small museum located inside part of their house.  I was so glad I stopped in I spent a couple of hours with Joe and Nancy hearing about Maine and how Joe and his family made baskets all winter and then sold them on Hwy 1 in the summer.

Joe’s pack basket that he used for hunting and carrying things.

And of course we went to Stephen King’s house

And also back to the Acadia National Park to Cadillac Mountain where it was freezing but an unbelievable view.  The colors of the leaves were spectacular.

And of course I found a yarn shop in Belfast which was about 15 Miles from us and it was wonderful!!!!! So many end of season sales. Look at my haul

A lot of work went into planning this trip.  Not where to stay or anything like that. But I have to say I don’t know what I would do without my family.  My sister and nephew drove all the way to my house every day to take care of Kitty Kitty and my outside dog Molly. It is a 22 mile drive one way.  My sister in law kept Scruffy at her house since he is a little more needy.  My other sister  checked on my mother in law, she is in an assisted living center, to make sure she had everything she needed while we were gone the 8 days.  Wow my family is awesome!!!!

Now about the vacation.  I am still off for a few days so me and the sisters are going on a short trip to Gatlinburg.  We do this every year, sister trip, it started back many many years ago when my mama was alive.  We have so much fun.

So I had one day after returning from Maine to repack, do laundry, buy groceries, check on mother in law, love on the fur babies and get ready for sister trip.  Wow.  What a crazy but wonderfully fun couple of weeks.

See you soon.

Love your day your way!!!

On Saturday I left my home and family for a week in Colorado for the Annual National  Caves Convention. It is held in a different part of the country every year. This year is Glenwood-Springs

I got up at 3:30 AM because I had procrastinated and not finished my packing the night before. It’s a little cooler in Colorado so it was hard to know what to pack. I even dug a few of my winter clothes out. We are still having temps in the high eighties in Tennessee.

So I got up at 3:30 AM and finished packing and left the house at 7:30. A 45 minutes drive to the airport. Check in and both flights were very uneventful. I was meeting a couple of cave buddies in Denver. My friend Patty had rented a car and was giving me and another cave friend Allen a ride to Glenwood Springs which was supposed to be about a three hour drive from Denver.  If I had waited on the shuttle I would have had to wait at the airport for over two hours just to catch the shuttle.

After standing in line at Fox Rent A Car for an hour we got the rental car.  I have to say it is about the ugliest color of green you have ever seen.  I guess that’s just a personal preference.

Because of traffic in Denver and some road delays it took us about four hours to get to Glenwood-Springs. The elevation here is 5,761 feet so that makes you feel a little sluggish anyway, plus four hours of plane rides and an hour in line at the car rental, and a four hour car ride does make one a little weary. Ha!!! I was exhausted.

We finally made it to the Hotel Colorado. This hotel was built in 1893. It is a beautiful old hotel. The entryway,  the seating areas in the lobby and the grounds are gorgeous. However, most of the rooms, including mine, are old and lack quite a few modern amenities.

We dropped our bags and took off walking to find something to eat.  We went to a fabulous restaurant called Smoke.  Awesome barbecue. Check it out if you are ever in this area  www.smokemodernbarbque.com

My room has four beds, don’t ask, there was a mix up in the rooms so I got a double room.  So I picked one of the rooms and that is mostly where I am hanging out.  There is only one set of drawers in each room and they are very small.  I just used the other bed in my room for the spill-over.

The next day was all day board meetings but it ended a little early and I walked into town and checked out some of the shops. Some of the shops were closed because it was Sunday.  I did get a few small things I have to remember my suitcase was well over 40 pounds when I left home.

You can tell I have a thing for hearts they just make me happy. I especially love this little ornament it reads, What makes your heart flutter?   So I will leave it with you and that question. What makes your heart flutter?

Love your day your way.