Notes from: Portland & Cherryfield, ME

Revi in Cherryfield

We drove through Portland twice, but only actually stopped to explore on our way back from Pond Island. We stayed the night in an Embassy Suites. (Suites! EVERYONE GETS A BED! AND A SHOWER AFTER NOT SHOWERING FOR THREE NIGHTS! AND ROOM SERVICE! AND TOILETS!) and woke up early the next morning to have breakfast in Portland. 

Portland was adorable. It reminded me of San Francisco but smaller and older and eastcoast...er. It was beautiful and full of boats and music and people everywhere. And everyone was kind and interesting. We had breakfast at The Holy Donut because we were told WE HAD TO... and, well... yeah. Copy that, everyone. (This was the point in the trip where "sugarfreedom" was just another word for nothing left to lose.)

After "breakfast," we window shopped, checked out the pier, marveled at the old boats, stopped for ONE LAST LOBSTER ROLL and then said goodbye to Maine... 

(ED: I took very few pictures in Portland, too busy was I trying to shepherd our island-weary crew toward the cobblestone SIDEWALKS as opposed to the streets. Especially after the donuts. Bo took an on-purpose flying leap into a puddle while we were walking, landing on her bottom, waist deep in a puddle of filth. Her response, when she stood up sopping wet? "Don't worry, guys. I'll just dry in the sun." And... that is what she did.) 

P.S. Here we are, in front of a Volkswagen Lobster in Portland, Maine. Wish you were here. (And wish we were back. Sigh.)

And now this is going to get chronologically weird, since up until now I have described our trip backwards, and I am going to jump to the beginning of our trip. Cue: Waynes World squiggle hands.

Anyway. After we left Warwick, New York, we spent the night in Concord, New Hampshire (because we couldn't find a hotel in Massachusetts ANYWHERE!) on our way up to Cherryfield, Maine, where we were to meet up with the rest of the family. We had to be choosey with our route because of time, so we compromised--part freeway and part coastal route. (I am a big fan of coastal road trips. It is ALWAYS worth the length of the trip to take the scenic route. Always always.) I fell in love with everything we saw and everyone we met along the way...

When we arrived in Cherryfield in the early evening, my parents and sister were already waiting for us at our B&B, which sat right on the river and was full of 18th century artifacts. We learned that Cherryfield, ME was where our ancestors (my grandmother's family) were from -- dating back to Pre-Revolutionary Times. Even the B&B had been built by distant relatives in 1792, I mean, shah!?  

The view from our room.

Everywhere we went in Cherryfield we were, like, "Oh, hey. We're 80th cousins. Oh, you? We have the same greatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreatgreat grandfather."  It got to the point where every person I saw I was like, "HI WE DON'T KNOW EACH OTHER BUT I THINK WE'RE COUSINS." 

All cousins. Maybe. 

And then we'd hug and end up not being cousins but, you know, that's cool. Hugs are cool. 

The rest of the family--my Nana, aunt, cousins Erica and Yvette, and their families--were staying in the nearby town of Millbridge, and we met them for dinner that night.

Here is the youngest of the four generations of us, who traveled together, before we left for the Island. 

Mikaela, Jade, Revi, Bo, Ruby, Archer, Anushka & Fable OR BUST!

P.S. I've been saving the Pond Island stories/photos for last and I'll post them next week. Meanwhile, I'd love to hear from you re: favorite places in Maine to visit. We are already planning our next Pond Island trip and will absolutely be back. Next time, with more mosquito repellant. 

TBC...