Max and I have been on lots of trips since we got married, and lots of trips since Flora has been born, but we RARELY have been on trips just us. We are always traveling with other family or friends and we delight in that, but it was a busy and hard year last year so we needed some space to ourselves. I’m so grateful we were able to make this trip happen. We ate our share of lobster and lobster rolls, and maybe our share and a half of clam chowder. We climbed on as many big rocks as we could find (that’s a lot) and did a fair amount of hiking. Flora was thriving in those forests and requested that her and Max go on a few hikes alone, “no mom’s allowed”, Flora exclaimed. I didn’t argue, I love the forrest but I will happily drive the car a mile and a half down this mountain so you can have some bonding time lol. They were both elated to do that together, the kind of adventure they had been looking forward to.

The little coastal towns in Maine are very tourist based, so they were mostly closed for winter still while they prepare for the summer chaos. It was nice to experience these spaces without crowds and and without drowning in sweat and the summer heat. They are adorable places and I imagine it is a hoot to summer vacation there. We talked about how fun it would be to ride bikes and bring our kayaks there to visit the smaller islands.

Part of this trip was a bit of a scouting mission. Max and I have different preferences on what kind of land and climate we prefer, Max wants elevation, mountains, rocks, winter, and I want ocean. I don’t need a tropical climate but I want to be able to swim in the ocean for at least a portion of the year. I thought I didn’t want winter, but I missed a Michigan winter one year and learned that I need the cold much more than I thought I did. Maine is one of the places we agreed might have all of these things for both of us. The things that I desire for land like ducks, geese, sheep, and cherry trees can all be kept/grown in Maine as well. Maine is basically a saltwater Michigan, I had a few conversations with Mainers that the two are often referred to as sister states. Now that I have driven through a very large portion of both states, I very much agree.

We kind of anticipated going there and absolutely falling in love and having to drag ourselves home, and though I think that we did enjoy it very very much, we agreed that most of the things we enjoyed there can be found in Michigan (except seafood). I intend on visiting many more Michigan lighthouse in the next few years. We did love the architecture, and the cape style houses with lots of shake siding. A lot of properties have this Big House - Little House - Barn set up and we were fond of that as well, it will suite our needs as time goes on. I also love the Mainer culture and their general desire and respect for quality materials for everyday use, like clothes and building materials and food. For anyone that was worried we were going to go on this trip and come home to announce our departure from Grand Rapids, rest assured, that is not the case . . . not yet at least ;). I’m not sure where we will be after we retire but Maine is certainly a contender.