A week before turning 11, our son decided he only wanted 1 thing from Mom and Dad for his birthday - to go camping. When an almost 11 year old asks for something other than v bucks or an Xbox gift card for his bday, you listen! St. Louis + August + camping = no way so we are definitely looking at a road trip.
We put the 8 hour circle on the map and found nothing but rain. Our kids are good travelers - why not expand that a bit? Colorado, of course, because who doesn't want to camp in the mountains? Apparently, anyone who wants to have a campfire. It's wildfire season and bans are everywhere. My husband asks "How far is it to Acadia?" Acadia - as in Maine?
We get a good laugh out of the 22-hours-each-way answer and keep looking. When 2 days of searching have produced nothing, it's time to make a just-in-case check into campgrounds near Acadia. What not to do when planning a summer trip to Maine - wait until the last minute. Every place we checked was full but maybe, just maybe, we should call Mount Desert, the highest rated, most gorgeous campground we can find, to see if they have a waitlist. It's clearly fate when they say"Actually, we just had a cancellation for those exact dates."
I will choose a plane 9 times out of 10, but that 1 time we take to the road...you had better believe we will see every single thing we can along the way. I firmly believe that on a road trip, the journey is the destination. We confirmed our 3 night camping stay in Maine, packed up our gear between soccer games and hit the road Sunday evening.
Our personal family mission is for our kids to get to every state before they graduate high school. We love filling in the new additions on our travel map every time we get home from a trip. It helps keeps the fun going once the post-vacation blues hit.
We decided to take the northern route
and added Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Hampshire to bring their total to 39 by Tuesday. We checked off a few bucket list items - the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls (worth it, especially for an 8 year old who thought the blue plastic poncho was a great souvenir), ice cream at Ben & Jerry's (also absolutely worth it - the amazing facility off of a mountain road complete with retired flavor cemetery makes you feel better about spending $5 for a pint) and a picnic in White Mountain National Forest (so pretty I could spend a week there). Our pitstop was a night in Burlington, Vermont. It is a city everyone should visit - by car. The drive was without question one of the most beautiful we have ever been on and the downtown has an awesome pedestrian mall with restaurants, shops and bars. If you get there, check out The Farmhouse Tap & Grill - great beer selection and delicious farm to table meals right on the edge of the mall. Get out and walk around after dinner! The people watching will not disappoint. Did I mention we did all of this in a day and a half?
We let the kids bring movies for the car ride but have found a little bribery goes a long way toward limiting screen time, especially in the form of a game! We play all the usuals (the alphabet sign game, looking for license plates from every state, etc) but our favorite thing to do when traveling to National Parks is to look for animals. My husband came up with this game of $$ for animals years ago and the kids LOVE it. He sets a certain amount for every type of animal native to the area and the person to see the first of each earns the cash. The catch - if Mom and Dad are first, the kids pay us! Moose, bears and elk get the big money ($1-$5) and the more common critters earn change. It starts as a competition and ends with faces glued to windows, appreciating nature and learning about every place we visit.
After all that driving, we were all ready to GET THERE. My husband has always been a camper. I have not. We pulled into Mount Desert and I was converted.
Let me tell you about this campground - some sites have their own waterfront sound access, they are all beautifully wooded, there is a floating dock where you can swim, crab or launch kayaks and possibly most important - decent bathrooms. The Gathering Place is their great little spot to grab coffee, wifi and the best breakfast pastries. We met so many people who come back every summer including a couple who met there when they were going with their families 40+ years ago!
Maine. Is. Gorgeous. If you like the great outdoors, even just a little bit, get there. The views on Mount Desert Island, whether by car or on foot, are unparalleled. What we learned:
Acadia National Park - get there early. It is a small park and it gets packed. You won't find parking by anything you want to do if you get there after 9:00 am. Best hike for families: Jordan Pond - a flat walk around a gorgeous lake where kids will love to climb between and over boulders and along a raised boardwalk. Best hike for tweens: South Bubble - it climbs fast with a section where you use metal handles to go over and around some rocky outcroppings and rewards you with stunning vistas when you reach the top. Best views: the rocks between Sand Beach and Thunder Hole - check out both attractions but don't miss the walk between - tide pools, crashing waves and beauty in every direction.
Ask the locals - they are welcoming, even in the height of tourist season. Every recommendation they gave us was spot on. Perfect dinner at Abel's Lobster Pound on the bay at sunset. Bar Harbor is the quintessential New England seaside town, but Southwest and Northeast Harbor are as laid back as we are. Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse was peaceful and beautiful as the sun went down.
Relax. Even with only 3 days, we made sure to enjoy some R&R. We had a pizza picnic on the beach, swam and kayaked in the sound and tried our hand at crabbing - until the seagulls stole the bait (aka hot dogs).
We were all more than a little sad to say goodbye to Maine, but the beautiful thing about heading for home on a road trip is that there is still more to look forward to! Driving down the coast to Portland could definitely be a trip in itself. Everywhere we looked we saw white church steeples, adorable B&B's, ocean views and even passed through Rockland during the Maine Lobster Festival! We decided to have lunch at Duckfat in Portland but seating was a 2 hour wait. Something else learned from a good road trip - flexibility. Takeout and the Eastern Promenade (thank you Google Maps for finding us the nearest park) made for an unforgettable stop. FYI, Duckfat fries and shakes are worth the hype, but we would skip the sandwiches next time.
The very first trip my husband and I took together was to Boston. After a Sox game we spent a day on the Freedom Trail and could not wait to share it with our kids! We didn't make it to the city until late in the afternoon (definitely a different experience) so we missed being able to go into King's Church and the Paul Revere House. Stumbling upon the Feast of St. Agrippina di Mineo in the North End, however, was amazing! Our son even posed for a pic with one of the festival-goers, Robert Kraft, who was super gracious and told him he hopes he will be playing for him someday. Birthday treats at Modern Pastry (if you go, bring cash) were worth the wait in line, and were a perfect end to our Boston experience.
The next day brought the last leg of our journey. We are firm believers that if we add a state to our list, we need to experience that state. I am a bit of a coffee addict so the Coffee Exchange near Brown University was the perfect Rhode Island stop. After some AMAZING coffee we headed over to explore the Brown campus (never too early for ivy league aspirations) where we hit the first real snag in our trip - rain, and a lot of it. It brought traffic to a standstill and it was immediately clear we would not be getting anywhere quickly! Thank God for family - we got off the road as soon as possible and had an unplanned night with our brother and BIL in New York.
We made it home VERY late Sunday night. All told we added 9 states, 3000 miles, 8 days without Fortnite and countless memories to our kids' summer vacation.
Get outside. Experience nature. Visit our National Parks. Most importantly, take those trips with your kids while you can.
Explore | Dream | Discover | The Road
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