Major Update-- Part 1

I can't believe I have let almost two months pass without writing on here. That is exactly what I did NOT want myself doing: forgetting to document all the little fun events and moments of the everyday so that I can remember (and smile) later on. Well I will do my best to recap the past 8 weeks in a way that is rather brief, to the point, and enjoyable.

First: Vacation

This year, Dan and I decided to go somewhere different. We have gone to various beaches a few times, relaxed/kayaked on a lake for a week last year, and have explored local sites as well. Dan spent many summers on the coast of Maine and asked  early in the year if I'd be interested in going and exploring the New England coast (while also seeing the beach towns that were near and dear to his heart) this year. I, having never been up to that area of the country, quickly and enthusiastically said "YES". We started planning and booked our B&B's in March of this year. We basically knew what states and cities we wanted to visit and planned accordingly.

On our 8 day trip we got to visit Portland, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Kennebunkport, and Goose Rocks Beach (all in Maine). I fell in love with Maine right away. There is just something some unique, peaceful, and beautiful about this state. It is not built up at all, but it's houses have the most charm and character...and everyone there is so relaxed! Hiking and exploring Acadia National Park was my favorite part of our visit to Maine. This park is amazing and located on an island off the northern coast. The views were incredible and you literally could do a 360 degree turn and see nothing by beauty around you. We loved our time here(!) and have recommended it to all of our friends and family. I really enjoyed the town of Kennebunkport and have made Dan promise me that we will rent a beach house there in the near future. All I can really say is, I could totally see myself relaxing and enjoying myself for a week or two on this secluded, gorgeous, little-piece-of heaven beach. Ahhh.

Next, we traveled south to Rockport, Massachusetts. Rockport is the cutest, little artsy town on the coast of Cape Anne. It was beautiful and the sunsets there were incredible. The name "Rockport" is perfect for this town, because the beaches were filled with the most beautiful rock and cliff landscapes. Not 5 minutes away was Gloucester, were we went on a 3 hour whale watching tour. This was awesome. I must admit, I needed some convincing for this, because I am cheap and was not sure I wanted to pay money to "maybe" see a whale. After deciding to be more adventurous and risky, I was in. And sure enough, we didn't see just 1 whale....we say about 15-20. The only word to describe our time in the ocean, whales not 25 yards away, was breath taking. The whales were Humpbacks, so they were about the size of two school buses. Talk about huge. This was one of the major highlights of our trip and we'd do it again in a heartbeat. Finally, we ventured down to Newport, Rhode Island. This, too, was a gorgeous coastal town. There we went on a "Cliff Walk" (not as scary as it sounds), toured a few of the most historical mansions in the area, and enjoyed good dinners and shopping. Newport was super beautiful, ritzy, and...well, to be honest, full of the rich, yachting  Madewell sweater wearing, guys and gals. Although we didn't fully fit in, we made ourselves at home and pretended for a hot minute that we lived that life.

Here are a few pictures that highlight our time well!