Can Y'all Help Me Out
- Thread starter JimsTexas
- Start date
My friends y'all have a great day.
Sirhornsalot
**The Official Horn Sports Landscaper and Landscap
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We drove up and back from Austin and spent a week in Maine the year before last October. We rented a very nice cottage in the woods on Mount Desert Island. We got there around the tenth of October because we thought that would be the height of the color change season. The trees were good but not great. It turns out that the forests are so varied on the coast and the weather patterns, meaning cold weather, can vary over a few miles and over a few weeks in any direction. So, if you are going to be there for a while, That means that you can get varied landscape variety taking multiple day trips up and down the coast and inland and in effect the color may vary quite a bit over just a few days. Mt. Desert Island is beautiful, but I kind of preferred the drives up and down the coast. We got there the week end after the tourist season ended, and I will tell you that we were glad of that. There are wonderful trails on the Island, and up and down the coast, and it was nice to have them almost to ourselves. I am not so sure that we would have appreciated them so much if they were any more crowded. Bar Harbor is nice, but it is a cruise ship destination and can be quite crowded even after tourist season. The towns up and down the coast, especially to the south, do not share that misfortune so much and can be just as scenic. Whenever we go back we will stay off of the Island for sure.
As has been said, eat seafood, especially, lobster, lobster stew, and lobster rolls, at the lobster pot shacks along side the road. We had to develop a sense of humor as we tried some higher end restaurants for seafood other than lobster, and were roundly disappointed. It seems that they universally do not understand the concept of how to get a good caramelized sear on fish or scallops and the concept of the use of spices seemed to be universally lacking. And, believe me, we gave several supposedly better restaurants a try. Other than lobster in its' various forms, the best meal we had in Maine was in a Southeast Asian fusion restaurant in Bangor. As an aside, on the way back to Texas, we had great Burmese and Turkish food and Polish corned beef in Pittsburgh. We take road vacations with our two Catahoulas, and Pittsburgh will be our next extended vacation. What a beautiful city, and the tree color there and in West Virginia to the south was outstanding. Instead of driving back down I-95 back from Maine, we drove across southern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and upstate New York on our way to Pittsburgh. We have been through the area many times as my wife is from New York City and I have lived there, but driving back through New England in the rain with the clouds periodically breaking over all of that fall color was, well ... to repeat myself, OUTSTANDING!
Outstanding report. The wife and I have been thinking about either an Alaskan cruise or a trip to NE/Maine. Your feedback here is appreciated.
SFlonghorngirl
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I hear Banff is really beautiful. Unsure if that's on your way to the Pacific Coast.
http://www.banffnationalpark.com/
http://www.banffnationalpark.com/
My daughter and son-in-law have only been married for 7 years. Within the first 3 months of their marriage, he put up a piece of hand-painted art which is not particularly artistic but very wise. It reads "There are two theories about arguing with a woman, and neither of them work." He puts up a little resistance, but generally they come up with workable solutions. and they are very happy.
They are pretty evenly matched educationally, honors programs at UT and med school + residency. She did do a fellowship following residency, but he was improving his resume simultaneously. They operate based on love and mutual respect, which I think is the key to a great marriage/partnership. It is the way my parents interacted for 60+ years, until my Dad's death.
Hook 'em!
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Jim,
If you are driving, isn't the 9th wonder of the world in St. Louis Missouri?
Link: http://www.hotels.com/de1426966/hotels-st-louis-missouri/
Then, there is the Amish country in Pennsylvania, and the Liberty Bell in Philly. (If you don't mind Philadelphia traffic.)
Link: http://www.nps.gov/inde/liberty-bell-center.htm
If I had the time, I wouldn't miss going through Vermont on the way to Maine. Maple syrup, ummm. I understand that when you ask locals for directions in New England, you get very abbreviated versions of 'up the road' or 'up yonder'. It may be 20 minutes or 4 hours.
A retired military gentleman that I knew, spent 6 months traveling the route you are taking. He said, upon his return, that he could have spent an entire year. Enjoy your trip. I, personally, think Minnesota is beautiful, and Montana is magnificent. Yellowstone, wow! Do you need advance reservations? Please take lots of pictures and share them with us!
Hook em!
If you are driving, isn't the 9th wonder of the world in St. Louis Missouri?
Link: http://www.hotels.com/de1426966/hotels-st-louis-missouri/
Then, there is the Amish country in Pennsylvania, and the Liberty Bell in Philly. (If you don't mind Philadelphia traffic.)
Link: http://www.nps.gov/inde/liberty-bell-center.htm
If I had the time, I wouldn't miss going through Vermont on the way to Maine. Maple syrup, ummm. I understand that when you ask locals for directions in New England, you get very abbreviated versions of 'up the road' or 'up yonder'. It may be 20 minutes or 4 hours.
A retired military gentleman that I knew, spent 6 months traveling the route you are taking. He said, upon his return, that he could have spent an entire year. Enjoy your trip. I, personally, think Minnesota is beautiful, and Montana is magnificent. Yellowstone, wow! Do you need advance reservations? Please take lots of pictures and share them with us!
Hook em!
All this great information from so many people that really know that area. I am soaking it all in. We have driven once for a week from Conn. to Vermont and NH and the traffic on the back roads were very busy and slow so you cannot be in a hurry. We only got lost once as some roads on the map were not really roads but went to people's houses. Loved the trip, but need reservations if need to stay at B&B, but you said a travel trailer so guess you won't need any. Lovely places and great food. Our other 2 trips were New England Cruises up along coast and into Canada and Nova Scotia and loved those also.
Driving that far, just makes me tired reading about it. I am definitely a Fly and then drive sort of person. Know it will be a wonderful trip and happy to hear it is 4-5 months as sounds like it will take that long to see everything.
Enjoy! Will try and think of anything I can think of that is not to be missed --- my old brain has to look at photos to get me back to those place.
Driving that far, just makes me tired reading about it. I am definitely a Fly and then drive sort of person. Know it will be a wonderful trip and happy to hear it is 4-5 months as sounds like it will take that long to see everything.
Enjoy! Will try and think of anything I can think of that is not to be missed --- my old brain has to look at photos to get me back to those place.
JimsTexas
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Deb and I are retired and when we travel we never get in a hurry. I have made 5 trips to Alaska on those trips I learned how to slow down and enjoy the country around me. Deb has been a big help with me learning how to slow down and enjoy my retirement. If we are in an area that we need to take some time to look around we just stay an extra day are two. My friends y'all have a great day
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