It took us way too long to visit New England, but the stars aligned and we got excellent accommodations to visit this gorgeous part of the country. This post provides an outline of where we went, what we saw, and links to posts associated with each stop.

Our itinerary:

Franconia Notch State Park
Lincoln, NH (7 nights) Loon Mountain Resort. We spent the day in the White Mountains in Franconia Notch State Park. We passed a beautiful red covered bridge and walked the two-mile loop which included lots of stairs up the gorge. The falls were running pretty good so it was so worth it!

Another Day in Paradise!
Our stay in Lincoln continues with a wonderful and relaxing circle drive north past Franconia Notch again for fabulous roadside views and a lovely gazebo overlook. In the distance we saw the Mount Washington Hotel, which looked very impressive from a distance and we decided we’d return for a closer look. Silver Falls were right next to the road!

Beautiful Vermont
Our stay in Lincoln continues with a road trip to Vermont. Another circle drive took us past some antique shops, apple cider donuts, and fabulous ice cream. A small park along the road had a beautiful reservoir and a small dam, but my hopes to see a (real) moose were dashed.

Mount Washington Hotel
As promised, today we had an excellent tour of the most luxurious hotel of its day. Our guide gave us the back story of the hotel and how it was imagined, built and finally opened in 1902. After her husband’s death in the next year, Carolyn Stickney continued to run the hotel until her death in the early 1930s.

Local Brew
Today we checked out the local shopping and the area close to Lincoln. On our way to the local brewery, another beautiful waterfall was right beside the road. Like I said before, the rains may be a pain, but it’s keeping us in beautiful waterfalls.

Mirror Lake 2
I’m not sure was the name of this lake actually was, but it sure was beautiful!

What About Bob?
There are certain advantages to traveling off-season, and certain disadvantages. Castle of the Clouds didn’t open until next week. But the Loon Center in Moultonborough was open and was very interesting. We got some lunch at a bar back on the highway and headed for Lake Winnipesaukee (hence the name of the post). I can see why Bob loved that place!

Rockland, Maine
Rockland, ME (7 nights) Samoset Resort. After getting settled into our new digs, we went out for our first lobster dinner. The next day we checked out Rockland, took a Lobster Boat Cruise, and checked out Owl’s Head Lighthouse across the harbor.

Bath and Pemaquid
Our stay in Rockland continues with a short day trip to Bath to check out the town, have a lobster roll for lunch and then venture into the historic district. We ended with my favorite stop of the trip, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in Bristol.

The Olson House
Another day trip took us to Cushing, ME to the Olson House – the subject of numerous works of art by Andrew Wyeth, including his 1948 painting Christina’s World. This 14-room Colonial farmhouse is almost empty and in pretty rough shape, but the story behind it is so beautiful.

Acadia National Park
This was way too far for a day trip without leaving way earlier in the morning or spending the night. We didn’t have nearly enough time to explore much but we took the Park Loop Road past Frenchman’s Bay, Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Otter Creek, and ended with Afternoon Tea and popovers at the Jordan Pond House. Can’t wait to return to see the other 70-percent of this beautiful place.

Rockland and Vicinity
On our last day in Maine, we visited the Maine Lighthouse Museum (excellent!), The Brass Compass for lobster rolls, and Montpelier, the Knox Museum. Although it’s a replica of his original mansion, Montpelier stands as a memorial to Henry Knox. Volunteers dress in Revolutionary garb and give a wonderful tour loaded with history about the man and the times.

Another fabulous vacation is officially in the books!

Happy trails,
Barb