Road tripping to Maine - Bar Harbor to Portland and Kennebunkport

Thursday, August 8th, the weather was supposed to turn rainy, which was perfect because that was our last day of camping in Bar Harbor.  We decided to head back south to nicer weather.  3 1/2 hours later we were in Portland, at the Children's Museum.  This was a terrific museum that both Kate and Summer really enjoyed!  

 After the Portland Children's Museum, we headed for Flatbread, a pizza place that had been recommended to us.  It was a beautiful setting on the water, and the inside was even cooler.  A very organic and unique feel to it, with open wood burning pizza ovens and a ton of Maine beer on tap!  We (Kate, Mike and I) enjoyed lunch while Summer was so tired, she literally slept on me the entire meal!

A chalkboard outside of Flatbread with chalk for people to write on.
We thought it was a cool idea!

 After lunch, we decided to be tourists and took a trolley tour of Portland.  It went well, the girls were loving the novelty of being in a trolley, until an hour in, when we got stuck in traffic and the girls were over it!  We got to see a lot of cool sites and another lighthouse, the Portland Head Light.

Sleepy Summer

Fun on the trolley!

 After the trolley tour we loaded in the car once again for a quick 20 minute drive to Kennebunkport.  What a change!  Portland was by no means a big city but after seeing that and being in Boothbay Harbor and Bar Harbor, Kennebunkport was like a different planet!  Beautiful mansions and manicured lawns as far as the eye could see!  We drove around, saw the Bush compound (the Texas flag was flying, which means the Bush's were in residence!) and found a beach to blow off some steam.  The girls absolutely loved it and ended up getting soaking wet in their clothes from playing in the waves.  It was the perfect end to a great vacation.  We spent the night a few minutes outside of Kennebunkport, and the next morning did some quick touristy shopping before hitting the road for home.

Bush Compound

you can't leave Maine without a picture of a "lobsta roll" sign

Lots of traffic, including NYC on a Friday at 5, put us back home around 2am and 15 hours after we started.  This was the best trip we had been on as a family and the most fun I've had since I can remember.  Who cares about the long car trip - Mike and I decided we would go back every year.  We love Maine!