Extended getaway (Portland, ME)

It's been so long since we've traveled without the kids. Sure, we've made quick weekend getaways without them but it's been over nine years since we last booked a flight together sans kids. 

Why so long? Elliot. 

It's always been really hard to leave her. She's fine during the day but when it's bedtime and we're not there (e.g. sleepover at her cousin's place) she might miss us and get sad.

But this can't go on forever. So we told her well in advance that we were going away for a few days... to mentally prepare her. We would be gone for four full days, three of which were school days, so that was another problem to solve... the logistics of each kid. But good thing Jacob can finally drive (his siblings around), which was another consideration when planning this trip.

The first day of the trip went smoothly... no issues with our flights or luggage, the kids got to and from school okay, and the bedtime routine went well, i.e. no sadness from Elliot. Sweet, maybe we can plan more trips in the future without the kids.

Our flight was so early that was the sun wasn't up yet.

Portland Head Light was like a real life postcard.

Our first (of many) lobster rolls.

But the second night was another story. There was a miscommunication between the big boys of how Andrew was to get home from school. They each blamed the other person was at fault. It got so heated that they called us knowing that we were "on vacation". We could hear them screaming at each other over the speakerphone. It was so bad that it almost got physical. But what could we do? We're hundreds of miles away from home! I guess we can't leave them alone. 😞

At the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.

Along Ocean Path in Acadia National Park.

A stylized picture from Google.

Thunder Hole.

By the next day, things had cooled down with Andrew apologizing. Thank God. You can't really enjoy a trip when you're constantly stressed over the kids. You're physically in one place but you're mentally elsewhere. Anyway, on this day we were back in Portland.

Visiting the LL Bean flagship store (Freeport, ME) on the way back to Portland.

Our home away from home in Portland (Old Port) with everything within walking distance.

Exploring the town during the day...

And at night. Different parts of town still had brick and cobblestone roads.

Waiting in line at Tandem Coffee and Bakery.

Waiting in line at Standard Baking Co.

Waiting in line at The Holy Donut.

Chilling in 70 degree weather at the Eastern Promenade.

Some of the food we ate.

List of restaurants/foods (for my sake): 

• Bite Into Maine - good, overstuffed lobster rolls
• Eventide Oyster Co. - good (but really tiny) lobster rolls
• Black Cow - excellent burgers with "sour cream and onion" fries - so crispy they were like potato chips
• Tandem Coffee and Bakery - known for their loaded biscuits, which were good 
• Standard Baking Co. - good croissant and morning bun
• Highroller Lobster Co. - good burger with lobster and grilled cheese with lobster
• Otto Pizza - really good pizza (or maybe I really love pizza and was done with lobster)
• Crispy Gai - Hat Yai Wings (extra crispy with fried shallots) - really good... sauce not needed
• The Holy Donut - potato donuts - different texture - taste was okay - not for me

We came home with a few goodies from all the unique stores we visited but this has to be my favorite:

"Junk Food Bandits" by Flyn (local artist) This reminded us of the kids, especially Andrew. 😂