The lure of New England (and points north), especially during the summer months: Now we get why there are so many visitors to New England!

 

Table Rock, New Hampshire 

Mark Twain:  “If you don’t like the weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes.”

Prior to our trip to the New England states during the summer of 2022, we had not yet understood the popularity of New England as a summer tourist destination.  Of course, we had heard of famous places like Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, White Mountains, etc., but we had never visited these places to truly understand.

During January of 2022, we were looking for a long term rental via AirBnB as usual, for the upcoming summer months.  We were searching for a place anywhere among the three states:  Maine, New Hampshire, and/or Vermont.  Luckily, we found two that fit the bill.  

For June and July, we got a small mountain cabin in Stratton (Maine), and for August, we got a two bedroom apartment in Canaan (Vermont).  In Maine, we got to experience the quietest summer ever, living near the northwest corner of the state of Maine.  We barely saw vehicular traffic near our cabin, or on many of the major roads nearby.  We would routinely joke to each other to ‘watch out for traffic’, knowing full well, that there was zero traffic on most days.

Acadia National Park, Maine

At nights, we saw stars the size of basketballs, illuminating the night sky, and during days, we heard bird songs and the occasional breezes rustling the incredibly beautiful pine trees.  The cool evenings and early mornings were a godsend, as we can always look forward to cooling down after a warm, sunny Maine days.

During the first two weeks of June, we lamented the fact that we didn’t bring any warm clothes like sweaters, sweatpants, or long sleeves.  We were freezing in the mornings, with temperatures hitting around 40 degrees.  We could see our breaths in those cold mornings breathing out, as it was so cold!  I had to hug, real tight, the pillows and the thin comforter to stay alive.  

Looking back, it brings a smile to my face, kind of missing those cold mornings in Maine, after living in much warmer apartment rental in Vermont, where the air conditioner was needed for much of our stay.

Maine was everything we had hoped for.  We got to see Acadia National Park at last!  We were blown away by the unbelievably beautiful Cadillac Mountain with small islands off the coast, and we finally understood why it is so popular.

Maine as a state, is much bigger than we had ever imagined.  Just to cover the coast cities would take months of traveling, if you can tolerate the ever busy Route 1, especially during the summers.  At first, we thought we could visit the coast more frequently, but that didn’t turn out to be true.  

From our place in Stratton, it took close to 3 hours to get to the coast.  After visiting Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor, we ended up traveling near where we were staying, more often than not.  We really got the sense of the immense size of the state first hand.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Driving in the northern part of the state also means there are no major highways.  On top of that, roads are just non-existent.  We hoped, especially near Stratton, for roads that would cut across some of the area, instead of having to drive in a ‘V’ pattern, just to get to a destination from our place. Had there been a road cutting through the mountains, the trip would’ve taken half the time.

There were also times when we encountered scary at times non-paved roads, full of gravel and small to medium sized pebbles/rocks.  Our Google Maps is usually looking for ways to save distance and fuel, so often, it would recommend using questionable roads.

Such was the case during our visit to our friend’s place in New Hampshire.  To get to her place from Maine, we had to drive close to 4 miles of unpaved roads, climbing over a mountain range then descending.  There was no civilization anywhere, and no humans anywhere.  

We felt like we were the only humans left on Planet Earth!  We kind of got apprehensive about our drive.  We feared we might get lost or worse, get stuck on that road, with no help coming.  *Note:  There was no cell service!

We did make it out of that scary road after about 30 minutes, weary, tired, but excited we made it out in one piece…All these interesting(?) roads and the drives made for some exciting times.  Since we made it out ok in one piece, we’re actually glad we drove those roads.  It was unlike anything we’ve driven on previously, and it was definitely a new and exciting stimuli.

Wolfeboro, New Hampshire 

When our two months long stay was nearing its end, we chatted away about our experience during one of those cool Maine evenings.  We knew we were going to miss the near perfect weather, the breathtakingly beautiful scenery, the many parks/waterfalls, and the delicious seafoods.  

Vermont, is a state we knew fairly well, from our ski trips up there on 4 different occasions.  Winter in Vermont is achingly beautiful, with almost Alps-like scenery, especially near the New York/Vermont border.  

Our first trip to Killington Resort in the winter of 1998 was our first trip to the Green Mountain State, and we would be hooked for life.  We drove on a picture perfect snowy day in March, crossing the border from New York into Vermont, and were blown away by the winter scenery.

We saw tall mountain peaks blanketed by snow, and we saw everything else covered in it as well.  It was a scene out of any number of feel-good Christmas movies.  After we trying some of the local baked goods like freshly baked muffins and pumpkin pies, we were in love!

To eat delicious foods like those while sipping a hot cider or coffee is really one of the best things about living and of course, traveling.  We still fondly remember those times as if they were yesterday…

For our fifth trip to Vermont, we were hoping to experience the state during the summers for two reasons.  One, to escape the heat of the summer, and two, to do some hiking and sightseeing, which we couldn’t do during the winters.

We were ecstatic when an AirBnB rental came available for the month of August, so we went and booked it, despite it being our most expensive rental to date, at $1,700.  On August 1st, we packed our belongings and headed to Vermont, going through New Hampshire, and its scenic, winding roads.

It took about 2 hours to get to Canaan from Stratton.  We knew our AirBnB rental wouldn’t be available until about 2 p.m., so we decided to stop by at an Italian restaurant in the town of Colebrook (New Hampshire).

We headed to our rental, which was a short 10 minute drive.  By then, our rental was ready, and we unpacked our stuff, ready to enjoy our new adventures in the state of Vermont.

We enjoyed the spacious apartment with its two bedrooms and a laundry machine inside the rental!  Having a laundry machine is a godsend, and it’s one of those things most of us living in the USA take for granted.  When we have it, we don’t think much of it, until we don’t.  Let me tell you, we are so grateful when we have one in our rental!

The rental had beautiful views of the Green Mountains to our south, and we really enjoyed the views, especially during sunsets.  There would be fog covering the tops of mountain peaks in the distance on certain mornings, which was so cool to see.

Burlington, Vermont 

Canaan rental was unique among all of our other rentals we had done in the past, thanks to its location right on one of the major thoroughfares in town.  It’s literally right over the New Hampshire border with roads going north, to Canada, and to points west & south.

Quebec City, Canada 

Canada’s border crossing is only two miles away, so we took full advantage of that by visiting Montreal, a 2 hour drive from Canaan.  On our way back to the US, we met a memorable customs agent at the US border crossing who drilled us with questions about us and why we went to Canada.  

Montreal, Canada 

For some people, these interactions may be intimidating, but I really enjoy these.  I love the rapid-fire questions they throw at us, and I love watching a true professional work.  One of the questions he threw at us was about what we do for living.  He was flabbergasted when we told him we were both retired.

He couldn’t believe how we managed to do that at our age.  We told him lots of saving, then investing.  It was really a fun (at least for me) and a memorable experience…

Throughout the month of August, we ventured out and finally hiked some beautiful waterfalls and to mountains in the nearby New Hampshire’s White Mountains.  We also got to visit the vibrant city of Burlington, and truly enjoyed ready made foods at a local supermarket in downtown, called City Market/Onion River Co-op. 

Burlington turned out to be one of our favorite places in all of Vermont, thanks to its awesome Lake Champlain, and Church Street Marketplace.  We met some great people and some great dogs, especially Bobo, who was a 16 year old Pomeranian.  We had to pet the little guy!

The month of August passed us by, yet again, but we were left with some great memories.  The perfect summer sunny days were a sight to behold, especially on partially sunny days when clouds seemed so low we can touch them, against the backdrop of crystal clear blue skies…

Close to the end of the month, we experienced soothing thunderstorms come through our part of Vermont.  It was just incredible, watching the distant mountains shrouded in clouds while hearing rain pattering our windows.  

It’s moments like these that always make me smile.  It’s these little moments that we should enjoy, and to live in the moment…

In conclusion:

The three months we spent in New England was a true blessing.  We finally got to experience the places we had only heard about, like Acadia National Park, Burlington, etc.

We finally understood why so many people visit the area during the summers.  It’s the combination of great summer weather with warm days/cool evenings, unbelievably clear sunny days (thanks to less pollution), achingly beautiful natural beauty, and plenty of things to do.  We were totally sold on that.

As I write this post, I’m reminiscing about our time there, and hoping to spend more time there in the future, especially during the summers.

Thank you all for reading and happy trails!

Jake

Wandering Money Pig 

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