Boston To Bar Harbor... - Why Not Just Go

Our day in Boston started off great with a fantastic breakfast at The Paramount in Beacon Hill. While enjoying my cinnamon french toast with a side of sausage, the skies opened up. After breakfast, with raincoats on, we were on our way to the nearest T Stop. We departed from the Potts, as they were off to meet up with some friends to catch the Red Sox/Yankees game. So we never made it to the T because the torrential downpour soaked us through to the bone! We had to go back to our hotel to change and dry off. Boston received approximately 2″ of rain in that short amount of time and we were soaked. We quickly dried off and changed and hailed a cab and we were off to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Absolutely one of my all time favorites!

Waiting in line and acting up. At least one of them.

For those who have never been to Boston this museum is a MUST. There is something for everyone. On March 18, 1990, 13 works of art valued at $500 million were stolen from the museum. Artworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet, and Degas were all stolen. In the museum you will find the frames still hanging in the location where the pieces of art were removed.

We even found Sienna’s doppelgänger hanging in the museum.

Such amazing works of art here:

Once out of the museum the clouds had parted ways and the sun was out so we decided to walk back to our hotel. On the way we stopped for an early dinner, burgers so Sienna could get her fix. From there we hit up Boylston Street, Newbury Street for some window shopping, and then made our way through the Public Garden (which was the first botanical garden in the US) to catch a peek of the resident swans and of course the “Make Way for the Ducklings” sculptures.

All-in-all I truly miss Boston and all it has to offer. Bags packed, next stop Bar Harbor.

We met the Potts in the lobby bright and early for a 7am departure so we could make our way up to Bar Harbor. The drive from Boston to Bar Harbor took us straight through Freeport, Maine, which is the home to LL Bean. Yes, we had to make this stop. It seemed more of a compound with 5 or 6 different stores spread out over Freeport. The girls seemed to love it, as did I, since I walked away with some goods.

And this is where we met up with our friends Amy and Rick for the rest of the drive up to Bar Harbor via the Coastal Highway US 1. It wasn’t very scenic at all and added another 30 minutes to the drive but we did it. We did drive over the Penobscot Narrows Bridge which was pretty impressive. Here are a view photos from the drive.

We finally pulled into Bar Harbor right at 3:30pm and were met by the Loeckens who arrived earlier in the day from Minnesota. Petunia Cottage is our home for the next 7 days. This Victorian style home was built in 1877 and was the first rental cottage here in Bar Harbor. So eclectic and fun with floors that slope and stairs where my 6’4″ frame can’t climb but a very sweet house.