York Maine Vacation

Whew, it’s finally the last blog about my trip to Maine last October!  I decided to break it up so that I didn’t bombard you with pictures (even though I kind of still did… whoops).  Here is the final installment of the trip!

After a little over 4 hours in the car, I arrived at my final stop of the trip (although I didn’t know it at this point) in York, Maine.  Since the sun was just about to set, I went straight to Nubble Light for the sunset but sadly it wasn’t much of a show.  It was fun to see my Instagram friend whom is the lighthouse keeper over on the island while I was there (I waved like a dork but of course he didn’t see me so I had to instagram a hello lol).  I’ve been following him online for a while and it was nice to “see” him in person – make sure to check out his work, he’s a photographer as well and he has some great work online.  I visit this lighthouse a fair bit but every time it makes me smile.

From there I drove around the corner to the hotel I chose for the night, the ViewPoint Hotel in York, Maine.  When I stayed in York a few years ago, I chose the hotel on that trip based on its location and that you could juuuusut barely see Nubble Lighthouse from the rooms.  I was certain there had to be SOMETHING on the point where the lighthouse is located so I used Google Maps to see what I could find and I discovered the gem that is ViewPoint Hotel.  I checked the reviews on Trip Advisor and decided to give it a go.  I absolutely adored this hotel and highly recommend it to everyone staying in the area.  I have to say, this is the first time in a long time I can remember a trip where each night I absolutely adored where I was staying.  Each room at ViewPoint faces Nubble Lighthouse and each room has its own perks.  I stayed in suite 107 which was just perfect for me.  It had one bedroom, a living room, small kitchen, dining area and bathroom.  The views were amazing – ocean views from both the living room and bedroom.  I loved the jacuzzi tub, fireplace and keurig!  I didn’t get to explore too much though as Gianina was on her way to pick me up for dinner.  When she arrived even she was charmed with my room and said that it’s a shame I was only staying there one night and not able to really enjoy it because it was so lovely.  Below is an image from the patio outside of my living room door with my iPhone right after I arrived to the room.

After dinner at the When Pigs Fly Pizzeria (so good!) I went back to my hotel and drug out the tripod (FINALLY!) and while there was too many clouds to get any really awesome images of the lighthouse and stars, I did play for a bit with some long exposures from the patio outside of my room of the views of Nubble.  The reflection of the lighthouse in the red beams on the ocean were kind of cool.  The first image below shows not only the Cape Neddick Lighthouse from my patio but also Boon Island Lighthouse‘s light in the distance.

I curled up in front of the fireplace with my laptop and started stalking the weather news as there was a somewhat strong nor’easter heading in and I was trying to make my plans for the final day.  One place in New England that’s been on my “must-see” list for eons is Nantucket.  I’ve read SO many books set there and I really wanted to make a go of it on this trip.  However I forgot to factor in the drive AND traffic from York to Hyannis along with the ferry and in order to be there in time I needed to leave by 5AM and I would still probably hit rush hour in Boston.  I hate, loathe and despise rush hour in Boston.  Then there was the nor’easter and the concern about not being able to get back over if the ferries end up being delayed.  I was really looking forward to staying at The Nantucket Hotel but my gut just said that between the rain (making touring the island a pain) and the winds that I would be better off to skip it and try again the next year with a better plan in place.  Also?  I have to confess, I really wanted to stay at the ViewPoint for another night.  So I cancelled my reservations and ferry tickets and booked another night in York.

The next morning I got up for the sunrise and ran over (maybe still wearing my pajamas) to Nubble to get a better view of the sunrise at the lighthouse but it was all for nothing as the storms rolling in killed the sunrise.  This was not the trip for sunrises or sunsets I guess – then again after the year before’s AMAZING sunset in Rockland, and the last sunrise at Nubble, I can’t complain.

Since I had no plans in place for the day since I cancelled the trip to Nantucket I went back to the hotel and slept in a bit more before getting up for the day and heading to Stonewall Kitchen – one of the places I’ve been wanting to visit forever.  If you’ve never tried their foods, it is SO good and I was excited to go to the actual store instead of ordering online and hoping for something good.  I also decided to try lunch while I was there.  The store was PACKED with bus tours which was kind of a bummer.  It still was nice to try the jams and such and get an idea of what I’d want to order when I got home as flying home with jams is not something I’d recommend LOL.  I do love their stuff but honestly the place for jams in Maine is Nervous Nellie’s Jams and Jellies.  Next time I’m up there I’m going to take a trip over to visit them.  I got jams from there as a gift a few years ago and have been addicted ever since.  Anyway – I rounded out the visit with having lunch in their cafe and it was pretty tasty but SO busy.  I’m not sure I’d really say it is a must-do to eat there but definitely visit if you like their products.

From there I headed over to the Kittery Outlets and did a bit of shopping before heading back towards the hotel.  On the way I saw that the beach looked kind of inviting at Long Sands Beach so I decided to pull over and explore.  The ocean was REALLY far out and there were a ton of mollusks that were left in small tide pools and on rocks.  I had fun exploring the beach and then I decided that since my room had a washer and dryer I’d sit and read by the ocean for a bit.  The sand was wet and by the end of my time there I was cold all the way through with some hives to show for it (allergic to cold temperatures) but it was worth it.  It may not have been the day I originally planned on but it was still a good day.  Are there any bad days when you have the sand between your toes?  I think not.  Yes, I took my shoes off.  When in Rome…

I got back to the hotel and did a load of laundry and read by the fireplace for the remainder of the afternoon, popping some pictures off of the views when the mood struck me.  The timing worked out as the rain started getting really heavy and there’s something just soul soothing about reading by a fireplace in the rain.  I was really into the book (Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult) that I didn’t realize how late it was getting in the day.  I realized it was sunset so I took my camera down to the lower patio on the ocean that I had noticed when at Sohier Park earlier and took a few images of yet another ho-hum sunset.  I did get some more pictures of the grounds of the hotel though during the break in the rain!  They also host weddings here as well so you can add another venue to my bucket list of places I’d love to photograph a wedding!

After the sunset I headed out to a restaurant I’d decided on earlier to find out they close at 7PM.  After some searching on Google I ended up at the Ship’s Cellar Pub at the York Harbor Inn and it was superb!  I had the lemon herb brick roasted chicken and it was hands down the best meal of the trip.  HIGHLY recommend if you are in the area.  I could hear the ocean nearby but I couldn’t see it since it was dark.  From what I could see though the area was pretty.

On my final night in Maine I grabbed my tripod again and ventured down to the oceanside patio.  The rain had mostly stopped for the time and I wanted to get some more long exposures of the lighthouse.

Overnight the nor’easter blew in and it was a doozie.  The winds were howling all night long and I was glad that in the end I made the decision to stay put instead of popping over to Nantucket.  I would have been a nervous wreck worrying about missing my flight and I was right to worry as quite a few of the ferries ended up being cancelled due to the winds.  In the morning I took a video and a few images of the rain and winds which had stirred up the calm waters.

I met up again with Gianina for breakfast at the Roundabout Diner en route to the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast (read the story here that I blogged about that stop last October).  My final stop of the day before hitting the airport was at Wahlburgers which I am ashamed to admit took me this long to finally visit!  The show is absolutely adorable and I think everyone wishes Alma was their Mom (or at the very least their very fun Aunt).  Alma was over at Alma Nove which I didn’t have time to visit but I did luck out in meeting Paul who asked how my food was on his way out the door.

Afterwards I headed back to the airport, returned my car and waited…and waited…and waited for my flight.  The airport was shut down due to the winds and, as someone on Twitter put it due to, “throw your underwear away kind of landings” happening.  The plane I was waiting to board ended up getting rerouted to Connecticut to wait out the storms and surprisingly we did eventually take off – about 5 hours after the original departure time.  Thankfully once out of the Boston area the turbulence stopped and it was an easy flight

Thanks for reading and traveling along with me!  Next up is my trip to Connecticut!