GOLD in the CLOUDS : Vacation Week Faves

It's been a wonderful week of blessings....some small things, some big things.....all vacation things! I'm sharing FIVE of them and trying to keep the photos at a minimum. I'm linking up with Susanne's site to join other bloggers in giving thanks.

My husband Dave and I, once the girls became older, like to vacation the week of our wedding anniversary. Our anniversary is actually 30 June but this year we had to take this past week off as he has work commitments the week of the 30th. He does get Independence Day off, though so he'll have a nice 3 day weekend the beginning of July. But for this year, since our big trip was Albuquerque in May, we decided to just rent a studio condo in Ogonquit, Maine. The last time we vacationed in Maine, we rented a cottage on Mount Desert Island/Acadia National Park and the girls were with us as they were 10 and 15. We had never vacationed in the south of Maine. We each had things we wanted to do. I wanted to walk on Ogunquit Beach and the Marginal Way as well as visit Fort Williams Park and Portland Head Lighthouse. We both wanted to see Nubble Lighthouse, and Dave wanted to take in a SeaDogs game up in Portland (minor league baseball). Here are the five blessings from the vacation:

entering The Tunnel in downtown Boston
(this is the result of the "big dig")
google it if you have no idea what this means!

approaching Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge
over the Charles River
in Boston to get over to the north shore

SAFE TRAVELS: We had safe travels a week ago Friday evening when we drove from our home to south shore Massachusetts. In fact, the Mass Pike didn't have any heavy traffic which is unusual! You can read about the weekend here. Then, Sunday afternoon we hit major traffic in Boston. Unusual for a Sunday but we think due to the protests and Pride parade or something. At any rate, we had to travel right through the tunnel which I'm not a fan of (I've driven it myself, too,when I've had to bring Claire back to UNH and I hated it then, too!) and over the Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge which I do love. (I also love the Tobin Bridge...Dave hates it but we didn't have to cross that this time). We made it safely through Boston and up into New Hampshire even though it took about an hour longer than we anticipated. We then made it safely to Maine the next morning and there was hardly any traffic which we were most thankful for!

beach roses

irises

the Atlantic along the Marginal Way
Ogunquit, Maine

SCENTS AND SOUNDS: I'm so thankful our first day in Maine (Monday) was sunny, perfect temps (A bit cool compared to NYS), and that we had energy after unpacking and settling into the condo to walk a mile to the Marginal Way and then walk that mile one way and back. We first went towards the village and the flowers along the way are just so heady with that amazing rose scent. I just love beach roses (we have them in some Adirondack lake towns as well!) and the resorts/hotels and homes along that walk have beautiful gardens with all kinds of flowers. I also loved hearing the surf which was particularly rough that day due to high winds. There were warnings all over but that didn't stop the surfers. If you have never been to Maine, and you plan on going, get yourself to Marginal Way in Ogunquit. After walking all over the village and eating a delicious seafood lunch at this place, we headed north on Marginal Way to Perkins Cove and then back through that neighborhood to our condo. I'm thankful for the sound of the ocean and the beautiful flowers. I put in over 14,000 steps that afternoon!

Ogunquit beach in the background
only a .9 mile walk from our condo

SIGHTSEEING: Dave had bought tickets for the SeaDogs for Tuesday evening so we spent the day in Portland doing some sightseeing. We never did make it to the art district but we did spend most of the road trip driving on Route 1 through all the fun towns I've always wanted to see: Wells, Kennebec, Kennebunkport (Where President Bush's compound is located), Biddeford, Saco, and Scarborough, then South Portland to Fort Williams Park and the Portland Head Lighthouse. I'm posting some pics of the road trip when I write up a separate post. For now, enjoy the pic of only Starbucks we ran into in Maine! We stopped for iced coffees here and had lunch from a food truck (Caprese sandwich for me) at the lighthouse.

Scarborough, Maine!

Portland Head Lighthouse

GRACE OF GOD: Driving around and through Portland was a bit insane. Lots of traffic and at one point, on the way back from finding the ball park, we had to cross over Casco Bay. Well, it was the grace of God we were not in an accident as some drivers were just crazy! We had to have the patience of Job while the drawbridge went up to let a freighter boat through. We finally made it to Fort Williams Park (the lighthouse is pictured above) and it was also the grace of God that the day turned out to be partly sunny and no rain while we were at the park because we discovered there was a Cliff Edge Loop Hike that Dave really wanted to do. It was lovely!! And the surf was pretty dramatic again! I love the ocean off of Maine...much more dramatic than off of Cape Cod. Another grace of God moment: we were able to get into the cheaper parking lot for the SeaDogs game with plenty of time to spare to grab some over priced not so great food from the vendors there (I had a very dry but spicy veggie burger and an over priced bottle of water and Dave had a beer and pretzel and we both got ice cream which was actually reasonable). It was also the grace of God that we didn't get super soaking wet when we left at 7 pm in a downpour. The game was delayed by 2 hours but we decided to just drive back to Ogunquit and our nice dry condo. The traffic back was minimal so we were most thankful for that. I'm thankful God worked out all the details for us! I know it sounds like just a little thing but we were thankful for His protection in all that traffic and bad weather that blew in.

Drawbridge up!
now we wait.....about 20 min

TOTAL RELAXATION: One thing about being in Maine...it tends to be somewhat slower pace of life compared to eastern NYS. New Yorkers are busy all.the.time. We even walk fast! In Maine, there's a total feeling of relaxation, even among staff in places we've been in. Our last day in Maine was a rainy one in the morning, so we spent it sleeping in, having a leisurely breakfast, reading. We made lunch with stuff we had brought and then took out the game Dave had brought in case of rain. We're thankful for the time to relax togethr and then in the evening, the skies cleared up in time to go out to dinner at this place. The wine and food were amazing as was the service. Dave had the mussels and linguine and I had the grilled maple glazed salmon which was so fresh and good! Then, we walked on Ogunquit Beach where parking is free in one area for 30 minutes which was all the time we needed. It was a beautiful evening just watching the waves, taking in the salty air and just totally relaxing. I'm so thankful we were able to get away! God is good.