Exploring Cape Cod

 Christopher and I had no plans during our honeymoon. We wanted to take it easy and go where the wind blew us. On the Tuesday of our honeymoon we decided to meander through Cape Cod.

Our first stop was in Sandwich. We walked around the town for a but and visited the Thornton Burgess Society. Thornton Burgess was the author of Peter Cottontail and a passionate naturalist. We enjoyed exploring the grounds and briefly hiking in the woods.

We found our dream home for sale!

A church turned inn/restaurant we are dying to try.

After a quick lunch at The Bee Hive Tavern we explored a beach in Brewster. It was incredibly gorgeous and relaxing.

We also visited First Encounter Beach. I am descended from the Pilgrims (Tilley's and Howland's), so it was quite humbling to visit a beach that was the beginning of so much creation and so much destruction. This was an emotional experience.

 We ended our day on the other side of Cape Cod at the Coast Guard Beach. This was another simply beautiful location.

I would highly recommend taking a tour of Cape Cod. It is a lovely place to meander through.

The Week Before the Wedding

The week before our wedding was incredibly busy, a little stressful and completely and utterly wonderful. Christopher's family arrived in Maine Friday afternoon, however my family arrived Tuesday evening and my grandparents arrived Thursday evening.  Besides getting ready for the wedding, we were able to sneak in a little sight-seeing.

On Wednesday I introduced my family to Sea Dogs Brewery. After lunch we drove to Bucksport and explored some of my favorite locations- the Penobscot Narrows Observatory, Fort Knox and Buck's Cemetery. We also visited Blue Hill and I shared with them the home and grave of the Rev. Jonathan Fisher, my thesis topic.

On Thursday my family came with my to my university. After I gave a review session for a midterm, we took a hike at Gould's Landing by Pushaw Lake. This is where Christopher and I took our engagement photos last year.

On Friday my grandparents joined us for apple and pumpkin-picking at Treworgy Farms. Everyone loved it and we were able to get some supplies for the wedding. For more information about the farm, check out my previous blogs here, here and here.

Many of these locations are not new to the blog, but are certainly some of my favorite and definitely worth sharing with my family. Stay tuned for posts about our honeymoon and wedding. We have not received our finished wedding photos yet, so the honeymoon posts will probably come first.

The Day We Failed to Go to Ellsworth and Just Went to Bar Harbor Instead

Christopher loves seafood. I do not. When he heard the Autumn Gold Festival in Ellsworth had a chowder tasting contest, he was on board. Freckles and I followed along for moral support.

We were quite disappointed when we arrived in Ellsworth. The chowder tasting contest was packed beyond belief. The boat rides on the river turned out to be people just offering rides in their personal, tiny boats. The rest of the venues were kind of lame or very Ellsworth-oriented. No one seemed to be welcoming dogs. We were not impressed.

Once we realized that the Autumn Gold Festival was not for us, we hopped into our car and headed to Bar Harbor instead. We had an awesome lunch at a pet-friendly restaurant and then took a walk on the path by the old hotel. We ended up having an awesome afternoon, enjoying the last few days of summer weather.

Battle of the Bands

Christopher and I were lucky enough to be invited the the Third Annual Acadia Hospital Battle of the Bands. We had a great time dancing, drinking some legit margaritas and discovering music from The Stone Doctors, The Time Pilots and the Maine Street R&B Revue. The best part about the whole event was that it was intended to raise money for children's services at the Acadia Hospital. Awesome cause, awesome night. If you are interested in giving, check out this.

The Bangor Art Walk

The Downtown Bangor Arts Collaborative hosts an Art Walk several times a year. I was able to attend, thanks to the University of Maine Humanities Initiative and a number of other programs. 

Several stores and restaurants hosted various artwork downtown. Many art studios on 31 Central Street were also open to the public. The evening ended with a tour of the University of Maine Museum of Art. This was an incredible opportunity to explore local art, and one I hope to seize again soon. For more information, check out this website.