If you read nothing else: We highly recommend that you visit Warren Island State Park. A day trip would be nice but camping here is a must! Warren Island State Park is in fact an island off the coast of Lincolnville, near Camden. No one is trying to trick you with the name, but it seems that people tend to think there is a bridge that might connect you or a ferry to directly transport you. Like many islands in…
Damariscotta Lake State Park is located in Jefferson, Maine and not in the more well known town of Damariscotta, aka the oyster capital of New England. A tad confusing at first but when you see that Damariscotta Lake is a whopping 10 miles long and pretty much runs the distance between the two towns, it makes much more sense. Still, that’s about a 20 minute drive by car, and from Portland to the park, it was an hour and 15…
Did you know that you can sign up for a newsletter and alerts from Maine’s Bureau of Parks and Lands? They will even text you if you want, after you set your preferences! The majority of the time they’ll send monthly newsletters about what is happening all over the state and information about events. It is a wonderful way to stay informed throughout the year. Once in a while it’s used to send out alerts about trail conditions at a…
We are having another child!…oh, and we recently went to Swan Lake State Park. Baby #2 arrives in the spring so with winter here and the 3rd trimester knocking at the door, it was a chance to stretch our legs and get some fresh air. It just seemed like what the doctor ordered. Seriously, if you knew our doctor, she would order it…we love our doctor. Off we went to Swan Lake State Park during the February holiday weekend. An…
Tiny house = big memories. Our dogs didn’t make this trip because we spent the night in a cabin smaller than our family tent. For $80 and change we stayed in this little incredible Airbnb getaway in the mid-coast on one of the coldest nights of the year so far. The temps dipped into the teens but the little electric heaters we had were more than enough in this bite-size space. Eloise knew we were doing something special because she…
With camping season now behind us for 2018, we had planned a 2 night-3 day trip on the Canadian border in eastern Maine after Thanksgiving. Even though this had been planned for months, that all changed less than a week out when we were just simply too tired from everyday life. Instead of canceling the whole trip, we came up with another less intense option on the fly. There were a couple state parks in the mid-coast area that were…
It’s amazing how a sunny 55 degree day makes everyone feel like a million bucks. Strangers walking around smiling and saying hello to one another. You feel like Jim Carey in the Bruce Almighty scene when he realizes he’s “got the power.” Nothing could put us in a bad mood on a day like this after a long cold winter. The day before we hit the road was just as nice and we used every minute of that day to…
Reid State Park is one of the most visited state parks in Maine, besides Baxter. It was the first salty beach that the state ever owned. Without going into a history lesson we ourselves just learned about, let’s just say businessman and philanthropist Walter E. Reid was a stand-up dude who worked his butt off and then gave back to his community. On December 1, 2017 we made the 60-minute commute from our home in Portland to the park. It was…
State Park visit #6 and family camping trip #2 brought us to Lake St. George State Park in Liberty, Maine. Full disclosure, this trip almost didn’t happen because of busy lives and some big life changes. Yet another wonderful lesson in learning how to roll with the punches. On top of an already busy summer with probably too many things planned in July and August, our coach and the mom (Danielle) started a new job. This has caused for longer…
To celebrate Father’s Day weekend, we decided to take on our first state park camping adventure. 12 of the state parks across Maine have family campgrounds, so we plan to spend a night or two at each one. I know, we took a 6-month-old camping for the weekend in rainy, 50-degree weather. The weather could have made the trip easier and probably more enjoyable at times, but once you come to terms that it’s out of your control you can…