i am very lucky that i can say i have traveled up and down the east coast of the states a couple of times. as a child, my family would take trips at least once a year, if not more. one summer my dad took us on a road trip that had us driving from indiana all the way up to maine, hitting all the states in between. since then, i have visited the east coast a few times to visit family in maryland, delaware, new york, or connecticut.. i have also fallen in love with new york city and the atlantic coastline. every time i go back east i fall in love a little more with the quaint coastal towns.. this time was a little different.. i got to visit boston, which was a first for me, and i got to meet up with my best friend and see a side of her life i have only heard about. it was fantastic.
i left indiana on a sunday afternoon, took a bus to chicago and hopped a plane straight to boston. brendan met me there. we grabbed dinner at a wonderful thai restaurant and headed to the cheers pub! brendan had been in boston for a few days, and i was only going to be there for one night, so i figured this is where i wanted to go! we had a great time walking around the city, looking at the old buildings, walking past harvard, having a pint, and just enjoying ourselves in a new city.the next morning we got up, hopped on the metro and got a bus to portland, maine. it was only a two hour bus ride, which was nice. brittany was there to pick us up! we went into the town of portland, had a nice lunch at a maine microbrewery, walked along the harbor, saw some shops and decided to head north.
we took route 1 all the way up to mount desert island. we stopped at a few places along the way. the longest stop we had was in belfast, maine. since brendan is from belfast, ireland we had to stop, take some pictures, watch the sunset, and try to get discounts on tourist stuff! (which was he successful in doing, by the way!)as the sun was finished setting we were back on the road. when we crossed the bridge onto the island we stopped at our motel, unloaded the car and walked down to bar harbor. it was such a cool, little, town. it was definitely a summer place, and seemed a bit tourist-y, but i really liked it. it would be a nice place to spend your summers. we spent the next two days there. brittany showed us the entire island.. all the places she had worked at.. where she lived.. we got to meet her friends.. see the beautiful, rocky coast, take a sunset boat ride, drink some great micro brews, eat some lobster, and just relax with each other.
we got back into the car and started heading north, to the 'other maine'.. as everyone referred to it as. brittany's family was anxiously awaiting our arrival at 'camp'.. they had bought heaps of lobster, chicken, steak and beer.
meeting brittany's family was a great opportunity. it was nice to spend time with them eating, drinking and swapping stories. i felt like i already knew her family, because of everything brittany had told me; however, it was great to actually meet them face-to-face and to interact with them for a couple days.
we also got to spend time with dallas, brittany's boyfriend. the four of us had the chance to hang out alone for an entire day. it was a good day. we took a boat ride, went fishing, got to know one another, drank beer, and hung out.i am really thankful that i had the opportunity to go and visit brittany. it was great to finally see all the places that she talks about, meet the people she loves, see her home, her school, and the place that has made her into the woman she is today.
we ended up driving down to boston on our last day together. we got to meet a couple more of brittany's friends and hang out with them in the city on our last night together. sunday morning was spent getting lost in boston trying to find the airport, us panicking that brendan was going to miss his flight, great conversations over dunkin donuts coffee and bagels, jealousy of everyone reading the new harry potter book, and making the trek back to indiana.i have been immensely blessed this summer with the chance to travel around a bit and see those whom i have met in the past two years. i am so lucky that i have the time, energy and money to be able to do this. i cannot thank God enough for the people He has brought into my life, and the times we've gotten to spend together this summer.
thankfully, i will be seeing brittany one more time before i leave. i have noticed that it's getting harder and harder to say goodbye. so i just pray that the next time we are together, we'll be able to cherish the moments, laugh a lot, hug a lot, and just enjoy each other's company while we have the chance.
God is so good.
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