Finding a Quiet Corner: The "Maine" Event

I was talking to an old friend last night and when I told him about our honeymoon he said, "That's cool!" I was a bit unsure of people's opinions about it at first, because I've always been the warm-beach-vacation type. But, I have to say that in my opinion, the honeymoon D and I have planned is cool. And exciting. And very us. We're going to Maine, and staying at one spa and two bed & breakfasts as we travel along the coast. We plan to take in the coastal scenery, explore the towns along the way, indulge in some delicious meals (and spa treatments), savor the last vibrant hues of the fall foliage, and hike in beautiful Acadia National Park.

Image here.

Now, before I say anymore about Maine, it bears mention that this is NOT the honeymoon I had envisioned. I had always imagined the "traditional" Caribbean honeymoon, complete with tropical plants, warm breezes, exotic cocktails, hours upon hours relaxing on soft sands (in swimsuits, of course), and love magically in the air. D and I initially planned that route. We planned in Nevis, St. Lucia, Barbados, the Bahamas, Aruba, and even Bermuda and Hawaii. We had traveled to Aruba in the past, and I had always planned (and I guess, assumed) that our honeymoon would be similar, but much more luxurious.

But somewhere along the way, the planning wasn't as fun as I'd imagined. In fact, it was down right stressful. Our thinking fell into odd ruts, such as "We don't want to go to just any island - this should be a special island we would not otherwise visit." But that thinking then led us to islands where a day of our honeymoon on each end would be consumed with travel, on trains, planes, cars, water taxis, and more. That didn't sound very relaxing to me. On top of planning a wedding and getting married... Even getting to the airport began to sound less and less fun.

Plus, I've been really allergic to bugs recently, so finding a Caribbean island not infested with mosquitoes and the like became the honeymoon holy grail. But in October, the tail end of rainy season, it's hard to find an island without bugs. Period.

Oh, and rainy season? Yeah, that's the tail end of hurricane season. (Which apparently is predicted to be quite bad this year, a fact we found out well after we changed our plans to Maine.)

Somewhere along the way, we threw out Maine as an option. Then we came back to it one night when we were struggling to pick a destination. And it kindof stuck. We found some cute places to stay in a B&B guidebook we have. (Sidenote: We've gotten really into staying at B&Bs, so this will be fun for that aspect too, since we'll be staying at a couple!) We started to think about the relaxation we could find there, perusing cute old towns for antiques, sitting by the ocean, walking on the coast and in the forest... doing a lot of the things we love to do, but on a luxurious honeymoon while exploring a new place together. And all we have to do to get there is hop in our car and drive a few hours? Yes, please!

We will start our honeymoon in Cape Elizabeth, at the Inn by the Sea.

Images here.

When we're not strolling the coast, or indulging in spa treatments, we'll explore local towns such as Freeport, Portland and Kennebunkport.