New England Day 12: More Lighthouses, to Boston

One more yummy breakfast with lots of blueberries before saying farewell to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

Megan's and Matthew's pumpkins they drew on the whiteboard at breakfast. Matthew's was trying to scare Megan's.

We stopped by Portland Head Lighthouse for lunch and to stretch our legs a bit.

Matthew (minute man) and Megan (red coat soldier) enjoyed running around and playing a bit.

From Portland Head Lighthouse, you can see three other lighthouses.

Ram Island Ledge Light is fairly close to Portland Head Light--just a bit out in the ocean.

Two Lights Lighthouse to the south in the distance.

Spring Point Ledge Light to the west.

Some info about Portland Head Light. It was built during George Washington's presidency and is Maine's oldest operating lighthouse.

Some pictures of Portland Head Lighthouse from a few different angles/locations.

Me and U with Portland Head Lighthouse behind us.

We explored Fort Williams which is at the same location. Unlike Fort Knox, it has not been preserved and so we just looked in from the outside.

Me and Matthew with some of the fort behind us.

Matthew liked looking in all the buildings and came up with a bunch of questions like "When and why was Fort Williams built?" and "Why is it in sections?"

Matthew at the location of the cannons on the battery.

More fort. Matthew's question about this was "Why is one of the sections by the water?"

Looking over Portland Harbor.

This reminded us of one of Mater's Tall Tales.

We stopped by Nubble Lighthouse as well. It's currently under renovation but still looks super cute.

Panoramic, showing that it is an island.

Pulley system to get food and other supplies from the mainland to the lighthouse.

Another lighthouse way offshore in the distance.  It is the Boon Island Light.

Sarah, Matthew and Me enjoyed playing on the rocks a bit.

U, Megan and Sarah with Nubble in the background.

Matthew playing on the rocks.

Sarah pausing to contemplate life.

We drove through New Hampshire...

....and into Massachusetts. We timed our arrival in Boston to avoid rush hour as much as possible. We still hit a bit of traffic and a few rude drivers.

Once we returned our car and ate some dinner, we set out to explore a bit.

We walked past the Granary Burying Ground.

Swan in the Boston Public Garden.

The "Make Way for Ducklings" statues. Megan and Matthew wanted lots of pictures with the mama duck and her ducklings.

Me, Megan and Sarah
We wandered around Beacon Hill a little.

Massachusetts State House

Fruit platter in our hotel room on arrival.

New England Day 6: Cathedral Ledge, Waterfalls in New Hampshire

The next morning, we again enjoyed breakfast at our hotel. We then headed to Cathedral Ledge and Crawford Notch State Park.

View of Cathedral Ledge from below.

Panoramic from up top. We had really nice views of the valley below. I loved seeing the oranges, reds and yellows interspersed with the green.

Megan admiring the view.

Megan, Me, Sarah and Matthew.

Cheese!

Megan enjoying some time by the river.

Colorful leaves in Crawford Notch State Park.

We hiked the Arethusa Falls Trail including the Bemis Brook side trail. It was a nice trail with a number of waterfalls along the way.

Matthew walking along the Bemis Brook trail. We really enjoyed this bit as we got to walk on rock along the brook for quite awhile.

Panoramic of the trail and brook.

Some of the falls.

Sarah!

A picture of the same falls closer up.

Sarah really liked this area.

Sarah and Me with the falls.

The granite looks cool with all the horizontal layering. Megan and Matthew decided that trolls definitely live in the area.

U, Megan and Matthew climbing up the trail.

U with the last waterfall on the Bemis Brook trail.

U and Matthew climbing up to the main trail. It was quite steep!

There was a lot more mushroom hunting going on.

Arethusa Falls. It's about 200 feet high.

Downstream from the falls.

U enjoying the scenery.

Megan and Matthew play while Sarah reads.

Megan and Matthew with their walking sticks.

Matthew joins Sarah on her rock.

A close up shot of the falls.

Matthew was proud he climbed onto this rock.

And this one.

Matthew crossing a log.

Matthew, Me and Megan on the hike out.

A snake that was by the trail.

Megan found a leaf!

The scenery in Crawford Notch State Park was stunning.

Silver Cascade. It is very impressive and showy.

Me with Silver Cascade.

Flume Cascade. It was quite lovely and is the one I'd want to sit by to read.

See the railroad track up by the granite face?

Another covered bridge.

We then went to Diana's Baths, so named because they are baths fit for the Roman Goddess Diana. Actual conversation on the way to the baths:

U: We are going to see where Diana baths. Hopefully she's not there.

Matthew: I hope she's there because then I can kiss her!

After a short hike in, we got to the bottom on the falls.

U with one of the turbines that was built on Lucy Brook.

Matthew, Megan and Sarah enjoyed jumping from rock to rock and playing around. There is quite a large area to explore.

There were lots of areas of runoff and pooling.

Sarah was like a mountain goat, jumping all around the rocks. Of course she brought her book.

Unfortunately, U fell in and got a bit wet while chasing after kids. He still enjoyed it though.

A view of the area upstream from the falls. Can you spot Megan?

Matthew with some of the falls.

We ate dinner at Tuckermans which was on our hotel grounds. This is Me's yummy sandwich.

U had fish and chips.

Love the sign (although I wonder if pants are actually required by state law).

A few funny quotes from this part of the trip:

Megan: "Matthew, you are so lucky I am not me!"

Sarah, while discussing dinner plans, "Pancakes for breakfast? That's crazy!"

U: "Around here, trees are everywhere."
Megan: "Especially behind my back by the trash can."

Megan: "Why is it so muddy?"
Matthew: "It's muddy, that's why it's so muddy."