Trip to Bass Harbor - 1st Day: August 13, 2021

I booked an apartment in the quiet town of Bass Harbor, Maine for 5 nights. It was our first road trip with Nadine (3 yo) and Nathaniel (7 yo), so we did not plan too much and tried to plan as we go. We did bring our bikes a long though, with the expectation that we would ride the bike on the carriage roads. We started driving early, around 5.45 am. Dave loaded the car with our 3 bikes, our bags, and some toys for the kids. We prepared the iPad in case their whining becomes unbearable :D Both kids were excited, off we went to Bass Harbor! I drove first because I rather drive early in the morning. Traffic was not too bad until we hit NYC. We stopped by at Dunkin Donuts in the rest area in CT, and around noon time we stopped by for lunch at Sal's pizza near Manchester NH. It was a great place for quick pizza bites. We ordered pizza by the slice, and apparently one slice equals to 1/4 of a pizza! Dave was great entertaining the kids with the dolls that Nadine brought: Minnie Mouse and Teddy! He put the dance music on and made Minnie & Teddy dance along! I'd rather focus on the road than doing his part as a DJ to entertain them every 15 minutes! Nathaniel was excited to spot cars from different states! After a while the drive became boring and the kids started to whine. So, inevitably we used the iPad with our phone as the hotspot, and played never ending Paw Patrol until Nadine fell asleep. We got to Acadia Around 5 pm we got to Acadia National Park. The scenery was very beautiful with the forests, the lakes, and the mountains, and the sea. We got a call from our host, Margery, suggesting us to stop by at a grocery store before we get to the house, which apparently is located at the quiet side of Mount Desert Island. We stopped by to buy some groceries like breakfast food and milk for our dairy queeen (Nadine!) then continued to our apartment What a nice surprise! We found that our apartment is located in a quiet neighborhood, outside the busy Bar Harbor. It was a storeys building, the first floor was just for warehouse and garage, with an apartment on the 2nd floor.

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The kids were very excited to check out the house. It was two bedrooms house, a perfect size for our family trip, with a kitchen, a living room, and a balcony overlooking the harbor. This balcony would later be proven very enjoyable when we needed a break from N & N who seemed to take turn to be in good mood/bad mood! They were very happy to see our vacation house. Of course it's not complete without Nathaniel complaining that he had to share a bed with his little sister. Since it was almost 7, we decided to go to Beal's lobster to have dinner. Both Dave and I wanted lobster po boy sandwich, and a side salad with addded lobster! Little did I know that added lobster means adding a whole lobster into a salad! It was yummy but well, a little expensive! That night we planned the activity for the next day. We decided to start with hiking to Gorham Mountain , then we also reserved a ticket to Mt. Cadillac summit.