Maine and the Bay of Fundy

I married a man who can plan an amazing family trip, and for the first few years we were married, Mark handled ALL of the planning and preparations when we traveled. My job was to simply pack myself and the kids, and be ready to go when it was time! Easy-peasy!

One of the first trips we took as a family was to Maine and Canada during the summer. We flew into Boston, loaded into our rental car and spent a few hours exploring Salem.

After lunch, we drove north to Bar Harbor, Maine. We learned that driving on the two-lane state roads is SLOW GOING, but we finally made it to our VBRO rental by early evening.

We carved out lots of time to explore Acadia National Park, which was literally right up the road from where we were staying. It’s a beautiful park with so many places to pull over and explore on foot. The kids, who were much younger at the time, relished the chance to run ahead and “lead” the way. We explored huge outcroppings of granite, and trails through the woodsy areas. The landscape is pristine, and the park is so large that we never felt it was too crowded.

Tucked away in Acadia National Park, is Sand Beach where the kids were able to swim and frolic in the waves. It was quite crowded compared to the rest of Acadia, but still a lovely way to spend most of the day.

After three days in Bar Harbor, we took a two day excursion to Alma, in New Brunswick, Canada. Alma is located along the Bay of Fundy, home of the highest tides in the world. We are enchanted by the strange and wonderful ways Mother Nature shows off, and the Bay of Fundy did not disappoint.

When we arrived, it was low tide. The fishing boats were resting on the ocean floor, and we could walk out almost a mile to the water.

It was hard to explain to the kids that these were actually working fishing boats, and that the water would eventually rise enough to make them float.

Cara and I walked straight out as far as we could on the “beach.”

Mark and Colin explored the shoreline, where they found driftwood, tide pools and lots of slimy algae.

By the time we were done exploring the bay, we were famished. But what you need to know about Alma, is that there are few dining options- especially, if you don’t care for fish!

The next morning, the pier looked like this! We were amazed!

After breakfast, and hearing the sad news that we had missed a moose meandering down the road outside our hotel room, we set off to explore Fundy National Park. Alma is nestled just inside the park, so our drive was minimal. Our first stop was Point Wolfe Beach, where Mark taught the kids how to skip rocks.

You can’t imagine how serene and beautiful it is there! We stayed longer that I thought we would, splashing in the water and exploring the shoreline.

Nearby there was a trail up to a waterfall, where I captured one of my favorite pictures of Mark and the kids.

Later that day, after we had our fill of hiking, exploring and seeing the sights of Fundy National Park, we headed “home” to Bar Harbor. This was my first foray into Canada, and I fell in love.

The day before we flew home to Texas, we stopped at Wild Acadia Fun Park for a day of family fun. Our kids have never forgotten this day, and it was the PERFECT stop after almost a week of nature activities. Cara and I enjoyed the go-carts, while Mark and Colin did the high ropes maze and zip lines. After the boys finished, we enjoyed a family race in the go-carts, and I don’t like to brag, but Cara and I smoked them!