Four days in the East Coast
Taken and uploaded from my own travel journal, entered June 16th, 2022.
“It’s almost a week late but I am finally here to tell you about my trip to the east coast. We ended up flying out of Flint on Thursday the 7th of July to arrive in Boston around 11am. Smooth, easy flight with nothing to complain about. Alicia and I read and listened to our podcasts.”
“I get the best discounts on rental cars through work so we grabbed one and made our way to downtown Boston for brunch. We ate at a cute outdoor restaurant near where we parked the car (which was $40 to leave, I know). Alicia got this super weird poke stack with like raw tuna, mango, avocado, etc. Too many textures for me, I got a normal looking sandwich.”
“After lunch we got on our way to Salem for the rest of the day and to stay the night in the Hawthorne Hotel. Which, to give you a little background, is one of the most haunted hotels in the US. The Hawthorne Hotel used to be home to the jerk who was a judge in the Salem Witch Trials. Very spooky vibes there that is for sure. The lamp in our room kept flickering anytime we would sit on the bed. Ghost activity or faulty wiring? You tell me.”
“Our day in Salem on the 7th was so fun. We went into the Halloween Museum, shopped around, ate, drank, and soaked in all the witchy vibes we could for July. My souviner here was a drawing of ‘Nyx,’ the goddess of night, created by a local artist. She is stunning and will be hanging in my room soon. Alicia got a piece by the same artist but of ‘Medusa,’ also gorgeous.”
**Little side note, I literally got Nyx tattooed on me when I got home I was so in love with it, lol, back to the blog.
“Once it got dark, it was time for our ghost tour. If you ever make it to Salem, you must do a ghost tour. We learned so much about the area and ended up driving to where supposed witches were hung, the location is called Proctor’s Ledge, check it out. Of course after all this we enjoyed as the locals do at a dive bar and literally ran around Salem like the dumb girls we are. If I can give you one piece of advise, it’s okay and encouraged by me to let go sometimes and do the dumb things you wouldn’t usually do, what else are your 20’s for? Oh, and find your Alicia, the ride or die who will do anything and go anywhere. We have a soul bond, her and I, we’re gonna see the world together.”
“Moving on to the 8th (day two of the trip and possibly one of my favorite days of life yet). We woke up early, had great coffee and grabbed breakfast for the road. Note to future self, can’t eat biscuits while you drive, they fall apart immediately. We drove four and a half hours to Bar Harbor, Maine so we could hike Acadia National Park. We were pumped, got there around 4:25pm, plenty of time until sundown us Michigan girls thought, wrong. We had two specific hikes picked out, Beehive Trail and Thunder Hole. Sike, park closes at 4:30pm. Do your research before you go places. We had just drove over 4 hours to go to Maine specifically for Acadia. Best thing about Alicia and I is that we have learned the value of a good last minute plan B. About 15 minutes before we reached the park we saw a sign for ‘Scenic Flights over Acadia.’ And well, if you can’t hike the park, might as well fly over it! We called them thinking it would be a long shot they would have an opening. And turns out, a 6pm flight was ours, $400 later, but so worth it. We were buzzing on adrenaline, but had an hour to kill and you know what we decided to do? Kill the hour by jumping in the ocean. We found a spot on the side of the road, stripped, threw on our suits and went for a swim. Always keep a suit in your car, you never know when it will come in handy. Let me tell you, the water was shockingly cold but so refreshing. I would love to live near the ocean one day.”
“Time to fly now, after changing again on the side of the road, and I literally mean side of the road, like we were in a dive of the rock wall hidden from the road, we collected some flowers and shells and drove to get checked into our flight. I’ve recently become obsessed with Top Gun and I felt like I was living my Maverick fantasy dream. The pilot was a cutie and so nice. His name is Manny which took me aback for a second, I’ve known one other Manny in my lifetime and he was also a pilot. He was my goalie partner in high school hockey and had just passed recently in a plane crash out east. Maybe it was my childhood Manny that sent me to Acadia Manny.” #flyhighmanny
“Take off was smooth and the flight was stunning, the views were unreal, we would have never been able to witness these sights from ground level. We could see lobster traps, lighthouses, a million and a half boats, and the sunset in a plane above Maine, unmatched beauty. Manny let me fly. I flew a damn plane. It was for like 10 seconds and technically Manny still had control of all the fancy things but I directed our flight. An absolute high. We flew all around the park and landed safely an hour later. We got to meet Manny’s wife who before that day had never flown with him, they just so happened to take off right after Alicia and I got off. I pray they have an amazing life and family one day, they were both incredible people. Gave us some great recommendations for seafood and spots to visit that night.”
“Post-flight, we drove to a few of the nearby lighthouses that Manny had suggested and went to a local hole-in-the-wall called Beal’s. On the grounds there was a functioning lighthouse with a red light at it’s beacon which was different than what I had imagined but after sunset it was eerie and still lit the way. With that excursion completed, it was time for a lobster roll in Maine baby. We each got the garlic lobster roll and split a huge basket of shrimp. At Beal’s, they had the tanks out front with all the critters swimming around that had just been caught out of the harbor that day. It was all outdoor dining which Alicia and I loved because we could continue to watch the water and boats. One thing about Alicia and I is that we are foodies and of course had to try the suggested dessert as well, a hoagie pie, essentially a giant triple-stuffed, soft Oreo. Divine. Once we were full of seafood and treats, we headed to our tiny home in Sully for the night, cute and I will emphasize again, tiny, but so homey.”
“If you didn’t already know, Maine sees the first sunrise in the US, being that we were here and love some good vibes, we awoke around 4am on our second to last day in order to catch it. Beautiful.”
“Back to Boston for the final night. We had previously booked a ferry ride to the cape but being as good at traveling as we are, Alicia and I missed it lol. Not to worry, we made a whole day of it exploring shops and markets in Boston. Our night on the town was great. We just so happened to be in Boston for the Yankees vs. Sox game and bar hopped right outside on Fenway. A great nightlife spot if you’re in the area. I’ll spare you the details of my night but I’ll give a special shoutout to the Boston firefighter in a ‘Vodka Beers’ tee.”
“Overall, the east coast felt welcoming and was incredibly beautiful. I will absolutely be back.”
99% of this was from my own travel journal that I keep to brain dump in after my trips, some has been ad-libbed but they’re my own thoughts and words so I can refine as I wish. I pride myself on dumping a lot of stuff and things I want to do in only a few days, gotta make the most out of the little time we have.
Until next time,
