You can blame Josh & working at DAVIDsTEA for my pun-ny humor/dad jokes for days. I’m not proud of myself & neither are my puns. I’ve put off this post long enough, so here it is in all of its mouthwatering & wanderlust invoking (mayhaps?) glory! It’s another filler post, I know, oh well, I promise lots of recipes are coming your way inspired by my trip to Vietnam!
Portland & Bar Harbor
Our trip to Maine was only 3 days, but boy did we eat up for it. So, what did I think of Portland overall? I don’t think it’s underrated, but I think New Englanders definitely overrate it. It’s a tiny little town with delicious seafood, but I unfortunately didn’t get to partake in the nightlife. I don’t particularly have a desire to return anytime soon, but Bar Harbor? Bar Harbor is the tits because Acadia & I like forests, trees, mountains, beaches, & nature. If you want to see even more photos than that photo dump, check out the albums in my gallery. Don’t forget to participate in my Soapy Giveaway!!
Drea
I’ve never actually been to New England but people I love up are up there (or came from there) and I hear it’s lovely. I can see how it might be overrated by the people who live there and underrated by people who don’t, but it’s good that you had a good experience. I think my biggest issue would be that I don’t really like seafood too too much so I’d feel sort of like a fish out of water (hah.)
But, but but… I hear the changing of the seasons is particularly beautiful up there, and from your photos (which btw are organised so perf) it looks like my type of place, at least aesthetically and scenery wise. <3
Tiff
Well, I think Portland, Maine is overrated by New Englanders, not New England in general. That’s just me though, but then again, NE is really small & I grew up in an area where I lived 4-5 miles away from the freeway when 4-5 miles from my current apartment in Boston is no longer Boston, it’s Cambridge. I think New England is pretty awesome & has plenty of things to offer like great beer, cider, apple picking, beautiful national parks, sailing, etc. There’s no city in New England that’s equivalent to NYC, so it’s really a very calm & slow paced area.
It’s beautiful up here! That’s for sure. Seeing all 4 seasons is really beautiful indeed & I’m really enamored by it. I don’t think I could ever move back to California & live out my days there. The seasons make you feel like the world is spinning, so it’s time to get things done. As for the seafood, well, I am a pescetarian, so all of my recipes either include seafood or not (thereby being vegetarian or vegan depending on whether or not I use cheese or eggs). I grew up with seafood, so if you’d like to be more accustomed to it, I’d suggest to keep trying it in different forms at different restaurants that can actually cook it right. I find that people like meats or seafood better when they’re shaped into balls or stuffed into dumplings, so try some ravioli or dim sum with seafood! You might be surprised. Really opens up your world to more food options.
I used the tiled mosaic option in my Jetpack plugin for WordPress, so I didn’t do any heavy lifting with the arrangement of the photos. Pretty cool plugin. I love the results every time haha.
Kalliste
Wow, Acadia looks beautiful although I mostly focused on the maple syrup heart! 😀 Was it just foggy all day there? Or was that low cloud? It looks like a great little adventure.
Tiff
It was foggy all day. When we left, it started to clear up. It was really pretty, but I do wish we could’ve had a more clear day. It was nice & brisk so when we hiked up there, it wasn’t miserable. Really perfect timing!
Tara
MMMM. The food photos looks so good. I’m drooling over the risotto you had! Lovely photos, Tiffany! I enjoyed seeing your adventures in Portland! It’s interesting you found it in between overrated and underrated. Bar Harbour and Acadia do look amazing, though. Acadia, especially. I’m not really into hiking, but your photos are making me think otherwise! If I’m ever in Maine, I’ll definitely add those two places to my to-do list! ^^
Tiff
I hate running & I don’t see how people find it something to look forward to, but Josh loves it. I love hiking though, since it’s pretty much walking with more activity & a better background. I do appreciate nature a lot though, so outdoor activities appeal to me. I can understand why the activity is not welcomed by everyone though.
Acadia is a national park in Bar Harbor, so you realistically only need to add one place on your to-do list! Bar Harbor itself has a cute little downtown area, but nothing out of the ordinary. People mostly visit BH for Acadia anyway.
Cat
Beautiful photos! I especially love the foggy ones at Acadia. I think that’s cool that you saw otters while canoeing. Otters are so cute! It’s too bad you couldn’t get photos of them though. Animals are so tricky. I could never get a good photo of dolphins the last time I was in Hawaii 🙁
The food looks amazing too. I really want that seafood risotto and poutine. The lobster roll as well! I had one recently here in Austin, and man, it’s just not as good as the ones in the north east.
This makes me want to visit Maine! I love naturey areas!
Tiff
Major props to Nat Geo photographers, amiright? Capturing the wild is rough, I can’t even imagine what they go through just to get a jaw-droppingly beautiful shot of a wild tiger. Then there’s us trying to take photos of these mammals in the ocean that are so fast & we’re just not prepared. 🙁
The seafood risotto was so good!! The poutine too, but definitely not the healthiest of foods.
Lobster rolls are pretty easy to make! I’m sure you could put your own special twist on them in your own home & they’re more affordable than the $19-25 monstrosities you’re paying for. Sure they take more work, but man oh man, I’m sure you could come up with something amazing. I kind of want to myself, but I also don’t want to buy a whole lobster to deal with.
Kenny
I love all of the photos. I’m jealous of the lovely scenery and all of that glorious food. I’m glad you had a good time. It looks both fun and delicious.
Alison Gibb
The food looks yummy, your yoga stance looks perfect, You and your other half are a beautiful couple and Bar Harbor is the tits? You ARE a Bostonian!! I love when people say it like it is!! Born and raised in Somerville, Massachusetts!! I look forward to reading more of your posts!!
Tiff
Were you really? Awesome!! I work in Somerville. I grew up in California, but I’ve always been straight forward about my opinions–gotten me into trouble lots of times–but it is what it is. I was really underwhelmed by Portland, but I was surely wowed by Acadia. It isn’t Yosemite or Yellowstone, but it’s still very beautiful.
Thanks for the compliments, Alison! 🙂