Lower 48 Road Trip: Maine, Massachusetts & Rhode Island

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” -Psalm 119:105

Happy September! It’s back to school season and everyone is transitioning into their routines, and if you’re like me, feeling a bit sad that summer is on its way out. Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way, but I can’t stand how early stores put out fall and Christmas décor. This year, Halloween and fall decorations were out in August! Yikes! I know some of you just can’t resist getting excited for the holidays, but I’m someone who really loves to soak up and savor every season while I’m in it. September is an odd month to me though. It feels like the death of summer, which is my favorite season. I enjoy the fall time, but it always takes me quite a bit of time to adjust from sun to rain… at least that’s what it means in the Northwest. We thankfully do have a week of sunny weather ahead, so that helps. I’m curious how many of you like September, and if you do, what is it you like about it? I know so many people who get excited for football season and others who actually love the cooler weather. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think about September. Last year, this month wasn’t so bad for me since we were on our road trip. There was so much to see and do that I didn’t have much time to think about the months passing. In fact, just about a year ago, we were visiting Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. You’ll find more about our experiences in these states as you keep reading below. Enjoy!

Maine: is a place of “hidden treasures.” As we spent time in Maine, I was reminded of Psalm 119:105. “Lamp for my feet” was the phrase which stood out to me. Our first stop in this state was at an antique store in Limington. The store was huge and we spent quite a while shopping around. I ended up finding an old book called How Marcus Whitman Saved Oregon. I was so surprised to find a book about ministry in Oregon on the opposite side of the country, so I had to buy it. We always have fun looking around at antique shops and what I noticed is apparently, the Mainers do too! I saw more antique shops in Maine than in any other state on the whole trip! If you love to go antiquing, you have to visit Maine… you will be in heaven! After shopping, we drove past Sebago Lake and stopped in Bangor to see the giant statue of Paul Bunyan, which is funny and interesting. Finally, we made our way up to Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, where we camped at Blackwoods Campground for a couple nights. The campground has trails which lead straight out to stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. We enjoyed relaxing in the sun on the rocks and soaking in our victory. We had driven all the way from the West Coast to the East Coast! It felt like a significant milestone on the trip. From Acadia, it’s just a short drive to the adorable little seaside town of Bar Harbor, so we had fun exploring, shopping and eating there. Since Maine is famous for its lobster, we just had to try a lobster roll. They are expensive, but insanely delicious! I tried the cold sandwich with mayo and Gabe tried the warm one with butter. We both agreed that either way you eat it, it’s worth the price. We had our sandwiches at Paddy’s Irish Pub and Restaurant, while sitting outside with a beautiful view of the harbor, which made the experience extra enjoyable. Another hidden gem restaurant I recommend is called Cafe This Way. It is tucked away down a back alley and serves up a delicious, healthy breakfast. I know Bar Harbor and Acadia are off the beaten path a bit, but they’re worth the extra effort to get there.

After a refreshing time in Acadia, we drove down the famous and scenic Highway 1 on our way to Portland. We passed along gorgeous ocean views, sandy beaches and quaint small towns. Belfast, Camden, Bath and Freeport are a few favorite towns we saw. We arrived in Portland in time for dinner, so we found a homey chowder house downtown called Gilbert’s. Gabe had clam chowder and I tried the lobster stew. We couldn’t resist ordering them in bread bowls… oh my, they were so good! After dinner we wandered around the cobblestone streets of the Old Port and found a large group of musicians playing Irish music in Post Office Park. We were so happy to stumble across this fun gathering and enjoy some lively Irish tunes. The next day, we continued driving south on Highway 1, past Old Orchard Beach (unfortunately it was raining) and the pretty towns of Saco and Biddeford. Our last stop in Maine was in York to see the beautiful Nubble Lighthouse. It’s just off the coast across a narrow waterway on a small island, so we couldn’t walk over to it, but the views are incredible. Maine is a state filled with breathtaking beauty and is so refreshing. Our only disappointment was that we never saw a moose… maybe next time!

Massachusetts: is the land of “beginnings.” The Lord is beginning a new thing. Massachusetts is a state with a significant history not just for the nation, but also for me and Gabe personally. Gabe was born here and one of my ancestors was the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, so we were both curious and excited to visit this state. My maiden name is Endicott, which is a very uncommon name here in the United States. As far as I know, all of the Endicotts in the U.S. are related and descended from one man from Devon, England named John Endecott. He was technically the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1600s for just over a year before John Winthrop arrived, and he served as governor again for years after Winthrop’s death. Governor Endicott was a harsh, religious Puritan leader, and he persecuted the Quakers of his time. Even though he made some terrible decisions, he also accomplished some good things in his life. He owned property in Danvers, where he planted and cultivated fruit trees from England. If you can believe it, a pear tree he planted is still alive to this day and it is considered to be the oldest cultivated fruit tree in North America! For all the wrong things John Endecott did, I think this is one thing he did right. It is an absolute miracle to me this tree has survived all these years and still produces fruit! It’s survived hurricane level storms and extreme vandalism. I believe the tree a sign and symbol of God’s mercy. Though we deserve judgment, his love and mercy endure through all generations and continue to bear fruit. In light of all this, we made our first stop in Massachusetts at the Endicott Pear Tree to see this living miracle and physical symbol of God’s root of mercy for me, my family and for America. I can’t even put into words fully how special it was. It felt almost as if time stood still and I was somehow walking with Jesus in the Garden. I prayed and worshiped the Lord there, releasing healing over our nation. I know God will answer these prayers, and I can’t wait to see how he’ll do it.

After this special moment, we went over to Salem and saw The House of Seven Gables. Then we walked and prayed around Salem Common. This city is notorious for witchcraft because of the Salem Witch Trials that took place, but we released the light of God while we were there… the darkness is no match for the light! Then we drove into Boston and ate dinner at a Chili’s Restaurant, where we met the nicest person in all of Massachusetts. Our server was a sweet, kind young woman with the best Boston accent. She even helped recreate my favorite Fajita Quesadillas I used to order years ago when I worked at Chili’s. Besides her, the people here were the rudest we met in any state overall on the whole trip. We got honked at aggressively while in this state by quite a few people, which really didn’t happen anywhere else. With that said, Boston has the most narrow roads of almost any big city in America. One of the days we were in Boston, it just so happened to be college move-in day for the students. We made the mistake of turning down a very narrow street in the Italian neighborhood, where students were moving furniture and cars were parked everywhere. The van almost got stuck and we barely made it through these streets with just inches between us and all other objects. It was insanely stressful, but I’m so thankful we got through unscathed. Never again would I even take a normal sized car into Boston. The only car I would ever drive here again is a mini cooper, otherwise I would just take public transportation. It’s not worth the stress.

We spent a couple days exploring Boston. We walked around Boston Common in the Beacon Hill area and enjoyed the gorgeous park. We visited the Granary Burying Ground where Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Governor John Endecott are buried. In fact, I searched twice to try to find John Endecott’s grave, but due to how poorly the map markers and graves were labeled, I was never able to locate it exactly (that I know of). I suppose I should have hired a tour guide or something, but regardless, it was still fascinating to see an area containing such deep history. We wandered to the wharf area, and then to an Irish restaurant called The Black Rose for dinner. After dinner, we stumbled upon our favorite place we saw in Boston: the Quincy Market. It’s a large indoor and outdoor dining and shopping center with pretty lights and street musicians. It felt like a special place you could spend hours in. On our way back to the van, we saw a light show in the beautiful Rings Fountain near the waterfront, so we stopped to enjoy it. The next day, Gabe was working, so I explored downtown Boston alone (kind of scary, but I was brave). I saw the Paul Revere House, which is the oldest house in downtown Boston, but I didn’t have time to tour inside it. I also found Endicott Street and a tiny park called Endicott Triangle. Then I walked through a farmer’s market near Boston City Hall. I wandered around the old cemeteries one more time, then we headed out of Boston.

We drove down to Plymouth to see the famous site where the pilgrims on the Mayflower landed. I don’t know what we were expecting exactly, but Plymouth Rock is actually a large rock on the beach with “1620” inscribed on it. Apparently people believe this is the first rock the pilgrims stepped on when they left the ship to come ashore… it could be true, but is probably just a myth. A colorful replica of the Mayflower is also docked there, which was fun to see. Plymouth is a pretty coastal town and it’s worth a visit if you’re in the area. Next we eagerly drove to Cape Cod, where we finally got to relax a little on the beach and enjoy some beautiful ocean views. We drove all the way to Provincetown, and visited Herring Cove Beach and Race Point Beach. The beaches were pristinely gorgeous and even though it was sunny, it was too cold to swim unfortunately. As we drove through Provincetown, we were surprised to see gay men everywhere. It was Labor Day weekend, so maybe there was an event happening there? I’m not sure exactly what was going on, but as a straight couple, we were definitely in the minority, so we didn’t stick around town and continued back down the coastline. There are so many cute little seaside towns along Cape Cod, it’s hard not to love it. I especially enjoyed all of the Cape Code style homes, which are some of my favorite home styles. We stopped in Wellfleet at A Nice Cream Stop for some incredible ice cream. They have quite the array of unique flavors, which is well worth the wait in line. We finished our drive down the lovely cape and headed for Rhode Island.

We visited Rhode Island and Connecticut before popping back up into Massachusetts one more time to visit Gabe’s birth home in Agawam near Springfield. It’s pretty wild to think Gabe was born in a house and not in a hospital. The house is a classy and charming Colonial-style house. It was so special seeing, for the first time, where my husband was born. He was born on October 2, 1985 and only lived in this house for one month before his family moved across the country to California. This was the first time he had been back to this house since he moved away as a baby. We also drove down the street to the Church of Christ where his dad pastored at the time. Our trip to Massachusetts was nostalgic… full of deep meaning and personal history. We felt so blessed to retrace some steps and enjoy the sites, even if the drivers are rude and could grow in a little grace.

Rhode Island: “needs a tsunami of my presence.” This is what I heard the Lord say while we were in this state. Rhode Island is the smallest state in the whole country, but I believe God wants to move in a big way here. We came into this state at night and drove through Providence on our way down to camp for the night at Burlingame State Park Campgrounds. The next morning, it was a beautiful and hot sunny day, so we wanted to find a beach. We drove through some coastal neighborhoods in Misquamicut, and found that all of the beach parking lots had a steep fee of around $35 and most of the lots were full. This setup seems to be normal for East Coast beaches, which was a culture shock for us because on the West Coast, virtually all beaches are public and free to access. You can park almost anywhere along the road for free and walk over to the beach on the Pacific Coast. Since we didn’t want to pay, we continued driving over to East Beach in Westerly. We ended up in a really nice neighborhood with beachside mansions, and finding ourselves at a dead end, we quickly learned there was no parking allowed anywhere. We figured this is how these wealthy people keep average people out of their rather secluded beach. I hopped out of the van and ran down to the beach to snap a few pictures anyway. The beach is beautiful, but unless you are riding a bike or walking from a nearby home, you basically can’t go there. We decided to move on to see the little town of Westerly. The downtown was quaint and we enjoyed walking around the lovely fountain and flowers in Wilcox Park. We also stopped by an antique shop owned by a friendly older couple before leaving for Connecticut.

I hope your September is off to a great start. Thank you for reading this very long and in-depth review of these states. I’ll see you all next week!