Maine

I am not a nature person. Nope. Not at all. I didn't grow up hiking or camping and don't have much experience with "outdoor activities." But when Laurissa asked if I wanted to go hiking in Maine for the long weekend, I said yes.

So Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed out for a weekend of adventures in Maine. Our first stop was Portland - a cute New England town right on the water. We spent the afternoon walking around the town and popping into all of the cute shops - including a cheese store with some of the most amazing samples I've ever had, a popcorn store, and rock salts store. By far the best place we visited though was The Holy Donut. The donuts were made out of potato instead of flour so they were a little bit denser than your typical donut. They also had really unique flavors. We shared 3 - salted dark chocolate, sweet potato ginger, and mojito (pictured below).

After a little more time tromping around Portland, we hopped back in the car and started driving north. The outdoorsy part of the trip was beginning. We were headed to La Verna Preserve, part of the Pemaquid Watershed. We were totally leaving civilization behind - just trees and totally open road for miles. 

This trail was not very long or challenging. More of a casual walk through the woods than a real "hike." It was still gorgeous and very peaceful. What was truly amazing was the view at the end of the trail - a completely uninhibited view of the Atlantic. I am a sucker for anything to do with the ocean and this view was no exception. I was in absolute awe of how simultaneously peaceful and powerful this view was.

It started to rain a bit on our walk back and we decided it was probably time to call it a day and find some dinner. Seafood was obviously everyone's choice. Laurissa's sixth sense of restaurant locating took us to this small place right by the water called Sea Gull Shop. The food was amazing. but our view overlooking the ocean I think was even better. This seemed like the right time for me to order a lobster. I've never had a whole lobster before, and being in Maine I was tempted to try it. It was delicious. However, ripping apart the lobster was a bit much for me. I don't even like eating chicken off the bone because it's too much like a real animal, so staring into the lobster's eyes really was out of my comfort zone.

(My new friend and I)

After dinner, we headed to Mountain View Campground where we would be spending the night. I was assured before heading out on the trip that we would not be camping. Instead, we were what I called "cabin-ing." Which, I will admit, really was not bad. The three of us shared a very nice one room cabin with three beds.

Sunday was the real day of hiking. We woke up fairly early and got ready for the big day. I'll admit, I was a little nervous about the whole thing. I am no where near as physically fit as Karl or Laurissa, nor am I anywhere near as well-versed in hiking. We drove about 45 minutes to Grafton Notch State Park. We would be hiking Baldplate Mountain, part of the Appalachian Trail.

After only about 15 minutes the trail had already become fairly steep and I was soon out breath. The trail leveled out for a while and we were able to enjoy some of the views it had to offer. About two hours into our hike we came to a little lean-to that was built along the trail. It was fairly large structure with some wooden benches and a nice size fire pit. It also had a log book so visitors could mark that they were there. We read an entry from a group that had come in January! I couldn't believe anyone would first of all want to hike a mountain in the middle of Maine in the dead of winter and second that it was even possible to hike the trail in the dead of winter!

(Fire pit at the lean-to)

We started back up on our journey up the mountain. I had thought the hike was hard before, little did I know that was the easy part. We were soon going up very steep inclines, whilst trudging through parts of the stream, climbing on rocks, and over giant tree roots. I was out of breath within minutes and needed to stop frequently. It was interesting to feel the temperature quickly drop the higher we got on the mountain. There were several spots on the mountain where large chunks of ice were still visible and much of running water we had encountered on our way up was the result of still melting snow.

(Ice!)

After about another hour of hiking we finally made it to the top, and that view made it so worth it. We could see for miles and miles from 3,500 feet up. Looking out onto other mountains, lakes, and windmills - it was incredibly peaceful.

We had some lunch on top of the mountain and then started to make our way back down. You would think going down would be easier, it wasn't. While it was less physically challenging, it was more more mentally challenging because it was so much easier to misstep or slip on all of the wet and uneven rocks - which I did crossing a stream, landing with my left leg in the stream. Finally, two hours later, we were back on level ground. I have never been so happy to sit down. 

Before heading back, we stopped to checkout two waterfalls we had seen on our way in: Mother Walker Falls and Screw Auger Falls. The waterfalls were really less of waterfalls and more just glorified rapids, but the views were stunning none the less. Screw Auger (picture below) was my favorite of the two because there was an area where you could walk out and stand in the shallow flowing water, plus you could actually climb on the rocks that made up the falls.

(Hi Babcia!)

As we made our way back we came across a pie stand. Yup, a pie stand. Right along the side of the road. Of course we had to stop. Laurissa would not be Laurissa if we didn't stop. And of course we bought a strawberry rhubarb pie. And maple cream cookies. Both of which were amazing.

None of us realized how much of a challenge dinner was going to be. It turns out, that in the middle-of-nowhere-Maine, on a Sunday afternoon, almost every single restaurant is closed. Eventually we found Calzolaio Past Co. which was delicious - although, I think anything would have been delicious after five plus hours of hiking and tromping through the woods.

In true outdoorsy fashion, we built a fire before calling it a night (by we, I mean Karl and Laurissa and I just sort of poked at it with a stick).

Monday morning I was exhausted. My legs hurt. And I was ready to go home. We headed out early and made one pit stop in Portland for ice cream and so Karl and Laurissa could buy live lobsters to take home (yes, I was very uncomfortable with the live lobsters being in the car with us).

Philadelphia

If you know me, you know rowing is my favorite sport.

Last weekend in Philadelphia, the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta took place. Dad Vail is the largest collegiate regatta in the United States, with close to 130 schools competing. I raced at Dad Vail four times during my collegiate rowing career, with our best ever finish being fourth in the men's varsity lightweight 8+ my sophomore year. However, despite having been to Philly four times, I have literally never seen more than the race course.

This year, a group of MSU Crew Club alumni organized a reunion at Dad Vail. With Boston being just over five hours way, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go support my favorite team and do some Philly sight-seeing.

Bright dark and early Friday morning, Jimmy (aka Mom), Karl (aka Dad), and myself set out for Philadelphia. The car ride was exactly what you would expect it to be. Karl had control of music for the first half of the trip which meant we listened to Kelly Clarkson for the first half of the trip. Jimmy took over the music selection about halfway through and then got annoyed when Karl and I didn't know any of the words from the musicals. I napped a lot.

Within 15 minutes of arriving at the course, I had ditched Jimmy and Karl (which I think was best for everyone involved). We had missed the varsity 8+ race, but they had advanced to semi-finals so we would be able to see them race again tomorrow, and we were able to catch the JV8+ and novice 4+ races.

(Launch dock)

MSU Crew Club alumni had organized an alumni tent at the course which was conveniently located next to the beer tent, so we spent sometime Friday afternoon socializing with former MSU rowers and coxswains. Todd, Jenny and myself decided to walk down towards Boathouse Row and the Philadelphia Art Museum too. Boathouse Row is a stretch of beautiful, old-fashioned boathouses along the Schuylkill River on Kelly Drive. I won't lie, I'm a little jealous of the collegiate rowers who get to row out of these boathouses opposed to MSU's.

(Boathouse Row)

(Vesper)

(Penn AC)

After gawking at the boathouse we continued down Kelly Drive to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The main reason for this excursion was that I wanted to see the Rocky statue and run the stairs at the museum. Both of which, I successfully did. I loved the view of Philly from the top of the museum steps.

(Philly)

(Being tourists)

(Philadelphia Museum of Art)

(Rocky!)

(Philadelphia Museum of Art)

(View from the top of stairs)

For dinner, the alumni had arranged for everyone (team, parents, and alumni) to have a pasta dinner at the Undine Barge Club's Castle Ringstetten. It was really fun socializing with the current team members and alumni - and I got to meet former Olympian and MSU rower, Brett Newlin, which was the most exciting thing ever.

(MSU Crew)

(Brett Newlin and I!)

Later, Jenny, Chris, Todd and myself headed out to a bar with a few of their friends. The second most exciting part of this evening was the real NY pizza that was waiting for me in Jenny and Chris' fridge (courtesy of Tudd Kruse the best, best friend ever).

Speaking of Jenny and Chris, their apartment is super cool. It was converted into apartments from an old industrial building and has this great modern feel to it. They also have an awesome view of downtown Philly (pictured below).

Saturday morning we made our way back down to the course to watch some more racing. Unfortunately the varsity 8+ and JV 8+ were knocked out in the semis, but we were able to see the novice 4+ go on to race in the grand final.

(Men's Novice 4+ Grand Final)

Saturday night, Jenny and Chirs took us to Frankford Beir Garden (which Marissa has already informed me is not the correct way to spell "beer garden" in German) where we were able to meet back up with some of the alumni. This place was great. Great beer and great food and Jenga games on all the tables.

I loved my weekend in Philly, even though I didn't get to do quite as much sight-seeing as I wanted to.

Tudd Time

I have been an awful blogger lately. Partially because I don’t have a working computer at the moment, but really that’s just the excuse I’m giving.

But I will try and catch up…

Back tracking to two weekends ago, my best friend Todd (better known as Tudd) came to Boston to visit. He was taking a bit of an East Coast road trip with stops in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. While technically he had been to Boston to help me move almost a year ago, he was only in the city for about 12 hours and most of that time was devoted to hauling my furniture up two flights of stairs. So this was his first real Boston experience.

After a very chill Friday night, we got up pretty early on Saturday so we could fit as much touristy stuff into the day as possible. Post-breakfast and quick walk around Cambridge, we headed to CRI because Jimmy had offered to give us a launch ride tour of the river and Boston. The weather was perfect for this: sunny and warm, with not too much wind. Todd was able to see all of the old, East Coast style boathouse like CBC, Harvard, Northeastern and Riverside that look like mansions compared to MSU’s shed. I also love the view of the Boston skyline (picture below) that you get from the river.

After lunch, we decided to go to the beach. Todd wanted to “touch the Atlantic” and the beach is my favorite place in the entire world so I didn’t object. We went to Carlson Beach, which I had never been to and is honestly not very impressive. But it’s a beach nonetheless and is only a quick T ride away in Southie. By the time we got there the weather had switched to chilly and cloudy so we didn’t stay very long.

Jimmy and Laurissa joined us for dinner at the Barking Crab. I’ve wanted to try this place for a while but never have since the menu is a little pricey. But after trying it, I think it is totally worth it. The Barking Crab is located right on the water and has a small indoor eating area and a covered outdoor patio. We ate outside under what looks like a giant circus tent decorated with various fishing equipment. I got to try Harpoon’s Grapefruit Shandy which may be my new favorite. The food was fantastic too.

The four of us spent the rest of the night walking around Boston. Before I list all of the places we WALKED to, I want to note I was wearing HEELS and I only complained A LITTLE BIT. From the Barking Crab, we headed towards Faneuil Hall. Even though this area is so tourist-y, I like it. I love the look of it at night with all of the trees lit up and the old style buildings mixed in with the new shops and restaurants.

From Faneuil we made our way to the North End. The North End is Boston’s Little Italy. It’s another area of Boston that I really like, but unfortunately, one I never visit. We spent a lot of time walking down the little side streets, going into all of the small, family-owned shops, and peering into all of the amazing smelling Italian restaurants. We made a stop at Modern Pastry – Mike’s Pastry’s rival. I had never been before. While I didn’t get a cannoli, I did sample Todd’s and think that I prefer Mike’s. Modern’s was great, but it was like a third of the size of the cannolis you get at Mike’s and they had nowhere near the flavor variety.

After spending a considerable amount of time ogling over all of the mouth water sights and smells, we started to make our way back. We walked through Boston Commons and headed up Charles St., once again, taking quite a bit of time to gaze into the fancy shops.

By the time we finally made it home, my feet hurt.

Sunday was another day of exploring Boston. We spent the morning browsing around Newbury Street and made a stop at the site of the Boston Marathon finish line. We headed back towards the Boston Commons, had lunch at Boloco, passed through China Town, and then hopped on the Silver Line (the sketchiest T line there is – like who makes an underground bus? Why can’t it just be a subway?) to go to the Harpoon Brewery.

Our initial plan was to go on the brewery tour. But after learning there was an hour and a half wait, we decided to just drink and eat instead (always a good choice). Todd and I shared two flights of beers, which we justified as being able to taste all the beer we would’ve tasted on the tour. The grapefruit shandy was still my favorite, followed by the summer beer (not surprising at all). The three of us all shared one of Harpoon’s giant pretzels which was delicious.

Once again, a great weekend with my favorite people. I love when my friends visit and I get to play tourist.