I learned a few new and valuable lessons this summer, when we took our family on a two week road trip to Vermont, Montreal, Acadia National Park and Boston.
- Don’t make the first day of vacation the best day of vacation (of course, I don’t say this with any seriousness even though it’s completely and obviously true).
- Plan something special for your last night- something to look forward to. Something to cap off what you hope to be a wonderful vacation, but you know will have its highs and lows.
We spent our first day of vacation with my sister and her family on a small boat on Lake Champlain. The weather couldn’t have been more gorgeous, providing us with incredible views of the Adirondack Mountains, and we brought great food and drink. Still, the true highlight of the day was tubing. Our boys spent the lion’s share of their day holding on to a giant inner-tube for dear life while the boat ‘captains’ (my husband and their uncle) tried to catapult them off into the frigid water.
Naturally, Montreal and pretty much the rest of our vacation was a letdown.
Montreal turned out to be a city full of family-friendly activities. We chose to visit the Biodome, where four different ecosystems are represented under one domed roof, like a small and specific indoor zoo. The Biodome is a short metro ride from the city and is in one of the buildings where the 1976 Montreal Olympics took place. And while the ‘campus’ is a concrete relic from days past, Montreal has done a lot to make the area an interesting, multi-faceted public space called the Space for Life.
On our last morning in Montreal, we hiked to the top of Mont Royal, a challenging hike on well-maintained and busy trails where the payoff is a stunning view of the city. Montreal doesn’t have a memorable skyline like San Francisco or New York, but it was still a good way to get some exercise.
From Montreal, we headed to Acadia National Park, Maine for lots of lobster eating and outdoor fun. The park is very crowded in August, but you can successfully escape the tourists by renting bikes and exploring the more than 45 miles of carriage trails built by Rockefeller between the 1910’s-40’s. The trails were designed as a respite for the ‘horse and buggy set’ who wanted to escape the noise and fumes of automobiles. In Acadia there is also terrific hiking, incredible views from Cadillac Mountain and you can whale-watch. We were fortunate and saw two fin whales feeding right beside the catamaran.
Our last stop was Boston, a city we’ve visited many times but that never gets old. We did our usual visit to the aquarium, went on a Duck Tour and explored Concord and Lexington, where we walked over the bridge where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired.
Tired yet? We were.
I had one last ace up my sleeve, which made the ending of our two week summer vacation as good as the beginning. Tickets to a baseball game at Fenway Park. The Red Sox, last in the league at the time, crushed the Seattle Mariners 15-1 and the fans went nuts. A home run ending, to a great vacation.–Julie, August 2015
TWO-WEEK SUMMER ROAD TRIP
I learned a few new and valuable lessons this summer, when we took our family on a two week road trip to Vermont, Montreal, Acadia National Park and Boston.
We spent our first day of vacation with my sister and her family on a small boat on Lake Champlain. The weather couldn’t have been more gorgeous, providing us with incredible views of the Adirondack Mountains, and we brought great food and drink. Still, the true highlight of the day was tubing. Our boys spent the lion’s share of their day holding on to a giant inner-tube for dear life while the boat ‘captains’ (my husband and their uncle) tried to catapult them off into the frigid water.
Naturally, Montreal and pretty much the rest of our vacation was a letdown.
Montreal turned out to be a city full of family-friendly activities. We chose to visit the Biodome, where four different ecosystems are represented under one domed roof, like a small and specific indoor zoo. The Biodome is a short metro ride from the city and is in one of the buildings where the 1976 Montreal Olympics took place. And while the ‘campus’ is a concrete relic from days past, Montreal has done a lot to make the area an interesting, multi-faceted public space called the Space for Life.
On our last morning in Montreal, we hiked to the top of Mont Royal, a challenging hike on well-maintained and busy trails where the payoff is a stunning view of the city. Montreal doesn’t have a memorable skyline like San Francisco or New York, but it was still a good way to get some exercise.
From Montreal, we headed to Acadia National Park, Maine for lots of lobster eating and outdoor fun. The park is very crowded in August, but you can successfully escape the tourists by renting bikes and exploring the more than 45 miles of carriage trails built by Rockefeller between the 1910’s-40’s. The trails were designed as a respite for the ‘horse and buggy set’ who wanted to escape the noise and fumes of automobiles. In Acadia there is also terrific hiking, incredible views from Cadillac Mountain and you can whale-watch. We were fortunate and saw two fin whales feeding right beside the catamaran.
Our last stop was Boston, a city we’ve visited many times but that never gets old. We did our usual visit to the aquarium, went on a Duck Tour and explored Concord and Lexington, where we walked over the bridge where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired.
Tired yet? We were.
I had one last ace up my sleeve, which made the ending of our two week summer vacation as good as the beginning. Tickets to a baseball game at Fenway Park. The Red Sox, last in the league at the time, crushed the Seattle Mariners 15-1 and the fans went nuts. A home run ending, to a great vacation.–Julie, August 2015