Sand Beach, Acadia National Park, Maine
Day ten arrived and it meant heading back to the good old U S of A. We were leaving Quebec City and heading to Bar Harbor, Maine. En route, we stopped a little random grocery store to buy food supplies for the next few days (which turned out to be the most stressful and frustrating food shop ever!), then we found a cute little place to make some dinner. It was nice to be out of the van for a little. When we arrived at the Bar Harbor KOA, we pitched our tents and were going for a BBQ style tea that night. Burgers, chips, sweet potato, the lot.
After we finished our tea, we went to Sand Beach in Acadia National Park to watch the sunset. Kaley and I were disgustingly excited to finally see the sea / ocean because we've both grown up by the coast (albeit very different coasts). Sand Beach was gorgeous, we arrived just as the sky was changing and it was a beautiful candy floss pink with pale blue running through. The water was freezing, but having grown up swimming in the North Sea, it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. We sat on the beach for a while, talking and laughing and I remember being hit with a feeling of sadness. I was having such an incredible time, with people I had truly bonded with in such a short space of time, I felt sad that it would soon be over. It was definitely bittersweet.
We got back to camp and had to try and wash our plates in the dark with minimal water, something we found incredibly hard and so we decided to leave it till the next morning. Kaley, Dan and Lucy were getting up stupidly early to do a morning hike, Megan and I backed out because we were lazy and wanted sleep.
Photo credit Kaley Aposporos
The next morning Kaley, Lucy and Dan told us about their hike and showed us their pictures, it looked amazing. I probably should have just bit the bullet and got up to do it, but you know, hindsight. Day eleven was our free day in Maine and we were planning on spending our day in a few different ways, Megan and I decided to be lazy girls again and spend a few hours on Sand Beach laying in the sun and swimming, while Kaley, Lucy and Dan decided to do a hike. Good on them for doing their second of the day (even though they were all exhausted) but it was so hot, I just really couldn't be bothered.
Photo credit Kaley Aposporos
Megan and I lay on the beach for a few hours and it was disgustingly hot. When the rest of the gang arrived back from their hike, we went swimming. The water was cold, but refreshing, definitely needed in that heat. By mid afternoon (and after a cheeky snooze) we were all pretty hungry and needed food. Bar Harbor is renowned for being a Lobster town, but all I'd harped on about for whole trip was good old British Fish and Chips... so that's what we decided we'd have!
We headed into Bar Harbor town, found a place and ordered. It was lovely, there were drinks flowing, the food was lovely, the weather had cooled a little and the company was great. We then explored the town a little, got ice cream (clearly a running theme throughout the trip), visited some of the shops before we headed back to camp. It was a fairly chilled evening, the sky in the stars were amazing and we gazed at them and hung out together before going to sleep fairly early.
Maine Street, Bar Harbor
Day twelve meant leaving Maine and heading to Boston! We left just after 7.30 and I think this drive ended up being one of the longest drive days we did. I can't remember exactly, but I'm sure we ended up being on the road around the 8 hour mark (if not longer). I just remember that when we got to the Boston / Cape Cod KOA, which was about an hour outside of Boston, Kaley was shattered from having driven all day. While en route to Boston, we did stop at a shopping outlet for an hour or so and had a little look around. When we arrived at camp, the evening was just very chilled out, we set up camp, made food and talked about the plan of action for our day in Boston.
Day thirteen was our free day in Boston, yaaaay! The morning was very chilled out, we made breakfast and what not and left to head into Boston around 11am meaning we arrived in the city just before noon. At this point we were all exhausted because of the pace of the trip. The only thing I knew I desperately wanted to do while in Boston was walk a little of the Freedom Trail and visit Harvard. We got dropped off and then chilled in Boston Commons for a while. It was boiling. Ten minutes in and I was already melting.
Dan headed off to do his own thing, while Lucy, Megan and I waited for Kaley to find a place to park the van. While we waited we bought matching friendship bracelets (I've still got mine guys!), walked a little of the Freedom Trail and visited Granary Burying Ground, which is a resting place for many Revolutionary War patriots, ranging from the victims of the Boston Massacre to signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Boston Common
Boston Common
Granary Burying Ground
When Kaley arrived, we hopped on the train and headed to Harvard. I was so excited about this because I have a bit of a thing for university campuses. We got there and it's gorgeous. Like just beautiful. If you can appreciate great architecture and old buildings then you'd love it. I quoted Legally Blonde the whole time ("Wait, you got into Harvard?" "What, like it's hard?" Elle Woods SLAY) and decided against licking the John Harvard statue because even though it's meant to bring good luck, fraternities make individuals pee on it during their hazing/initiation into said fraternity. No thank you.
Harvard University
John Harvard Statue
After that we mooched around Cambridge and tried to find the Harvard Book store because we all wanted to buy things! After trying to find it and failing at least twice, we finally did and we definitely all got a little excited. I bought my trusty Harvard top, which I pretty much live in and Lucy spent a fortune but got something that should have been $40 for free (#100%Hutton). After the walking round and shopping, we went to a little Mexican restaurant/bar where we spent a few hours drinking and talking and it was great.
We hopped back on the train and headed back into Boston, spent some more time in Boston Common and then had a little wander round, while Kaley went off to meet a friend. Lucy, Megan and I found a place to eat and told Kaley and Dan to meet us there. The five of us had our tea, kind of the last hurrah as the trip was finishing the following day and Lucy and Megan weren't heading back to New York. Cue tears. After a few hours there, it was quite late, we met the rest of the group and headed back to the van to drive back to the campground.
Day fourteen. The official final day. This day brought saying goodbye and heading back to the Hilton at Newark. Megan was staying in Boston. We decided on the drive back to stop off at Brown University in Rhode Island (again, my love for gorgeous university campuses). Lucy decided to come with and get the train back to Cape Cod. We got to Providence, had the most amazing bagels, then tried to find the Brown University store... only to find it and realise it opened later because it was Saturday. I was gutted. I was horrendously sad saying goodbye to both Lucy and Megan. They are two amazing people who I'd connected with in such a small amount of time. I'd been with them 24/7 for two weeks and it felt really weird knowing I wasn't going to waking up to them the next morning. Around dinner time we also stopped at Yale University to grab something to eat, I'd been to Yale before and had totally fallen in love with it, so wasn't overly bothered about trying to see everything again (plus it's so big, an hour wouldn't have been enough). Instead, Kaley, Dan and I found a deli and grabbed some food. The drive back to Newark was weird, we talked politics among many other things but I just felt sad that it was ending. We got back to the hotel, unloaded our stuff and I gave Kaley the biggest hug. I had already previously given her a 'thank you' card, I knew I was going to miss her too, but incredibly humbled to have met such a truly good human being.
Brown University
Dan and I checked into our respective hotel rooms and chilled separately for a while, before heading down to the lobby and grabbing some food together for our tea. It was strange that it was just the two of us, I felt like the other three girls were missing and it had only been a few hours but I was already in denial that it was over. We reflected on our trip, the highs and the lows, what we'd enjoyed the most, where our favourite places had been. It was a lovely way to end what was an amazing trip.
And that was that. After months of planning, months of excitement, it was over. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it was one of the best things I've ever done. I visited some amazing places, saw some really wonderful sights, experienced some things I never thought I would, met incredible people who I never would have otherwise, laughed more than I ever thought was possible. It really, truly, brought me immense joy and I can't recommend it enough.
I genuinely can't wait to see where my next trip with Trek America takes me - I just hope it's half as amazing as that trip was.
Love,
Brogan
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