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Cadillac Mountain at Sunset

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Cadillac Mountain Acadia National Park

Have you ever visited Acadia National Park along the Maine Coast? Last fall, after exploring Boston and the upper and lower sections of Old Quebec City and before doing our Maine lighthouse tour, Mr. Handsome and I made a quick stop at Acadia National Park. We arrived just as the sun was beginning to set.

We were concerned that it might be too late to drive up to the top of Cadillac Mountain, but there were still a decent amount of tourists headed for the narrow mountain road, so we decided to take the chance. It was 40 degrees and windy, and the weather only felt colder on the mountain. We stopped at a couple quick lookout points before reaching the top.

Cadillac Mountain Acadia National Park

 

When we arrived at the peak and walked out to the iconic photo spot, we were blown away (figuratively and almost literally). The view was absolutely spectacular, and the lighting was just perfect.

Cadillac Mountain Acadia National Park

Cadillac Mountain used to be known as Green Mountain and was renamed Cadillac Mountain in 1918 to honor the 17th century French explorer who at one point had ownership of the mountain and surrounding area. As the highest point along the Eastern Seaboard, Cadillac Mountain (elevation of 1,530 feet or 466 meters) sees the sunrise before any other place …

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Boston at Sunrise

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Boston Nahant Massachusetts

Hope your week is going well. To brighten your day, I thought I would share five lovely photos that my youngest sister-in-law took. For those who don’t know, Mr. Handsome has six younger siblings. Four of them are well past college age, but the two little ones are still in high school (although one is about to graduate, which is so crazy to me because I still remember her as the tiny little girl that she was when I first met Mr. Handsome).

These two girls may be younger than the rest of the siblings, but they have already become such talented, capable women, and their maturity makes them seem like they are the same age as the rest of us. They are both well-rounded and have a slew of hobbies and skills, and they never cease to amaze me with all their DIY projects. Mr. Handsome and I are eager to watch them enter adulthood, and we look forward to seeing what God has in store for their lives.

The five photos in this post were taken by the youngest, Lena, in Nahant, Massachusetts, at sunrise. Nahant is a quaint, historic island that lies just off the coast from Boston and can be accessed by a road. That’s where our rental house was located when we visited the area with Mr. Handsome’s family last fall. (Yep, we went to Boston in the fall, for those of you who are familiar with the VeggieTales song “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.”) In case you missed the posts I have shared about our trip, the links are below.

Boston Nahant Massachusetts

Boston Nahant Massachusetts

Boston Nahant Massachusetts

Boston Nahant Massachusetts

Exploring 400-Year-Old Plymouth

New Hampshire’s Flume Gorge

Old Quebec City

Maine Lighthouse Tour

Maine Lighthouse Tour

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Portland Head Lighthouse

During our October East Coast trip, we toured the Boston area for five days, drove up through New Hampshire to the Canadian border, spent a day in the walled city of Old Quebec, drove back down into Maine, stopped at several lighthouses along the Maine Coast, and flew out of Boston’s Logan International airport. It was a busy trip with lots of stops, but we had a blast. The day we spent doing our Maine lighthouse tour along the coastal road was the most relaxing day of the entire trip. All we had to do was make it to Boston by night, so we were able to enjoy the lighthouses at a leisurely pace. It was chilly (high 40sF/9C) but beautifully sunny. Maine is home to more than 50 active lighthouses, and we visited some of the best. The most beautiful lighthouse, Portland Head Light, is highlighted at the end of this post.

Fort Point Lighthouse, located beside Fort Point State Park in Stockton Springs, is a private residence. If you wish to go onto the property, you must pay a small fee. (There were other lighthouses that we really wanted to see, so we just took a photo from the road and continued on our way.) The current lighthouse has been in service since 1857, but there was another lighthouse in that location for 20 years prior.

Fort Point Lighthouse Stockton Springs Maine…

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New Hampshire’s Flume Gorge

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Flume Gorge New HampshireLast month, I shared photos from our visit to historic Plymouth, Massachusetts. We spent a few days in Boston and the surrounding area (photos from     Lexington, Concord, the coast, and the Freedom Trail coming soon), drove up to Quebec City through New Hampshire, and then returned to Boston via the stunning Maine coast. It was a quick trip, but we packed a lot in. Mr. Handsome has been to Boston, but this was my first time to any of the New England states.

Flume Gorge New Hampshire…

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Impressionism and a Cow Painting

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cow painting

While we were in Boston, we visited the Museum of Fine Arts so Mr. Handsome could gain some inspiration for his artwork. As a hobby, he enjoys painting in oil and acrylic and has had his masterpieces displayed in quite a few art shows and venues across Nashville.

This summer, he started painting cows, and the one above is my favorite so far. We have it hanging in our kitchen, which Mr. Handsome’s brother dislikes because when he sits on our couch, he feels like it’s staring at him. I think it’s a cute cow, but it really creeps my brother-in-law out for some reason….

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Exploring 400-Year-Old Plymouth

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Plymouth Rock

Mr. Handsome and I recently returned from a trip to the East Coast. We spent the first few days in Boston visiting all the major historical sites with Mr. Handsome’s parents and some of his siblings and grandparents. Then we went off on our own and drove up to Quebec City through New Hampshire and back down the Maine coast. I guess you could call the second leg of our trip a “babymoon.” It was a grand adventure!

I love living history, so visiting Plymouth, Massachusetts, was the highlight of our time in Boston. Seeking civil and religious freedom, a group of 102 Puritans (known as the Pilgrims) led by William Bradford left England in September 1620 and arrived in Cape Cod two months later. After signing the Mayflower Compact, they continued on to the site that would become known as Plymouth, marked by Plymouth Rock.

Plymouth Rock

The rock was much smaller than I had always imagined it. When we saw it, my father-in-law remarked, “No wonder the Pilgrims knew that this was the spot to land–they just had to find the rock with the correct year on it.”…

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World Travel

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New Orleans, 2016

In response to my most recent Ask Ellie post, one of my readers asked where I would most like to travel to. I am a homebody at heart, and I can honestly say that there’s no place like home. That being said, Mr. Handsome and I have done a decent amount of traveling during our first three years of marriage, and we have enjoyed experiencing new places.

Oregon Coast, 2016

We hope to start a family soon, so we have been taking advantage of our time as a couple, knowing that once we have kiddos, travel will be much more complicated.

If you could pick two places to visit, one within your country or continent and one further away, where would you go?

Closer to home, I would visit the Boston area. I love experiencing history, which is something Boston is very rich in. If I could travel to another country, I think I would pick the British Isles. From the photos I have seen, that part of the world looks absolutely gorgeous.

What about you?

Life in the South

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If you live along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, you’re in for some serious winter weather. More than 30 million people, including the entire populations of Washington D.C., Boston, and New York City, are bracing themselves for blizzard conditions, with the nation’s capital expecting up to two-and-a-half feet of snow.

Here in Tennessee, we’re experiencing the early stages of the massive winter storm “Jonas” that is headed for the East Coast. For us, the snow will taper off this evening, with 3-6 inches of accumulation forecasted.

This is normal winter weather in the Midwest (where Mr. Handsome and I are from), so we were puzzled to hear that every single one of my husband’s dental patients had canceled their appointments for today and tomorrow.

Just another positive of Southern living…more snow days! Our relatives back in the Midwest are going to be jealous.

Here’s something to make you laugh: 

*The top picture is one I took in my family’s backyard several years ago, and the bottom snapshot shows what it looks like outside our front door this morning.