If you like camping, you’ll find no shortage of options. You can camp in tents, hammocks, full-size RVs, vans, and even regular cars. Sure, each comes with varying degrees of comfort, but there are certainly plenty of options. With regard to where one chooses to camp, again, options galore. Up until just a few weeks ago, G and I had mostly camped these past two years in established state, national (Canada), or municipal, or independently owned campgrounds. Now, however, we can add “boondocking” to our list of adventures.

After two years and so, so many memories, we sold our 2002 VW Eurovan Weekender. While we’re looking forward to picking up the new rig that will mark the beginning of our van adventures 2.0 (stay tuned for more posts and info!), I’ll always miss the van. And so, at the expense of being overly sentimental, we offer this farewell/love letter/thank you card to our van…

That same stillness and quiet in a typically bustling place is what draws us to Acadia National Park in the off-season, and in the winter in particular. While sharing the park, one of the most visited in the country, with so many others is certainly fun on some level of community and camaraderie, we’ve come to love the days and months when we can hear our only our own footsteps on a trail or when we share “hellos” with only a few others.

Last week, we celebrated our one-year vaniversary with our new-to-us 2002 VW Eurovan Weekender. This time last year, we took the plunge, swore to be with our van for better or worse, exchanged nervous glances, handed over a hefty $15K cashier’s check, and walked our way down the proverbial aisle—in our case, New Hampshire’s Route 16, as we drove our new love home from the White Mountains to the seacoast.

Earlier this summer, I made a list of my summer “must-dos”—places I wanted to visit, campgrounds where I wanted to stay, things I wanted to do. Returning to Star Island, a small island just off the coast, was at the top of the list. I had first visited more than 15 years ago, and I’ve wanted to go back ever since.

Star Island is one of nine islands that make up the Isles of Shoals, located just a few miles off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. Four of the islands (Lunging, Seavey, Star, and White) fall within New Hampshire’s borders; the others fall within Maine’s (Appledore, Cedar, Duck, Malaga, and Smuttynose). A few of the islands are privately owned, while the public can visit both Appledore Island and Star Island. While I haven’t visited Appledore (yet!), it was Star Island to which I longed to return.

With its separate spaces, Fuller Gardens has something for everyone. Want more than 125 different varieties of roses? A stunning dahlia display garden? A calm and serene Japanese garden, complete with a koi pond? A conservatory housing hundreds of succulents and tropical varieties? Gorgeous fountains and statuary? It’s all there at Fuller Gardens. So much to see in this hidden treasure of a place.

Around every corner, the views just got more and more incredible as we made our way around the Cabot Trail heading toward the Skyline Trail, . As G navigated the van through the winding roads, I kept looking out both the front windshield and the rear window, ogling each view. We toured the Cabot Trail counter-clockwise, starting in Ingonish and ending in Chéticamp, so that we’d always be closest to the side of the water. Lots of folks do it the other way around and, honestly, I’m not sure one is “better” than the other. The views are stunning no matter which direction you’re headed!

We’ve only just begun our exploration of Cape Breton Island, and I’m so looking forward to what awaits us these next few days. While the rest of the Nova Scotia is incredibly beautiful, there’s something about the wild, untamed, rugged landscape of Cape Breton that—already—is drawing me in. It’s like California’s Big Sur, the Green Mountains of Vermont (if Vermont were on an ocean), and the cliffs of Acadia National Park all rolled into one. It’s what I imagine Scotland and Ireland to look like. Cape Breton, you are stunning. Absolutely stunning. And this is the just the beginning…

Our destination for the night was Battery Provincial Park, located in St. Peter’s, not too far from the Canso Causeway that links Cape Breton Island with the rest of Nova Scotia. I’m always nervous about booking campground sites, as I never know if the location is good, if the bathroom is closer (or further away!) than it looks on a map, and what “privacy” and “shade” actually mean. The park has 53 campsites (we had site #8), and let me say this: it’s GORGEOUS. We had site 8, and an awesome view of St. Peter’s Bay.

Our second day in Halifax began with another trip to the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market; we had gone yesterday morning but advised that Saturday would be THE day to visit. And when we did, we had to get the cinnamon buns. Of course, I’ll take that kind of advice. And the cinnamon buns from Aly Mae’s were, in fact, deliciously amazing. I chatted for a bit with the woman working, and she confirmed what the market staffer told me the day before: the cinnamon buns are a hit, and they tend to sell out fast! How fast? She brings seven tubs of rolls for the market, each holding about 16 buns (total: 112 buns+/-), each looking absolutely delectable in their waxed baggies—, and she usually sells out by 10. Luckily, we arrived by 8, and we had our pick—literally, as she let us pick which ones. We wandered around a bit, picked up more root beer and assorted sodas from Garrison Brewing, and made our way back up the hill to the hotel. Sidenote: All the walking makes me feel just a *little* less guilty about eating our way through the Maritimes. Just a little.

Initially, our plan was to hit the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market, visit the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, have lunch, visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and maybe even the art gallery. We were able to do everything but the Immigration Museum; Halifax has some incredible sights and museums, and, unfortunately, we couldn’t fit them all in and do each justice. Ah, decisions.

Lunenburg is one of those historic towns that begs for the use of words like “cute,” “charming,” and “quaint,” and “picturesque”—and it lives up to each one. I’ll be honest: I saw the photos in guidebooks and online and wondered if the town would really look that way or if those images were just due to camera and editing skills. You know what? Lunenburg is the real deal—it’s a town that really is picture-perfect. But it’s also a town filled with rich culture and history…and even a few ghosts.

Our first full day in Nova Scotia showcased everything that’s so great about the region: the hospitality and generosity of its people, great fishing, good food, incredible landscape, and breathtaking scenery. Over the course of the next week or so, as we make our way around the island and then up and around Cape Breton, we’re going to explore as many nooks and crannies of this province that we can…and in so doing, I’m sure we’ll fall more and more in love with all of it.

Let’s start out with the old adage, “Even the best laid plans…”

This was one of the days in the entire itinerary that I kept going back and forth on. I think I made four different reservations and canceled them all before deciding on where exactly we’d stay and what we’d do. And then even all of that changed. Bottom line: A lot of driving. But a day that ended in Digby, NS, eating Digby scallops. And lobster. Because, well, it’s lobster.

Ah, Bar Harbor...the town that perhaps set this entire road trip in motion 19 years ago. Then, we had been married a year and looking to do something small but special to celebrate our first anniversary. We initially thought of driving to Nova Scotia for a few days; however, with the cost of the ferry and the additional expense of bringing our car over, we deemed the trip would be too expensive. So we decided to at least do the drive and stay in the town from where we would have taken the ferry—Bar Harbor. And so began our love affair with Acadia National Park, which, according to the National Park Service is the “Crown Jewel of the North Atlantic Coast.”

I missed Monhegan the minute we left and vowed to return. It’s one of those places that sticks with you, and I was filled with questions and curiosities. Still, we needed to leave and continue on our journey, with our next stop just a mile down the road: Marshall Point Lighthouse, the lighthouse featured in the 1994 film Forrest Gump. The lighthouse is a beauty and so very worth the stop. That day, the bridge, the fog, the light itself—incredible. Ah, Maine. Maybe it’s true what the state’s welcome sign says; Maine really is the way life should be.

Monhegan certainly cast its spell on us. And yet, I couldn’t tell if G (the introvert) liked it at first—he kept saying it was so quiet, so still, that he wasn’t sure he could get used to it. That, however, was exactly what drew me (the extrovert) in. And then, by the time we were set to leave, both of us were ready to stay longer. One day just wasn’t enough.

Day two of our three-week road trip took us from Boothbay Harbor, Maine, through Rockland, and up to Camden. Two lighthouses, a burger, and another great old inn made for a fantastic second day!

While we live just about 15 miles from the Maine border, our travels these past 24 years together have largely skipped the Casco Bay area and focused either on southern Maine (Kittery, York, Ogunquit, and the Kennebunks), Freeport, or Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park. We’ve visited Portland a handful of times and few places in between all the others, but not often. Our Memorial Day trip to Hermit Island Campground in Phippsburg with our van changed that, as we finally had the chance to explore one of Maine’s “fingers” along Casco Bay. For this trip, we’ll be exploring parts of Maine on both the front and back ends, and we decided to make our first stop in Boothbay Harbor, a town we had only visited once before.

To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’ll driving up the coast of Maine with stops in Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Monhegan Island, and Bar Harbor. From there, we’ll cross the border to New Brunswick, visiting Campobello Island, St. Andrews, and then Fundy National Park. We’ll drive across to Nova Scotia and make our way around the province—all the way around and up and around Cape Breton Island. We’ll then travel from Wood Island, NS, across the Northumberland Strait to revisit PEI. After a few days there, we’ll head back home.