The morning of Day 2 found me well rested. I seriously slept like a log and was ready to tackle another day of being a tourist.

Our first stop was the Boston LDS Temple. But on the way, I saw this… The Laundromutt.  A self-service dog wash.  I thought the name was very clever and humorous and so I snapped a picture.  Hey look, there’s me in the lower left corner.  Upon reviewing my photos at home, after Vacation was over, I noticed the billboard for the Mini Cooper.  “Wicked cheap gas. Easy tah pahk.”   Did you know New England has it’s own language???  Now, you do.

Knowing we were a bit early for the fall color, I had to take a picture of these leaves since they were the first red we had seen, just in case we didn’t see anymore after that!!!

The Boston Temple is stunning, inside and out. We did a session, then walked around the grounds. I kept thinking how lucky the brides were to have such a photogenic temple. Beautiful architecture, lush vegetation, a greenbelt on one side of the temple, and a breathtaking view. I love being in a temple or on temple grounds. There is such a sweet spirit there. The temple is truly a place to escape the worldliness and ponder more heavenly and sacred things. I had brought a book with me to read in the airplane, and on the return flight I came across this passage: “You have to regularly clear your thoughts. This is best accomplished in a calm, quiet, soothing environment that inspires – a place where the constant noise of the regular world is not heard.” I started laughing. Here I was reading a business book that was tesifying of the importance of going to the temple! Being in a temple, a House of the Lord, is calm, quiet, and soothing. To say that the temple inspires is an understatement! The world IS constantly noisy. In the temple, we can clear our thoughts and focus on what really matters.

The greenbelt.

The view from the back side of the temple. So lush! And no rocky mountains!!

Sadly, our vacation could not be multiple weeks long. My husband could only take off so much time from work and we were trying to fit a lot in to just a few days. And so we bid adieu to Boston. I would love to go back sometime (hint hint!) and spend at least a week just in the Boston area.

And so, we were off to Maine. Luckily, states in the east are small and you can easily get from one place to the other in a very short time. The drive to Portland was just 2 hours. And what are Maine Points?? I don’t really know, but I thought it was a fun play on words.

Yes, we are in Lobster Country.

Just as an FYI, neither Chris nor I had ever been to any of these places. This was all new to both of us. However, once I did have my sights set on going to a photography school in Portland. So, we visited the school and got a little taste of what it would’ve been like had I gone there. Portland is an interesting city. Very artsy, and even with though it’s a city, it still felt small-townish. And old. Hello, everything back east is just teaming with history. The brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets just fascinate me.

My heart soars when I see people flying the flag. And this sweet girl was selling cupcakes out of her trailer. Later, we discovered she made the front page of the newspaper for being the first “foodtruck” in Portland. We should’ve stopped and purchased a cupcake or two. Support small businesses & entrepreneurs! Rock on, Love Cupcakes!!!

After exploring downtown Portland, it was time for our schooner sail. I’ll be honest. I was super super excited for this sail. And it did not disappoint!!! We sailed with the Portland Schooner Company on a 100 year old boat. The crew was friendly, humorous, and informative. We were able to help hoist the sails, and learn more history (of course!) and learn about the lighthouses.

Portland is the closest US port to Europe and therefore is a very important and busy port.

The Portland Headlight Lighthouse. Porbably THE most photographed lighthouse. Ever. Ok, at least in Maine.

Another schooner, the Frances. One of our deckhands and a family of little girls that sailed with us pretended they were pirates were threatening Frances’ passengers with their menacing “ARGH!”s.  (And there is a fort!  To the right of Frances.  I think that one was a Civil War era fort.)

We booked a “sunset sail” which means…. we were sailing at sunset. Coming from the west coast, it was interesting to experience the sunset-ing…. not into the ocean. It was definitely different being on the water and having the sun set behind the land.

Dinner. Everyone recommended the Portland Lobster Company and well, we can’t come all the way to Maine and not have lobster.  Chris got the Feast and a feast it was.  Not too much left over, eh?  The oysters were a little hard to stomach :/