February Break in Freeport, Maine: The Adults Only Version

For Christmas, our goddaughter Haley had given us the gift of an overnight of babysitting.  We planned a trip up to Freeport, Maine at the tail end of Christmas break...and then Declan came down with the stomach bug.  Unsure of whether or not the bug would spread through the house, we cancelled the trip and decided to go later on in the spring when the weather would be nicer.  My parents had reserved a week at a condo in New Hampshire for last week, and we figured that would be our winter trip up north anyway.  But then my mom hurt her hip, and my sister (who was supposed to share the week with us) got the flu, and that NH trip also got cancelled.  The cherry on top of all the sadly cancelled plans was that Valentine's Day fell on Ash Wednesday and it just seemed like 2018 was starting to be a very disappointing year.  I wanted to get away real bad.  I looked at the weather reports for Maine and the tail end of vacation week looked nice, and the Inn where we had originally wanted to stay had a room available (with a jacuzzi!) and Haley was available to babysit and even the NFP angels were smiling upon us...so we booked it and off we went!

We left early in the morning on Thursday and stopped at a nice seafood restaurant for lunch just minutes away from where we were staying.  I had gotten a Groupon for The Muddy Rudder and we had $50 to spend for lunch which was extravagant for us.  

It was a gray, muddy day, but this view must be gorgeous in the summer time.  I'll take the view across the table in any season :)

I knew I wanted lobster, because hello!  Maine!  but sadly they only had lobster meat, not whole lobsters, so I settled for a lobster roll and was not disappointed.  

The waitress was so sweet and found out we were on a romantic getaway and that we had seven kids, and every time she came to our table she had questions about our life.  Then we could hear her relaying our info to the other waitstaff.  "They have SEVEN children!  She's only 38!  6 boys and only 1 girl!  The oldest is about to turn 15 and the youngest is 18 months! etc. etc. etc."  I love how older people whisper-yell :)

Phil buys into the Jim Gaffigan theory that people like lobster just because they like butter, but I truly love both!  Ha!  He's a land lover, and ordered steak tips and then we each had Creme Brulee for dessert which is my absolute favorite.  Quite possibly our best lunch ever.  In the bathroom, they had this cool exfoliating soap that fishermen use:

Phil and I were cracking each other up by playing Truth or Dare at lunch.  He is giggling below because I had just finished a dare.  Earlier, we overheard someone at a table tell their waitress it was their son's birthday.  The waitress said that meant they got free cake!  So Phil had dared me to sing "Happy Birthday" really loud when they brought the cake to the birthday boy.  We went along with our lunch, and as I was taking this photo, wouldn't you know, the waitress brought the cake to the birthday boy so I had to start shout-singing Happy Birthday across the room to complete my dare.  Colleen ain't no quitter!

We waddled to the car for our short 5 minute drive to the Harraseeket Inn:

It's an older inn with so much character!  We got the King Room with a jacuzzi:

We had to put on our robes and send this photo to my mom and dad, who love the place.  I've never worn a hotel robe in my life!

Every afternoon, they have Tea and you can fill up on little sandwiches and fruits and baked goodies and tea (duh!) and I imagine if you only have a smallish appetite, this could pass for dinner. 

While we were enjoying our tea time, the staff was placing a Fruit and Cheese plate in our room because they found out it was almost my birthday:

Then we went out on the town shopping!  Freeport, Maine is the home of L.L. Bean and the campus (yes, campus!) is huge with all sorts of stores and places to eat.

We walked all around the town and visited lots of little shops and outlet stores and just had the best time hanging out together.  The town is so cute!

Since our appetites are biggish, we went out to dinner at the Tavern at the Inn.  It was hopping!  Some kind of knitting convention was going on, so there were a lot of older ladies with their yarn and needles sitting around the fireplaces and lobby areas.  We felt like the youngest patrons by far, and we ain't that young!  After dinner, we went for a walk again:

The lights on the trees always look so magical.  Better in real life.  We had to take a picture of the famous L.L.Bean boot.  There was a group of four guys taking pictures, so I offered to take the photo for them and they could all get in it.  Then I got super awkward embarrassed when they asked to take our photo, and said no thanks and walked in the store.  Posing for photos in front of strangers is so strange, and having four guys doing it is even more awkward!  I worked up my nerve and by the time we exited the store, I asked a guy to take our photo.  Phew!

Lobstahs everywhere!

The next morning, we ate the breakfast buffet at the Inn (both the Tea and the Breakfast are included!) and were able to eat plenty even though the meat options were off the table since it was a Friday in Lent.  (And please take note of how much butter Phil has on his bread - looks like someone might like lobster after all!)

We checked out and walked through the town again.  Look at the fire pit tables at the restaurant owned by L.L Bean's daughter, Linda Bean:

And do you know what this building is?  It's a restaurant.  One that you all will know...

That's right!  The McDonald's in Freeport, Maine looks like a house!

We stopped in the Tuscan Bistro for a quick (meatless) lunch before hitting the road to get back home.

We picked up some Wicked Whoopie Pies and some moose chocolate lollipops to bring for the kids and then proceeded to get stuck in traffic on the way home.  But we had some fun in the car too!  (I was able to convince Phil to let me post these!) We were very happy to get home to these smiling faces:

Goofballs!  

I'm so glad we took this trip, went alllll the way to Maine (only 3 hours, but still) and the kids had a ton of fun with Haley (bowling, donuts, and playgrounds!).  We really needed this little marriage retreat and as we say every time we get away, WE REALLY NEED TO DO THIS MORE OFTEN :)