Greenville, Maine

It has been almost three years since Nick and I began dating! Among the deep conversation that unfolded during our first date, Nick mentioned that he was thinking about taking a trip to Vermont to go skiing for part of Spring Break. I was surprised when he asked if I would be interested. I should tell you, I had never skied before but I was really interested in Nick, so I told him I was interested. About a week later Nick picked me up and we started our journey into New England, with Nick having giving me one new caveat to the trip: If there is no snow in Vermont, he would continue driving until he found snow. I agreed that I was okay with that and off we went. About 8 hours into the trip we realized quickly it was only raining in Vermont, New Hampshire, etc. and as promised Nick continued driving North. About 12 [or 14, who knows now] hours later we were in the middle of nowhere Maine, in the midst of snow piles easily 15 feet high and looking for a place to stay at one in the morning. We were very lucky and found Pleasant Street Inn, a beautiful bed and breakfast! If you check out the website, take a look at the tours of the rooms. Nick and I stayed in Room 8!

Our Bed and Breakfast had a wonderful house manager who took great care of us, especially that first night we showed up on her door step in the middle of a cold night. Each morning we were offered breakfast and advice about what we should see and where to go during the day. One of the things I wanted to see was a Moose. One afternoon Nick and I drove around for a while looking for Melvin the Moose, but without success. The almighty Moose still evades me; it's very upsetting. I suggest anybody up in Maine to take a look around for Moose! If you don't see one, you still get to see the beautiful landscape!!

This little bed and breakfast is walking distance from what was two very awesome establishments. The first was a great little snowmobile rental, ski and snowboard and gear store called Northern Outfitters. It was located right around the corner from our B&B, which was great for this first time skier [and shopping addict]. I was able to pick up some pretty great gear, while Nick shopped for new skies. Yep, he bought skies! Since we arrived so late the first night, we decided to take it easy and stay around the area, so our little ski shop rented us a snowmobile and we went out and around Moosehead Lake! It was such great fun! We spent half a day exploring the Greenville area on our snowmobile. One very awesome thing about Maine is it has an intrastate for snowmobiles [in the winter] and four-wheelers [in the summer]. It is awesome to be able to travel all around Maine on something like a snowmobile, but remember to dress in layers and take a rest because your butt will begin to hurt!!

After a half day of exploring the area we worked up an awful big appetite! So very near our ski shop and bed and breakfast was The Black Frog, an awesome restaurant that has dining that overlooks the lake. It had a great atmosphere and was very laid back. I remember stuffing my face with all of the great food they had.

Finally, we did go there to ski. So we ended up skiing on Saddleback Mountain. While we were there the weather conditions were pretty harsh. The first night we arrived it was snowing like crazy, when we woke up the next morning [our first full day] an additional 12 inches fell and the next day an additional 6 to 12 inches fell. It was WONDERFUL for people who love snow, like Nick and I! However, with the snow came lots of wind, which made conditions on one of the local mountains very dangerous. We were only able to get out there one full day. I had a great time learning how to ski, but I was very scared! The mountain had a nice program for beginners - there was a 1/2 day training course by an expert skier so I was in great hands! I psyched myself out well before I got in my skis so I was a little tense most of the day!

I would recommend this adventure to ANYBODY! It was a great experience with my very new man and it is something we talk about frequently! In fact, we were so inspired during this trip that we went up again during another Spring Break, but we traveled to a different location [which I will be blogging about soon!]

Until next time,
Happy Adventuring!!

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Overlooking Moosehead Lake
Photo adapted from The Black Frog

Pleasant Street Inn
photo adapted from Pleasant Street Inn