Fall Family Weekend in Rockland/Camden Maine

This past weekend, we took a little family vacation up north to Samoset Resort in Rockland, Maine. Nick’s family has a timeshare there from forever ago and we haven’t been in years so we brought Tommy for a very Fall focused weekend.

I was so nervous about the drive up since it is about 4 hours from Boston but Tommy did great, sleeping about 3 of the hours and watching shows I downloaded from Netflix the rest of the time.

We arrived right around dinner time and ate at the resort restaurant. Tommy was a trooper and sat still by watching another show. He ate 4 slices of pizza for dinner. I have never seen him eat so much!

I had the lobster and crab ravioli that was amazing! I need to recreate this dish with the same flavor profile using butternut squash, spinach and sun dried tomatoes. I’ll probably forgo the lobster chunks but still, this combo was delicious!

Saturday morning was a pleasant surprise when Tommy almost slept until 7 am. He slept in a pack and play next to our bed. He was super distracting and I didn’t get the bed sleep but he was so snuggly in the morning it didn’t matter.

We headed into Rockland to grab breakfast and coffee before visiting the playground at our resort. Rockland has a cute main street with shops, cafes, restaurants and museums. Since it was early most were closed but the bakery we found was delicious and made the best breakfast sandwiches on homemade bread.

Tommy was obsessed with this playground. It looks smaller in the photo than it really is. There were two different structures, 6 slides and plenty of thing for him to climb on his own. The swings were also a hit as always.

Afterwards, we decided to walk the Rockport breakwater, which our hotel overlooks. We had on idea how far it was but by the time we were half way, there was no turning back. Tommy wanted to walk and it wasn’t the safest with all the gaps between rocks. We almost brought our jogging stroller but didn’t think it would be flat enough but it totally was. 

This walk to the lighthouse was just under a mile and took us almost 90 minutes round trip! Tommy was obsessed with the ducks and would get upset if there were none. “More ducks,” he kept asking. I was happy to reach the end for some great photos. 

This was my exercise for the day and I was very happy about that decision. Afterwards, Tommy and Daddy needed a little rest on the hammock and watch the golfers.

Samoset has the most beautiful golf course. When we came years ago without Tommy, I joined Nick on the course and hit the ball a bit as it was very quiet (and cold!).

There were not a ton of kid things offered at the resort because it was the “off season” but Tommy just loved chasing the ducks, playing in the leaves, throwing bean bags and being outside. It didn’t hurt that it was also 65 degrees outside.

After nap time which was spent in the jogging stroller because he kept crawling out of the pack and play, we went to Hope Orchard to pick up some pumpkin and go apple picking.

I have been meaning to go apple picking for probably 3 years now, and Nick refuses to go with me. I don’t really like apples and there are no orchards close by the city. So, to go apple picking, you really need to make a day of it. I thought Nick would be more into it for the sake of Tommy but he argued he was too young. I won, and we went to Hope Orchards…

Tommy wanted to bite every apple he picked. When we tried to put it in the bag, he had a mini meltdown, until he picked another apple that he wanted to hold and bite. This continued for about 4 apples before I decided this was not fun. I didn’t even know Tommy liked apples. Maybe he was hungry???

After our apple failure, we picked out a few pumpkins and I grabbed an apple crisp recipe kit. I didn’t even have enough apples to make apple crisp but whatever… haha.

For dinner, we went to the Whitehall Inn in Camden. The restaurant, Pig and Poet, was so delicious and cute. I got a fish entree that was delicious but I can’t remember the fish or what it was called but I highly recommend the place.

We went early for happy hour and I enjoyed two $6 glasses of rose, normally $10. Beers also happened to be $3 all night! I think it was because it was their last night of the season operating the restaurant but I don’t know for certain.

Tommy had great fun playing on the shuffle board court with bocci balls while we enjoyed our pre-dinner drinks. 

Sunday was spent sleeping in as much as we could, stopping by the playground again and grabbing lunch in Rockland before driving back 4 hours. We left at nap time and Tommy slept for about 2.5 hours, an hour longer than a good nap at home, and then watched shows on the iPad until we got home. He did so well.

Camden and Rockland are gorgeous places to visit in Maine, in the fall or summer (obviously). We try to go once a year and can’t wait to go back. I highly recommend checking out the Whitehall Inn