I heard the western side is a better bet during cloudy nights? It’s been/going to be cloudy all nights of our stay and I’d be heartbroken if I didn’t at least try to go stargazing (from the city so even peeks of the stars through clouds will be beautiful to see). where would you recommend for stargazing on the west side of MDI?
TLDR: highly recommend this trail for those with adventurous kids who want some “rock climbing” and more intense hiking, who also want stunning, rewarding views plus a bonus rocky beach at the end. (Obviously recommend to those without kids’s too just giving my specific review with kids!)
Wanted to share thoughts on Flying Mountain! We were a little wary but after my youngest (4) had the best time climbing the rocks around the Dorr Mountain trailhead we decided to give it a try. We did the hike with four kids. It starts off with stairs that turn into rocks to climb. All of my kids had a great time going up and my 4 year old did it almost completely independently. We had to hold her hand over just a handful of areas on the way up (on the way down we did carry her down a few parts).
A few of us did get some scrapes and cuts (and I bruised my knee, hit it hard going down a big rock) but it’s worth it and what good hike doesn’t come with some mild injuries? 😅
We passed several other families with young kids and even a family with a toddler (who was in a backpack). There were also several older adults.
The views at the top are stunning! Sorry I couldn’t get better pictures obviously we all know photos never do a scene justice.
There’s an overlook sign, don’t skip checking out that area too!
As a mom, I will say there were a few points where my heart was in my stomach over the drop off, but nothing horrible, and I have a mild fear of heights, so I’m very picky about cliffs and drop offs but this didn’t feel bad. The family behind us for a bit was very very cautious of their kids though and did seem a bit extra worried at times the way they were calling out to their kids, but it was several young boys who kept running ahead.
Near the end of the hike there is a beach with equally beautiful views.
Just keep in mind there’s still a decent walk to the parking lot after the beach. The info online made it seem like the beach was the end of the hike, but there is a relatively flat, .5 mile gravelly road to walk between the beach and the parking lot. Just something to keep in mind (some of my kids were done with the hike by that point and felt it was a lot, I definitely didn’t mind it but something to keep in mind).
Guys after a lifetime of using Expedia and Priceline (with occasional direct bookings) I’ve recently been hearing all the benefits of booking direct with hotels. Great.
I found the hotel I want and went in on both Priceline and direct to compare prices. Priceline is about $200 cheaper after all taxes etc are added on (of course I ensured dates, room type, and But wait! Hilton has a price match guarantee! Excellent! Then I find out it has to be the public rate, non-VIP. (VIP on Priceline is basically something every member gets). Well too bad because in that case prices are about the same so never mind, might as well book on Priceline. So what’s the point of the price match guarantee?
Then I go through direct and I have 10,000 points saved up from a previous stay. Im like ok I’ll use them so I can book direct. NOPE! Haha. Thought you could save? PSYCH! You have to spend your points on the standard rate!!!
Tell me why it’s better to book direct then? We’re not loyal to any one brand we are budget travelers and take what’s cheapest for the best value. I can also get 8% cash back on Rakuten.
I’ll have an open mind just convince me one way or the other
We loved Acadia so much last summer we’re going again this year for longer (5 days). We already did many of the top sights (hiked Jordan Pond, stargazed on Sand beach, Thunder Hole, Schoodic peninsula, lighthouse at sunset, etc) and would like to see more including some lesser known gems. I already have a basic itinerary for most of the 5 days we’re there but would love advice on more choices of what to do to fill out some of the days.
My husband wants to fish there, what area(s) would you recommend?
We have young kids who love nature and hiking but we have to take into account that we can only do easy-ish hikes and stuff. I’m so glad I found this group and have been reading through everyone’s posts. Just would love to get your recommendations!
We loved the vibe and general experience of Acadia so much we decided to go there again this year for longer. Last year we only spent 3 days in the park. This year we’re planning 4-5. Looking for recommendations for a family with young kids.
-We enjoyed the Jordan Pond hike SO much last year but it was a bit tough length-wise on the kids. So looking for similarly family friendly hikes but shorter, preferably with beautiful views.
-Fishing recommendations? Already have researched all the license stuff. We have our own gear. Just need real people’s recommendations for a good spot.
-Star gazing is a must! We want to do a star ranger program since we missed it last year, what does that involve? Possibly also a night with some quick stargazing of our own, we did Sand Beach last year, thinking Jordan Pond for stargazing this year but can we see good views near the beginning of the trail near the parking lot or is a hike needed to get to a good viewing spot?
-Best tide pool spot recommendations for seeing creatures? My kids would LOVE that. Our timing just didn’t quite work out last time and we missed all good tidepool times.
And honestly anything else you recommend! In anddition to what I mentioned above we also already did the welcome center/museum at Schoodic peninsula (I think? Had the old Morse code machines?) did some rock climbing by the ocean, and thunder hole. No Cadillac Mountain preferably unless it doesn’t involve steep dropoffs and/or tight turns when driving.
Quite the opposite of the inheritance thread. Anyone else know in advance they’ll probably have to help out their parent(s) financially as they age? Important note: I don’t mean to complain and I’m more than happy to support my mom as she supported me growing up. But it stings a bit seeing friends getting help from parents while for me it’s the opposite.
My mom in particular was a stay at home mom most of her life. Divorced from my dad. We already occasionally need to help her out with rent. Thankfully there’s a few of us siblings so we share the responsibility. She hates working and talks about being excited to retire soon (she’s 60) but…yeah. We’ll see how this goes. I wish I was rich and could help her retire now and live comfortably. In a perfect world and all….
For fun I thought I’d show my top Vine favorite beauty products…the ones I tend to reach for day after day that seem to have worked best for me. I can tell these must be doing something collectively haha because my skin feels amazingly soft and smooth even when I take break days from skin care or forget to use stuff that day. I don’t use all of these at once of course, but will use a mix of each every few days, along with other Vine scores mixed in between.
Cleansing/scrub:
Tirtir Milk Pack Cleanser (hate the smell but good gentle cleanser that suds up so nicely)
Apothe Baku-Kaol Brightening Scrub Cleanser (jam packed with tiny gentle abrasive perlite. Love how my face feels afterwards)
Toner:
CRL Pore Refining Toner Pads
Soonding Cool Calming Toner Pads (not pictured) are a close second
Serums:
Lu’Pium Calming Repair Serum (loving cica-containing products these days!)
Soycube Exorepair serum (this smells really good without irritating my skin)
Face creams
Seoul 1988 Repair Cream (fell in love from the first use. Has an overnight smoothing/softening effect on my skin and has high concentrations of active ingredients)
Lu’Pium Calming Repair Cream (another cica product! Also it’s the lightest cream I’ve gotten from Vine perfect for summer)
Eyes
Boncept Retinol Eye Cream (to be honest this is the only name brand undereye product I’ve gotten from Vine 😅 besides Maree which I lost somewhere lol)
Hands/body
Sol de Janeiro Bella Flor Elasti-Cream (the scent is SO good I’m OBSESSED. I love this cream on my hands it hydrates so well. I will use a little on my cheeks occasionally but it’s too scented and thick for my acne-prone t zone so that’s why it’s mostly a hand cream for me. I’d use it elsewhere but I don’t want to finish it lol it may actually be the first Vine product I end up buying after I finish it).
Second pic shows honorable mention products!! Stuff I still love but take it easy on using either due to sensitivity, the scent not being my favorite, or just not seeing as immediate results as my faves.
Sorry that was so long but I had fun writing this all out. What are your favorites? (And for those that don’t have nearly this much, I truly hope you get there soon! I went almost a year before being offered regular beauty!)
Got this from my RFY the other day!!! I only get beauty once every few days but when I do it’s been good stuff! (yesterday I missed some Bumble and Bumble hair primer but was still cool it was in my RFY!)
Sorry I’m sure you get a ton of these. I’m just curious if my daughter might have a teeny bit of the red haired gene in her. I have naturally dark blonde hair but ancestry DNA says I carry the gene for red hair. Plus there are lots of redheads in my family. My daughter‘s hair is a medium brown but very so often, only in bright sunlight, I find myself doing a double take at her hair because I’ll see what seems to be a hint of a red undertone in there. Figured I’d check if there was a Reddit group I could ask and of course there is haha. Is it possible to have a little red in there but not really be a true redhead if that makes sense?
we recently moved and we inherited a backyard garden. I inherited a ton of weeds but also some fig trees and more good surprises. I know for a fact I have quite a few porcelain berries, however, I also have one vine that has the paper-like peeling and seems to be real grape (wild or cultivated maybe not sure). I’m so confused and to make matters worse they seem to be entangled with each other (plus the fig trees and some poison ivy to boot!)
Anyway I’m tackling one issue at a time and do you think these two pics could be actual grapes? The entanglement is so bad I can’t tell if they come form the grape vine. The clusters that seem to be porcelain berries (that are all obviously pointing upwards) are still tiny.
So I posted about my biggest beauty score, I had never heard of the company but the brand website said it was a $305 product!!! the product listing on Amazon though said $9.99, but the listing was removed after I claimed the cream on Vine so looks like it was just a temporary placeholder price, although some were thinking I might receive a sample size.
Then someone pointed out the product listing said .85 oz so I’d probably get a smaller version, but I was sent the 1.7 oz! Crazy thing is though the outer sticker says .85 while the bottle is 1.7?
And wheewww luxury beauty is fancy. Forget about a little plastic spoon this one comes with a heavy (for its size) golden metal spoon engraved with the company name, stored in a velvet pouch. So fancy schmancy. The cream is a cool shade of purple. And it smells really high end, if that makes sense. Like a perfume smell more than a cream smell. It really reminds me of the fancy little creams my mom would get from buying stuff at the mall back in the day (like when they would give you a small night cream, eye balm, and a bag when you bought perfume from Estee lauder or something, she would get people perfume and cologne as gifts and then collect the free gifts).
Just thought I’d share for anyone interested, because apparently just last month it was different.
I was up for re-evaluation on June 6th. On June 6th at exactly 8 pm EST pretty much on the dot (because I checked my RFY at 8 pm sharp then immediately checked my account page) my account page greyed out with the message that I completed my evaluation period. This morning (June 8th at 7 am EST) I woke up to the message that my eval was completed (last night around 2 am was the last time I checked before that and was still being evaluated). So yeah! I figured I’d post since just last month quite a few people were saying they were being suddenly reviewed like a week early or so.
Yesterday and today were great days for beauty…and today I got a cream that is worth $305! I didn’t recognize the brand name but claimed anyway. It has an ETV of $9.99 so I was second guessing my choice…until I googled the cream! it’s $305 on the company website as well as on retailer sites. Eek!!!
I also got some Farmstay serum today, and passed on some Vigority face cream (it’s a newer brand i Think ChatGPT called it a white label brand). Yesterday I got Ouiloe bikini scrub and soap scrub (Ouiloe is a good brand I’ve been getting in and off in my RFY for months now).
Keep refreshing! No beauty but I got several Vtech toys, a Klutz craft set, some Amazon Basics plastic utensils, and tons of other name brand stuff is dropping every minute or so. I think I even saw a printer but it was gone so quickly (and I don’t need one so I didn’t try for it).
I got a toy camera and a lullaby star, they also had My Pal Violet but I already have one so I passed! Keep refreshing!
So this has been happening way too many times now.
The first pic with Lu’pium and Skinfood: this was the other day, both times I checked around 5 mins after the hour and these two were just sitting there in my RFY. I was sure they’d be ghost items but both went through. Both are known k beauty items so I was super surprised.
Second pic: I’ve learned my skin doesn’t like vitamin C so I left this unclaimed for a few hours. The next morning I woke up to see my husband had claimed it at some point overnight, so it sat a few hours at least.
3rd pic: wanted this but my husband used up all my picks that day. Was able to claim the next morning?! So it sat for like 8+ hours?
4th: skipped because no name brand, husband later claimed it (not a surprise it sat though being no-name)
Wow, that was a nice surprise to wake up to. Around 11 am I got a notification that a drop was happening, and logged into Vine to see a huge influx of products dumped all at once. I’m never up anymore for the middle-of-the-night drop, so I was happy to have a lot of choices. My evaluation is coming up in 2 weeks so I kept it simple with just a few things, although I saw a ton of stuff I would’ve snatched up had I been further from my review.
As you can see it’s nothing pricey or glamorous but I was happy to get these which are all things I need (the walkie talkies will be a holiday gift)!
It was only $109 ETV so not as pricey (or brand name) as some get, but I’m so so happy with this! I would say this is easily my favorite score going back months. it was in my RFY a few days ago and I snatched it up within seconds of it showing up in my RFY haha I was taking no chances.
I just used it for the first time today with random fruits i had around the house and it works perfectly. Can’t wait to look up a bunch of healthy juicing recipes.