Out Of Office: A New England Road Trip with the Rolex Submariner

There’s perhaps no better iconic fall roadtrip in the US than through New England, so when I set out for an autumn trip, I knew just where I had to go. The trip would consist of arriving in Boston and driving up the coast to Acadia National Park in Maine. I had three goals in mind: only bring one watch, only bring one camera, and take lots of photos. 

It was dark and foggy as I snapped my seatbelt in the Jeep ready to take off on our New England adventure. The starting point was Boston, Massachusetts. The chilled air had both me and my husband hovering our hands over the heated air vents to warm them up. I put on our tunes and off we went, heading up Route 1A to reach our destination point for the night, York Harbor, Maine. Being that we were taking this trip in October, it felt like it wouldn’t be complete without stopping in Salem, and boy am I sure glad we did. While we didn’t do any of the haunted witch tours, we did enjoy the architecture and history of this small quaint town. Seeing women of all ages wearing witch attire strolling the leaf ridden streets in Salem was just the jump I needed to get fully into Halloween season. Looking down on the wrist was my Rolex Submariner 124060, and well…the black on black just seemed to fit in perfectly here. 

When I decided which watch to bring with me on this fall road trip, I knew that I was going to be gone for an entire week, which meant that whatever watch I chose needed to be versatile. Believe it or not, I don’t have a ton of watches in my collection that go with everything. I tend to pick up watches that are colorful, geeky, and strike me as something special regardless of if it goes with all my clothing outfits. So the Sub was the easy choice for me here. On that note, I also picked the Leica Q2 as my sole camera on this trip. This camera is pretty well talked about in the watch community as such a great tool for its macro capabilities, so it needs little introduction. But the size,weight, and autofocus functions were what struck me to grab this vs some of my more manual cameras on the shelf.

Next stop from Salem was Gloucester, a fishing town on Cape Anne, in Massachusetts. It’s actually the oldest fishing town in America, which the town is fiercely proud of. It’s easy to see why as we pulled into a little park on the water. The fishing boats all anchored in the bay became one of my favorite sites on this trip. The backdrop of cedar houses in the background only made it better. We googled to see if there were any other notable spots in this adorable town, and quickly found a lighthouse. We parked the car in the little gravel road leading up to the Eastern Point Lighthouse, and hiked our way through the rocky trail to the breakwater to get an overview of the entire lighthouse. It was such a beautiful day and if you look really really closely in my photograph of the lighthouse, you can see butterflies flying all around me. Sort of magical.

After resting for the night at the cutest place, Asticou Inn, in the Northeast Harbour of Acadia, we headed off into the National Park. Even though October could yield some of Acadia’s biggest crowds of the year, we found that the first week of October was actually not too bad. We never found ourselves completely surrounded by people or waiting in long lines to park. That’s not to say it wasn’t busy, but it was certainly manageable, and if you’re like me and don’t love hiking trails with everyone and their mom, stick to early October. Some of the best views we saw in Acadia were actually either from car overlooks, or simply from easy access trails.  

One notable trail that was great for all ages was at Jordan Pond. Formed by glaciers, this mountain lake has great views all around. Still, I couldn’t help but glance down at my Submariner while we were there. I had recently purchased an L.L. Bean Anorak for the windy weather there and man, that black diver just popped against the yellow jacket. I’ve recently discovered one detail I love so much about my watches is their side profile. It has to be just right. It can be thick or thin, but that side profile has to really catch my eye. A strange thing really, it’s not something you typically notice on yourself most times with the way our wrist maneuvers when checking the time, but I really love the Submariner’s side profile. I have a hard time explaining what that x-factor is in a watch. I suppose it comes down to design.

The next morning we awoke to a very chilly and gloomy morning on the Bar Harbor side of Acadia. After necessary pancakes at Jordan’s Restaurant, we headed off back into the park. This time making our way from Sand Beach to Thunder Hole, and turning back around once we reached the Otter Point Overlook. The typical Maine landscape was so beautiful, especially on this very cloudy day. As the sprinkles started coming down out of the sky, I was thankful for bringing that Anorak. And, of course, the Submariner which could handle a little water I think during this hike. With Submariner being designed for divers, it always struck me as the perfect go anywhere watch. There’s not much I could throw at it that it wouldn’t have a hard time adapting to. I guess that’s why I’m attracted to dive watches so much. I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth out of a watch if I can wear it in nearly every situation.

One more sort of gem spot we discovered on this trip was a little trail, justly named Little Long Pond. A very short trail but…it was full of dogs. If you’re a dog lover like me and you’re away from your fur babies at home, this is the place to refuel on that puppy love. So many were running around and playing in the pond. You instantly get the feel this is where the locals come to get away form the tourist spots and just relax. The hike through the woods and around the Little Long Pond was easy on the ears, with so many birds singing their tunes the entire time. Felt a little wanderlust at times in the mossy woods. The lake house was barren of anybody or any boats and a great place to take a rest or eat a snack after a long day of hiking.

If you are looking to head up to Maine during the fall season, the first week of October is, I have to say, a great time to go. While all the leaves may not be completely changed, most of them are and you’ll enjoy the smaller crowds at some of the more popular hiking destination spots. The weather could not have been more perfect either, ranging from 50-68 most days we were there. And Bar Harbor is a fantastic little town. Although tourist heavy, the locals are sweet and the food was delicious. And yes, you bet I ate more than one Lobster Roll on this trip of ours. Having traveled less in the last few years with everything going on, this was a great reminder to get out there, use your gear, and be thankful for places like upstate New Hampshire and Maine where the towns are small and the food is plentiful.