Wheels Up at Dawn — The Long Way Home, and a Look Back

Every trip ends with an early alarm, and this one ended with a really early one. Our flight out of Burlington was at 6:25, which meant up before dawn, a quiet hotel hallway, and the rental car dropped at BTV while the airport was still mostly asleep. Pro tip earned the hard way over the years: top off the gas tank before you return a rental, and snap a few photos of the car at drop-off — odometer, fuel gauge, a quick walk-around — especially at a 5am unattended return. It’s thirty seconds of insurance against a surprise charge later.

We boarded on time in Burlington and lifted off as the sun was coming up over the lake — a pretty last look at Vermont on the way out.

A layover worth having

Home was two short hops with a connection at JFK, and the layover turned into one of the nicer parts of the morning. We had time for the Capital One Lounge in Terminal 4 — hot breakfast, real coffee, room to spread out — which with two kids and an early start is the difference between a stressful layover and a genuinely pleasant one. The kids got fed, I got a decent cup of coffee, and we grabbed a few snacks for the last leg before heading to the gate.

From there it was the short final hop down to Richmond, and we touched down at RIC right on time, late morning. Home safe, bags in the van, and that strange end-of-trip feeling where the driveway looks both completely familiar and a little smaller than you remembered.

Looking back

So that’s the trip: Maine to Vermont over two-plus weeks, four of us in a van and a tent and a string of hotels. Portland lobster rolls and the Old Port. Whale-watching out of Boothbay (two humpbacks!). A week in Acadia — camping at Blackwoods, the foggy first day, then the big clear day with Cadillac at sunrise and the walk across the sandbar to Bar Island. The grand old Omni at Mount Washington and the cog railway grinding up to the summit. And this last Vermont stretch — von Trapp lager in Stowe, the Ben & Jerry’s factory, and easy days on Lake Champlain in Burlington.

It wasn’t a fancy trip. It was a real one — the kind where the kids will remember the puffin and the ice cream graveyard and the cold lake, and Kristen and I will remember the golden-hour dinners on the water. Every leg gave us at least one thing worth this much typing. That’s a good trip.

Thanks for following along. Now, where to next.

That’s a wrap on New England 2026. → On to the next adventure.