Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
The warm days are becoming a rarity already and in Maine when there’s sunshine and warmer temperatures you get the hell out of the house and enjoy them. Once the snow starts to fly around here you can be sure that for the next five months it’s multi-layer clothing, boots, parkas, hats, ear muffs, and gloves.
My better-half and I decided to try a little spontaneity yesterday when we rolled out of bed and saw the sun shining and the temperatures in the high fifties. As we cruised around looking for a decent cup of coffee I made the decision to spend the remainder of the day in the city of Portland. Portland is a great place to walk around, kill some time, and people watch. Parking always seems to be an issue whether it’s tourists in the Summer or huge piles of plowed snow in the Winter. We rode up and down Commercial street looking for a parking spot and got lucky rather quickly.
As we were entering the city and driving along the waterfront we saw in the distance three huge cruise ships that had stopped in Portland for a visit. They’re a blessing for the local economy but always clog the city with tourists and street vendors.
We worked our way down Commercial street to the Dry Dock restaurant. It’s become one of our favorite spots to relax, have a drink, and some good food. I normally go straight to the menu looking for sea food but not today. I had a bowl of hearty chicken and rice soup that was to die for along with a smoked turkey and cheddar sandwich. I’m a real bread lover and that sandwich was made with an incredibly fresh rye bread baked earlier in the day.
We finished our meal and visited a few other businesses along the street so the better-half could deal with her shopping addiction. We stopped at Mexicali Blues for some incense and a sari that the better-half plans on converting to some sort of window treatment for the kitchen.
It was also required by my better-half that we make a stop at the beer drinkers Mecca, The Craft Beer Cellar. More beer varieties that I could ever imagine but since I don’t drink beer I spent my time looking through the mead selections. I settled on a locally brewed honey mead that was a little pricey but worth it. It’ll be a nice addition for us to enjoy with our Christmas dinner. The better-half spent alm0ost 30 minutes talking beer with the proprietor and finally settled on some sort of double IPA that I never heard of.
Then it was a quick ride back to our house with enough sunshine left in the day for me and the cat to spend a comfy hour on the deck. We’re getting very close to the time of the year when the sun will only shine occasionally so we have to enjoy it when we can.
There’s a chill in the night air these days and I certainly know what that means. It means we have just a month or so before we start dismantling the garden, cleaning and inspecting the heating system, and unpacking all of our Winter clothing. This summer came and went much too quickly.
This week the better-half had two days-off which means only one thing . . . Road Trip! We made our way westward across Maine and entered New Hampshire just north of Lake Winnipesaukee and proceeded north through the lakes region. We traveled mostly on the back roads where the traffic is light and the scenery is spectacular.
Of course as you can imagine, my better-half required numerous pee stops, coffee breaks, and an obsession to stop at every dirty and filthy antique shop (her term, not mine). This was the nicest one we saw the entire day.
The roads we chose wound in and around the numerous small lakes and ponds and made for a great ride. All the while we could see the White Mountains slowly approaching in the distance.
After a few hours we arrived in Conway, New Hampshire which is a town known for it’s never-ending supply of outlet stores. Normally the better-half could spend an entire day roaming around this area and shopping . . . but not today. Fortunately for me we both received matching text messages from our home alarm system that reported a motion alarm on our enclosed and locked rear porch. It was the perfect excuse to leave immediately for home which we did.
Luckily it was just a false alarm that actually saved me from an addition two or three hours of shopping. All in all it was a great day with a lot of sunshine and the discovery of a little jewel of a pizza shop in the bustling metropolis of Cornish, ME. If you’re in the area and you like pizza, stop and have lunch at Susie Q’s. Good food, good prices, and friendly people.
It’s another week of our normal screwy summer weather to deal with. We went from wearing hoodies and sweatpants on the Fourth of July to a period of sweltering heat and humidity. There never seems to be any middle ground with the weather in Maine. Just once I’d love to see a week with seventy degree weather with low humidity.
The better-half was scheduled to have one of those rare weekends where she didn’t have to work. We always try to spend her days off doing something together but with her working, the grand children, and other obligations, it’s not as easy as it once was. Since we really enjoy our road trips we decided to go exploring for the day. The best way to start any day-off on any given summer Saturday is at the beach.
One of our favorite places is a small and cozy little restaurant in Old Orchard Beach located about fifty yards from the water. It’s normally crowded with tourists and beach folk which makes people watching a lot of fun. The meals are always good but not great. The coffee is always great but not excellent. The waitresses are unusual with a hottie or two thrown in for good measure. It helps to have some one nice to look at when your eating their mediocre food.
We then made our way inland towards Naples, Maine which sits along the shore of Sebago Lake. It was a beautiful day and the place was packed with tourists. It was too crowded for our liking so we continued on to the small town of Bridgeton, Maine. This is more like a village, off the beaten path, loaded with many small antique shops, and art galleries. The people are always friendly, the prices are always reasonable, and the general store is outrageous.
We both made a few ridiculous purchases and hopped from place to place where the air conditioners were working. It was one of those rare Maine days when the temperatures remained above ninety for most of the day and the sun was brutal.
We left Bridgton and decided to get lost for a while. With all of the lakes in this area it’s easy to lose your sense of direction as the roads wind in and around them. We became lost enough where I felt it necessary to plug in the GPS unit to help us find our way home. How did we ever survive all those years without GPS? After another hour we finally arrived home sweaty and tired. The house was unbearably hot requiring us to turn on every ceiling fan in the place. It was like sitting on the runway at a airport. It cooled the house enough to make it bearable and we settled in for the night. Sleeping was a chore but we were tired enough to ignore the heat.
We always have a fun day together when we have enough time to clear our heads from the normal every day rat-race. I’m looking forward to the next one already.
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