Happy Labor Day for what it’s worth.  It’s one of those holidays that has slowly morphed into something it was never meant to be.  It currently is the day to celebrate the end of Summer instead of a celebration of the citizens that made this country great. I understand that everything is destined to change at some future point but sometimes it’s not all that great.

My better-half had the day off which is always something to celebrate so we decided to do a little cruising around southern Maine to enjoy the sunny and warm weather. Cameras in hand we made our way south along Rt. 202 towards the city of Sanford.  I enjoy returning to Sanford because I lived there as a single parent to my cat for nine years.  It was fun to cruise around and see all of the changes that have taken place in a town that really needed a lot of change.

In the small village of Alfred, ME we made a quick stop at the Notre Dame Monastery. This is a religious group of Brothers who maintain and work a  large farm as well as a bakery and a small gift shop.  Much of the money raised by the sales of baked goods helps to fund the York County Community Shelter. It’s home to some homeless folks, victims of domestic violence, and a variety of court ordered individuals.

We love stopping to get pictures of their large sunflower patch and to visit the bakery.  We picked up an incredibly delicious loaf of wheat bread, a cookie for her, and a raspberry crisp for me.  Everyone needs a little sweetness once in a while.

We decided we should stop in some small out of the way place to enjoy a good hearty breakfast.  Years ago we occasionally lunched at a little hole-in-the-wall located just outside of Sanford that unfortunately went out of business shortly thereafter. It’s since been reopened with a new owner and a really nice face lift.  It’s now called Mel’s Raspberry Patch.

The place is small with maybe ten small tables and six stools along a counter. We plopped at the counter, ordered coffee, and then our meal.  Some things haven’t changed.  The food is still great, the people are still friendly, and the morning newspaper is still free and readily available for reading.  I had my standard breakfast: Two eggs sunny side up, two sausage patties, crispy home fries, toast coffee and jam.  The better-half ordered the same meal with bacon and the food was delicious.  The conversation with the waitresses was light and fun and it was a nice start to our day.  The total bill with tip was less than $20.00.

From there we headed south through Sanford with the intention of cruising east along the border with NH to visit some old haunts and see the sights. We visited the towns of North Berwick and Berwick before ending up in Somersworth, NH.  Actually Somersworth is the other half of Berwick which straddles the state border.  We’ve always enjoy riding through this somewhat rural farming community which offers lots of opportunities for picture taking.

We cut cross-country and made our way slowly northeast to Rochester, NH where the better-half had an attack of shopper’s withdrawal.  I was forced to stop at the local K-Mart so the better-half could run free for an hour.  I just have to let her loose occasionally or she gets testy just sitting in the car.  I don’t totally understand her need to run since I always leave the car window cracked just a little.

I think her whole point of cruising today was to finally end up in Lebanon, ME that as a town has little to be proud of except for a longstanding flea market.  It was located approximately  ten minutes away from Rochester but on the way we ran into another flea market (junk sale) in the parking lot of a small strip mall.  I was once again strong-armed into pulling over to spend twenty minutes handling  a lot of junk that was cheap, dirty and more than a little disgusting.  I think the better-half feels she’s required to make a purchase of at least one item no matter where we stop.  She threw her questionable purchases into the trunk and we moved on down the road.

We made a really short visit at the flea market in Lebanon but was once again disappointed.  It was Labor Day and we expected a large crowd.  We were the crowd.  We made a quick stop, one minor purchase (required) and headed home.  All in all a pretty nice day.