Kit in Kittery,Maine
Greetings from Maine!
We're here in the Pine Tree State, after a day in which the weather changed rather dramatically. That is, it's different from the other days of our trip so far. The day dawned cloudy and cool in Rockport, and the fog/low clouds really contributed to the beauty of our coastal drive. Something about seeing all those rocky coves and fishing boats at anchor in the fog just seems right.
Keeping with the theme, we stayed as close to the coast as we could today (without getting wet!) as we journeyed from Mass. northwards. We crossed into New Hampshire at Hampton, seeing the Hampton Beach area all quiet and lonely. Sure looks like they can pack 'em in during the summer, though!
We took backroads over to Exeter, where our dear friends and neighbors Pat and Roy both grew up, also our friend, the famous Mike Singer! What a pretty town, and how fun to imagine our friends growing up here. We ate lunch in a bakery/cafe "Me and Ollies," a local chain of sorts. They proudly proclaim they get the wheat for their bread from "Bob, a wheat farmer in northern Montana." (cue "It's a Small World") We had a bit of a wander along Exeter's main street, then snuck a peak at Phillips Exeter Academy (Singer's alma mater)
Off northbound, up backroads to Portsmouth, NH, and then across the Piscataqua into Maine.
Something I gradually became aware of in myself while planning this trip: I've always, always wanted to see Maine. I'm a fan of places that are a little out of the way, especially if they're in the north. I love places with water and evergreens and mountains and rocks. Hmm.... no coincidence I'm living in Washington State, eh? And, I've always thought that Maine must be a cool place.
So, it's a big thrill to be here after all. We've just begun our exploration, of course, and there's no way we'll see it all. It's fun to get started, though! We got to put away our first set of maps and AAA TourBook, and move on to the next set.
We worked along the backroads past Kennebunkport (no Shrubs in residence) and then along to Biddeford (Nancy saw an airport on the map "Wanna see an airport? Sure!") Small airport, and typical - a few guys inside the FBO doing some hangar flying. We chatted with them for a while - one of them, a young guy, had just returned from Twitchell's Seaplane Base with a fresh ASES rating! Some traces of Maine accent creeping in - especially from the oldest of the guys there. We chatted about flying for a while, which is easy to do.
Nancy and I set off again, just as the rain, thunder, and lightning hit. And it was an epic rain! Hard enough to have the wipers going full blast, and even then, I pulled over for a while to see if it would ease up. It didn't, really, but we decided to press on anyway. Thought we'd try Portland for the night, but the combo of rain, rush hour, and construction traffic made it seem more appealing to just carry on through. Sorry, Portland - maybe another time?
And so, here we are in the land of LL Bean. Freeport seems to exist mostly for shopping, as the whole downtown area is dominated by, well, LL Bean, and lots of other stores. That's not a bad thing, mind you, just remarking on it. We ate dinner at "Linda Bean's Maine Kitchen" which featured local ingredients and was really good. Ok, it's probably also a tourist trap, but the message about sustainability is a good one, and the food was great, and it was pretty reasonable, too. So there.
And then, a quick trip across the street to the flagship store, which feels (not surprisingly) like REI (complete with the rocky trail to test new boots!) It's fun, though, to look at the pictures and the topo maps and so forth and realize we're in a very different part of the country.
It's quite foggy outside now. Tomorrow - some shopping, because, well, ya gotta, right? And then? Back to the coast!
Cheers,
--Kit and Nancy
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