Old Colonial Motel Old Orchard Beach

... Horton’s, Wendy’s, MacDonalds, etc

· The highway signs in Massachusetts are displayed on a sign resembling a Pilgrim hat.

Things we Learned:

· All service centers have an elaborate fire suppression system built above the pumps. If a fire did start, the area would be immediately covered in foam. Ingenious!


Portland, Maine, United States jimcabay

... Horton’s, Wendy’s, MacDonalds, etc

· The highway signs in Massachusetts are displayed on a sign resembling a Pilgrim hat.

Things we Learned:

· All service centers have an elaborate fire suppression system built above the pumps. If a fire did start, the area would be immediately covered in foam. Ingenious!


Portland, Maine, United States jimcabay

Ni hao! (Hello in Chinese...pronounced "knee how")

We are now one week away from our departure and realizing that next week at this time we will be in the air over the Pacific and headed to China! The accumulating of stuff is coming to an end and the real packing is beginning. The girls love the whole packing thing...their mother...not so much. Excitement is in the air as the count down begins.

We are looking forward to ...

October 14, 2009

After saying farewell to Peggy and Bud we wanted to tour some of the Maine seacoast before heading to Vermont. Before long we found ourselves in the very attractive town of York. A former resident had donated a huge tract of land to the city to create a park for public enjoyment. The park path led us to the beach and then to a seaside path clinging to the rocky slope beneath ...

Overview

Portland has an amazing history that stretches back over 350 years, and this wonderful town has blossomed into the largest city in Maine. This close-knit community is second only to San Francisco when it comes to restaurants per capita. Old brick buildings and cobblestone streets still exist, and the blend of past and present in Portland is exhilarating. In addition to the prevalence of dining facilities, there are an unbelievable number of stores and shopping ...

... Second only to Kittery, Maine, Freeport has the largest collection of factory outlet stores. The outlet stores are unlike any other factory outlet mall. They are in upscale shops some of which are located in old Victoria homes. McDonald's is located in an remodeled Victorian farmhouse. We went into
LL Bean's, a New England based company, which is very popular with New Englanders. This is the parent store which is open 24 hours per day ...

... just as well, as the welcoming sign on entering New Hampshire, carries the tag-line, "Live free or die." I see what they're trying to say, I think, but there are maybe other ways of saying it. I'm still alive so I must have been living free enough for the people of that particular state. Anyway, it all makes a nice change from my usual 9-5 desk job.

So aside from lots of driving ...

i never knew what a great city portland, maine is! it is beautiful and has great restaurants. what more can you ask from a city?

we pulled into the harbor just after sunset--there was a lot of traffic in the channel with fishing boats and shrimping boats and lobtah boats. we docked at a slip and went for an amazing dinner at Street (i highly suggest it!).

the next day we set sail around all the little islands ...

... to share was more than enough to stuff us silly. We sat and ate them in big wooden chairs next to the camp fire that was burning away in an attempt to stave off the chill of the autumn morning.

As the site is really nice and well cared for, even at this late stage of the season, we had decided to stay for another night and so waddled across to reception to book in. Then we waddled to the phone to call ...

Happy Father's Day! Today we left the RV park in the mountains of Maine and headed to the coast for some fresh Maine lobster. We went to Bailey Island, outside of Brunswick, right on the tip of the shore. The setting was perfect, it was a bustling, somewhat rustic, lobster house. The weather was stormy and there were lots of fishermen out catching lobster. We treated Matt to as much lobster as he ...