Yay, we reached the other ocean!! Portland, Maine

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  Portland, Maine, United States
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The drive to here was very pretty; the trees are still in color. Not as vibrant as a few weeks ago but I can see now why so many people come in the fall to this area for all the colors. We drove thru New Hampshire (for about 5 minutes, hahaha) and entered Maine.
I was excited to make it to "the other" ocean. Johannah and I are both sooooo ready for some pounding of waves, feel the sand between our toes, the salty air and the wind. I decided to get off the freeway the first chance I got in Maine and drove part of highway 1 (ironically, the ocean highway in California is also highway 1).

We hit the east coast, Salisbury. We walked along the beach for a bit and then drove for a while along the ocean, big homes, old towns, like Kennebunkport where the first settlers arrived 1653(tourists flock to these coastal towns like flies on a piece of you-know-what so we don't stop anywhere)

We arrived in Portland, Maine and the weather has been so amazing all day (sunny and 65) so I checked in, took a shower and drove downtown. I like the town structure, the architecture, the energy is waaaaay laidback. We walked around, trying to find a place where I could sit with Johannah outside and ended up in a bit of a tourist spot but we couldn't be picky, there was nothing else to find. Even though the weather is nice, it's too random of a nice day for places to put chairs and waiting staff outside.

I ordered what was a very lousy local beer (one of the worst pale ales I've ever had, don't ever order a Geary's Pale Ale). After a bit, a lady came over and said that Johannah asked her to come over to say hi to her. (Johannah has a way of communicating, she's always doing that, it's the way she looks at you and says with her face "please come and pay some attention to me, I want to give you some lovin" in many languages.

Her name is Nancy, a lobster wholesaler. Very interesting woman. Born in Boston, moved here years ago, lives now half in Florida and half here in Portland. Starting a lobster business In Florida as well. They don't catch the lobster, they go out on their boat to island around here in the ocean and buy the lobster from the fishermen there and then bring them back and sell them from the Warf or whole sale to stores and restaurants. I didn't want to tell her that I don't eat "weird fish". That's what I call everything shellfish and crazy shaped ocean creatures....although, there is nothing wrong with a good crab cake, hahaha
Had a few beers with her, a couple from Arizona joined us for a bit with their todler.Exchanging stories...Then we walked with Nancy to her car to meet her dog, now this was a big girl, about 100 lbs! had Johannah and her meet for a bit and then we went our separate ways. I went to a place for dinner close to the motel and called it a night.

Yesterday we went to the beach, met some nice locals, one of them is Jill, with her 2 dogs, she lived in Los Angeles for a while and then moved back here, she has her own hair salon 20 minutes north. She told me to call her if I would like to get together sometime (not sure if this was the Cali invite that usually doesn't go anywhere but it was nice anyway). Johannah had such a good time with 1 of the dogs, 1 puppy from 6 months and she is so great with them, so fun to watch them bounce off each other...

Then I went to a tavern, The Three Dollar Deweys, to write up on this blog (takes a long time, I was there for 3 hours!), also reading up on some local stuff and talk to the very friendly waiter, his name is Lance. I mentioned the place that I was on Sunday (I was looking for a place to sit with the dog and ended up at Portland Chowder House). He said that his girlfriend is working there. I asked him if she is short with curly shortisch hair and yes that was her. (you know when you are in a smaller city when you experience this kind of stuff, I love it). Had a local brew, some spicy chili and then went on our way. Drove around for a bit, and back to the motel.

Today I had a late start, watched TV for a while, drove to town for lunch at Becky's diner and had Haddock Chowder; finally chowder without the weird fish and it was great!! (Note to self, must make my own version of this when I get home). I miss cooking. Then I went to finish up on this blog for today and get it posted at this lovely coffee house, Portland Coffee Roasters. When I talked to the owner and mentioned Johannah, he told me to get her in here! That made me so happy because it's been raining all day and I have lots of researching to do for the next 5 days of travel. It's now 5 p.m. here, dry and so I'm going to take this opportunity before dinner, to take this very patient travel partner out for a run on the beach...

Later!

Oh, I heard a great phrase that Obama used today at a speech somewhere, one that he should be using more often!

*** John McCain is trying to distance himself from Bush like Robin from Batman***

PS #2: The sniffles are losing the battle, I'm feeling much better today, yay!

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