Today is Friday. For the past five or six days Donna and I have seen a small part of our beautiful country. I think that I’ve said every day “wouldn’t it be nice to spend a few months here?”
Boston is so rich with history, sights, great places to eat, and a very walking friendly town. We spent most of Tuesday walking the freedom trail in Boston. They mark it with a red line (either bricks in the sidewalk or painted) so it’s easy to follow. It runs for several miles through the city from downtown to Bunker Hill.
By late afternoon we had seen all of the historical sites we could handle for the day and found ourselves in a very upscale part of town that included all of the necessary upscale stores. Donna looked but didn’t buy in several stores and I was content to spend some time in the Borders bookstore. I am such a sucker for books and wound up walking out with a couple of new ones. When we left the bookstore we were a couple of miles from our hotel. Donnas’ back was bothering her and we decided to get a cab back to the hotel…. Until she discovered that there was just one more store that she wanted to go to. So, we wound up shopping and walking back to the hotel anyway. We’ve gotten plenty of exercise but don’t worry; we’ve eaten enough to keep us from wasting away.
Wednesday we rented a car and left Boston headed for Portland Maine. We stayed primarily on highway 1 which runs on the coast, winding through small towns, and saying “wouldn’t it be nice to spend a few months here?” We got to Portland around six o ’clock and checked into the St. Johns Hotel.
St. Johns is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Portland. Opened in the late 1800’s it’s a 4 story building located next to the former railroad station, close to the Greyhound bus station, nestled in between a Chinese restaurant and a convenience store. It’s most recent claim to fame (before being purchased by the current owner) is that you could rent rooms by the hour. Imagine that, you could decide how tired you were and rent your room for just the right amount of time. They even had ladies available to assist you in your slumber… . Well now that I’ve painted the picture, it really is a nice old hotel, nicely redone in an area that is ripe for revitalization. Our room was very clean (passed the Donna test). Our room was on the third story and the steps were very steep like a lot of older buildings are. A long term stay would yield great opportunites to improve your cardiovascular strength.
We dined that evening at a restaurant that boasted the “best clam chowder in Maine”. We both had mediocre lobster rolls and shared a bowl of chowdah. We met a couple from Colorado Springs and got some great insight into places to see and go in Bar Harbor/Acadia. After dinner we strolled the streets of downtown Portland. It was ehhh, ok.
After checking out of hotel St John yesterday we headed up the coast again towards Belfast Maine. One of our planned stops was in Freeport, home of L.L. Bean. They have a gigantuan store here, actually several buildings, with lots of stuff. We got a couple of things, not too much. Donna snagged a backpack and lunch box for Madison and a small bag for herself. I saw quite a few things that I “needed” but resisted until I went in the L.L. Bean outlet store. I bought a great daypack and a Nalgene bottle. You can’t have too many of those.
Lunch was a hot dog from a stand outside the stores and on to Belfast. Again, a beautiful drive. We got to Belfast around 5 and checked in to the Penobscot Bay Inn. Beautiful old place, breakfast included, $79.00 a night. We came down to the old downtown, (it was music on the square Thursday) and strolled around. Dinner was at the local pizza joint. We really had a great evening. I went for a walk this morning down to the beautiful city park, out to the beach, and back to the Inn for breakfast with Donna. Donna is now at the downtown farmers market looking for blueberries and
I’m in a local coffee shop telling stories.
Well, that catches you up. Donna will fill in the details later. We’re having a lot fun and recognizing how blessed we are to be able to do this. We’re missing our kids. More later.
Oh, i almost forgot, we went to the lighthouse in Portland yesterday. Very Cool.
Sounds like too much fun. I wish we could be there with you. Kate asked if you could pick her up a t-shirt from LL Bean. She's been eyeing one in the magazine and I just don't have the heart to tell her that her momma isn't making any money right now, so we can't buy t-shirts from fancy ole LL Bean. Love you guys and miss you lots.
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