I was the tour guide for the first time this weekend! If I don't say so myself, I make a good tour guide and it has little to do with my good looks :) I met Ally outside of Boston on Friday evening, she got in my truck and we headed up to Maine. I of course had to take her to my little lobster spot in Kennebunk, ME at Bartley's. Well we didn't realize that it was also going to be Karaoke this night as well....yeah us! Ally is also from small town in NE so it is not surprising to either of us that we enjoy the same type of places! After dinner though and some rather entertaining conversation, we decided to head on up to Portland, ME. Now the title of the blog actually came from our waiter describing an area in Maine and he says, "it goes this way (perpendicular) not this way (parallel)", and he just kept saying that with the hand actions to demonstrate. Maybe you had to be there but it was funny for us.
Made it up to Portland in a mainland hurricane I think, with high winds slicing through us especially with the coldness that happens in December! Checked into the hotel in downtown Portland and then asked the bartender down stairs where we should venture out. He was a "toolshed" if you will, saying well um you twos look like the type that would like a lounge, or you would really like this place with bumpin' music! Um obviously he did not know us twos at all! We then asked what time the bars close around Portland and he says to us, "they are usually open until last call!" Well no duh buddy and thanks for all of your non-help! So we traipsed around Portland in the bitter cold and found a Mexican restaurant. Not exactly what we were looking for but a good spot to warm up and for Ally to people watch. We ventured back out into the cold to go to another spot that we quickly realized was a college hangout! So we left and went to the pub that I was at the last time I was in Portland, and there it was we stayed until.....yep you guessed it....last call. I do have to write in here for reference one year from today. I made a bet with Ally, for a night out on the town, that I would be able to draw and name 40/50 US states! Now I did attempt this act this weekend and I was able to draw in and label 20/50 states, which I was fairly proud of!! :) Ally was not too impressed! She believes that someone "traveling the nation" as I am doing for this year, should have more knowledge of geography.....and history! I told her, yes I probably should but you, like most of my other friends, will learn to get over it!
Next morning set out to find first Dunkin' Donuts coffee then secondly Cape Elizabeth. This is the lighthouse that I had been too before but was now decorated for Christmas or "Holidays". We left there sipping our coffee, driving along the beaches, listening to a Christmas CD that Steph sent me. Unfortunately this is the only Christmas CD that I have so we got to listen to it about 12times along the trip :) We went back to Kennebunk to show Ally the beach and downtown in the daylight, then worked our way along the coast to Ogunquit Beach. Even at noon time with not a cloud in the sky, the temp hovered around 32degrees this date with high winds. Working our way down to Kittery, ME for the outlet shops we stopped and had lunch at the Lobster Barn. Prior to leaving we ask the waitress if we are getting close to the outlet stores and she said yes. She says just continue on the highway for a few miles but "don't go that way (perpendicular) but go this way (parallel), or you will end up at the ocean". Well we did go this way, and not that way and ended up at the one stop of the weekend that was requested by Ally, Hanna Andersson store (which for those of you that don't know like I didn't, this is a big deal for kids clothes).
Next stop was Cape Ann which I have also been to before and wrote about all of these stops but at least now I got to share them with someone else. You will see no pictures of me taken by me about 1foot from my face! We made it to Rockport, MA (there are two cities that make up cape ann, Gloucester and Rockport) just as the sun was setting. We pulled up to the foot path to the Atlantic, hustled into our coats, hats, gloves and headed to the ocean front. It was beautiful at sunset although the sun sets on the other side of the USA or "nation" as Ally would say. This walk or Atlantic foot path reminds me of a path from the Harry Potter books. But as Ally pointed out, I have not read any of the Harry Potter books, nor seen any of the movies so what the heck do I know about Harry Potter scenery! Well this is what I would imagine a Harry Potter path to look like, so there! Now that it was dark we found our way into Gloucester to our marina resort hotel. This is one of the dumpiest hotels we have stayed in, and the heat didn't work for about 2hrs, but the continental breakfast in the morning made up for that! We did go downtown for dinner and to watch the Heisman trophy presentation ceremony, in which Suh did not win. Went to a couple bars and chatted away about our exciting lives as we know them to be. Upon returning to the hotel room we found out that the heat does in fact work....quite well actually!!
Sunday we got up early thanks to the flock of seagulls that were sitting and squawking outside the door. Ally says, "It sounds like someone accidentally spilled a McDonald's bag outside on the patio!" ha ha. First stop memorial to the seamen that had lost their lives here at Gloucester, approx 5368 men lost their lives from 1623-1923 trying to harvest the sea. Second stop Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and third stop ocean walk by the cape ann motor inn hotel that I stayed in last time I was there. We were literally walking down the beach in fairly calm air with the sun shining so brightly it was difficult to take photos. Following about 1/2mi walk we turned around to head back and it was all of the sudden cloudy, windy as heck and it looked like it was going to rain! Weird turn of events, being that we were not expecting rain. We got in the truck just as it started to rain, we made a quick stop at Granite Pier for a looksey and headed off the island of Cape Ann. We drove down route 133 winding through small towns and shops, chatting about whatever and of course listening to that same Christmas music. We stopped and looked at Salisbury beach which is a huge/long/beautiful coast line of clean sand and sparse rocky jetties. Drove then into Hampton, NH along the coast line stopping when we could to take a peek or photo. Ate at a little spot, one of the few that were actually open this time of year, then headed back towards Boston to drop off Ally and make my way back home to Worcester. Of course in finding our way back to the interstate, we are sitting at a dead end. Ally says to me, "you really should have gone that way, not this way". Ha ha! If you have no opinions the entire trip then you can certainly offer no opinions related to my driving or directional sense!
I have missed being in my own home with my own things, especially to entertain. I usually have dinner parties or people over for no reason at all. Now I have nothing to offer for entertainment value, not even usually a good suggestion of where to eat. But now, for this weekend, I was the tour guide, the hostess, and it was good.
Made it up to Portland in a mainland hurricane I think, with high winds slicing through us especially with the coldness that happens in December! Checked into the hotel in downtown Portland and then asked the bartender down stairs where we should venture out. He was a "toolshed" if you will, saying well um you twos look like the type that would like a lounge, or you would really like this place with bumpin' music! Um obviously he did not know us twos at all! We then asked what time the bars close around Portland and he says to us, "they are usually open until last call!" Well no duh buddy and thanks for all of your non-help! So we traipsed around Portland in the bitter cold and found a Mexican restaurant. Not exactly what we were looking for but a good spot to warm up and for Ally to people watch. We ventured back out into the cold to go to another spot that we quickly realized was a college hangout! So we left and went to the pub that I was at the last time I was in Portland, and there it was we stayed until.....yep you guessed it....last call. I do have to write in here for reference one year from today. I made a bet with Ally, for a night out on the town, that I would be able to draw and name 40/50 US states! Now I did attempt this act this weekend and I was able to draw in and label 20/50 states, which I was fairly proud of!! :) Ally was not too impressed! She believes that someone "traveling the nation" as I am doing for this year, should have more knowledge of geography.....and history! I told her, yes I probably should but you, like most of my other friends, will learn to get over it!
Next morning set out to find first Dunkin' Donuts coffee then secondly Cape Elizabeth. This is the lighthouse that I had been too before but was now decorated for Christmas or "Holidays". We left there sipping our coffee, driving along the beaches, listening to a Christmas CD that Steph sent me. Unfortunately this is the only Christmas CD that I have so we got to listen to it about 12times along the trip :) We went back to Kennebunk to show Ally the beach and downtown in the daylight, then worked our way along the coast to Ogunquit Beach. Even at noon time with not a cloud in the sky, the temp hovered around 32degrees this date with high winds. Working our way down to Kittery, ME for the outlet shops we stopped and had lunch at the Lobster Barn. Prior to leaving we ask the waitress if we are getting close to the outlet stores and she said yes. She says just continue on the highway for a few miles but "don't go that way (perpendicular) but go this way (parallel), or you will end up at the ocean". Well we did go this way, and not that way and ended up at the one stop of the weekend that was requested by Ally, Hanna Andersson store (which for those of you that don't know like I didn't, this is a big deal for kids clothes).
Next stop was Cape Ann which I have also been to before and wrote about all of these stops but at least now I got to share them with someone else. You will see no pictures of me taken by me about 1foot from my face! We made it to Rockport, MA (there are two cities that make up cape ann, Gloucester and Rockport) just as the sun was setting. We pulled up to the foot path to the Atlantic, hustled into our coats, hats, gloves and headed to the ocean front. It was beautiful at sunset although the sun sets on the other side of the USA or "nation" as Ally would say. This walk or Atlantic foot path reminds me of a path from the Harry Potter books. But as Ally pointed out, I have not read any of the Harry Potter books, nor seen any of the movies so what the heck do I know about Harry Potter scenery! Well this is what I would imagine a Harry Potter path to look like, so there! Now that it was dark we found our way into Gloucester to our marina resort hotel. This is one of the dumpiest hotels we have stayed in, and the heat didn't work for about 2hrs, but the continental breakfast in the morning made up for that! We did go downtown for dinner and to watch the Heisman trophy presentation ceremony, in which Suh did not win. Went to a couple bars and chatted away about our exciting lives as we know them to be. Upon returning to the hotel room we found out that the heat does in fact work....quite well actually!!
Sunday we got up early thanks to the flock of seagulls that were sitting and squawking outside the door. Ally says, "It sounds like someone accidentally spilled a McDonald's bag outside on the patio!" ha ha. First stop memorial to the seamen that had lost their lives here at Gloucester, approx 5368 men lost their lives from 1623-1923 trying to harvest the sea. Second stop Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and third stop ocean walk by the cape ann motor inn hotel that I stayed in last time I was there. We were literally walking down the beach in fairly calm air with the sun shining so brightly it was difficult to take photos. Following about 1/2mi walk we turned around to head back and it was all of the sudden cloudy, windy as heck and it looked like it was going to rain! Weird turn of events, being that we were not expecting rain. We got in the truck just as it started to rain, we made a quick stop at Granite Pier for a looksey and headed off the island of Cape Ann. We drove down route 133 winding through small towns and shops, chatting about whatever and of course listening to that same Christmas music. We stopped and looked at Salisbury beach which is a huge/long/beautiful coast line of clean sand and sparse rocky jetties. Drove then into Hampton, NH along the coast line stopping when we could to take a peek or photo. Ate at a little spot, one of the few that were actually open this time of year, then headed back towards Boston to drop off Ally and make my way back home to Worcester. Of course in finding our way back to the interstate, we are sitting at a dead end. Ally says to me, "you really should have gone that way, not this way". Ha ha! If you have no opinions the entire trip then you can certainly offer no opinions related to my driving or directional sense!
I have missed being in my own home with my own things, especially to entertain. I usually have dinner parties or people over for no reason at all. Now I have nothing to offer for entertainment value, not even usually a good suggestion of where to eat. But now, for this weekend, I was the tour guide, the hostess, and it was good.
