Tuesday 30 May 1995 Boothbay
Harbor, ME
After a terrific thunderstorm last night we awoke to a beautiful sunny
day with the birds chirping away like mad and the ducks on the river quacking.
The woods looked splendid, dappled with the morning light. (We had a laugh when Rab
spotted a deer and her faun nestled together under a tree in the grounds. It
was quite a sight – but it was a statuette, which is why they weren’t moving!)
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| Mother and child - Bambi perhaps? |
We had our morning coffee on the back
stoep – just chatting and enjoying each other’s company after all these
years and tribulations. We bought a T-shirt for Matt yesterday at one of the
stops. It is a long time since we have done that as he has some pretty definite
ideas about matters sartorial and I guess he may never wear it. The slogan is a
simple one “No rain – No rainbows.” There are other messages on the back which
are true clichés, but, as I said with the note I sent with the shirt when I
mailed it to him, most clichés are true. As this trip unfurls we realise more
and more how fortunate we are and revel in our happiness like a couple of
honeymooners. Only we know better than any youngster just starting out on their lives how precious
and valuable life really is – and how fortunate we have been.
We got going fairly late – Rab had decided to wash some clothes last
night and thought that by turning up the heater in the bathroom she might get
it all dried by this morning. A couple
of things did dry in an atmosphere which was like a Turkish bath, but
the rest were very damp. So we headed down the road to find a Laundromat with
driers, which of course turned out to be a dime a dozen. We picked one
conveniently located next to an omelette bar so we were able to have breakfast
while the washing dried. They didn’t do pancakes so Rab settled for French
toast and bacon, while I got adventurous and had a Mexican omelette – all
onions, tomatoes and peppers, which was a good way to kick-start the day (but
pretty pricey at about $15 with a tip).
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| Kennebunkport |
After a couple more stops for gas, postcards and post office we were on
our way on a lovely sunny day, although there was a bit of a breeze at times.
Mind you we didn’t get very far because we had a break at Kennebunkport to have a look around. Pretty
high quality stuff there allright including a beautiful brass kaleidoscope I
would love to have had and which was worth every penny of the $350 they were
asking. While it was only the equivalent of a day’s accommodation in Bermuda we felt it was too much to pay – odd how we have
such differing values for different things. We drove on through the suburbs of Kennebunkport and saw some
magnificent homes, including George Bush’s compound out on a spit.- marvellous
place he has there. It sure beats Bob Hawke’s place. Funnily enough the car
radio went off the air as we drove past the house and only came on again about
a half mile down the road – no doubt part of the security arrangements.
Our drive north today was similar in many ways to yesterday, except
that there was more colour in the sea from the sunshine and some of the beaches
looked better. Again we saw a mixture of residential areas – some with glorious
houses, some that were really ropey. It is clear too that we have got ahead of
Spring to a certain extent. We noticed this afternoon that there were lots of
gorgeous tulips around, which had come and gone in Boston
and some very full flowering plums, peaches and apples, which were losing their
blossom in Marblehead.
The very pleasant young lady who checked us in here says that although we are
only a couple of hundred miles (three hours she said) north of Boston, Spring is usually
two weeks behind. (Years later I saw an estimate of the ‘speed’ of Spring
being calculated as between 17 and 20 miles a day, so this young lady’s
observation seems about right.)
We picked up a couple of delicious clam cakes as a noontime snack at a
rather dismal and deserted seaside village shortly before we got to Freeport –
which is famous for its Outlet Shops. These are shops which sell designer goods
at wholesale prices and, if they are “seconds” substantially below wholesale.
In fact I got a pair of Eddie Bauer jeans in Boston on Saturday at an outlet shop. There
is a slub in one leg which a blind man would be glad to see and yet I only paid
$15 for them against a RRP of $30. no wonder all those Bermudians said it was
cheap to shop here.
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| I can relate to that! |
We did not spend too much time in Freeport
– in fact we probably wouldn’t even have stopped but for the fact that Rab
spotted the Barbizon shop. They specialise in
underwear, nighties etc and she has been looking for years for some of their
products, but had been told they had gone out of business. Clearly they hadn’t,
so I left her there and made a quick foray into the LL Bean shop which, it is
said, has been trading on the same site for 80 years. It covers all manner of
sports and outdoor activities and is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It
is unbelievable – an Aladdin’s cave. I bought myself a new Swiss Army knife
with a five inch locking blade. I had first spotted this in Bermuda
but felt that $64 was more than I wanted to pay. I also saw one in Boston, but still felt
that $45 was too much. But at $29 at LL Bean it seemed OK.
We decided to make for Boothbay for the night because a young lass had
recommended us to pause there on the way to Bar Harbor.
It seemed a good idea – and what a happy choice. The hotel we picked – from
dozens – is right on the harbour and has truly wondrous views. We sat on the
balcony for about an hour after dinner just taking in the tranquillity and
beauty (and a couple of cups of coffee)
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| The view from our bedroom at Boothbay Harbor |
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