Earl and I spent the day in Portland, Maine doing the things that tourists visitors in Portland, Maine do.
I don’t know if I’m the only one that has noticed this, but “Tourist Information Centers” on the turnpikes have become “Visitor Information Centers”. Apparently in our über-PC world, “tourist” has become a derogatory word and instead we need to use “visitor” instead. Maybe it has something to do with accessorizing with fanny-packs. I found the whole concept amusing.
Anyways, Earl and I went on a boat cruise around the sites of Portland, Maine. This little boat ride focused on the various lighthouses, summer mansions and scattered islands around the Portland area. It was a very enjoyable journey.
Afterwards we walked around the Old Port area, which is very, uh, “visitory”. We picked up a couple of Christmas ornaments for our tree; it’s a tradition in our merry little household to pick up an ornament from every place we visit so that we can reflect our journeys around the holidays. There was talk today about adding a third tree to our holiday decorating to accomodate these new ornaments and of course I’m very excited about that. I’m writing about it in my blog now so that I remember the conversation come December.
After a little shopping we went to a local microbrewery for lunch where I had a Lobster Roll sandwich. It may have been the first time I’ve ever had lobster. While quite tasty, I don’t know what the big deal is, but then again I’m really not into seafood all that much. I was semi-expecting some sort of salt water orgasmic experience after observing the way some people carry on about lobster, donning their bibs and cracking over the poor little beast’s various appendages with something that looks like a walnut cracker. At least it didn’t taste like chicken.
Afterwards we made the trek home and once in Massachusetts we opted to do some shunpiking, taking the more scenic Mohawk Trail/MA 2. We stopped at the restaurant at the famous Hairpin Turn just east of North Adams for supper and ate out on their patio that overlooks the mountains and the parking lot. We both found the parking lot quite entertaining, watching cars try to manuever their way around the very small area that sits on the edge of a cliff. Good times.
There was more shunpiking home as we made our way through the darkness along NY 5S, winding our way through the Mohawk Valley.
We’re all ready for our next adventure.
