The Fall of '87

20 years ago this fall, my life was really going good for the first time in a long, long time. I'd had a really rough 1986. After graduating from Emerson College, I was pretty terrified at the thought of entering the work force full time; I only knew going to school and working in the summers for my entire life to that point. But I'd gotten a job at a TV station on Cape Cod, even though the pay sucked, and I was beginning to enjoy myself. Except I still lived at home and my parents expected me to follow the same strict rules and regulations that were placed on me in high school, and believe me, I was NOT on board with that. Not at age 22. In the fall of '86, I suffered a blow when my fiance decided that the sun had set on our day in the sun, sending me into a terrible funk for months and months.


However, in February of 1987, I finally moved out of my parents' house and had started dating again. I was living in what I call "The Scumhole House", renting a room and sharing the common areas with 4 other people. It was OK, I didn't spend much time there anyway. But in May of 1987, I was laid off from my job at Channel 58. However, by the summer, I had been hired at Channel 56 in Boston and things were going really well. I moved out of the Scumhole House into a fantastic studio apartment above a garage in a house that was located down a dirt road called "Cranberry Trail." I knew the landlords' son from high school and in fact I blurted out, "I had such a crush on your son Bobby!" then felt my face flush. They offered me the apartment.


So by October, 1987, I was living alone at last, I had a great job with great pay and union benefits. Life was good. In October, I took a solo trip to Maine to visit my BFF/Sister/College Roomie, Michelle. Instead of driving up the highway, I took the scenic coastal route, from Kittery to Portland. I first stopped at Cape Neddick to take pictures of the coast.Then I stopped in Perkins Cove, which is where my parents used to vacation each year with their friends. Perkins Cove is in Ogunquit and is very close to Kennebunkport too.

The day after I got up to Maine, Michelle and I took a drive over to New Hampshire. It was peak foliage week and we were not disappointed! The White Mountains are really more like hills, compared to the actual mountains we have on the west coast. But the White Mountains are also millions of years older than the mountains in the west, and have worn down over time. It's hard to believe that they were once as tall as the Himalayas!

We stopped so I could take a picture of this pretty church in Bretton Woods. When we walked around the corner, we saw......

SNOW!!!! We could see that the higher hills had a dusting, but this was the only snow that was down below, at road level.

So Michelle built a snowman.

This is the magnificent Mt. Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods. The tallest peak is Mt. Washington, which is the highest point in all of New England, at 6,200 feet, give or take. It's not a tall mountain, but it has the nastiest weather on the entire planet and the highest wind speed ever recorded was on top of Mt. Washington. You can drive to the top, take the cog railway, or hike up along the Appalachian Trail.

This hotel is absolutely gorgeous inside too. I would love to have stayed here before I moved away.

Bretton Woods & Mt. Washington.

More foliage in the White Mountains.

No trip to NH is complete without a stop at Clark's Trading Post. It's a pretty large souvenir shop, and they used to have trained, performing black bears in the 1970's but I don't know if they do that anymore. Clark's is Kitschy Souvenir Central.

I love the covered bridges in New England! They are so picturesque!