Trip to Maine: Day One

It was a cold, grey morning when we departed for Freeport, Maine, at the end of October.  A bad Nor'easter was predicted for several states for that evening, with heavy rain and high winds (gusts to 75 mph) for coastal Massachusetts, but heavy snow for the rest of New England and down into New Jersey.  

This tank in Dorchestor (just south of Boston) was painted in 1971 by artist Corita Kent.  If you look at the left side of the blue, you can see what looks to be the profile of an old Asian man with a long beard.  There was a bit of a controversy at the time it was painted, because it was supposedly Ho Chi Minh, which of course didn't go over well being Vietnam War times in the USA.  Afterwards in the 80's, it was known by the not-very-PC term, "The Chinaman".  Now most people just call it Fu Man Chu.  

John Hancock Building in Back Bay, Boston.  Built in about 1976.  The old Hancock building is the lower one with the spire, on the right. The fatter part of the spire is a weather light.  Solid blue means a nice day, flashing blue means bad weather, red in the summer means the Red Sox are in town and red in winter means snow.  

Boston

This funky new bridge is new since I last lived here.  

I have always loved this view, right before you cross into New Hampshire.  Because the view is right on the highway, on a bridge, in fact, you can't pull over to shoot it from the road, so this is the best I will ever get.

Welcome to New Hampshire, or as I have always called it, "Cow Hamster".

Just a teeny sliver of NH rests between MA and ME.  Did you know that Maine was originally part of Massachusetts?  It's true.  Maine is not one of the 13 colonies.  This is the Piscataqua River Bridge, on the border of NH and ME.  It was one of the landmarks on my way to Saint Joe's, on what always seemed like an interminably long trip from the Cape to the College.  When we got to Piscataqua, I knew we were only an hour or so away.

We had intended to stop at the Kittery Trading Post so that I could get some winter boots, for the impending storm.  There are tons and tons of factory outlet stores in the area too.  Well, we were yakking and missed the one and only exit to Kittery, which is almost immediately after you cross over the bridge from NH.  One illegal U-turn on the Maine Turnpike later, we were on our way to the store.  I found a decent pair of boots that are really comfy, esp. with the thick socks I got as well.  And some postcards.  And a fridge magnet. 

B&M Baked Beans factory in South Portland.

The Winter People statue in Freeport, which is where we stayed our first night so that we could see my bff/sister, Michelle & her hubby, John.  

Rolled into town around 2:30 and had to kill time before check in so we just drove up the main street.  LL Bean is in Freeport, along with more factory outlets.  The town was packed and it was getting bitterly cold, so for once we didn't pull over and join the hordes of people on the street.  There are a whole ton of carved pumpkins that were set up all around LL Bean and on a giant scaffold outside the main store.  I'm sure it was quite a sight to see at night.  The only store we went in was The Beadin' Path....it was my squeeze's very first time in a bead shop!  Then we got some eggrolls and chicken wings at the Chinese restaurant to tide us over till dinner because we were starving. 

We met up with Michelle & John at Buck's Naked BBQ which was unbelievably delicious!!!!!  We were having so much fun talking and catching up on old times and laughing (and laughing....and laughing some more) that I totally forgot to take a picture of the food we ordered!!!  We started with fried pickles.  I know, I know, it sounds gross, but they were WICKED GOOD!!!!!!  It was an excellent nom.  

Then we went over to Michelle & John's house in North Yarmouth for an hour or so.  This is their license plate.  Isn't it cool?

Michelle and the latest member of her family, Princess, from the Collie Rescue League where she has gotten all her doggies.  Princess' story is very sad, but she's finally got a happy "furever" home.  She's an elderly girl, with a lot of health problems and appears to be deaf, but she will live out her days with peace, affection, food, warmth and love.  She's a very sweet and friendly dog.  She got along pretty well with Peepers too.

Auntie Michelle giving Beanie some lovin too.

When we left, big huge fluffy flakes of snow were falling hard and had already accumulated.  It was only a 10 mile drive back to Freeport, but I'm glad he was driving and not me.  I hate driving in snow.  It scares me.  We stopped at a convenience store about a third of the way back, and I shot this sign. So which is it? No parking at all or parking for 30 minutes? lol  See the snowflakes?

Next up: Day 2.