As our trip continued via the New York to Vermont ferry I got out of the carry we left on and spoke with a local who had names for some of the peaks overlooking Burlington and surrounding area, like The Chin and Crescent Hill. Always interesting to get that local color. We hit the Vermont side just as nigh was falling upon us and the line of cars sped off to their individual destinations. Ours was South Burlington and according to Expedia one of the only rooms in town left and at an exorbitant rate. Lesson, sometimes it is better to book early. Turns out it was homecoming weekend at University of Vermont.
Daughter Ashley had suggested Burlington and with the ferry ride cutting some drive time it was a good suggestion. In the Sunday AM we headed for main campus and downtown which was filled with parents, students and girls in black yoga pants. The day was sunny and warming up. Again shopping came first after bagel egg sandwiches and coffee. Mary flitted in and out of stores while I observed the crowds and area occasionally looking at how overpriced even the sale North Face merch was. Closest thing I came to buying was a Keep Vermont Weird shirt.This went along with the liberal vibe this college town on Lake Champlain only 75 miles or so from Montreal put off. Especially with the childrens' parade circling the Market area protesting slaying of elephants for ivory. Mary and I stopped at Vermont Brewery Co, for a quick one before we went down lake side at a very nice park where the folks were enjoying the start of a fine fall day. After a quick stroll we would head out to Byway 100 Scenic Drive 80 some miles through the center of Vermont headed to Brattleboro our next overnight stay.
Next morning we hit downtown Brattleboro another quaint, little town with river and mountains alongside. Ashley had tipped us off to it as she and her friends celebrate 4th of July there from time to time. We again shopped, at a great outdoor goods/clothing store Sam's, grabbed some stuff at local food co-op and had lunch Thank you meter lady for our $10 parking fee. Then we were off for New Hampshire and Maine.
This may have been one of our best surprises finding a place on the ocean I booked the night before, Ashworth by the Sea. A resort town, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire with a Jersey Boardwalk feel dating back to early 1900's, most of which had closed down for the season. We opted for ocean view which we need only run down from our room to walk on the beach. You could feel hurricane Joaquin's power in the waves. We were thankful it chose an easterly track out to sea. It was a wonderful sunset before dinner at the hotel restaurant and an awesome sunrise with surfers doing their thing at 6:30 AM.
After breakfast we were off to Portland, Maine for a
visit with old friend Deborah who I have known since junior high in Fraser, Mi. Daughter Ashley was going to come up from Boston to visit for a day and night.
Our reunions began in downtown Portland where huge cruise ships were docked in the bay alongside every other type of marine craft you could imagine. I learned right off that Portland was once the busiest industrial port in the US back in 1800s. Deborah and Ashley arrived within minutes of each other at the pub Mary and I chose to grab a bite at. Soon Deb took us all on a brief tour of one of the many bays on our way back to her place where she has resided for last 25 plus years. We had a low key evening as I wasn't quite feeling 100%. Deb made us a great dinner, we had some wine, conversations and an early night to bed. The following day our tour took us to Cape Elizabeth and the Portland Head Lighthouse there, then down the coast a ways to some more spectacular views of surrounding islands where we could walk out near the water.
We would have an early dinner and cocktails before Ashley had to head back for Boston so went to a restaurant that looked back over Portland near several marinas. I would attempt the obligatory lobster.
After Ashley went back to Boston Deb, Mary and I had a quiet evening at Deb's home. There was a lot to catch up on in our lives over the past 40 years of relationships, working and raising children. We listened to music, talked and watched a little TV before retiring.
Mary and I were off the next morning to check out Freeport, Maine and the L.L.Bean shopping complex there. Lots of stuff in most stores was overpriced, we only bought warm socks at a Bass store had lunch and we headed on our way north up the Maine coast first to a state park Deb had told us about, Wolfe's Neck, where we had a relaxing lunch in a serene setting.
We then were off for a day trip up to Rockland.
The colors were brilliant on the drive,other highlights were seeing 2 Bald Eagles together over a bay and first time I could remember I had ever seen cows with a wide white stripe around their midsection, Belted Galloway. We wouldn't make it to Bar Harbour/Acadia on this trip as we had a concert date with Ashley and Sherry back in Boston on the weekend.
We would spend the night back in Freeport where I would be remiss if I didn't report on our
1:30 AM fire alarm wake up where we had to evacuate, come back in and after fire trucks left, back in bed another false alarm. I did not get up for this one, Mary did but finally they disengaged it and at 2:30 we were back in bed. It was a capper to a long day.
Friday after our first real rain we were in Boston to visit with Ashley and Sherry and see Brandi Carlile in concert Saturday nite, a bday gift from them to me. Friday night we had a beer at a funky little Scottish bar within walking distance in their Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Ash made us dinner and we waited for Sherry to get back from Maine where she had a work retreat.
Saturday was a sunny, cool day and we did a nice morning walk with their pooch Piper in nearby Blue Hills Reservation Park. After resting up for a night out in Boston we did dinner at Beantown Bar right next to The Orpheum Theater where our concert would be. It was a bustling Saturday night in Beantown. Our excitement for the concert was matched by crowds enthusiasm. Ashley had seen Brandi several times, Mary, Sherry and I a couple. LSS, it was really super show. From the opening strains of When Johnny Comes Marching Home, a nod to Boston, to the acapella Amazing Grace closer in the dark with opening act The Secret Sisters it was great. Relationship between Brandi and Boston is special as she spoke about several times. It rocked and was poignant. Mary even picked up a guitar pick Brandi threw our back into 9th row!
After we did an Uber ride home still high from an awesome show. We had one more full day before we would head back to Michigan. Our last day Ashley had a couple things planned first was hanging out with some friends at The Bleacher Bar watching the Buffalo Bills. The bar is connected to Fenway Park but on Sundays or football game day for the Bills, it is taken over by quite a throng of Bills fans. We were joined by Andrea and Lauren who we had met back in MI this Spring, had lunch, some beers and cheered the Bills on to victory.
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and of course New York all reminders of our spiritual longing for freedom to move about, rugged individualism and diversity. In a land rich in natural beauty and resources, there are so many reasons to keep trying to make this democratic experiment of freedom work for us all.
If you made it this far thanks for reading ;)
Daughter Ashley had suggested Burlington and with the ferry ride cutting some drive time it was a good suggestion. In the Sunday AM we headed for main campus and downtown which was filled with parents, students and girls in black yoga pants. The day was sunny and warming up. Again shopping came first after bagel egg sandwiches and coffee. Mary flitted in and out of stores while I observed the crowds and area occasionally looking at how overpriced even the sale North Face merch was. Closest thing I came to buying was a Keep Vermont Weird shirt.This went along with the liberal vibe this college town on Lake Champlain only 75 miles or so from Montreal put off. Especially with the childrens' parade circling the Market area protesting slaying of elephants for ivory. Mary and I stopped at Vermont Brewery Co, for a quick one before we went down lake side at a very nice park where the folks were enjoying the start of a fine fall day. After a quick stroll we would head out to Byway 100 Scenic Drive 80 some miles through the center of Vermont headed to Brattleboro our next overnight stay.
The drive down thru Central Vermont was captivating as colors were turning as quickly as the road turned along rivers and streams, small classic Vermont towns bordering the Green Mountains popped up with picturesque church steeples and covered bridges. An 80-100 mile trip took us 5 hours with only a couple stops.
After a long sunny drive which included Vermont maple syrup purchase, seeing the largest cow we had ever seen and a dirt road cut across to main highway we arrived at dark at our hotel for the evening in Brattleboro, Vermont near the south eastern border. It had a mom and pop feel with a tavern attached which is just what we needed.
Next morning we hit downtown Brattleboro another quaint, little town with river and mountains alongside. Ashley had tipped us off to it as she and her friends celebrate 4th of July there from time to time. We again shopped, at a great outdoor goods/clothing store Sam's, grabbed some stuff at local food co-op and had lunch Thank you meter lady for our $10 parking fee. Then we were off for New Hampshire and Maine. 
This may have been one of our best surprises finding a place on the ocean I booked the night before, Ashworth by the Sea. A resort town, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire with a Jersey Boardwalk feel dating back to early 1900's, most of which had closed down for the season. We opted for ocean view which we need only run down from our room to walk on the beach. You could feel hurricane Joaquin's power in the waves. We were thankful it chose an easterly track out to sea. It was a wonderful sunset before dinner at the hotel restaurant and an awesome sunrise with surfers doing their thing at 6:30 AM.visit with old friend Deborah who I have known since junior high in Fraser, Mi. Daughter Ashley was going to come up from Boston to visit for a day and night.
Our reunions began in downtown Portland where huge cruise ships were docked in the bay alongside every other type of marine craft you could imagine. I learned right off that Portland was once the busiest industrial port in the US back in 1800s. Deborah and Ashley arrived within minutes of each other at the pub Mary and I chose to grab a bite at. Soon Deb took us all on a brief tour of one of the many bays on our way back to her place where she has resided for last 25 plus years. We had a low key evening as I wasn't quite feeling 100%. Deb made us a great dinner, we had some wine, conversations and an early night to bed. The following day our tour took us to Cape Elizabeth and the Portland Head Lighthouse there, then down the coast a ways to some more spectacular views of surrounding islands where we could walk out near the water.
Mary and I were off the next morning to check out Freeport, Maine and the L.L.Bean shopping complex there. Lots of stuff in most stores was overpriced, we only bought warm socks at a Bass store had lunch and we headed on our way north up the Maine coast first to a state park Deb had told us about, Wolfe's Neck, where we had a relaxing lunch in a serene setting.We then were off for a day trip up to Rockland.
The colors were brilliant on the drive,other highlights were seeing 2 Bald Eagles together over a bay and first time I could remember I had ever seen cows with a wide white stripe around their midsection, Belted Galloway. We wouldn't make it to Bar Harbour/Acadia on this trip as we had a concert date with Ashley and Sherry back in Boston on the weekend.
We would spend the night back in Freeport where I would be remiss if I didn't report on our
1:30 AM fire alarm wake up where we had to evacuate, come back in and after fire trucks left, back in bed another false alarm. I did not get up for this one, Mary did but finally they disengaged it and at 2:30 we were back in bed. It was a capper to a long day.
Saturday was a sunny, cool day and we did a nice morning walk with their pooch Piper in nearby Blue Hills Reservation Park. After resting up for a night out in Boston we did dinner at Beantown Bar right next to The Orpheum Theater where our concert would be. It was a bustling Saturday night in Beantown. Our excitement for the concert was matched by crowds enthusiasm. Ashley had seen Brandi several times, Mary, Sherry and I a couple. LSS, it was really super show. From the opening strains of When Johnny Comes Marching Home, a nod to Boston, to the acapella Amazing Grace closer in the dark with opening act The Secret Sisters it was great. Relationship between Brandi and Boston is special as she spoke about several times. It rocked and was poignant. Mary even picked up a guitar pick Brandi threw our back into 9th row!
After we did an Uber ride home still high from an awesome show. We had one more full day before we would head back to Michigan. Our last day Ashley had a couple things planned first was hanging out with some friends at The Bleacher Bar watching the Buffalo Bills. The bar is connected to Fenway Park but on Sundays or football game day for the Bills, it is taken over by quite a throng of Bills fans. We were joined by Andrea and Lauren who we had met back in MI this Spring, had lunch, some beers and cheered the Bills on to victory.
For dinner Ashley had reservations at an Italian restaurant in the North End of Boston which is a predominately Italian area of the city. We had an excellent meal, I think we all had seafood done Italian. It was a festive warm Sunday night and the city was jammed with folks out enjoying it. We found a place for some cannoli and headed back home via the train. We be stuffed.
Next morning after a quick breakfast, thank yous and some big hugs bye, we were on our way back home. It was Presidents Day and almost 70 degrees out which made for a lot of early traffic. Some of the best color on our trip was going home in Western Massachusetts and upstate New York. We spent one night in eastern NY on our way back and made it home Oct, 13 day before my 63rd Birthday.
It was a wonderful trip indeed. We did a lot in 10 days. Thank you Deborah, Ashley and Sherry. We Visited mostly places we had never been. Good for body and soul, the heart and mind. In New England much is about the history and beginnings of our country.
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and of course New York all reminders of our spiritual longing for freedom to move about, rugged individualism and diversity. In a land rich in natural beauty and resources, there are so many reasons to keep trying to make this democratic experiment of freedom work for us all.If you made it this far thanks for reading ;)
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