We took a leisurely ride north of Boston while John was out of town presenting to admirals in Virginia, Rachel was working and Anya was in preschool. New Hampshire and Maine are only about an hour or so away. Traffic was light and most were heading toward Boston.
We took a mandatory exit when we saw a Dunkin Donuts sign just to get into the spirit of the New England culture. There is a Dunkin on about every corner. Don’t order a chocolate cake as they are really tasteless. After loading up on chips, soda and donuts, we were ready for a road trip.
We took another exit at Newburyport, MA. We parked for fifty cents/hr at a lot across from the harbor. Women were excerpting in the open area over looking the boats. What a nice setting. It reminded me of the people in China who exercise in the parks every morning.
We walked along the crispy clean wide walkways and watched a couple of Coast Guard boats doing some survival training. One of the boats had two 150 horsepower outboards. That boat must really fly when put at full board.
I sat down in the stainless steel sculpture to have a cup of tea until I was scooted out of there by a couple of little kids also wanting to play.
Instead of hopping back on the highway 95 we meandered on the back road toward Portsmouth New Hampshire. We stopped at a local Walmart to buy some shampoo, toothpaste and sunscreen. This traveling with minimum liquids is really a pain sometimes. Thank goodness for convenient stores on every corner.
We have been to Portsmouth several times. It has this really interesting block of stores that invite you in for a look. The sandals I found are interesting corral color. I could hardly tell as I had my sunglasses on and couldn’t see much without my other glasses which I left in the car.
We slide into a cute pizza place called the Upper Crust for lunch. Stan mentioned that they would never run out of pizza pans as the ceiling was decorated with them. This was really good, extra thin crust pizza. The flavor was amazing. We always look for tasty pizza in Colorado and have yet to find it. Some how Leprino has taken all the flavor out of the cheese it sells to the local pizza joints and sauce is red, but lacking in real flavor.
Next up to York Maine. We went by the cemetery where Jamie and I had stopped a few years earlier to look at the boats in a harbor. We stopped to talk with a lady who had just buried her husband. It was just a touching memory of that day a few years back and the connection we made with her.
We drove right by the Dockside where we were staying as I was engulfed in Stan’s description of the mud flats with the ebb and flow of the tides. We drove through York Harbor not really knowing where we were going, but enjoying the interesting look of New England’s typical homes with porches and clapboard in a variety of subtle colors. The doors have wreaths, cones filled with flowers and summer hats hanging in welcome.
We stopped at the visitor center to get some better directions. They are always such friendly places throughout the country. Sure enough Dockside Guest Quarters was back by the mud flats. We were too early for check in at 4 so we went down to the bay to look at a light house. Across the street is the most delicious ice cream shop. There were many flavors. I talked with a lady with mint chocolate chip melting down her cone and elbow about good flavors. She alerted us to the generous scoops and suggested kiddie size.
We took her up on her suggestion and ordered two for $3.50 each: one red raspberry with chocolate chunks and one coffee. They were generous mounds that begged quick licking on this summer day. Raspberry won with it’s rich flavor. Folks walked by to sit at the picnic tables in the sun with 4 or 5 scoops of ice cream melting down their bowls. The really should have talked with the mint chocolate chip lady first.