Joel: In our last week here we've done a lot of swimming and being outside. I think I got more tan than I do in Arizona! My hair is also lighter because of the pool and sun.
Wendy: We spent one beautiful afternoon at Popham beach (that's the fort in the background). We saw a few interesting sights, like the guy and his dog taking a nap together after playing fetch in the ocean, and the dive-bombing birds catching fish (video below), and the several Joel sightings on the beach!
Wendy: We spent one beautiful afternoon at Popham beach (that's the fort in the background). We saw a few interesting sights, like the guy and his dog taking a nap together after playing fetch in the ocean, and the dive-bombing birds catching fish (video below), and the several Joel sightings on the beach!
| Wendy: I slowed down the video to the left so you could see how the birds spiral right into the ocean just to pluck out a tiny fish (a few inches long), then imagine the strength they need to "fly" out of the ocean and into the air. It was fascinating and I watched them do it over and over again. |
Joel: In addition to lots of swimming, we've been attending outdoor concerts. The Brunswick area is very artsy and full of talent! We heard a group called "Pretty Girls Sing Soprano" and another band that mostly played two-step dances. The Soprano ladies were especially wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, we went to the local farmers' market a few days later to hear them again!
Wendy: Three part female harmony - that's my kind of music! If you want to hear my favorite song they performed that day, click on the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/TheTimesRecord/videos/10155415979332097/
Wendy: Three part female harmony - that's my kind of music! If you want to hear my favorite song they performed that day, click on the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/TheTimesRecord/videos/10155415979332097/
Wendy: A discouraging and unsettling trend we saw during our visit here was the conversion of what were once churches into more secular-use buildings. The one on the left below is now a fabric shop, and the one on the right is an arts center.
Wendy: We also took one day to visit Camden, Maine. We sat on a dock and ate lunch looking out at this view, then we shopped in the shops and spent lots of dollars. :-)
Wendy: We also made a trip to my old hometown, Farmingdale (and Hallowell), where I met up with my childhood best friend, Heather (below on the left in green) and several others who went to school with us. Foolishly, I did not take a picture of us, but this photo was taken shortly after we had left while they were all at trivia night. Hallowell is yet another town that has weekly, free, outdoor concerts. We happened to catch part of one that night.
Joel: Other musical events included a lot of playing the community piano in downtown Brunswick and going to free concerts and an open mic night at the local Irish Pub. That was interesting. I also took the opportunity to attend the local Episcopal church service one Sunday morning (below). The music director was on vacation and they had a sub organist and soloist. It was pretty good and the organ was very cool looking (and LOUD). What got my attention was the organist playing from an ipad! I have some friends that do this as well, but I've always been afraid of doing something like that... what if the program freezes?? I talked to him about this after the service and he said he'd never had any problems and loves it. Friends from Arizona and New York also confirmed this, and the next thing I knew I was standing in the apple store in the Portland Mall. So now I've got that to look forward to at VPC! Hope it works...

Wendy: Since we stayed at an AirBnB this time, we had a full kitchen at our disposal. We took advantage of that several times by going to the local seafood market and buying our own clams, lobsters, and haddock at way lower prices that we can get at restaurants. The haul to the left is made up of all soft-shell lobsters, and made a few days worth of lobster rolls! We sat outside and enjoyed the view while picking the lobsters. |
Wendy: Once again I failed to get photos of some of our adventures, but we spent several days with the people below (Mark, Rob, Dee, John, and me - Joel took the photo). Mark, John and I all went to high school together. We had dinner one night with John and Dee, took this photo the next afternoon in John's back yard (after visiting our second farmer's market this visit - strawberry rhubarb pies, haddock casseroles, Maine strawberries...yum!), then all met up again at an Irish pub the following night for open mic night. John and another classmate used to perform at the open mic nights, but the other person moved away so now he mostly enjoys them from the audience. We saw quite a variety of talent that night. John and Dee were just married two weeks before this photo was taken so congrats to them!!!
Joel: It's our last day in Maine and the state is crying to see us go. It's been drizzling all day with some major thunderstorms predicted in a few hours. Not sure if we'll get to experience those, but I know we'll get to live through some storms when we get back to Arizona. It's been a great trip full of seafood, friends, and (with the exception of two days) great weather. We'll be back again soon, so I'm not entirely sad to leave.
Wendy: For our final lunch in Maine we went back to the place where we had our first lunch, Day's, and I had the exact same lunch - steamers and a lobster roll. I'm going to miss this!
Wendy: For our final lunch in Maine we went back to the place where we had our first lunch, Day's, and I had the exact same lunch - steamers and a lobster roll. I'm going to miss this!
Joel: This will be our last blog entry for this trip as we leave early in the morning. There's typically nothing too interesting to report while driving across the country... especially Texas! What a drag! A long, never ending drag...... See you soon!