honeymoon3

Sea Anemone

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It was hollowed out by a seagull, but was still alive and moving.

More than a shot

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At dinner tonight, we sat at the bar. The barkeep seemed a bit frazzled, and poured Kris a bit more than the shot he ordered. It was the equivalent of maybe three or four shots.

whiskey

Rockland Lighthouse

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Kris and I walked out to the lighthouse to get in my 10000 steps today. We walked out the front gate of the resort, down the street, turned left and walked down the long street to the lighthouse, only to realize the lighthouse backs up to the bay side of the resort and the direct path was about 1/10 as long.

Whoops.

Out along the breakwater, the walk to the lighthouse is 4300 ft long. The granite blocks are fun to walk along, and the distance very misleading.

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It was a good walk. Managed 14000 steps instead.

Appropriate for a golf course

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There's a golf course at the resort we're staying at. The last golf course I've been on, I was sledding down the giant hill at Forest Park in wintertime. Not really a golfy sort of thing to be doing.

Today, however, I decided, yeah, I'll walk out onto the golf course, partly because I don't think I'm supposed to walk out onto the course, and especially not onto the green. Kris asked if anyone was coming, and freaked a little bit when I looked, then said, yes.

Still, sorta fun in an itty-bitty-tiny-little illicit way.

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Hold your breath!

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Having a graveyard at the end of the driveway of the resort is making for some entertaining arrivings and leavings for us. Kris says you need to hold your breath as you pass a graveyard, or that's the one you'll end up buried in; a rule he's had since he was a kid.

I find it humorous, so I play along. Our walk out today meant we had to run past the cemetary holding our breaths. I have to wonder what the people driving by thought of the two crazy people sprinting past the cemetery...

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Two observations about Maine

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1. They don't stop for pedestrians

Despite the signs that say, "State law, yield to pedestrians," cars don't. Kris was nearly hit by one car while crossing the street. Cars don't slow down when a pedestrian starts crossing the street.

2. They aren't afraid of talking to strangers

Between my conversations on the street and women coming up to me in the grocery store to talk to me, it's easy to realize that people here are just not afraid of starting a conversation with a stranger.

I'm liking the second. The first I can do without.

Welcome to America

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"Lots of trucks and four wheel drives and SUVs here."

"Welcome to America."

"Not everyone drives a Prius?"

"Indeed not."

Hello, new people!

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After lunch, Kris and I walked down the main street of the town we're in. Kris wanted to find a bookstore where he could find a guide book. We wandered down the main street of the town, appropriately called Main Street, to a coffee shop and book store. The selection of books wasn't particularly good, so I suggested we look for a Kindle version. Kris thought it was an okay idea, and let me grab the Kindle out of his backpack. I wandered outside to use the Kindle, while Kris kept looking at the paltry selection of guidebooks.

As I was searching for a book on the Kindle, I looked up to see a man walking up to me with a huge grin on his face. "Is that the... the?" he asked. "It's a Kindle," I offered, and held it out for him to look at it. He asked questions, and we talked about it for a short while. I thought about showing him the ipad, which rested on my hip, after he joked, "The ipad is a feminine product, not a book reader, to me!"

He then let me know the town's real bookstore was down the street a couple blocks, that I should check it out instead of the coffeeshop. I thanked him, gave up on the Kindle, and started walking back to the bookstore.

As I was walking back, I caught up to group of people walking in the same direction. After a few steps, one of the women in the back asked if they could let me pass. "Oh, no, no, I'm enjoying this pace," I responded. She tried to insist, so, I let her know, "Walking with you makes me feel like part of a group, like I belong. I'm good walking here." She smiled, and the man next to her piped up that being part of a group is nice, even if it is the Old Grapes!

We chuckled as I turned to go into the bookstore, enjoying having spent all of 10 minutes by myself and I already met three new people.

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Yeah. That.

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Sitting at lunch, looking at maps on phone, I turned to Kris, and commented.

"Can you imagine this 100 years ago?"

"Service would be a bitch."

"My wormholes to the future, yeah, they aren't so stable."

"That, and you'd be burned at the stake as a witch."

"Yeah. That."

Morning! Er... afternoon!

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After sleeping until nearly noon and enjoying a deliciously late start, Kris and I ventured out of the resort in daylight to see what this Maine place is like. Turns out, to my delight, there are a lot of lilacs in this area. I wasn't expecting to see lilacs since they're not still blooming in the Bay Area.

Our first task of the day was, "Find coffee." No, wait, that's not quite right, it was "Fine good coffee." Our journey took us a long the main street, where we stopped at light. On the four corners of this main street where a Burger King, a McDonalds, a church and an abandoned building. I thought it telling of how representative of American culture that street corner is.

We eventually found our way around the town, and, to Kris' delight, found a coffee shop right next to an easy parking space. Turn, zoom, screech, brake, flip, open, close, hustle, and Kris was right at the door of the coffee shop.

It was closed.

While part of me was a little annoyed, the other part of me appreciated that even coffeeshop owners can want a life, one that includes doing something else on weekends than wait for the not-quite-tourist-season trickle of tourists to come into the shop for a $3 cup of coffee. Of course, I'm not the one addicted to the caffeine of those cups of coffee, so it was easy for me to express appreciation.

So, off we wandered, back on the original plan of checking out the small town we're in. We passed a couple restaurants that seemed good, the menu had lots of tasty items on it. Kris made a note of them, then kept going.

Until we approached the Brass Compass. The place was PACKED!

Knowing that locals always know, Kris turned to me and said, "Here. Let's go here." "Because it's packed?" "Yes. The locals always know."

In we went.

As we stood near the door, waiting our turn to be seated, a small girl walked up, a look of concentration on her face. She knew exactly what she wanted, the yellow ones from the jar. I was amused by the recollection of the number of times that I, as a child, had done the same thing.

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I was also a little impressed with the conversation that happened at the table next to us. There were three men seated at a large table. They had already ordered and were waiting for their meals to arrive. As we stood waiting, a waitress walked up to the table, and said, "Gentlemen, I have a favor to ask." Without hesitation, one of the men asked, "Would you like us to move, to give this table to a larger party?" No pause, no thinking it over, the three of them stood up to move.

Clearly, we weren't in a metro area.

We were seated quickly after that. Looking over the menu, one of the items was listed as Lucy's Triple Deckah. Not a Decker, a Deckah. Yeah, I pretty much had to order it, even if, well, it ended up to be TOO MUCH FOOD. It did, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless.

It reminded me of the interview I read about recently that went something like, "Why can't more people become vegetarian?" "Bacon." That pretty much sums it up. I'll be vegetarian for the rest of the day, but for this meal, mmmmmmm, bacon......

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Oh, and Kris managed his coffee.

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