Remote Post from Maine

Well, here I am in Maine. And I'm kicking myself because I've already forgotten the camera THREE TIMES when I could have gotten some great pictures.

I'm on a library computer, slotted for half an hour, so I have to write fast. I may try to do a voice post - in fact, I already tried a couple of times - but cell phone coverage is a bit spotty up here. Anyway:

We drove up on Sunday; there wasn't much traffic. In fact, there have been a lot fewer tourists around here than there usually are. In part that may be because of the weather. The weathermen predicted rain and thunderstorms throughout the week, which probably dissuaded many people from making the trip. But I hear that tourism in general is down, thanks at least in part to high gas prices.

Here are the times when I wish I'd brought the camera:

Monday: The Boothbay Railway. As always, we took Sebastian there for a train ride, and as always, he had lots of fun.

Tuesday: We went somewhere new, the lighthouse at Pemaquid Point. The lighthouse is small, but we climbed all the way up to the top and Sebastian got to turn the light on. The heat through the Fresnel lens was surprising. Sebastian loved it.

The rocks there were also amazing. Huge expanses of tilted, layered rock, with many narrow runnels worn into them by millenia of seawater, slanting down into the sea. My father and I took Sebastian far out on the rocks, climbing a huge 15-foot high boulder, and then going a bit further out - until he got a bit scared. We had a picnic and headed back home, but we'll definitely do it again - this time with a camera. Teri probably won't go up the lighthouse again, though, since she got vertigo while climbing down the circular stairs of the lighthouse.

Tuesday night, July 4th, was Sebastian's first chance to see real fireworks. Incidentally, up to that point the weather prediction had been completely wrong; the weather had been glorious. But on Tuesday it did get very foggy and (as I kept saying) wierd. It looked like it might rain, or might not; the weather seesawed all day, rapidly.

We had a few sprinkles, but as the evening approached it was clear that the fireworks would be on. Sebastian stayed up late, way past his bedtime. At 8:30 we went to the docks downtown, the best place to watch the fireworks. I was amazed that there was enough parking, by the way - yet more evidence that tourism is way down.

We waited for what felt like a long time. Sebastian was interested, but nervous. Finally the fireworks started. I heard him say "Wait 'til I tell my friends about this!". The display was excellent, with some new types of fireworks that I hadn't seen before. It wasn't terribly loud, but Sebastian dislikes loud noises, so he covered his ears. Eventually he started asking to go home - he asked three times in all, and fussed a bit but didn't cry.

After the finale we took him back to the car (he kept begging to be carried), and he seemed a bit overwhelmed. We took him home, and he fell asleep soon after we got him in bed - it only took two songs to knock him out.

This morning we had breakfast at the Rock Tide Inn, and I saw something rather remarkable. The inn is right on the water. When we sat down, the fog was heavy. Outside the windows, everything was white. But as we ate, the fog lifted. Slowly more and more became visible - docks and boats - and by the time we were done, the sun was shining gloriously on the houses on the far side of the harbor. It was really beautiful.

Sebastian was happy because they turned the overhead model trains on, but he soon tired of that to run outside with my mother. After I came out, he insisted that I walk around on the docks with him. One of them scared him a little by sliding away rather precipitously when he stepped on it, but he insisted on doing it again, just for fun.

Later Teri, my mother, and I took Sebastian was a walk near the sea. I did get some photos, hopefully good ones, and I'll see if I can post some when we get home. That will probably be sometime tomorrow evening, by the way.

We're going to try to take him to the Railway Village again before we go, so I'll see if I can get some pictures there, too. But the Pemaquid lighthouse was the really spectacular sight of this vacation, and I won't be able to go there again on this trip. We'll try to do it when we come back up in August.

It has been weird without computer access, I have to say. But not so bad.

Remote Post from Maine

Well, here I am in Maine. And I'm kicking myself because I've already forgotten the camera THREE TIMES when I could have gotten some great pictures.

I'm on a library computer, slotted for half an hour, so I have to write fast. I may try to do a voice post - in fact, I already tried a couple of times - but cell phone coverage is a bit spotty up here. Anyway:

We drove up on Sunday; there wasn't much traffic. In fact, there have been a lot fewer tourists around here than there usually are. In part that may be because of the weather. The weathermen predicted rain and thunderstorms throughout the week, which probably dissuaded many people from making the trip. But I hear that tourism in general is down, thanks at least in part to high gas prices.

Here are the times when I wish I'd brought the camera:

Monday: The Boothbay Railway. As always, we took Sebastian there for a train ride, and as always, he had lots of fun.

Tuesday: We went somewhere new, the lighthouse at Pemaquid Point. The lighthouse is small, but we climbed all the way up to the top and Sebastian got to turn the light on. The heat through the Fresnel lens was surprising. Sebastian loved it.

The rocks there were also amazing. Huge expanses of tilted, layered rock, with many narrow runnels worn into them by millenia of seawater, slanting down into the sea. My father and I took Sebastian far out on the rocks, climbing a huge 15-foot high boulder, and then going a bit further out - until he got a bit scared. We had a picnic and headed back home, but we'll definitely do it again - this time with a camera. Teri probably won't go up the lighthouse again, though, since she got vertigo while climbing down the circular stairs of the lighthouse.

Tuesday night, July 4th, was Sebastian's first chance to see real fireworks. Incidentally, up to that point the weather prediction had been completely wrong; the weather had been glorious. But on Tuesday it did get very foggy and (as I kept saying) wierd. It looked like it might rain, or might not; the weather seesawed all day, rapidly.

We had a few sprinkles, but as the evening approached it was clear that the fireworks would be on. Sebastian stayed up late, way past his bedtime. At 8:30 we went to the docks downtown, the best place to watch the fireworks. I was amazed that there was enough parking, by the way - yet more evidence that tourism is way down.

We waited for what felt like a long time. Sebastian was interested, but nervous. Finally the fireworks started. I heard him say "Wait 'til I tell my friends about this!". The display was excellent, with some new types of fireworks that I hadn't seen before. It wasn't terribly loud, but Sebastian dislikes loud noises, so he covered his ears. Eventually he started asking to go home - he asked three times in all, and fussed a bit but didn't cry.

After the finale we took him back to the car (he kept begging to be carried), and he seemed a bit overwhelmed. We took him home, and he fell asleep soon after we got him in bed - it only took two songs to knock him out.

This morning we had breakfast at the Rock Tide Inn, and I saw something rather remarkable. The inn is right on the water. When we sat down, the fog was heavy. Outside the windows, everything was white. But as we ate, the fog lifted. Slowly more and more became visible - docks and boats - and by the time we were done, the sun was shining gloriously on the houses on the far side of the harbor. It was really beautiful.

Sebastian was happy because they turned the overhead model trains on, but he soon tired of that to run outside with my mother. After I came out, he insisted that I walk around on the docks with him. One of them scared him a little by sliding away rather precipitously when he stepped on it, but he insisted on doing it again, just for fun.

Later Teri, my mother, and I took Sebastian was a walk near the sea. I did get some photos, hopefully good ones, and I'll see if I can post some when we get home. That will probably be sometime tomorrow evening, by the way.

We're going to try to take him to the Railway Village again before we go, so I'll see if I can get some pictures there, too. But the Pemaquid lighthouse was the really spectacular sight of this vacation, and I won't be able to go there again on this trip. We'll try to do it when we come back up in August.

It has been weird without computer access, I have to say. But not so bad.

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