bobquasit | Maine

We took a vacation this week. Left on Sunday morning and drove to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to pick up our friend Jordan, then drove the three of us to my parents' house in Maine. It was about 8 hours drive in all, with a stop at The Common Man in Hooksett for apple cider doughnuts.

Jordan got us to get out of the house and try some new places, which was good. We stopped at a place called "Bull Moose"; they sell CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays, including used ones. The selection was really impressive.

We also went to Damariscotta and shopped at Reny's, which is an amazing little department store; the prices are really low, and the whole place feels like stepping back into the 1950s. Went to their separate clothing store and got some stuff, too. Found that the library's used book store had moved to a much larger shop that was hard to find, although it was an easy walk from the main street downtown.

Had lunch at the general store there, which was lovely. They had excellent sandwiches, and I was really pleased to see flyers about Gaza.

For dinner we went to Dunton's Doghouse a couple of times, but also once to Moody's Diner. I'd been there long before, but I remembered it as being about a two-hour drive north; when I looked it up, it turned out to be only 34 minutes away! We LOVED the food there. Sebastian and I both got the meatloaf plate with mashed potatoes and gravy, and steamed carrots. Absolutely yummy! The waitress got me the last slice of gingerbread, and Sebastian had chocolate cheesecake. EVERYTHING was great, even the lemonade.

The ice cream store in downtown Boothbay isn't quite as good as it used to be, sadly. It's been under new management for a few years now, and it's not quite the same. But still not bad.

We gambled on a pizza place on the docks downtown. Sometimes they've been great, but more often they've been horrible. The last time we went I got sick as a dog from their food. But this time they were good. Not delightful, but certainly acceptable.

I got up at 6:20 one morning to get to Farm 23. That's a bakery that makes amazing croissants and coffee. Other pastries as well. They open at 7, but there's a guy who goes there sometimes first thing in the morning and buys up all of their croissants. Fortunately he didn't show up when I was there!

Found a great Chinese restaurant in Bath, and another branch of Bull Moose a little further south. There was a book store too, but I didn't get there in time. We hit several game stores in the area, and another couple of them on the drive back to the White Mountains.

It was really cold the first night; the bedrooms are all on the second floor, and there's no heat up there. So I bought a blanket at a thrift shop the next day, a nice warm one. But it warmed up a little the rest of the week.

We went into the town leatherworker's shop, a man who goes by "Tigger". Sebastian had lost the loop from his belt, and I needed a few more holes punched in mine. He did all of that for us and refused any pay! And he did a really beautiful job of it, too.

We're definitely going up again this summer.