Snake Kicker's Reality Check

Today was the biggest and brightest yet of our wonderful stay here. We started off with a quick trip to Dunkin Donuts, which is a requirement to make any trip to New England complete. We were bringing our glazed portions back to the house, and my anticipation of consuming the sugary delight was so pervading my thoughts that I missed a turn. I decided to drive on just a bit as I knew that the road would end soon near Maine Yankee, the decommissioned nuclear power plant. And without much fanfare, that's just what it did, so we did a one-eighty. As we sported along we spotted a whitetail deer in the general area of right in the middle of the freaking road. The brakes were hit--nothing too extreme as there was no iminent danger. The deer completed its road-crossing endeavor, and as we continued on slowly I noted that the deer was apparently just as interested in us as we were in it. It was standing a few yards out in the woods and gazing back as if we had a carload of donuts or somethi...

For those of you that might have had a concern based on my recent reports of the feline community entrusted to our care, we are happy to report that five out of the six furry beasts have been seen alive and well within the past 24 hours. One was on the roof of the porch, but apparently quite happy there as my effort to "rescue" him was rebuffed. The one that we haven't seen is a bit of a recluse, so we really don't expect to see him. Today started to a pitter patter of raindrops, but the weather never really got busy with making life miserable and it turned out to be a rather nice spin of the planet. We had planned to take it easy this morning at home with some pancakes (with authentic Maine maple syrup) and bacon lovingly prepared by T. Wallace Hinkle. We also worked on our Wii bowling and various strategies for coping with toddler temper tantrums. We sallied forth around 11:00 AM, headed for the botanical garden near Boothbay. Leigh had packed a picnic lunch so we e...

Turns out that the animal running through the yard making freaky sounds was a fox. As we slumbered in our humble Maine cottage, we heard the sound again--my first thought was that there was a vicious chihuahua outside. So I got up and turned the front porch light on, and beheld a reddish fox trotting across the front lawn. If you've never seen a red fox relatively up close, they are quite beautiful. Their markings are striking, and they always look so clean. Their tails are quite bushy, and it's difficult to imagine how they manage to stay so well groomed as they're tromping through the forest. As our day started we noted with glee the lack of rain for a second day in a row! Our plan was to drive down to Boothbay Harbor to visit the Maine State Aquarium, so that's just what we did. We got there about 11:00 AM and enjoyed seeing a blue lobster, a very large lobster, and other aquatic creatures that dwell in the vicinity. They had a wonderful interactive tank where we cou...

Ah, the third full day in Maine. No rain. Mist and fog, but no rain. We started the day by venturing down to Hunter's Breakfast and Lunch. This little drop in the bucket of Maine restaurants came highly recommended by Uncle Jim and Aunt Gayle, who claim to belly up there for the morning egg or pancake about once per week. It certainly lived up to its billing, we having arrived hungry and departed sated. Perhaps the only room for improvement is in the area of the cup of coffee, which was typically not of the Starbucks ilk and weak. Nonetheless, I rate the dining experience three pictures (out of four). If ever Emily were in need of a strong cup of the nectar of the gods, this morning was it. She was feeling rather paltry in the A.M. and was loathe to stop clinging to my caffienated being. Noting her weakness, observant parents that we are, we decided to stick close to the home base and let it play out. So we headed to downtown Wiscasset and unloaded. We walked down to the lobster do...

Monday's events consisted of a trip to Freeport and relaxing back at the house. Once again it was rather rainy as we headed up to the home of L.L. Bean. Leigh was on the hunt for shoes and a jacket, so we loaded our shopping weapons and went to the main store (there's your standard L.L. Bean, the L. L. Bean Hunting & Fishing, L.L. Bean Cycle and Ski, L.L. Bean Outlet, and soon to open L.L. Bean Home). Required upon arrival are photos with the giant boot. Then as soon as you go through the door is the fabulous fish tank. Leigh's shoe radar led her to a snappy pair of a blue specimen that she tried out on the fake rocks with Emily. On the way out the door, Leigh exclaimed how super excited she was about her new shoes. I reminded her that she would hate them the next day. We meandered down to the children's section and lost Emily for a heart-thumping moment. Instead of just running the distance of a couple of clothes racks, she high-tailed it to the end of the store. T...