August and Everything
Updated: 2 days ago
August this year was truly everything. After about 6 weeks in RI, we decided to spend the month on an epic New England road trip. And I got to drive a boat.
We started the month driving from RI to Saratoga for a few days. Really enjoyed the town, the food, and a fun day at the races. I decided to rely on AI to pick my bets, which I thought might get me a better result than my normal mode of selecting based on colors or names. Sorry to say, but it was really no better. I had a few winners, and a lot of close calls, but still managed to lose just a little bit. We had a blast anyway.
We made an overnight stop in Concord NH on our way to Maine, where our first stop was 5 nights in Boothbay. Loved it there. We rented a tiny lakeside cabin though AirBnB that was near the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and a short drive to restaurants and stores in Boothbay Harbor. Really beautiful setting and great town. We had lobster and oysters nearly every day, kayaked and swam in the lake, visited Pemaquid Point and Damariscotta, and read and relaxed and generally enjoyed ourselves.
Also really loved walking through the botanical gardens. So many flowers, and got to see a couple of trolls! Thomas Damon is a Danish sculptor who builds giant trolls out of recycled materials and hides them in forests around the world. There are 5 in RI, which I’ve visited on multiple occasions, but this was my first out of state sighting. So cool.
Next, we headed inland to the Sebago Lakes region, where we spent a week in yet another great lakeside AirBnB. This stop was very special to Jim, whose grandparents had a cabin on Panther Pond. He vacationed there with his family every year until he was 13, when they sold it, and hadn’t been back since. We rented a small pontoon boat and spent a day tooling around Panther Pond, swimming and fishing off the boat and soaking in the sun. It was fantastic.
Absolutely loved our house here too. It was literally 5 feet from a small lake, had a wall of windows overlooking our private dock and a huge outdoor fireplace we had going pretty constantly. Paradise.
Next stop was the Arcadia region, where we spent 2 nights in yet another lakeside cabin in Surrey, followed by 3 nights in a bed and breakfast in Bar Harbor. The Surrey stop was mainly to visit Jim’s high school swim coach and his wife. We had a lovely dinner with them, and were able to kayak over to their place to visit again the next morning. Unfortunately, I neglected to take any photos of the visit, but it was really great to hear stories of the “glory days”.
In Bar Harbor, we had our first rainy weather of the trip…but that didn’t stop us from getting out and about.
We walked the shore path daily, ate many more oysters and lobsters, and spent a full day in Acadia, which was as beautiful as ever.
From Bar Harbor, we headed to Boston…but were waylaid about 90 miles north of Portland by a flat tire. We limped off the highway to a rest stop, and within a few hours AAA had picked us and the car up, brought the car to a Portland area dealership and us to a hotel in Portland for the night.
While not on my bingo card, this turned out to be a delightful detour. We had a great dinner at Central Provisions, walked all over the Old Port, ate a bunch more oysters and lobster, and generally soaked up the atmosphere until our car was ready late the next afternoon.
Made it to the Langham in Boston a day late, but they were good enough to push our 2-night stay back a day, so we were able to enjoy it as planned. We spent a day walking the freedom trail, which we combined with multiple stops for snacks and drinks along the way. A really fun way to wrap the New England adventure before heading back to the city.
Ended the month with a day at the US Open, where we saw wins by both Ben Shelton and Jessica Pegula. Nothing like live tennis! And I have more very soon - off to London for the Laver Cup next week.
All in all, a fantastic month. I really do love retired life ❤️
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