Like most vacations that I have taken lately along came my laptop but much to my dismay the on board battery started to die way too early however this time I have a spare to me the extra life that I will need I hope. This will be the first time that I'll be testing it. Its a make shift gell cell pack that gives me 16 volts however the computer runs on 15 volts so I added two diodes in series to drop the voltage down to what the computer is expecting. I'm not sure how long it will last as when it's plugged in it will attempt to charge the on board batteries as well.

Right now I'm sitting in the Philly airport typing this out we have about a 1 hour layover till the plane takes off for the final destination of Portland Maine.

Later same day

The second leg of our flight went without a hitch. We arrived on time and headed for the bed and breakfast. Its a nice place, has a nice size room and a two story walk up. (No Elevator). Turns out we share the bathroom. There is no T.V. in the room nor a phone. There are two friendly cats here who came into our room and joined us for a short time. One just jumped up on the bed and made himself at home. K.C. should only do that.

We did some light unpacking and we set out to see the immediate surroundings on foot. Its a nice neighborhood. Right around the corner we found an Italian restaurant. Neither Reesa nor myself was looking for anything fancy, and we weren't expecting anything fancy either from this place but were very much surprised. Instead of ordering two dinners we could of ordered one as the portions were that large. We took back with us one meal almost not touched. I don't know if we are going to eat it but would of been a shame to have them toss it into the garbage.

The cost of living seems much cheaper in Maine. Gas goes for 1.13 a gallon as compared to 1.24 that I paid only two days ago. My sweet tooth wanted a piece of cake and a large fudge cookie was only 25 cents. Concerning the weather I have no idea of what the temperaturewas tonight but I wasn't cold. I'm guessing it was someplace between 59 to 65 degrees. Its a different type of cold. The wind doesn't blow and you don't really feel the chill. Reesa like to keep the A.C at 74 degrees at home and I'm always cold but here I was surprisingly comfortable.

Breakfast in the B & B was a small bit of a surprise. For the first time we got to see just how many people were in the same house as we. Our breakfast was rather simple. You could order anything you wanted so long as it was blueberry muffins, waffles and O.J. Simple as it may be it was still very nice and homey.

Today we headed into old Portland for the day which was only about 4 miles from our Bed and Breakfast. The morning was quite and there weren't too many people in sight apparently even though it was memorial day weekend it is still the off season and as such no crowds. Reesa and I were like a ball in a pin ball machine as we bounced around from one place to another not knowing what we would find. We wandered into just about every store in sight as there are only about two main streets to walk one. Of course we found the usual tourist trap of nick nacks and then the unusual such as a coffee shop called www.java.com. Yes, there was a cyber cafe that we stopped into for a cup of coffee. If the internet pricing was a bit more reasonable I would of logged on and played for a while but at 6.00 per hour for computer rental I just had a cup of coffee with Reesa and watched others browse the internet.

About mid day we went to a museum. It was a fairly modern, fairly small museum in size which was just perfect for me. Had the museum been any larger or if it would of taken more time to cover, I would have been board stiff. I'd say I discovered two highlights inside. One was the LOVE rug. We have all seen the graphic of it at one time in our lives but the actual graphic is a rug that is about 8 foot by 8 foot. I also came across the statue of "The Thinker" I never knew the statue was only about 12 inches high. Personally, I had always assumed the statue to be full scale. On the way out of the museum we were handed an invitation to a tour of the Ship Yard Brewers Beer Co. (My kind of tour) Reesa couldn't give a darn about going to see the mechanics of how beer is made but I wanted to see it. Compared to Bush Gardens this was more of a hands on experience. Bush Gardens and all of the other bottling companies that I've seen in my life time have always been from an upper viewing point made for the public. Today we walked where the workers would walk. I believe we got a more of the behind the screens tour because it was Memorial Day. As such the assembly line was closed so we weren't getting in the way of the workers. However I think the bottling line would of been much more impressive to view if the machinery was running and we could see the bottling going on.

After the Beer tour we went back to shopping with food on our minds and where we going to eat. We came across a lot of the restaurants that were recommended to us either thru guide books, people that we spoke to along the way or the inn keepers recommendations. Reesa as well as myself were disappointed in all of the restaurants that we visited when we got to them. I'm not sure what either of us was looking for. Perhaps I wanted to dine as opposed to just eating.

Atmosphere in just about every place seemed to be very much like the crab house in Miami. Wooden tables and hard wooden chairs with prices for an al la carte main entree ranging from 12 to 16 dollars. Personally, I think they were all taking too much advantage of the wharf ambience meaning give you nothing and charge a lot. By the end of the day and after shopping all around for restaurants we decided to eat in a T.G.I Fridays where we knew that we wouldn't get ripped off. Tomorrow we will be in Boothbay where the price for lobster is supposed to be equal to a chicken dinner.

Today for breakfast was poppy seed muffins, thick french toast and coffee in case your wondering. Breakfast was short although we did have a nice chat with 3 ladies that were finishing up a vacation today. One just talked and talked and talked and we just had to listen and listen and listen. Afterwards we packed our bags and headed for Booth harbor.

The drive was a pleasure with the help of Map It from the internet. It was amazing. Not only did I have a small map to go by but a set of instructions detailed to exact miles before turns and changing highways. Accurate to about a 1/10 of a mile.

Along the way we stopped about two times. Once at a flea market the second at a place called Big Al's. Big Al's was supposed to be a T-Shirt place as the sign on the road said 2 for 10 dollars but once inside it was more of an odd lot store with most things being around 88 cents to 1.88. I found something that I had been looking for at least a year now. I bought two of those.

Concerning our Bed and Breakfast here what a change. This one is much newer and has much of what I was missing in the other one. First of all it has a beautiful view of the Harbor. We have a private bathroom and a jacussi inside. No more of having to put my robe on and having to walk down the hall in the middle of the night. The sink mixes hot and cold water. Ever take that one for granted? Other small things are appreciated now such as a T.V. and plenty of electric outlets to plug my batteries into for recharge.

Booth harbor is another Mayberry RFD complete with a Sheriff who might even be called Andy. Its a nice little town with little stores. Gone are the flags such as Publix, Home Depot, and Office Max instead replace them with the small guys such as Govers Hardware, Zietmans Stationary and The Deli Store. There appears to be a lot of action in Booth harbor but like Portland after about two hours of walking around we saw the whole town. About mid afternoon we decided to see what a Lobster Pound is. I'd say the experience is sort of like going to a Comp U.S.A. store the first time. Not that the Lobster place is high tech but more on the idea of prices. Picture a Burger King type of set up on fast food. First you pick out your lobster. Ah no doubt about it, your going to be the one to sentence the lobster to death. Anyway, you then pick your side dish and type of butter that you want with the lobster. You pay for the food in advance and in return they will give you a number. I'd say about 5 mins later they call your number and your given a tray. Considering that you have just paid about $ 15.00 a meal for just the lobster. Corn beverage and french fries are extra and you have to carry your dinner to a wooden pick nick table of your choice to an outside patio with temperatures of 62 degrees.... Well whats wrong with this picture.

That sort of dining if you can call it that just didn't set well with Reesa nor myself. Its fine if your having Burger King but not for a 10.00 to 15.00 a la carte lobster dinner. Instead we opted to look for a nice sit down on the inside and be served restaurant. We paid about double but I at least walked away feeling a dining experience as opposed to a fast food experience where lobster is the main course. Its just amazing on just how many people choose to eat lobster that way.

Well another day done. Tomorrow we may get to go whale watching. Besides the other things we did today, We also went down to the docks as well but unfortunately its still the off season which means if there isn't enough people the boat won't go out. From what we were told they need 15 people or more to go. Judging from the attitude of the people who were selling tickets it does not sound too good. They claim many of the tourists went home today and tomorrow the town will be dead. They told us to call first thing in the morning. They didn't even want to take our names. I don't think it looks good. I think we will be moving on tomorrow without seeing the whales.

We had a very nice sleep last night and were awaken by the sunlight as it came thru the windows of our room in the early morning and I mean early morning. Sunrise in Maine is about 5:15 am. I dosed off again but was awaken shortly afterwards by the nice pleasant smell of breakfast being made around 8:00 am downstairs. Diane, the owner of the B & B made something she called her French Toast. Well, I wouldn't call it French toast as it was a cross between desert and bread pudding. It was made with sugar cinnamon, orange juice and egg batter and the bottom of the bread was soaked in honey and butter.

We didn't spend much time talking with the other guests at the breakfast table as the day was planned out, we still had to pack and get going. Concerning the Whale Watching charter boat I guess I won't be able to do the Chewing Gum commercial in Boothharbor as Reesa called the Whale watcher boat but as expected from yesterday's conversation, they didn't plan on going out today. Well, what can I say other then such is life but I wasn't disappointed at all. The day earlier the boat had gone out and returned with some disappointed people who paid $ 25.00 per head and didn't get to even see one tail of a whale up close or even a tail in the distance. In any case, we still have other places were we can get on a whale watching boat as we move further to the north if we choose.

Instead of going straight onto Camden as planned Reesa had me drive towards some place called Pemaquid Point. Since I had nothing to do with the planning of this vacation I did as told and followed the instructions. Its sort of mystery as to what I'd see by my chief tour guide. So now that I've been there I'll share my experience with you. At Camden Point is a $ 2.00 parking lot and a lighthouse that you can look at from the parking lot but you can't go inside of it. There are also wooden pick nick tables and a small museum near by that has a small bit of information inside on how to catch lobster and some old fishing reelects. You know what was diffidently missing. Much to my surprise they did not have a gift shop where one could buy light house flashlights, light house pens, light house video tapes, light house post cards, light house this and light house that. I could make a fortune in this town.

We arrived in Camden around 12:00 and went in search of the B & B that we would camp out at for the nights stay. Reesa wanted to stay at the Windward Inn which featured a room out in the garden area with a fireplace. I have to admit I'm not one to get excited about any room but this one is romantic. Right now I'm sitting very comfortable in front of the fireplace with my laptop just typing up the days activities with some very pleasant elevator type music in the back ground. Reesa is planning tomorrows tour where to go, where to stay, what route to take and what to do.

How do I explain the town of Camden.... Himm..... Not much I can say about the town. It has some nice views and its starting to become a city. Right now its still a small town, no big stores like the Office Depot, Burdines Shopping center, It does have one Micky D's and I didn't see a Burger King or any other one stop shopping mall or type of store and the town is much larger in population then Boothharbor however I'd say the downtown area is about as large. Perhaps 5 blocks long. The town already has parking meters, street signs, CPA's and Attorneys, Give the town a few more years and it will be as large as Hallandale back home. Given a choice if I had to move from where I live now to one of these two towns and I'd pick Boothharbor over Camden.

For lunch today we decided to go to the top of Mt. Battie which I gather is a state park that does offer camping grounds for those who want to rough it. For only $ 2.00 per person you can stay the day and go battie walking nature trails but other then that there is not much to do there other then drive all the way to the top and get an over view of the entire harbor area and the town. Its very much like going to the Caribbean on a cruise and seeing your ship down in the bay from the top of the mountain when your cab driver says, " Listen Mon, I got a great place for you to take a picture but wait I'll tell you when." Anyway we had planned in advance and had bought sandwiches at a local market. We thought it would be nice to have lunch while overlooking the town from that vantage point, Unfortunately, there is two weeks in Maine when literally millions of black nats hatch make love and come out to feed. Of all weeks this is that week. Just when we started to eat those millions of black nats saw us and yelled charge lunch has arrived. They were everywhere and we could of made the 1990's remake of Alfred Hitchcocks the Birds called the Kalishman's Black Nats Attack. So much for mount Battie. We came, we saw, we tried to eat and we were eaten by the black nats.

Tonight we ate at the Frogswater Restaurant. As the name implies you could order fish. The special of the night was Lobster (What else?) however neither of us ordered seafood. I think we are getting lobstered out.

Today I woke up once again to the bright sun shine which poured in thru the skylight windows of the "Garden Room" we were in. Perhaps that is where the expression rise and shine comes from.

This morning breakfast was simple and what Reesa was looking forward too. She got her eggs for breakfast. Company at the breakfast table was a newly wed couple who got married only yesterday. We had met them last night when we came back from dinner. I don't remember how the subject was brought up about them getting married that day.

Off we headed for Bay Harbor we stopped only once along the way when I show a model ship kit company. I thought that I would see some type of large scale assembly plant or items that one could not find in a large hobby store but instead all we found was a small show room where perhaps 8 to 10 models were displayed.

We arrived in Bay Harbor about 12:30 and started to check out several B & B's to see what they had to offer. The first was about 5 miles out of town and the price was about half of what we paid for one night yesterday but Reesa wanted to be closer to the town. So off we went looking further. In all we looked into about 4 places before we found the "Mannor House". We were given a quick welcome orientation as to the amenities they offer of which one we took them up on immediately which was a cassette tape of Arcadia National Park. The cassette is designed so that you can take a tour of the park using your car thru a 21 mile auto loop which takes you to the major highlights of the park. Today we spent about 3 hours touring the park and tomorrow we will return to finish up the tour. Some of the things to be seen I can't get excited about but I guess if your from Maine the park is a big deal. Tomorrow, after the whale watching boat ride I'm expecting to go back to the park with Reesa for a nature walk on one of the many trails and a drive to the highest point in the North Eastern United States called Cadillac Mountain which is also inside of the park.

Bar Harbor is a pretty little town and very similar to Boothharbor and much nicer then commercial Camden, but I still like Boothharbor better. I think it was the initial drive around town that gave me the warm friendly small town feel as we passed by the Fire Station and town city hall. Bar Harbor appears to of been planned out way in advance before the stores were allowed to open. As I look down Main street appears to be a little phoney and just too uniform in nature as I look at the store signs.

The town is also more diverse as to the shops and would be easier for someone living here to find the item they are looking for locally without having to resort to mail order.

Today we finally got to go whale watching. I was very surprised to find out how many had purchased tickets along with us for the 11:00 sailing. 140 in total. How did I know that there were that many. Easy just before leaving we were asked what appeared to be an unusual request. Would we all mind moving as close as possible to the front of the ship so the weight would the 140 of us would allow the boat to float. Yes, we were grounded. Anyway 140 aboard each paying between 25.00 to 28.00 per head. ( We paid 25.00 due to a AAA discount.) well what can I say other then not a bad day's haul for the Owner of the ship in ticket sales. It was just a few days earlier in Boothbay when they wouldn't go out to sea as there weren't enough going to make it worth the captains fuel. I'm sure that in this one sailing alone he made his ships mortgage payment, captains and crews salary and the fuel. It was a beautiful day for sailing. Not a breeze in the sky so the sea was extremely calm which meant not a chance of me getting sea sick. The temperature was about 69 on shore but we were told to dress as though it was January. I had my light weight members only jacket on top of a turtle neck shirt, on top of that I had on my New York Ski Jacket, and Gloves and I wasn't a bit over dressed to face the ocean wind at the boats speed of around 22 knots.

It took a little over an hour to get to the last known spot for a whale sighting. All along the way I was thinking to myself that it would be impossible to spot a whale unless the boat happens to have some fancy radar or other electronic equipment. Everyone was told two things the first is that if a whale is spotted all 140 should not all run to the side of the boat the whale is on. The second look for the whales spout as he or she blows out water thru the blow hole on the head. Yeap, every one of us became a spotter and it truly was a passenger that yelled out spout at 12:00 first.

We did get to see whales out in the ocean and surprisingly perhaps less then 100 feet from the boat. They would come up, blow out what ever water was in the blow hole then breath on the surface for about 15 to 20 seconds and the submerge for 5 to nine minutes. Each time while we waited for the next sighing the first mate would keep us informed as to how many minuets has passed by, answer passenger questions and tell us some whale facts about the Fin backs that we were watching. In all I have about 12 mins of video tape a lot I'm gona have to edit out as a good deal I call whale zoom lens chasing. Its one thing to see the whales with your two eyes but its another to get the video camera quickly in focus and on target in the view finder for filming. However for those who saw them for the brief 20 seconds each time I have on film (I hope for a long time to come) Whale watching is something to experience as it is a sight to see how these large fish appear to move so grace full thru the water. Seeing a whale in the Ocean as compared to Sea World is as different as motor boating is to sailing.

We got back to the dock around 3:00 which was still enough time for us to finish the Park Road Loop at Arcadia National Forest so off we went. Much to my disappointment the entrance pass that I had purchased yesterday was not even needed today. The forest charges $ 5.00 for one day and $ 10.00 for four days. Reesa said only buy one days entrance but I knew we would have to come back one more time so if 4 days was the same as 2 days why not get a bargain. Well she was right again as had I listened to her we would of come out $ 5.00 better. Today our venturing took us to Cadillac Mountain the highest point in the Northeast United States. I don't know why but it wasn't a big thrill. Perhaps it was because the experience wasn't earned. It was a nice easy drive to the top. Perhaps had I of done the hike the reward would of been better appreciated.

Inside of Arcadia there are loads of foot trails to go on. We discovered on yesterday that was only 1/2 mile long which ends up on what the park called bubble rock. Actually its a big boulder that balances itself rather precariously high up on a cliff. It seemed like a good hike as a first and only as I knew Reesa would go on another. The hike was considered Moderate but I must of been out of shape. We came back and all Reesa and I wanted to do was get something to eat and hit the sack. Reesa was so tired that she even let some T-Shirt lady get an extra dollar out of her without bargaining. Now that's tired!

We had seafood for dinner. I had a stew made up of assorted fishes Reesa had shrimp. I was thinking about lobster as it was the same price as what I had ordered but again I was so knocked out that I just didn't want to fight with the lobster shell for the meat. We retired to the B & B and bounced into the newlywed couple we had breakfast with. So far in 6 days we have met 3 newlyweds. This couple came to Arcadia for the forest and so far spent the last three days exploring it so guess who benefited from the four day pass that we had purchased? It was a cost me nothing nice gift to them. Tomorrow we pack up and head for the shopping meca of Maine called Freeport.

Like yesterday we had a buffet breakfast at the B & B. Nothing outstanding and the personal service of the other B & B's was missing. However Reesa likes this kind of B & B better. I however like the service and freindly atmosphere of the husband and wife run B & B's that we have stayed at prior to coming here. At this B & B the owner tried his best to appear sincerely interested in our stay when we made personal contact with him but that was far and few between. For the most part we ran into were employees of his and you could tell that for his employees there was no true love of the Inn Keeping business and what they were doing was nothing more then just a job. They were about as friendly as anyone could expect of an employee of a hotel to be.

Shortly after breakfast we packed our bags and headed for a Laboratory that Reesa noticed from the car on the way up. This moring she called the lab to see if they would give us a tour and of course Reesa talked them into a YES answer. I don't know what the Bio Lab did and perhaps never will because. Unfortuneately, we were not able to find the lab again on the way back out of town and as so we just kept heading for Freeport. I was tired this morning and it seems like all the running around is catching up with me. After about an hour into the 3 hour ride I surrended the steering wheel over to Reesa and she drove for about an hour perhaps more while I caught up on some sleep. We stopped only once on our way to Freeport. We arrived at around 1:OO and passed thru the town of shops. I was driving at this point and

Reesa's true color started to show. I think I heard her say " Oh, I have to go into that shop " at least 6 to 7 times. Then she informed me that here she is doing the driving because "She knows exactly where she is going." We did however have to make our way past the shops on and onto the new B & B before they fill up. Here we are to stay at the Isac's House. It's a nice old home that has been sub divided into many differet rooms for rental purposes. It has a very nice country charm if you like that sort of stuff with a little bit of modern added to it. At least in each of the rooms shown to us except one. The sink had one spicket instead of two so the water temperature could be mixed. The room we chose was in the loft of the housse and came with a refrigerator, telephone and get this it even as its own T.V. in the room. Different strokes for different folks. All I need to keep me happy is an A.C. outlet and a RJ-11 phone jack for the computer.

While I unpacked the car and carried the every growing heavy suite cases inside and up the stairs, Reesa layed out a map of the local shops from a brochure that the Inn Keeper had. It was easy to see how professional that she has become as a shopper as she was prepared with with different colored pens and highlight markers. When it comes to shopping Reesa means business. I still think that I should change her occupation on the 1040 tax return to shopper. So while Reesa was planning her attack plan I was checking out my E-Mail on the phone line in side the room but when it started to take too long she cried out. "Your wasting valuable shopping time!."

Right now I'm sitting outside in a public square with the tempuratures dipping down to the low 60's perhaps 50's and typing away on my laptop with numb fingers while Reesa is some place close by in a nice warm store shopping till she drops. I guess she will either come back to the car soon or I'll hear the sound of an ambulance comming to rescue her from the sudden shopping attack. I knew this day was comming I just wish that I had brought along a car battery adapter to run the computer as the on board battery will die shortly and then I'll be bored stiff.

Later same day

Reesa showed up but only for a brief moment to unload packages with me and give me a shopping report. When I asked can we go now she said,"Just one more store" now that was a good 15 to 20 minuets ago.

We had a very pleasant nights sleep last night and it was nice having all of the comforts in our private room. Things like an idiot box and telephone were nice. This morning we got to meet the owner of the B & B at breakfast time. Prior to him becoming an Inn Keeper he was an Urban Engineer. Considering that for a man who's job is to say "What a beautiful forest lets clear it out." He lives in a farm type of setting. He had every bit of 3 acres behind his home with woods and a kids play area equipped with a complete swing set and real full size train car behind the house. Well the train car has just recently be converted to another sleeping room but before that his kids and his grandkids were able to play in and on the box car.

Today we went to see the "Desert of Maine" yes there is a Desert in Maine and its very easy to find as its just off exit 19. I had heard about it while in Boothbay Harbor from some guests at the B & B. The place was created not by man but by Mother Nature. From the story we were told a glacier had pushed lots of rock and the bottom of a river bed to this spot thousands of years ago. All of the slit from the glacier river was deposited in this 30 by 8 mile area. Modern man poured concrete over most of the sand along with asphalt and built the modern day Freeport where the shops are located. However the owner of the Desert of Maine thought that he could make a tourist attraction out of his property instead. Everything about this mans acreage is amazing.

First is the sand itself. The texture is that of baby powder and it doesn't stick to you like regular beach sand does. Its so fine that in the front of the place was a sand dune that I stuck my hand into. I created a sort of avalanche as the sand started to fall once I removed my hand. The avalanche of sand filled in the hole and then continued to fall down the dune until the river of sand had worked its way all the way to the top of the 8 to 10 foot dune. It was like watching the biggest egg timer in the world. I was like a kid and kept creating my avalanches in the dune as it was enjoyable to watch. But Mother nature does alright for herself on her own. For instance, there was a visitor center that was built on this property in 1938 but unfortunately the owner did some poor planning and the center started to get buried in the sand dunes. Apparently as large sand dunes are they still move and they were moving toward the visitor center that he built. The man put up some snow fences to slow down the moving dunes but unlike snow which melts away in the spring the sand stayed. He had gotten some students to shovel the house out each spring but in time it was a losing battle. In 1962 he just let the house become buried. The tip of the roof was some 38 feet from the ground level. Today the entire house is under the sand dune and a 12 foot pole marks the highest point on the roof. Several years ago the owners placed a 12 foot pole marked off every foot, on top of the highest point of the roof and today I saw that the pole is covered in sand up to the 8 foot mark.

From the desert we headed back to the shopping town of Freeport so Reesa could finish up the shopping from the day before. This time she was very considerate of the others in the town. She is a good shopper and knows her prices. After two days she told me that the place is no different then the Saw Grass mall that we have back home and the prices are about the same. Other then go shopping and to see the Desert of Maine there is not much to do in this town.

We continued further south to Old Orchard Beach. It can best be described as an amusement area like Coney Island in New York City. It has the fast food stands that sell hot dogs, corn on the cob, cotton candy and stuff like that. There are the large rides like a Ferris Wheel and Cyclone type rides along with all of the midway type of games like throw darts at balloons and shoot basket ball hoops and Oh did I forget. Hells Angles seems to of had a convention at this spot this weekend. Those motorcycle guys in their leather cloths seemed to be everywhere and always traveling in packs. They all looked like a rough n tough group looking for trouble and not the kind that I'd like to become too friendly with.

We didn't walk much in the area as I knew what to expect and we did most of our viewing of the area from the windows of the car as we drove around town. After summarizing what the rest of Orchard Beach must of looked like we continued onto Kennebunkport. If we spent an hour at Orchard Beach it was a lot. We arrived in Kennebunkport around 5:00 pm and started to look for the B & B that Reesa read about. So far we didn't make a single reservation and had played it by ear as we never knew how long we were going to say in one place. Today for the first time the place Reesa wanted to stay at was booked solid and not surprising either was that her 2nd and 3rd choices were booked as well. We were lucky in that the operator of the 3rd choice B & B called around for us and found us a very nice place to stay. Reesa likes it so much that she wants to stay here for two night and make day trips from Kennebunkport instead of moving on tomorrow morning.

Tonight for dinner Reesa and I had lobster again. I'm seafood spoiled already. I had a nice 1 1/2 pounder which had plenty of meat inside. There is a big difference between the 1 1/4 pounders you get in Miami and the 1 1/2 pounders up here. Believe me the difference is more then just a 1/4 pound of shell. I'm gathering that from the time the lobster is caught and has its claws rubber banded shut to the time it makes its way into the restaurant in Miami perhaps two days passes. During that time its not eating any food and I guessing that it must start to use its own body fat for food. Perhaps that is why in Miami we get a big shell with little meat inside. In Maine the shell is just packed with meat. Tomorrow we will get to explore Kennebunkport.

Reesa planned out a lot of things to do today. First we headed out of Kennebunkport to a coastal area called Gooserock Beach, It appears to be an area much like Golden Beach is back in Miami. The homes around the ocean are large and the area is secluded. Even the cars in order to park along the way need to have special parking permits although the entire time we were going around eyeballing I didn't see one police car to enforce the sign. At this point I was becoming a bit jade with Maine and little did I know it but Reesa was as well. I wasn't saying one word to Reesa as I didn't want to ruin her vacation and every day she was asking me again and again for confirmation "I did right didn't I? You always have a good time." From Gooserock Beach we headed for Cape Porpoise in Kennebunkport.

The town of Cape Porpoise is like a lot of other Maine towns as it has a fishing harbor, small shops and friendly people. Its as large as Boothharbor in crowds population and shopping but more spread out. I saw a lot more homes as we drove around. The highlight of Cape Porpoise is the port like all of the other Maine towns.

We then traveled onto Perkins Cove in Olgunquit, like Boothbay Harbor, Bay Harbor and Camden the highlight of the town centers around the Harbor once again. Have you seen this already?. In this town they have built up the port for gift shopping. Unfortuneately the port is attacting more tourists then the only road leading into the area can handle. Keep in mind that we were visiting in the off season and just to park car in order to go into the nick nack shops was a $ 5.00 charge. Perhaps that was one of the best things to happen along the way at this point in the trip. I looked at Reesa after seeing the sign and said do you really want to spend $ 5.00 to park the car and walk around these shops over here as it looks a lot like what we saw already. Most of the stores had lobster traps, lobster tee shirts, Maine Maple candy, bird houses an other stuff like that. Reesa's answer was No, lets just go back to the B & B. Reesa was telling me that she had finally been window shopped out. On the return trip back up the road that had just taken us here, we found one shop with its own parking lot and so we parked there. The Store Keeper asked how Reesa was enjoying herself in town and I heard her say that she has become Mained out. How about that one.? Not only was she window shopped out but vacationed out as well. Personally I had reached that point early this morning. We continued from there looking for something different. A pizza joint of all things. Since coming to Maine we had eaten our way thru some 630 miles of fancy restaurants and neither I nor Reesa wanted fancy food any more. Over dinner we dicussed the notion of coming home early and we were both in agreement providing that the cost of changing the plane tickets would not be more then the cost of sleeping over in Maine for an extra day. Much to our pleasant surpise we were able to get a flight home early.

It was an enjoyable vacation but like all things If you have too much of a good thing and then you don't enjoy as much of the experience anymore. We had both become Jade to getting up in some place new every day and discovering with our own two eyes what someone else had written about in a tour book. It was time for the two of use to come home.

Last day of Vacation

Hey, can you beat this one?. The airline had charged us $ 50.00 apiece to make a change in flights. However when we got to the front of the counter they were having problems with a new computer program that was just installed to speed things up. We waited at the counter for about 20 minutes maybe a little less and so for our trouble they wavied the $ 100.00 charge. Luck was still with us as we had about a 2 1/2 hour layover in Philly on the way back home. I figured why not see if the two of use could get into the Fancy Airport Lounge and so off we went. As I entered the door I showed them my AOPA card and sure enough in we were. Its a nice lounge equiped with 5 different types of coffee, and things to noch on. A big screen T.V. plenty of phones to call out on or connect to the internet on. In any case the time went very fast.

It was a nice way to end things up. About the only thing better that could happen to us is if they would bump us and give us a free flight sometime in the future. Oh, It didn't happen.

And so ends our May 1997 Maine Vacation