Wow, summer has been quite full of travel for this West Coast couple! We are settling back in at home, letting the memories of everything we've seen sink in. This isn't a California post, but here's what we've been up to...
We kicked things off with a trip to Park City, Utah, for the Evo blogger conference. (I went for work, and Chris was able to tag along and stay at the lovely resort.) I met so many fun and inspiring women, and I saw mountains...I mean, REAL mountains. These mountains do not mess around. I made sure to squeeze in 2 gondola rides before we had to hit the road for the airport.
Once we got home, we hosted Snick Night, a 90's nostalgia fest complete with childhood snacks. (Remember these?)
We screened Clarissa Explains It All, Pete & Pete, All That, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and ate pizza off orange plates (in honor of the Nick color and the big orange couch). (Oh, and then I found out about this. We are trendsetters, I guess!)
Next, it was off to RI for my cousin's lovely wedding in Providence. My favorite part was my brother's last-minute heroism--it was an outdoor wedding, and HOT. As people walked from the ceremony site toward the (indoor, AC'ed) cocktail hour, Jim provided free Del's lemonade to all of the guests.
After the RI festivities, it was off to Portland, Maine. This town is now high on my list of
favorite places. All of the little shops are independent, and there's amazing food, music, coffee, and art at every turn.
When we drove in, I wasn't sure what to make of it--it was a grey day, and the cool stuff is not immediately visible from the edges of town. It looked a little like some of the bleaker places in Providence, but once we drove further in, the greatness became apparent. Everything downtown is housed in old New England brick buildings, and most businesses have kept the original faded signage from eras past. (I love painted signs. This is one of the less-pretty views, but a good sign.)
Every shop and little cobblestoned street was unique, and all of it beckoned to me in an artsy and entirely non-pretentious way. It was as if the city was saying, "Welcome to Portland, where we make stuff." We popped in and out of so many adorable galleries, and I was continuously delighted by the sheer diversity of the art. From interesting jewelry to quirky metalwork to traditional pottery, there was an element of personal attention in just about everything we saw there. Unlike New Paltz, one of my favorite hippie towns, the options for food, music, drinks, etc., seemed inexhaustible. And unlike Newport or Mystic (or even Park City), the boutiques are not just "boutique"--there's such a range of clothing and goods that it's doesn't seem like it's just for tourists prepared to spend a lot of money. I could picture actually shopping at a lot of the places downtown as a resident.
On our second day in Maine, we got some sunshine. We took a ferry to Peak's Island and biked around, taking in the cute houses and the peaceful, rocky shoreline. It was a perfect way to wrap up the trip. (We even saw a seal from the ferry!)
We're back home now, and rather zonked! (So is Roger, who had lots of fun poking around in closets and boxes at Uncle Sam's Sleepaway Kitty Camp.) We hope to have more posts soon, now that we're done jetting around for a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment