Over and out...nearly

So today Curly and Shiny separated from T'Other One ...some tears and sadness along the way but it has been a good holiday with great weather and lots to do. Better Half has been missed...particularly by T'Other One of course...but by  us all. Curly thinks there would have been more shopping opportunities if she had been here and someone else to act as interpreter between to ageing men with dodgy hearing, memories  and ability to concentrate! 🤣

Today we visited Walter Gropius's House which was truely lovely. Such attention to detail, lovely use of light and textiles too.

Travelled back  to Boston Airport....a short journey but doubled by hopeless signing back to car rental place...went through same tunnel more than once....in various directions!

Flight delayed by couple of hours.

Impressions:

Beautiful scenery...not enough lay-bys

Road speed signs change all the time.

Toilets flush really well..and cubicles  are huge

Coffee mostly truly dreadful...a real surprise...hardly ever a choice

People mostly very polite and friendly...but no anticipation they might bump into you on sidewalks

Eat early.. like in New Zealand ..9.00pm they stack chairs on tables

Some excellent food but some a bit so-so.

Bizarre tipping system...you pay with your card..then choose tip amount which they deduct later

Four way crossroads drive Shiny mad...First come is first to go

Poor...very wordy....signposting

So loud in talking and speak so fast

Comparing our visit a few years ago to New Zealand...would we want to live here...no. NZ..yes...if only it wasn't so far away!

We have a 2 hour delay to our flight but have access to wine!

It's been great travelling for a good long break, whilst UK gets washed away in our absence.

If you have been following our holiday...thank you for your interest.

Signing off

Curly

Fire...Fire ..Dust..

So the day got off to an interesting start when the fire alarm went off in our building. Workmen creating dust...however we went outside and were impressed that 2 fire engines turned up very quickly.  We have passed so many fire houses this holiday (with engines displayed proudly outside)...and fire hydrants almost by every house in Vermont!

We then mooched around the city and visited the state capitol building. Returned to our condo to do some packing then off to Design & Art Gallery. 

Final meal in local restaurant which was lovely but sad too.

We go our separate ways tomorrow...us flying home and T'Other One going on to New York, San Fransico and then Costa Rica for several weeks.

Last stop...

Our day started with Charlie our Airbnb host cooking breakfast again...this time blueberry pancakes...T'Other One was in seventh heaven and had 3! 

So we then had lovely 5 mile walk on coast of a nature reserve on Cape Cod.  Spectacular dark clouds in the skies made for wonderful photos  and we avoided the rain...which we soon found at the start of our drive. We called in at Mashpee to get a late lunch. This retail outlet has been built to look like a set of traditional village streets with apartments above the shops. A bit weird but certainly nicer than the usual malls. 

Then rather tedious stop start journey with lots of traffic lights to Providence RI. Enlivened by the conjunction of an ambulance, school bus (with strict rules of the road around it), and a fire engine pulling  out in front of us.

Arrived in Providence and found our space in dodgy looking parking lot, eventually navigated 3 lots of codes and two flights of stairs to get to our condominium. So scruffy on way up but probably best apartment we have had the whole trip. Great way to end.

Paddling...

My birthday today so a dip in the briney was called for...well feet anyway. Some lovely dunes and empty beaches on Cape Cod but also much more built up than we expected.  It must by dreadful in the summer season ..relatively quite at present. Falmouth busy in evenings and we had a nice meal but the noisy was too much for us to talk to each other! We measured 87 dB which would be ear damaging for workers if they are in that all the time. Excellent lobster bisque. 

This morning we travelled up to Wellfleet so I could collect some jewellery forwarded there by someone I have long admired on Instagram.

Cape Cod...

So we left our old fashioned traditional motel and travelled to Taunton MA for breakfast, in a fabulous traditional diner.

We then drove towards Cape  Cod and had a 'stumbilation' moment when we came across a railway bridge which lifts around 35 metres to clear a sea canal, its span across the canal is 180 metres. Apparently it still operates most days but just for the rubbish train, only takes 2.5 minutes to lift. Amazing but sadly we didn't see it operate. We then drove to Nobska lighthouse and beautiful sandy beaches.

Then to our Airbnb, a house in the woods, speparate from but attached to Charlie's house...a delightful 90 year old . House full of books, wooden furniture and delightful details.

We have just walked to the tiny beach snd harbour 20 mins away, so beautiful.

Houses...

As Shiny, in particular, is very keen on houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, we had planned in a visit to the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester (NH) who manage two of them almost next to each other. Very different in materials used though similarities in some styles. Much enjoyed by all three of us. We had a bit of a rushed journey to get there in time but made it with just time for a coffee...except the two servers in an empty cafe too 11 mins to deliver them Curly only got to drink half of hers so was somewhat grumpy! [Later in the day one of them gave us some free sodas].

The gallery itself we almost didn't look around but on doing so discovered many wonderful paintings and a stunning melting carpet (woven by traditional crafts people). An excellent day, though the last hour of the journey was busy with traffic and rather slow.

Portland...

This morning we walked from where we are staying around Back Bay into Portland. We were nearly trampled underfoot by a sponsored Alzheimer's event walking in the opposite direction! We decided (sweeping generalisation) that Americans have poor spatial awareness!

We spent part of the rest of the day browsing the shops and even  bought a couple of Christmas presents.

Then a couple of hours at lovely Museum of Art.

One unexpected feature of Boston, Portland and New England generally is the prevalence of cannabis. A proliferation of shops selling it, as frequent as  charity shops and nail bars in the UK. Pungent aroma on many streets.

Wonderful meal this evening at ore-booked David's restaurant, we even got proper espresso coffee after the meal and an Uber home.

Light houses and bridges ...

Today we moved on to Portland. The first stop of the day is a sweet little bridge close to where we were staying. Followed by a bridge that couldn't be more different.  Penobscot suspension bridge is awe inspiring...and there is a lift which goes up over 400' to an observation area. We were lucky with clear views, blue skies, the tide was in and the sun out.

We then drove via Staples (for Shiny...don't ask) to Portland via a coastal route to take in some lighthouses. Drove into sunset for last few miles to our next stop...being in a city for the first time for a while. Finished the day at a Belgian restaurant called Duckfat for some excellent tomato and fennel soup, poutine and donut holes with cinnamon and lemon.

Round and round...

We are staying at South West Harbour on one side of Acadia State Park, so today we circled the area on its loop road. Pine forests, mountains, granite coasts, lakes 

Lovely coast and some wonderful boardwalks to protect the fragile plants underfoot. We did two walks during the day, including one around a glacial lake.

Bar Habor we only drove through at the end of the day...attractive very busy street, but the destination of cruise ships which says all you need to know! We didn't stop.

Walked up to a local restaurant for nice meal but rather inexperienced waiter.

Big skies and seas...

We awake to a view of the small working harbour. We look around the local shops in the village and buy some bits and pieces. After lunch the sun comes out and we drive a few mins further along the coast. We walk through lovely pine woods and see wonderful lichen and small red squirrels. The coastal rock platforms are wild and wonderful as we imagined. After some time here we drive a little further to see a lighthouse. We find ourselves in a long queue of cars down a small lane...to a car park which is one in one out. T'Other One and Curly jump out the car and walk down the road to find a somewhat underwhelming lighthouse. We then relieve Shiny from his driving duties so he can view the lighthouse...at this point we just got to the carpark so we're able to turn round and leave. We saw good autumn colours and deer on the route back  along with many deep potholes. Tonight walked to the harbour and went into Beal's Lobster shack where we had very nice hot lobster rolls. Curly rescues T'Other One's cap from bring left behind...not for first time!

Trains and cars...to the sea

Leisurely start at our fabulous apartment, then off to have breakfast before a scenic train ride. This was more difficult than we thought...First place we tried said 30 min wait so we drove on to North Conway and parked by train station. Busy little town with lots of breakfast opportunities...except many had long lines outside or were adding names to lists with waiting times of an hour or more. We eventually found somewhere and fortunately our waitress was helpfully speedy so we just had time to collect our train tickets. We had paid extra to be in the observation dome which was a better view...though it did keep steaming up. We trundled up the track with some history and then back with some 1930s music. Enjoyable though trees close to track often meant the view was difficult to photograph. As soon as we had finished we set off on our 4.5 hours, which was a nice route but tiring for the two drivers. The last 2 hours in the dark. Arrived at a nice Airbnb in Acadia National park, on the Maine coast..though currently no idea what it looks like outside!

Over the border...

So today we left our awful Airbnb and travelled first to Vermont State capitol, for an excellent crepe breakfast. Lovely town where we had a quick wander. We then visited a Maple Sugar House and slipped into the back of a brilliant funny talk by the Grandson (50's?) of the person who set it up. Maple syrup for tasting was interesting..the difference in color coming from the time of year it is collected.

We then drove over the Camagus highway through the mountains.  We had been warned thus could be very busy so had avoided at the weekend.  It was still very busy, particularly at the overlooks and trailhead (a lot of Chinese). Made worse by a motorbike accident at Hancock overview. Thus meant the sun wasn't at its best for the leaves but still got some good snaps and a short amble to some falls. 

We then descended into Conway to the most fabulous apartment...next to a covered bridge. So well appointed I would like to live here!

 Although the wooden steps are difficult for me as they have see-thru treads. We went out to wonderful supermarket (I have been totally surprised about how nice they are) bought some food and had a fabulous meal in. This was a really nice change from restaurants. Though these cakes are so over the top.