From the sublime to the ridiculous!

If things were always wonderful, would life become boring? Well, we don't know, because there's enough variation in our trip to keep us well and truly on our toes. We left Maine, having followed our wonderful times at the Manor Inn at Castine and the Bar Harbor Inn with a delightful night with ATC hosts Fred and Cheryl and their huge labradoodle, Beamer, and headed back into New Hampshire, anticipating another delightful night at the Crotched Mountain Resort at Francestown NH (wonder why we chose to go there?) Almost every school in SE Maine was closed, due to huge winds and rain, but we paddled along country roads inland with no problems at all, and spent some delightful hours at the Shaker village outside of Concord NH, arriving at the resort just on dark ... which is now 4.30 pm because daylight saving ended at the weekend!

As we waited for the inefficient girl on the desk to finish several phone calls before booking us in, we saw a notice on the counter about an e-coli problem at the resort, only to be told that it was nothing to worry about. You can imagine our horror when we got to our condo to find a 5-page document from the EPA, telling us, among other things, to boil all water for 2 minutes before drinking, NOT to shower, NOT to clean our teeth, NOT to wash our hands after going to the toilet, NOT to use plates, cups, cutlery etc until it had been soaked in a bleach solution for 30 minutes!!! These fussy Aussies immediately rang the desk to be told "Oh, just don't worry about it"!! However, we persisted, insisted on speaking with the manager, and there were great back-downs all round ... with the result that we left the resort (thankfully!) and proceeded some 20 miles (30 km) through the darkness, wind and rain, to the Jack Daniels Inn at Peterborough NH, where our accommodation was pre-paid by the resort (we'd booked, and paid previously, from Australia). What a welcome they gave us!

We now have had our faith restored, feel that we have at least a fair-to-middling chance of continuing to travel healthily, and are heading for Boston. Wish us luck!

PS On the television news this morning (worth watching now that the mid-term election is over, and the ghastly political ads gone) there was news that the Carnival Splendor, the wonderful new ship we spent 7 weeks on in 2009, around South America, has had a fire in the engine-room, and is floating helplessly off Mexico with 4,500 passengers and crew on board. They are VERY much in our thoughts!

It's becoming a habit!

It was with some regret that we left the Manor Inn at Carstine, ME, and headed for Bar Harbor ... this should have only been a journey of 55 miles, but we did more than 100 miles (160 km) as we meandered back through Penobscot and down the peninsula to Deer Island and Stonington, following places where Robert McCloskey had lived, and written his books. We bought fresh goats cheese flavoured with orange zest and cranberries outside a local hall, and grabbed a late bowl of chili at a food co-op as we travelled - we needed something to warm ourselves up as it was a grey, damp, foggy day ... we could see quite some distance, but as soon as we drove up a hill we were back in the fog again - it was quite eerie, with patches of colour gleaming faintly through the mist from the remaining Fall trees, and mossy rocks beside the road glowing emerald beneath the pines.

It was nearly 4pm when we got to Bar Harbor, and already getting dark. We hadn't booked anywhere, as this is a very important seaside resort, and there are dozens and dozens of motels and hotels ... the only problem was that they were nearly all "Closed for the Season"!! We drove around and around, and were starting to despair, when we came to the Bar Harbor Inn, sited right on the water, at the end of the main street. This is one of THE places - last year Fodor (the rich American's answer to Lonely Planet) named it as one of its "Top Establishments in the World" (there's a small plaque inside, saying this!). Oh well, we thought, we're getting really short on choices, and it IS off-season, so maybe we'd give it a try ... and here we are! We have a large room (no, nowhere near as large as the Manor Inn, but very large for our standards) with two chintz-covered Queen beds, a mahogany table and two armchairs, with a ground-level balcony overlooking the lawns and garden beds which are between us and the sea - all of 20 metres away - and all for the same price as the Manor Inn! No, we're NOT eating in the dining room, thank you (there's hardly a dish under US$40), but the breakfast is free, and we ate so much this morning before we set off for Acadia National Park that we went without lunch.

As you can imagine, we were ready for dinner tonight, which we ate at a local bar called the "Whistling Whale". John, with his seafood allergy, dined on mushroom soup and fish and chips, which he pronounce 'excellent'. I ate the BEST clam chowder I've ever tasted, and a roll filled with juicy Maine lobster - a meal doesn't have to be fancy to be truly memorable. I've been avoiding chowder following an unfortunate lunch when we were on the ferry to Vancouver Island - and an even more unfortunate 'parting of the ways' with that same bowl of chowder in our host's car an hour later (Thank Heavens I had a secure plastic bag, but it was SO embarrassing!)

Now I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make a chowder as good as the one in Bar Harbor - it was brilliant! We'll be sorry to leave this part of Maine.

A Time of Wonder!

Having driven more than 300 kilometres (200 miles) from New Hampshire into Maine, on damp roads, needing the windscreen wipers, but with very little rain, we were relieved to reach the Atlantic Coast at Penobscot Bay. Why did we head there? ... Well, when Frances first started training as a teacher-librarian in 1971, she fell in love with a picture book titled 'A time of wonder' by Robert McLoskey, which was set on Penobscot Bay. So, with little knowledge of the area, we drove to Penobscot, only to find that it had about 20 houses, and no accommodation - and the non-existent sun was preparing to set, and we had no clue as to where to go next.

One road looked good, so we followed it along the edge of the bay, and through the country, and came to a remarkable little town called Carstine. Established by the French about 1613, it was taken over by the English, and at one brief stage by the Dutch, and then the Americans. It now boasts a large Marine Academy which trains merchant seamen, and the academy sits in the middle of dozens of wooden "cottages" - large holiday homes built by the rich in the late 1800s and early 1900s. We asked at the local bookshop as to whether there might be any accommodation available - this is now "off season", and most places are closed for the winter - and were directed to the Manor Inn, a long double-storied building surrounded by several acres of grounds, overlooking the bay and the township. It was pouring rain when we arrived, and nearly dark, but in we went, and were welcomed heartily - the only guests for the night, but assured that there would be other locals present in the bar and dining room by dinner time.

We paid our US$135 and were directed to our room ... and talk about a time of wonder! It wasn't a room, it was a suite - and it was huge! The main room was 9 metres (28 feet) long and 6 metres wide (20 feet) and held a huge four poster bed, while at the other end was a large fireplace, furnished with a good supply of logs. There was a large couch, two large armchairs and two small, a writing desk and several antique cabinets - and there was still enough room to have held a party! To one side was the bathroom with a beautiful claw-foot bath, a large walk-in shower and modern toilet (commode for the Americans) and a black-marble topped vanity basin set into an antique bow-fronted cabinet. But there was yet more! At the far end of our bedroom, beside the fireplace, was a door, which led to a sunroom furnished with a full-size daybed, two chairs, and pots of plants, which had windows on 3 sides, overlooking the bay and the forest behind. Wow! This suite, it seems, had been the haven of a lady who had survived the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco and the fire which burnt the Fairmont Hotel where she was staying ... and who had, with her sister, also survived the sinking of the Titanic. How lucky can you be?

Suitably polished-up, we went down to the bar for a gin and tonic, and thus began the most fantastic evening with the locals. Sally and Fred, who have a farm in New Jersey and a holiday home at Carstine, adopted us, and we spent the evening with them, their young estate-agent friend Hank and Susie and Jess, who were both connected with libraries. We dined on a wonderful fish-and-tomato based chowder (no seafood for John!), crab cakes for Frances, chicken for John, and scrumptious desserts, while we all talked and laughed, and had a wonderful time, spinning yarns and enjoying one another's company. Everyone had something different to tell - Sally was an actress, Fred grew corn, Hank's father had been in the foreign service, Jess's parents were Jews from Poland and Romania, and Suzie told of how her she and her sister, tired of listening to a choir on the lawn of Kennedy's White House, went inside to look for 'Uncle Jack', her sister's god-father, and set off a security panic!

All this - and we had still to go up the stairs to our wonderful bed, to lie under the canopy and look at the flames in the fireplace, to sleep on feather pillows under a feather doona, and to wake with a view of the many islands and headlands in the bay. We love Maine, we loved Carstine, we loved the Manor Inn ... this was a travel experience par excellence, and a million miles from the image most people have of America ... definitely a 'Time of Wonder'!

State #46

Our trip is going by so fast, that if we don't write about New Hampshire in retrospect, we'll leave it out - and it was too good for that, so this is just a short blog to include it in our tally.

Like Vermont, NH is a longish, narrow state, and as we're travelling across, rather than up and down, we travel quickly, and thus were in New Hampshire for less than 24 hours. We're returning there, further south, after we've been to Maine, though, so then we'll be much more informed.

Soon after we crossed the border from Vermont, we came to the little town of Bath, which has the most wonderful covered bridge. We'd seen 3 or 4 other, shorter covered bridges as we drove, but somehow they were always in places where it was impossible to stop, but this time we were able to stop and really enjoy the sight.

Then we discovered that we had stopped outside of "America's oldest general store", so of course we had to have a look through that too - not that we were particularly impressed mind you, as the owner greeted us with "What are you doing here? The tourist season is over"! We, of course, consider ourselves as travellers, not tourists, so we just laughed ... and promptly left, without buying anything.

Our Affordable Travel Club hosts for the evening, Nancy and George, were much more welcoming, when we arrived at their beautiful home overlooking the snow-covered White Mountains through huge windows, as we sat in front of the fire, enjoying local cider (Frances) and black tea (John) the setting sun turned white to the most amazing apricot-pink - it was remarkable!

On Thursday we drove a kilometre (or half a mile, if you're American) to see the Franconia home of poet Robert Frost before we left the area. We then had the choice of two routes to Maine - the scenic route to the south of Mt Washington, or the more direct northern route. Directness won, because the weather had turned grey and drizzly - and were we pleased ... see our next blog to find out why ... !

State 45

Well, we left Pennsylvania with regrets, having had a great time, and seen 456,987,123 autumn trees - and for those who asked, john DIDN'T stay with the Amish, or dye his beard - but wait till you seet the photo of him in an Amish hat!!

New York was merely a train-swap for us, although we raced out into the street, outside Maddison Square Garden, took a photo of the Empire State building, then caught the next train, this time to Albany, the capital city of New York State. It was a glorious journey - right beside the Hudson River all the way.

In Albany we hired a car and drove into Vermont - state #45 - unfortunately, we missed most of the Fall leaves here, but it's still beautiful. We stopped in Bennington and visited the Grandma Moses exhibition at the museum (come on, own up, how many of you are old enough to remember Grandma Moses' naive paintings that everyone admired in the 1950s!) and the Bennington monument, from the American Revolution.

We stayed the night with Nancy and Bob, Affordablr Travel Club members from Rutland, Vermont. For US$20 we had a lovely bedroom, our own bathroom, a good breakfast, and lots of Parliamentary comment, as yesterday was half-term election day, when people voted for State Governors, senators, and lots of other people ... including judges, police chiefs, head of the school board etc ... we didn't see any banners telling us which dogcatcher to vote for! This morning we visited the Norman Rockwell museum at Rutland (Clue - 1950s - Saturday Evening Post - Frances' Uncle Allan always gave them to her to read)

It was so cold this morning that the frost was still everywhere (even the tops of trees) at midday, and we saw lots of 30cm (12 inch) icicles hanging from rocks beside the road as we drove. We even saw patches of ice on a pond! It's been so warm and sunny further south that we got a real surprise! Fortunately we have lots of warm clothes, and our smart new black Mitsubishi Galant is toasty warm, too.

By the way ... What horse won the Melbourne Cup? ... there's no way we can find out here except for the internet, and our half hour is up ... Bye!

Between Intercourse and Paradise!

If you've been reading our blog, you'll KNOW that we've been having a superb time - but we bet that you didn't expect a blog with THIS title! No, this is not a case of 'too much information' - this is where we were yesterday! Intercourse and Paradise are two towns in Lancaster County, south-eastern Pennsylvania, the heart of the Amish country. For those of you who would rather focus on another interpretation, let us remind you that before you can go from Intercourse to Paradise, you first have to go to Bird in Hand ... it may be old-fashioned to call girls 'birds', but the sequence seems appropriate!

In the summer, we are told, it is almost impossible to move on the roads of Lancaster county for gawking tourists. On a warm, damp October day we were able to feel that we were visitors, and we carefully refrained from gawking. We both believe in complying with the wish of the Amish people that they should not be photographed, but managed to take some great shots of their buggies and horses - it's amazing to see a black buggy travelling amongst all the cars and semi-trailers, the horse proceeding at a smart clip that many old cars would envy and not at all intimidated by the traffic.

We lunched at a large, touristy restaurant, which specialised in Amish foods, and visited a general store and quilt shop in Intercourse, before heading back to the Bird in Hand farmers market. As well as the superb quilts, Frances was fascinated by the Amish dolls, which show no facial features, and John loved the old-fashioned wooden toys. Oh to have room in our cases for all the things we'd love to buy! Instead, we purchased a range of German-style cheeses and sausages (wursts), a sticky pecan loaf and farm-fresh eggs.

Today we've spent the day in Mechanicsburg PA (There's a lot of funnily-named burgs around here!) and can't believe the welcome that the locals give us as we wandered the attractive streets. The local barber, in a shop that hasn't been altered, except for the provision of electricity, since 1890, even insisted on giving us two mugs from the large collection on his walls! We visited a bar called 'The Gingerbread Man', talked to a fellow who spends his mornings in the family hardware store and his afternoons selling clothes 'from 1880 to 1980', and lunched at a cafe which had a working radio studio attached. Most houses are decorated for Halloween (does nobody ever steal the pumpkins sitting on the sidewalk beside the front steps?) and a large number display the American flag. The churches have tall white spires, there are yellow chrysanthemums in boxes beside the cute yellow fire hydrants, under falling showers of yellow leaves ... we can't help swivelling our heads to see if we're on a film set!

On a more prosaic note, we're still getting no emails (not even junk mail) on our usual address, so we're now using Frances' (fwindolf) mailbox at ********@une.edu.au Don't use the stars, of course - just fill in the name! This address is not for jokes, games, pictures, but if you want to send us a message, this appears to be the best way. For those who have sent messages to the blog about Queensland's rain, we hate to inform you that we've had no proper rain, and only 2 days with slight drizzle in our trip so far - we've had sun day after day, with occasional rain at night when we're safely inside. Someone, somewhere is looking after us!

History takes many forms!

Our joy in visiting present-day Pennsylvania (good friends, beautiful scenery, amazing autumn leaves) has been increased by looking back into the past. Over the last three days we've visited three VERY different museums.

The first was a tavern in Dillsburg, where we're staying with Colette and Bill. started in 1794 by James Dill (an Irishmen of unrecorded intelligence!), this stone building gave us a fascinating look back over life in the nineteenth century. It's a local museum, and is obviously very much loved. We enjoyed comparing it to early Australian buildings, but also enjoyed it for itself, and spent a wonderful afternoon there.

Today we visited two museums that couldn't have been more different. The 'National Apple Museum' in Biglerville Pennsylvania is in an old barn, and contains a large range of apple memorabilia, from apple peelers to songs about apples "Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me" ... etc), to farm machinery and patchwork quilts. The gentleman (or was he an apple-tree gnome?) who showed us around was so passionate about apples that we thought we'd never get away, but his enthusiasm rubbed off on us so that we all enjoyed our unusual morning.

In the afternoon we visited the multi-million dollar Gettysburg National Military Park Museum, where we first watched a film narrated by Morgan Freeman, then ascended to view the most amazing cyclorama, over 40 ft (12 metres) tall and over 350 ft around, painted just after the battle. It was amazing! The museum itself, with memorabilia from the 3-day 1863 battle, was one of the best we've seen.

Then we followed our visit with a drive around the battlefield - green fields and thousands of Fall trees, interspersed by hundreds and hundreds of memorials. We've come away VERY impressed and very thoughtful. What a wonderful place!