architecture – lady b

one of my husband’s loves is exploring. he loves driving and just heading in any place. before we were married, he said he would get in the car and drive country roads and see what there was to see. since massachusetts is so close to surrounding states, last weekend we went to vermont, new hampshire and maine. it was a lovely trip.

brattleboro was a beautiful old town settled down in the mountains. a beautiful river ran through a section of it. we could not tell what the main source of jobs were with the eclectic folks we met there. the majority of people there were young and old hippies. it was an interesting mix juxtaposed to the older magnificent setting of the buildings, but kept us entertained while we enjoyed breakfast.

eating breakfast in brattleboro, vt

concord was beautiful, but empty. we walked the main street, devouring a salted caramel shake from the oldest local candy store. there were a few tents set up in an open green space selling bonsai trees, baby bibs, etc. it was a lovely with open stretches of brick buildings. at this point it was around 3, and we decided to push on towards portland and to the ocean.

concord

daniel webster standing in front of the concord capitol building

nh historical society building

portland was also a lovely place. the buildings and curving buckled brick roads near the wharf reminded me of new orleans. we were a bit tired exploring our 3rd city of the day, and the ocean was often hard to clearly see with the buildings and boats–it didn’t quite encompass the “maine” feeling i expected. we wandered the streets, peeking in windows, glancing over countless menus framed by restaurant doors. eventually, we stopped at a place where yelp raved about the chowder and matt could order his fried seafood plater.

portland victorian house museum

after dinner, we juggled the idea of driving 2 3/4 hours home or finding a hotel. a text from my mom saying “dad says ‘you’re on vacation!'” helped to concrete our decision to stay. we eventually pulled into a motel exhausted. the next morning we drove around old orchard beach which was incredibly packed for a sunday morning and already heavy with an oppressive glaring heat. we continued to drive down the coast to kenybunkport when matt decided he wanted to show me a peninsula he had explored earlier with his dad.

begrudgingly, i helped matt back track to biddeford pool. finally, the maine i had been hoping for: expansive ocean on the horizon, maine beach houses, rocks, cool weather. it was stunning. matt and i found a grassy place to park and explored tide pools, climbed on rocks, and just basked in the good weather and view. it was a lovely end and reward to the weekend.