When you travel you hear words unique to certain regions and words used in different contexts.
Words!
Ya gotta love them.
So when I saw this the other day?
I knew I had to share.
I admit I’ve been known to make use of dingleberry, dicombobulated and kerfuffle now and then…. although I’m not nearly old enough to drop whippersnapper into a conversation any time soon.
In Maine we tend to say things are wicked. As in “That margarita is wicked good” or “That beer is wicked cold”.
We also can lose control of our cars and end up in the puckerbrush.
Mainers say ayuh when we mean yes.
We call submarine sandwiches Italians.
If you’re cute? We’ll call you cunnin’.
If something is the best? We’ll say it’s finest kind.
If you live far away from town? That would be the willy wacks.
And if you live really far away from town? That’s bumblefuckEgypt.
As we were leaving the resort for the 12 hour plus drive home, I found this behind a door.
Clearly the previous tenants vacationed in the coat closet and didn’t want to be disturbed.
And yes, you read that correctly. This will be my last blog about the Williamsburg, Virginia vacation.
To think it only took me 60 posts to get here!
So…. it was a grey overcast morning the day we left.
And I have absolutely no idea what this was.
But here’s the Washington Monument….
And the entrance to a tunnel.
Was my husband obeying the speed limit?
No.
He never does, but when you’re riding in a rental Brontosaurus and the lanes get smaller due to construction? My blood pressure ruses when he approaches 100 mph.
I also look out the side window a lot.
Although it’s hard to focus properly at that speed.
Playing with my phone helps…
As does laughing at some slightly painful road names.
Here’s the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
And the toll ticket that cut off our George Washington Bridge exit price on the bottom.
For those of you who have never seen the New York City skyline on an overcast day from the New Jersey Turnpike at 90 mph?
Here you go.
Next up was the George Washington Bridge, where I usually close my eyes and pray to the God of Tequila that I’ll live to see another margarita.
Ironically… as soon as I started filming, the husband slowed down. Which is a good thing since the roads were potholed and in horrible shape.
Traffic was a nightmare.
But it always is.
And every time we pass these massive apartment complexes….
I realize how blessed we are to live in the country.
Was this water blowing off the top of that truck?
No. It was smoke, because something was probably on fire. When we crept up next to it and signaled the driver there was a problem?
He flipped us off.
Ya gotta love New Yorkers.
The rest of the trip was long, traffic laden and uneventful.
We were even too pooped to make our normal pit stop at the tax free New Hampshire liquor store.
Technically I took a few more…. but still.
Why is sitting in car doing absolutely nothing for 13 hours so damn tiring?
I think we’ve had this conversation before, but if you’re a business…. hawking vitamins, web design, crptyocurrency, pet meds and/or ways to increase my readership…. I will drop your follow-ship like a hot rock.
I don’t need an inflated follower count and am perfectly happy with old fashioned bloggers who rather read and interact than sell me something.
So, yay me.
I’ve been zapping people left and right lately, and I’m sorry…..
L.L. Bean closing all U.S. stores amid coronavirus concerns
This is the first time in history that the Flagship stores in Freeport will close for more than 24 hours
L.L. Bean is closing all U.S. retail locations beginning midnight Monday through March 29 out of precaution for the spread of coronavirus, COVID-19, L.L. Bean President and CEO Steve Smith said in a press release Monday.
Yes… the store that’s open 24/7 seven days a week, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas…. is closing.
For those of you who don’t live in Maine? ( I’m sorry, you really should.)
Or are unfamiliar with L.L. Beans? (Where have you been, under a rock?)
THEY NEVER CLOSE!
Ever.
It’s kind of their thing.
They don’t even have locks on their doors!
Of course this is huge news up here as they employ like half the state…. so I can only surmise one thing.
Have you ever walked through a store and spotted products that make you do a double take?
I do it quite often and always stop to take pictures to rant/blog/post about later.
Here are a few of my latest finds:
Pickle In A Pouch.
Unrefrigerated and languishing for God knows how long by the cash register?
That’s just wrong.
But Big Papa anthropomorphized Pickle…
The Portly Pickle who’s arms are open wide and ready to wrap you in his pickley goodness??
So very, very wrong.
Then… there was this:
A remote control Tom Brady helicopter.
Maybe Bill Belichick will use these to spy on opposing teams from now on, who knows.
But I have to admit…
I think they got Tom’s shade of lipstick just right.
And finally, there was this wireless keyboard and mouse I ordered from Amazon for the husband.
Which looked great until we opened it and found it didn’t include a dongle. I went back to the Amazon listing and it said “Just plug and play”, so where the hell was it?
We’re back from 2 fabulous weeks in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Safe, sound and buried in dirty laundry.
It was a wonderful trip…. and yes, you’ll hear about it ad nauseam in the near future.
But while I tried to keep up with comments on my mobile, I’m afraid I didn’t have the time ( Or the inclination, let’s be honest! ) to read all your blogs while we were gone.
Apologies.
I was busy biscuit and gravy-ing my way across the south….
And that requires dedication.
( Not to mention larger pants. )
So here’s hoping you all ring in the New Year with the ones you love!
(Or the ones you can tolerate with a few drinks under your belt… whatever works. )
As you’ve probably guessed… (Or if you hadn’t? You should have.) we’re currently off on another adventure.
And have been for the last 11 days.
Yes, our annual Christmas vacation.
No holiday stress. No decorating. No cooking. No family drama. We leave it all behind, and have since December 2015.
Why?
Because I used to be Christmas crazy.
I spent a fortune, I decorated everything that stood still…. (yes, I’m ashamed to say there was even a tree on my toilet.)
I drove myself nuts finding the absolutely perfect gifts for people who didn’t appreciate it and cooked the absolutely perfect meal for family who couldn’t care less and always complained.
Maybe my mother dying was the catalyst. But in 2015 we took a trip to the Poconos…. had a blast, and never looked back.
Do I miss the beautiful live fir tree in the living room?
Yes.
I also miss all the crazy outside lights.
The well house…
The stone wall…
The funky alligator….
And reindeer who were annually buried up to their butts in white stuff.
The lights in the windows…
And on the bushes.
The sparkling balls on the table…
That caught the sun and turned our living room into a Christmas disco.
The running reindeer on the garage.
The ribboned garlands….
Yes, I miss it all.
But do I miss the 2 solid weeks of work it took to get everything set up (in the snow , ice and wind) and the solid week of work it took to take it all down (in sub zero temperatures with ice and wind) ?
No. I most definitely do not.
But rest assured I’m not totally Grinchy this year, I did put up a tree.
This trip? Williamsburg, Virginia until Dec. 30th. Meeting old friends and getting our geek on in a marvelous area filled with American history.
Colonial settlements? Check.
Revolutionary War? Check.
Civil War? Check.
I just hope 2 weeks is enough time.
And I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess there might be a few pictures to post when we get back.
Oh, don’t be so dramatic.
I should be done by …. June.
Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 