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Maine. Land of lobster, rugged coastal shores and more than a few quirky tourist attractions.
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Next time I’m in Bangor, I’m totally going to see that!
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A wall of sardine cutting scissors? Count me in!
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This is an oddity I’ve always meant to see, but never have.
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A concrete slab to keep her soul imprisoned? Mary sounds like my type of gal.
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I think I have to try it. Heck, I wiggle and wobble after a few margaritas…. we should get along fine.
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Let’s keep laughing for as long as we can.
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Me neither.
And that’s just wrong!
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Personally, I would love a pet skunk. They’re affectionate and trainable to a litter box. We have them visit under our bird feeders every night and they are absolutely, positively, frickin’ adorable! But Maine made it illegal to capture and de-scent the little buggers years ago, so boo to that.
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Yup.
That looks about right.
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Pulp Fiction – 2020 style.
And if you don’t believe in masks but are still responsible enough to wear one?
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Voice your protest responsibly.
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And for the record? My hips don’t either…
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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?
In case you haven’t already guessed, there was not a single wine filter gift to be had in the entire state of Virginia…. so the only thing left to do was drown my sorrows at the Yorktown Pub.
This unassuming little place got great reviews and had been recommended to us by numerous people so we gave it a try.
While it’s definitely a no frills local hangout….
The riverfront views were lovely.
The feral cats were friendly….
Plentiful, and well fed by the bar owners and staff.
And while the cocktail list was basic?
The drinks were tasty, potent and cheap.
What more can a girl ask?
Good food.
The husband’s weird combination of chicken fingers and mixed veggies looked odd but he was happy with it…. and my fried shrimp were quite honestly the best I’ve had in years. Fresh, juicy, and perfectly cooked with a light crisp batter. Add homemade tartar sauce, some marvelous fries and another cocktail?
And River was a happy camper.
Long live beer diversity!
And cheap meals.
Since the sun was setting…
We took a stroll along the water.
Hand in hand…
Enjoying the scenery…
And the non traditional ways we choose to spend the holidays.
Different places.
Different sights.
Different sounds.
Different experiences.
And never a dull moment.
You had 2 days off in between trips… and I threw in some Bambi pics as well. Are we good?
Good!
I admit I might have gone a little overboard with the Williamsburg, Virginia vacation photos this time…. like 3,089 pics overboard.
So sue me.
It was a fabulous trip, a marvelous Christmas and a wonderful place to explore. What can I say? When I’m old and feeble I’ll enjoy looking back on them all. (If I can remember why there are so many pictures of rocks…. and who that strange man is of course.)
Time to fasten your seat belts and loosen your pants!
The trip starts now.
Okay… but fair warning, that may not be until June.
Not wanting to put the miles and wear and tear on my car, we rented one. Well, I rented one. A mid size SUV like I always do… but when we arrived at the lot, they didn’t have any and had to upgrade us to luxury.
Cool beans!
We could pick the Audi or the Infiniti.
So what did my husband pick?
The Chevy Suburban.
Which happens to be the biggest, thirstiest, most annoying lumbering behemoth vehicle ever made. A nightmare to park. A horror show for short people like me to board. A useless third row seat we didn’t need and couldn’t figure out how to fold down. Gas stations? We dreaded the mere sight of them after a few days. So why did my spouse choose it?
Because it was big.
And he’s a man.
Enough said.
Our trip from Maine started out like this:
With buckets of the same for the first few states.
When we were nearing Hartford, Connecticut it let up, but we hit road construction….
And this rather precarious way of shoring up of the highway made me cringe.
I guess I should be glad they didn’t use duct tape, but still.
Next up was my least favorite part of the trip….
New York City.
Don’t get me wrong, I was born and raised in New Jersey… I can hang. But riding shotgun with my (leadfooted, 2 centimeters from the car in front of us, switch lanes like it’s the Indy 500) husband…. in the Black Brontosaurus?
Would test Ironman’s nerves.
Though I can honestly say it’s the only time in my life I’m thankful for bumper to bumper traffic.
Reduce speed?
I don’t think that’s possible.
I’d post some great pics of our trip over the famous George Washington bridge, but the husband always takes the upper truck level…. so basically this was my view:
But here’s one peek through the fog.
After the bridge? It’s New Jersey…
And the swamps they built the Meadowlands on.
If you’ve ever wondered where Tony Soprano and his boys dumped the bodies?
It would be here.
Oil refineries aside, you have to admit that the foul, smoggy New Jersey air does make for a dramatic sky.
Onward through the evening we drove, with the husband choosing our route. If you know me…. you know I’m type A and like to plan. Letting him pick a spot for us to spend the night was torture, but I sucked it up and endured.
I endured him picking a random town in Delaware because he liked the name, Red Lion.
Did Red Lion, Delaware have any hotels you ask?
No.
It did not.
And trust me, we drove around for almost an hour trying to find one even though I Googled it and came up empty. We did however find this:
A Christmas extravaganza house that was blocking traffic.
I can barely keep 2 reindeer lit… WTH?
After admitting defeat, the husband drove another 40 minutes to Dover, Delaware and pulled into the first Holiday Inn he saw.
I had my doubts when I saw the lounge was decorated in early bordello. Yes… satin furniture and rhinestone encrusted mirrors.
Thankfully our room was toned down from that…
But it did have some interesting features.
Mainly, the lighting.
Is it me?
Or did this over the bathroom sink fixture look like deer hooves?
Come on…
There’s no reasonable Martha Stewart explanation for that.
And while this corner lamp reminded me of my mother and her pull down hair dryer of the 1960’s…..
It was these over the bed reading lamps that were a little too proctology/gynecology themed for my taste.
And don’t get me started on the art work.
Really, don’t.
What the…. what?
So ends day one.
(And before you start screaming Martin…. road trips with my husband consist of a McDonalds lunch eaten in the car doing 90 mph and a perfectly horrible turkey dinner at a Bob Evans next to the hotel late that night. Neither were photo worthy!)
River's world..... 