Tag Archives: vacation

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Let’s play.

33 Comments

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This one’s easy. It won’t hurt at all.

I promise.

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There’s only one answer for me. Disneyland. (Or World). The planet’s largest theme parks hold absolutely no appeal for me and at this point in my life I think I’d rather take a cruise ship straight to Hell than stroll the over crowded streets of the over priced plastic fantastic pinnacle of capitalism that is Disney.

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But then, I dislike theme parks in general. Busch Gardens? Great Adventures? Been there, hated them both. Honestly? I didn’t even like them when I was a child. They’re just so… fake.

So how about you…

Where do you never want to vacation that everyone else loves?

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Selfies ruin everything.

28 Comments

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I admit to taking a selfie now and then, usually when we go somewhere wonderful… but mainly because I have a husband who never takes pictures. Ever. It’s a harmless if slightly narcissistic endeavor, and my mother is dead… so if not me, who?

Then there’s the Instagram crowd. The influencers. The vapid youth of today who get paid ridiculous sums for photos that go viral. They’ll go to any lengths to get a breathtaking selfie and call me cold hearted, but I rarely feel bad when I read they fall into the Grand Canyon or off a speeding train.

Which is probably why I cringed when I read this article.

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I have been to Le Gorges du Verdon and it was fabulous. Mainly because there was no one else there.

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The husband, a friend and I drove through the French Alps for a solid 10 hours and saw only one other person. A sheep herder with his flock. It was beyond marvelous.

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That’s me sitting on the wall filing my nails waiting for the husband to climb back up from below.

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The gorge was wild and wonderful. Unspoiled nature ruled.

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As did the goats.

We visited in the early 90’s. The fact that’s it now jam packed with insipid, shallow Instagram tourists breaks my heart. And I bet the goats don’t like it either.

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Discovering a hidden gem.

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I love randomly exploring an area we’ve visited often and stumbling on a new place. Last week it was the Boathouse Hotel and Marina in Kennebunkport.

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The perfect location for a leisurely spring afternoon lunch.

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And in true River style I worked my way down the cocktail menu.

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The Watermelon Sugar to start….

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A Walk of Shame with appetizers. Crab cakes for me, lemongrass ginger mussels for the husband.

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White Lemonade Sangria with a chicken Caesar salad for me, sherry baked haddock for my other half. It was a wonderful meal in a pleasant spot made even better by the friendly couple we met at the bar.

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They were visiting from Wisconsin for a college graduation so we happily gave them some local destination suggestions. Turns out they run a pub of their own in Wisconsin with the same town name as one in Maine.

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The Presque Isle Pub. If you’re ever in the area, stop by and tell them the boozy couple from Maine say hello.

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News you can’t use.

28 Comments

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The plethora of stupid headlines assures I will never run out of things to share.

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I’m going to pass on ordering one of those, just as I do on the extended car warranties.

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Now there’s an item positively screaming to be hung in the man cave bar.

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I don’t know about you, but I honestly don’t want to know the answer to that.

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*crosses Texas off her vacation destination list*

Who am I kidding? It was never on there in the first place.

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I am not a pioneer woman.

24 Comments

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Not traveling for the past 2 years has been tough. It seems we were just getting into the swing of navigating our time share resort catalog… culling the ordinary and finding some fabulous spots… and then Covid slammed the door. While I’d be up for getting back on the road, my husband is still hesitant so we’re sticking close to home for now. I’ve been slowly researching some New England escapes my spouse might be comfortable with and the other day I came across this:

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Let me state for the record… unequivocally and without a doubt… I am not a camper. I have absolutely zero pioneering spirit and require hot and cold running Egyptian cotton sheets.

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While I love nature, the outdoors and hiking during the day, ( before my knee injury, damn it ) I prefer to sleep in air conditioned comfort on a king sized pillow top not sweltering in a 12×6 wagon with mosquitoes large enough to carry you away.

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Trust me, it’s not. And I wouldn’t.

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The words magical wagon and camp grounds are not used in the same sentence, not in my world.

And when I heard they rent for $1,500 a night? Yeeha! That’s a hard pass.

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Odds and ends.

38 Comments

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While I enjoy a sweet treat as much as the next girl, and am seriously pro dessert…

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The word dump tends to take a little bloom off the rose for me.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten. He tries to hide, but isn’t very good at it.

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A very clever use of faucet handles to be sure. And now that I think about it, a spring flower that even my dastardly woodchucks couldn’t eat.

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Facebook. It’s annoying… but still the best way I know to keep up with old friends. And speaking of old, this was my FB memory from the other day. A photo of me and the hubs in the French Alps many moons ago. Yes, I was rock climbing in flip flops. Oh to be young and stupid again..

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Vermont is still calling.

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Another post about possible Vermont accommodations appeared on my feed today. Clearly, the state misses us.

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And while I love the idea of staying in a romantic little treehouse ….

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I admit the first thing that went through my mind was damn, that’s positively asking for a red squirrel invasion. So, hard pass from me.

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I’d surely have nightmares.

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Vermont is calling.

26 Comments

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There’s a page you can follow on Facebook called “Only In …”. It profiles restaurants, resorts, scenic hikes and fun places to visit in whatever state you choose. I’ve found quite a few hidden treasures in Maine this way… but now Vermont is bootlegging my feed in an attempt to lure us over the border again.

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Hmmm..

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Staying in a Hobbit house sounds interesting, and the view is lovely.

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I wonder if there’s a height limit.

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