Vacationland

I did something really vacationesque with my day off, I went north, and when northerners go north, it can only mean one thing: Maine. Many New Hampshireites, Masstonians and Connecticut-people choose to have summer homes in Maine. It seems these places can be placed on a spectrum. On one end there is a beautiful, huge home with every amenity you could hope for and a classy grocery store close by. It overlooks private beach where you can watch the dog and the kids splash around in the surf while enjoying your break from the office. I’m sure there’s a light house in there somewhere too.
On the other end of the spectrum is a simple cabin with basically no amenities, in the middle of nowhere on a virtually private island. The nearest road as well as the nearest grocery store is more than 30 minutes away. Space is rented to park your boat on the mainland as there’s no other access but the sea. You enjoy the smell of fresh cut wood as you lounge in an Adirondack chair counting different types of pine trees and water birds while contemplating life.

My Maine mini-vacation was the latter. Pat’s parents own a little place, and when he told me he’d come pick me up at the marina, I was beside myself with joy. We took the little boat back to a secluded cabin lacking electricity and indoor plumbing, but full of character and promise. We took a hike around the island enjoying the odd geology of an island that seemed to be made of purely rocks and trees, beautiful trees. We spend quite a bit of time sitting on the porch, talking about various things or just enjoying the silence and seclusion. We took the boat out to explore the other islands and look at some of the beautiful sailboats and houses people have out there. Pat showed me my first osprey, which I found pretty cool. The whole thing was very Thoreau.

On my way there I stopped at the ever-growing LL Bean store. The LL Bean store. Since my last visit, many years ago, they have added two more buildings and many products. My Christmas list grew a little after my visit, and I found myself with a new dry bag as my current one is starting to fall out of the category of ‘dry.’