After a quick drive through four states I arrived in Portland Maine where I would spend the fourth of July weekend with my sweet heart Kimberly. It has been two months since I have seen her and I want it to be perfect. Kimberly did her part by lining up a snazzy room on the top floor of the Marriott Residence inn overlooking the port and the bay. The room had a kitchen and was large and well appointed. I got there early, anticipating heavy traffic that never materialized so I grabbed the bike and went exploring to get a feel for the lay of the land. When I was able, I checked into the room and got everything ready for Kimberly and went to Whole Foods to stock up on things I knew she would like before going to pick her up from the airport. She was radiant and busting out with the life force that is her trademark. At the last minute we decided to look into a rental bike to explore on and the good folks at Gorham bikes had an old Santana tandem for rent so we went for it and looked forward to a ride the next day but first, dinner. LOBSTER! Poutine with lobster and a lobster roll started out our lobster weekend. We woke up on the fourth to a glorious day and I went and had breakfast and caught up on the blog a little while Kimberly slept in. Shortly after I woke her with coffee the fire alarm sounded and it was tough leaving Lucky in the room on the off chance that it was for real. We all trouped downstairs to wait for the all clear so we could return to our room and start our day.
We set off on the tandem and I quickly discovered that it is a challenge to ride in a straight line when there is an excited passenger that is pointing out all the cool things that you are passing. Each excited gesture pulled us this way and that and I struggled to keep us on the path. As we went along we learned more about how to work together and it got easier but the first ten miles were exhausting. The scenery was beautiful and we enjoyed the old part of Portland as well as the paths around the bays and out to the lighthouses. Unfortunately, snapping pics on the fly was not possible because one handed riding just wouldn't have been safe when steering for two. Next time I'll have Kimbo snap the shots while we are moving.
The bridge between Portland and South Portland was a bit of a challenge and I have videos of it but alas no pictures. When we got back into Portland, Kimberly insisted we ride down the pier where the lobstermen store their gear. She never let's pesky things like no trespassing signs get in the way of her fun. It was interesting to see the little storage houses with the lobster traps stacked next to them lining the pier.
We had lobster rolls for lunch and each afternoon we had a snack of crackers fruit and fine cheeses. That evening there was a big to do on the hillside overlooking the bay just down the street from our hotel. The Portland symphony played Tchaikovsky and a long list of marches and patriotic songs and Don Mclean sang American Pie and Vincent. As the fireworks display started up the band continued to entertain us and it was easily as big as anything I have seen back home. There are 66,000 people here and it was estimated that 33,000 attended the show, a figure that I don't question for a minute. We had a great time.
Hookem horns display in fireworks.
Happy Birthday America!
Thank you for bringing me coffee every morning ;)
ReplyDeleteIt was ago fun fun trip!
Love you <3