We miss you. All of you. Anyone reading this, know that we’re thinking of you and thinking about how much fun we’ve had and how we look forward to the time we can spend together with you all in the future. We know that you all are thinking of us too, why else would you be here reading what we’ve got to say?

To catch up you up to speed, at the end of last week’s post Kate left everyone at a bit of a cliffhanger. We had just stuffed ourselves at dinner, gone to visit the original / foundational / flagship LL Bean store to use the restroom and were making our way back to the car when we discovered that …we had locked the keys in the car. Luckily however there were some police officers about 50 feet away, surely working hard, when I approached to ask if there was a 24 hour locksmith service in town. After shining a flashlight in my face because I had startled them by asking for help, they informed me that the nearest service was in a town twenty minutes to the north. I downloaded the State Farm app and began to double check that I had emergency roadside service, including key retrieval / door unlocking. Seeing that I DID indeed have it I proceeded to file a claim for that from directly within the app. Within 45 minutes a kind gentleman named Mike came and legally broke into my car for me. There was the key sitting right on the seat, loose from its normal resting place on the carabiner. We have since secured the keys a bit more thoroughly just to make sure we don’t find ourselves in this position again. We crawled into the car and fell asleep.

Onto the rest of the week’s events!

This week was filled with boisterously bouncing barkers, beach bound and ball-retrieving. We spent a lot of time at beaches watching dogs play. It was great! We had initially scheduled out a day or two each for specific different towns and cities as we worked our way down from Freeport, Maine to Providence, Rhode Island but like the best laid plans, it was soon wayside-lain. We instead opted to agree that as long as we ended up in Providence then how we got there and what we visited in the days between was up to chance.

When we left Freeport we headed down the road a ways in search of some wifi. It was a maintenance and blog update day. We stopped at a Starbucks, and popped into a nearby CVS for Kate to get a prescription refill and a flu shot. I was told my health insurance wouldn’t cover the flu shot. Which is illegal – all insurances must cover flu shots. However what I discovered later is that my insurer does cover them but not at every location that offers them. By chance the location we were at is one of the few it didn’t cover because it was a Minute Clinic. Had we gone to a CVS that was not branded as a Minute Clinic, it would have been covered. What an important distinction that obviously must be observed and obeyed. AMERICAN HEALTHCARE IS PERFECT. (Jokes aside, it isn’t. There are people suffering everywhere. Everyone you know has some horror story about trying to fight a faceless company, having to defend wanting to be alive without having to pay through the nose because of a system designed around getting money out of people’s suffering. Healthcare is like death, it comes for us all and it is ludicrous to think we have a system that only works flawlessly for people with tons of money.)

That evening we made it into Portland, Maine which allowed us to cross off one of the major destinations of the trip from our list. Not that we were super excited to go there, but rather that we really wanted to visit both Portlands. Done and done! We ate dinner at a renowned location, Becky’s Diner where we went full tourist and ordered chowdah, Maine haddock, and a lobster roll. It was very tasty, and way too expensive. Lobster rolls are overhyped. They have gone past the point of where they could possibly live up to how good they are supposed to be especially at over $20 for a sandwich. There was an old man sloppily slurping spaghetti next to me as we stared at the backline of a diner counter, Jeopardy on the TV above. Clearly we were not paying for ambiance. The roll was cold crustacean meat on a soft bun. I am being harsh, it was very tasty- but come on.

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As it was getting late and we didn’t have our sleeping arrangements perfectly squared away just yet we agreed to come back into Portland the next day to explore. In the meantime a drive out of the city about 30 minutes to a Cabela’s where we could set up and sleep without fear of being disturbed or being asked to leave. We also started listening to book two of the Game of Thrones series, A Song of Ice and Fire: A Clash of Kings, before falling asleep.

The next day before heading into Portland we wanted to do some more exploring so we visited Cape Elizabeth. Specifically Fort Williams Park and the lighthouse there. It was beautiful. In addition to the lighthouse there are also a handful of abandoned military structures in the area, some of which are explorable. Large anti-aircraft gun mounts, command offices, a control house for a minefield all nestled intermixed in the flowers, fruit trees, shrubs, craggy rocks, and lush green lawns, placards describing their purpose and how and when they were constructed. We took it all in before being chased out by an approaching storm.

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We ventured back into town with eyes open, able to appreciate the architecture in the daylight. A light lunch calling to us, we snagged a roll or two of sushi at a little spot called Kushiya Benkay. Later we stopped into a really cool bookstore called The Green Hand. The kind of bookstore where there is almost a sort of visual overload. Every which way one turns to look there is another pile, shelf, or decoration. Stacks on stacks, running the length of the building. After wandering around and losing track of each other for a while – upon being told by the clerk that it was closing time, I found Kate working diligently on her most accomplished Etch-A-Sketch artwork to date. An evening of window shopping, popping in an out of stores while discussing plans for a thrift mall, an idea I expressed where a large warehouse style thrift store had hallways and decorations and false store fronts inside so that every department of the thrift store felt more like its own unique store within the larger thrift mall.

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That night we had decided we might try our hand at some pub trivia. We had been looking at a website which listed some of the more fun attractions in Portland and that was on the list as something that was happening the same evening we were in town. We struggled for a while finding a place to park, then walked a few blocks to the Irish pub where the trivia was scheduled to be taking place. When we got there we were informed that several months prior the regularly scheduled trivia night was moved to a different night of the week. Oh well. That is what we get for trusting the internet I suppose. Not wanting to waste the walk, we stayed and split an order of pretzel sticks, bangers and mash, and had a beer before heading back out onto the streets to watch the Portland nightlife unfold around us.

When we got back to the car we contemplated just sleeping there in the city as there weren’t any signs that said overnight parking was not allowed. It was the notion that we’d have to be awake, packed up, and completely moved out of the spot before parking enforcement began again at 8 the next morning that swayed us to head back out to the same Cabela’s we had stayed at the night before.

The next day we needed to do a spot of laundry and as we were intending to start driving further south we found ourselves in Kittery, Maine – as anyone would! While our clothes tumbled continuously, splashing about in a sudsy bath, I took the time available to me to get some remote work done. After our clothes were freshly rolled up and packed away in our backpacks, we drove down the road a short distance to a wonderful little cafe called none other than Lil’s Cafe. A really cool spot that was built into an old bank, so when they say they have a “Vinyl Vault” they ain’t jokin’! The barista at the counter offered us an extra pastry for free when we couldn’t decide if we wanted the plain or cinnamon cruller. Thanks man! I was able to get a little more work done there as well. An afternoon at the beach, just in time to watch a bunch of locals bring out their pups for a bit of beach time fun, and then we were off again. We ended the night by driving into Portsmouth, New Hampshire on our way down the coast.

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We cooked ourselves some dinner at a little park which was adjacent to this really gorgeous pond. Watching the sun set as birds, frogs, and insects all call out to say so long to the day gone by is a tranquil experience. We drove around the pond to a parking lot on the other side which offered 72 hour parking.

The next day we were headed to a beach again, this time at the suggestion of another patron we had met in the Irish bar just a couple nights before. North Beach which sits east of Hampton and south of North Hampton, is a hoppin’ beach … or at least it probably is in the peak of summer. In the fall it is barren, windy, and cold. Huge seawalls protect the shoreline from the occasional hurricane. Seagulls fly upward to then drop clams from a height sufficient enough to shatter them open and peck out the gooey insides as younger and less skilled gulls stand by watching and learning. We stayed at this beach for about an hour before we had our fill. Onward.

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As we entered Salem, Massachusetts we eschewed plans for visiting a museum that night in favor removing one of the rear tires of the car as it had been making a bit of noise the past few days and despite my first inspection yielding only the diagnosis that there were a bunch of rocks stuck in the tread (which seemed to make sense as we had been driving through a lot of pebble-laden areas recently) the problem persisted and we figured that the tire needed to come off and be inspected more properly. Good thing we had! Once the tire was off it became painfully and frighteningly obvious what was making the noise. A giant split had begun to form at the inner seam, spreading the tread away from the tire wall. The tire was swollen and was unevenly worn in that area. I quickly swapped the spare tire into its place and set the guffed up tire on the back of the car, where the spare tire is held. Feeling assured that the problem was identified and could be fixed by heading to a tire shop the next morning, we picked up the plans we had dropped and set out to walking to a museum.

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The rain changed from a light drizzle to a proper downpour.

We arrived! Where were we this time you ask? Why the Satanic Temple of course!

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Yes, you read that correctly. We were visiting the Satanic Temple, which operates as an art gallery and info center and not as a house of worship. Sorry, no rituals or prayer here. Now I know most of the readers of this blog probably won’t care one way or the other about the ‘Satanic’ nature of this place or the fact that we were so cavalierly entering what must surely be a damned place – but allow me to dispel and clarify what the temple is and what it is about. First and foremost the organization promotes more clearly defining the separations of Church and State. What was intended to be one of the founding principles of this country too often has gotten lost in the exercises and practices of its largest religious group. Which is to say, we were not strictly founded as a Christian nation but we do happen to be a nation of mostly Christians. The Satanic Temple and its organization works to place statues at public buildings and statehouses where there may otherwise be statues of the ten commandments, a cross, or even a star of David. The goal being to remind people that not everyone in this country is of ONE religion, and that our laws and governing structures need to be either fully inclusive or purposefully exclusive of religion wholesale. The Satanic Temple is actually atheistic in nature, they don’t believe in Satan or God or anything – they recognize that religious groups in this country and several other countries around the world have used belief as a tool for controlling others and justifying horrendous treatment of people. This message came across clearly and potently in Salem as the home of the Witch Trials which ended with 20 people dying because of superstitious belief.

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And now to resume our regularly scheduled programming…

After walking back from the temple we hungered and at the offering of one of the temple workers …acolytes?… we headed to a sci-fi themed pizza place with great vegetarian and vegan options. Flying Saucer is tasty and I would recommend it to anyone! When we left we walked back to the car in a hurry as my feet were soaked through to the bone and it was starting to get pretty chilly out. Another night at at a rest area / welcome center.

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When we woke up we felt like Salem was calling to us still. First thing first though, we had to get that tire fixed! We found the nearest Costco and headed to the tire service center there. As I have purchased all my tires from Costco for the past several years I wanted to return there as I have always been satisfied and I was pretty sure the tire might be under warranty still. Surprise twist: it wasn’t covered by warranty. I had been thinking of the other 3 tires that I had purchased within the last year or two. Surprise double twist: they covered it for free ANYWAY! As the cherry on top, we were able to walk around the store and get free samples while the car was being worked on. When I got the phone call that the car was done, we went outside to the service center to discover that indeed there was a brand new tire on the rear passenger side … and the busted one was still on the back of the car. They had replaced the spare that I put on so that we could safely drive there. After informing them of the mistake, they quickly retrieved the spare from the discard pile and swapped it with the busted one. So all told we got the busted one replaced and the spare is back where it belongs.

The afternoon was spent in Salem again. This time we visited the Witch Trial Memorial and graveyard where there were displays talking about the trials, what happened, how belief was abused and lead to the death of 20 people – one of whom was pressed to death by his fellow townsfolk. Imagine your neighbors agreeing that you’re magically evil and that the solution is to crush you to death by placing a board on top of you and loading it with rocks until you are dead. Now try to understand why people are afraid of religious groups in this country trying to influence politics and criminalize things against their own beliefs.

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Salem is crazy about Halloween. Like …crazy. The month of October provides ~20% of the year’s economic activity for the entire city. This year has been extra busy as September included a Friday the 13th. A month and a half of capitalizing on a single holiday, what is this? Christmas? People from all over flock to the town to partake in all kinds of good natured spookery and we were there the weekend before it all kicked off.

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In addition to all the Halloween you could shake a stick at – Salem also offers a rich and storied history. We visited the House of Seven Gables, and the old Customs house, the port, and some beautifully decorated neighborhoods with houses from the late 1600’s. We walked the town, enjoying the decorations and activities before settling into my birthday dinner at the Howlin’ Wolf Taqueria. Did I mention it was my birthday? It was. Anyway – The food was super tasty and our server was a fellow Bernie supporter and even went so far as to give us a discount on the meal of $27 (the average donation amount for his 2016 run). We in turn immediately donated that $27 to his campaign. I’d also like to take this moment to extend a special thank you to those of you who offered to help pay for dinner as a birthday gift. You’re so sweet and we absolutely appreciated the meal!

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Stuffed to the gills and ready to burst we headed out of town and set up the car in a different Cabela’s parking lot. The morning brought us into Boston and its perfectly designed and not at all stress-inducing freeways and roads. After finding parking we wanted to grab a bit of breakfast as the people who gifted me birthday dinner ended up also buying post-birthday breakfast, thanks again! We went to a place called The Friendly Toast in Cambridge about two blocks from the M.I.T. campus. It was crazy busy. We were told it could be up to an hour and twenty minute wait, or we could wait by the bar for the first seats to open up. So we did, and only ended up having to wait about 5 minutes. The food was delicious, vegetarian friendly, and again way too filling. Needing to walk off some of the calories we just consumed, we walked the M.I.T. campus for about 25 minutes before our paid parking was due to expire.

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Our next destination was the Freedom Trail in Boston proper. The trail is 2.5 miles long, marked by red bricks laid into the sidewalk and takes you through tons of the historical sites and points of interest throughout this monumental city. The graves of revolutionary patriots, churches older than the country they reside in, the famous Boston markets, wonderful neighborhoods, Italian bakeries, a Holocaust memorial, the USS Constitution, and Bunker Hill all along the path. If you’ve only an afternoon to spend in this city, walking along the Freedom Trail is a great way to see a lot. The evening took us out to the Sam Adams brewery located just outside the downtown area. They closed at 8 p.m. and the day had caught up with us. Feeling tired we set our sites on the rest area where we would be spending the night, hit play on the Game of Thrones audiobook and drove into the night.

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We awoke feeling refreshed. The locale du jour was Cape Cod. What a Cape! What a Cod! Another beautiful day playing at the beach. This week really has felt like a vacation. We lounged there for quite a while, journaling, playing in the sand, chasing and running from waves, admiring the seals playing in the water near the shore, and the birds of prey in the sky. We couldn’t decide if they were hawks or eagles. Kate suggested they were seagles. Eventually we felt it was time to go as we still had a couple hours to drive that night.

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Which brings us to Providence, Rhode Island. We got into town and stopped at Dave’s Coffee to get some wifi and blogging done. When they closed we headed over to Chef Ho’s for some cheap dinner. Providence is adorable but we’re off to other destinations, perhaps some other time we will be able to explore and give it the time it deserves.

Tonight we’ll be heading to Connecticut where we’ll be staying for nearly a week, using it as a home base for our ventures into New York City. This is where I leave you though, Kate will pick up the tale next week.

We’ve been on the road for half of our journey, both in terms of time gone and distance travelled. We’re headed back now. Slowly, but surely. See ya in a while!