Traveling with Michelle: Monday in the Appalachians

June 17. Since I assume that any readers of this blog would prefer photos to reading me blathering on, I'll include many photos again today. Today we left our great hotel in Belfast. The photo below shows the ocean view from our door which led to the back porch and lawn of the hotel (we were on the ground floor).

The view from our hotel room :)

We drove through many small Maine towns and stopped in Camden, ME to look at some of the beautiful homes and take some photos. I've noticed that in the Mid-West, a small town has a main street/downtown area with the stores and municipal buildings of the town, and all of the houses fit around this nucleus. Many of the New England towns lack that center area. The homes are located here and there on various roads and the shops and municipal buildings are also located in various areas, not all together. Lots of nice homes again today. I especially love the Victorian houses with lots of towers, odd windows and strange little shapes, and, of course, the gingerbread trim. Here are some of the photos.

Great houses in Camden, Maine. This one is stone and wood.

Huge house! (It's an Inn)

I see the ocean at the end of the lane!

Beach roses next to the stone beach

Tower from a house named Castle Rock--any Stephen King, anyone?

Next we stopped at the Maine/New Hampshire border and hiked a bit on the Appalachian Trail. This is the section of the trail where Randy and I became engaged, 21 years ago in August. We came here with the girls 12 years ago (that was before Joshua was born). It must have rained recently because there was muck and mud to avoid on the path and when we got to the rocks in the stream where we became engaged, Randy slipped and fell on a rock covered with wet moss and into the stream up to his ankles. He seems mostly fine, although he says that his ribs in one area hurt. Shelby also slipped near there and was stuck in the water, slipping back in when she tried to get out. I pulled her out, she was wet up to her midthighs as well as her bottom, but she wasn't hurt. It started to rain as we turned back to return to the car so we did not dally on the way back (as my mother would have put it).

The trail

The result of that proposal, where it all started!

Joshua

My lovely children

This is my third time here, and I think I have this same photo from each time

Shelby

Randy and I where it all started. We celebrate our 20th anniversary on Wednesday.
(Taken by Anneliese with her new camera).

Photo also courtesy of Anneliese Lee-Reid

We proceded through New Hampshire into Vermont. We are staying the night in Montpelier (yes, the capital of Vermont for you students that remember the capitals they learned in elementary school). Montpelier is a cute medium-sized city. All of the government buildings are located on State St, next to the shops. We just ate Subway--finally a meal without french fries! :) Tomorrow we go to stay two nights in Boston with a friend and his family (wife and baby) and visit Emerson college.