The Destinators

Rangeley, ME

Rick and Doug were work colleagues at the Sugarbush Ski School in the early aughts. I joined them on a chairlift ride one day back then and Doug introduced us. When I mentioned that I had grown up in Berlin, NH, Rick’s eyes lit up. He had been a competitive Nordic skier (cross country and ski jumping) and had competed at the legendary and historic Nansen Ski Jump in Berlin. I thought I was riding the lift with royalty…

Home

Warren, VT, 4th of July Capital of the Universe!

We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our travels to Maine, and loved seeing so many friends and family. And the exploring and jams were awesome. And our timing was spot on – we needed to be home for the 4th of July.

Simsbury picnic jam

We’ve known Mark and Linda for over 30 years. They’re master gardeners, dancing chefs and fun conversationalists. They’re fellow RV’ers with lots of travel tales to tell and TWO campsites at their home – the garden site and the treehouse site. They’re also crafty instigators, having planted the irresistible kernel that caused our exploration of Maine to include this stop in Simsbury, Connecticut.

First, the back story…

Dover, NH

We last saw my Aunt Nellie and Uncle Bob at a family gathering about 9 years ago. They had recently moved to a senior community in Dover, and that is where they’re living now. Dover is on the way to Connecticut. Hmm, is this email address I have for them current? Yes it is! We connected with Bob and he and I planned a get-together for lunch.

Derry, NH (and out of Maine!)

As our wonderful month in Maine was nearing the end, we started looking at our options for routes home. Our loyal readers will of course not expect us to follow a beeline to our house, and they’d be correct. In fact, we’ve plans to make a stop in Connecticut. Oh look, Derry, New Hampshire is on the way – let’s see if we can drop in on Chris and Kim!

Drum Center of Portsmouth

I first heard about Drum Center of Portsmouth about 6 years ago. Their byline is the Largest Drum Shop in the World! Ever since then I’ve been determined to visit sometime when we might be near. Well, we were near!

Portland proper

Our home town of Warren VT spans a section of the Mad River Valley from the Monroe Skyline on the west to the Northfield Mountains ridgeline on the east with the valley (and the Mad River, itself, of course) in between. From our house, a little less than halfway up the ridge on the west, we can see out across the valley to where our friends Meg, Rob, Wyatt, and Asa built their ski house in East Warren. When we all first met about 10 years ago, they were Bostonians skiing at Sugarbush and taking lessons there – which is how we came together. About 5 years ago, the family moved to Portland, ME. As we were planning for our Tour de Maine, we reached out to Meg and she arranged with us a visit for a mid-day walking tour of their adopted home city.

Near Portland

I’ve been taking drum lessons from Drumeo, an online music education program, since 2018. Students share videos with each other providing encouragement, trading tips and generally enjoying the camaraderie of the community. Dave has been a member since 2013. During the past winter, he posted a video of himself drumming with a band, and I saw ‘Maine Academy of Modern Music’ on a banner in the background. Hmmm… Me: Hey Dave, are you from Maine? Dave: I live near Portland. New England states aren’t very large. On a global scale, we’re next-door neighbors…

As we were planning this trip, I sent him my usual email. Me: We’re going to be in Maine and we’ll be near Portland, wanna jam? Dave: Yes. (I’m paraphrasing, here.)

The Beaches

We had one more free day to explore on our own in Maine. And we were less than an hour from 2 of the most often recommended places for us to visit while in southern Maine. Both places are state parks on the ocean – Reid State Park and Popham Beach. Let’s go!

Maine Maritime Museum

The weather forecast was calling for 90% chance of rain, so it seemed like a good day for an indoor tourist thing. We headed over to the Maine Maritime Museum, on the original site of the Percy & Smalls Shipyard in Bath. Uh oh. A big part of this museum is outdoors or inside the preserved original buildings connected by footpaths across the 20-acre site. But as luck would have it, the forecast was mostly wrong. The sky cleared up nicely after a 10-minute downpour, and stayed that way for the rest of our day at the museum.