23 Comments

Oh my! Your Maine memories had me howling. In 1999 I took my then-68 year old mom and 66 year old auntie to Maine to “see the cousins”. My mom had seen them in 1981 to take them little jars of Mt. St. Helens ash. Her sister had not seen them since the late 1940s.

Their mother was born in Falmouth and summered in Bah Hahbuh. We visited Paris, South Paris, Norway and stayed in a family log cabin on Lake Penneseewassee. We had lobster rolls at McDonalds!

Saw lots of graves of relatives, some in the back yard of one of the cousins who was living in the farmhouse that had been in the family over 200 years. It was the best family roadtrip ever.

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Back yard graves... something so beautiful about that.

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Best trip ever-- is also hilarious. '“We’re not nice, we’re kind,” he said. I asked him to explain the difference. He said, “During winter storms, we let homeless people stay in our houses. Because we’re kind. We resent those same people. Because we’re not nice.”' Haha!

We raised our kids in Boston. I miss the people and the accents. We'll be moving back to be near our adult kids who are forever linked there. (Probably NH since Boston is horribly pricey now.) New England-- Best place to live ever.

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The people were really great. It was one of themes of the trip, how easygoing New Englanders are. Quick to smile, quicker to laugh. My kinda people.

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How fun! Greatest newsletter ever. Where are you going next year?

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We're still brainstorming. Foreign or domestic suggestions welcome... ;)

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Train trip! Some great options in North America and worldwide

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Love it!

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I love this one so much

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I loved this and now feel exhausted and need a vacation from all the traveling I just did. Speaking of smelling things you never smelled before - and hearing languages... Fun NYC facts. I haven't checked recently, but at last count the NYC driving test is in 15 languages -- which I think is funny because all the signs are in English.

Your note about the people of Portland reminds me the the John Belushi movie - Continental Divide where Belushi (Chicago journalist) falls for a woman in the Rockies studying eagles. While he lives in Chicago, what he says works for NYC too, when he brings her to the city: "Don't make eye contact with anyone, they'll think you need help and they'll kill you."

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I'm guessing Braille is one of those driving test languages.

I haven't seen Continental Divide, but it's on the list now. What a great line. It echoes my zombie apocalypse strategy, which is to immediately feed my grandma to the horde.

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Cantonese braille. Your grandma must be so proud 🥹

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Her grandson is a survivor.

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Fair enough 🤣

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I particularly loved this entry. Bonechilling and heartwarming at the same time.

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Bonechilling and heartwarming is the sweet spot. ;)

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Can’t wait to recreate this itinerary with my kids, complete with the bodybuilders and the greedy cookie monsters.

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If you can’t find a bodybuilder, I can always step in. ;)

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What fun! Thanks for taking me along on the ride. I'm still cold, and realize I won't be taking this trip on my own, for sure. Great trip! I would love the scenery! My camera would be full of painting ideas.

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Look up Cornish. It was striking.

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hopefully the tour guide you saw was Jeremiah, he is amazing: https://www.instagram.com/poopejeremiah/

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It might have been. Love people who are all in on whatever their thing is. As long as it's not, ya know, serial killing, IRS auditing, hobbyist dentistry, etc.

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I remember her dropping something in the floor and continuing as if it never happened! Lol

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