Day 21 - Ten Thousand Calories, Easily

Author - Grant

From - Outskirts of Fair Haven (NY)

To - Rochester (NY)

Miles Driven - 120ish

Meals - 3

Needless Meals - 2

Today's Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157610132455526/

There's an old adage that claims "you get what you pay for" which, whilst possibly being the most obvious statement ever uttered, can be perfectly defined by the $69 per night motel room we woke up in on the morning of Day 21. Firstly, a combination of being minus 10 degrees (centigrade or fahrenheit - they kind of both merge into the "frikin' cold" category down there) in the room coupled with the all-foam mattress ensured that, whilst trying to sleep, precicely1/4 of your body sweats like a jogger in plastic-wrap whilst the remaining exposed 3/4 is colder than a polar bear's jilted ex-wife. Add to this scene the two flies hovering around the light fixture who traumatised Molly into spending the majority of the evening under the bed and you can be sure we'll be paying more than $100 per night for our accommodation going forward. Well, tonight anyway. Probably...

Anyway, today was all about the food so apologies in advance if this isn’t your thing but this is going to be more of a food blog than normal. Not necessarily because it was good but because it was copious. In fact it was vulgar. A friend told me that, knowing we were in Rochester for just 24 hours, we should eat at either Nick Tahou Hots or Dinosaur BBQ. I’ve never been great at decisions or restraint so the only obvious thing to do would be one for lunch and one for dinner. So that’s what happened…and now I don’t feel so good.

Nick Tahou Hots is renowned/infamous for its “Garbage Plates” and, in summary, they are foul. But they are that weird kind of foul that would keep me coming back week after week if, god forbid, I lived in Rochester. They comprise of a paper plate on which your choice of macaroni salad, home fries and beans (or a combination/permutation therein) is topped with your choice of “protein”. Kate had a burger (well why not) and I had a White Hot which is a white hot dog made of pork (testicles, ears and snout) and veal (testicles, ears and snout) and is the official hot dog of the Buffalo Bills NFL Football Team…surely they would be more effective athletes if they weren’t on the White Hots diet, or am I being too literal again? We’re not done yet…on top of this is thrown a handful of raw onions, some mustard and their house sauce. And this is served with a couple of hunks of white bread just in case the 2kg of food on the plate isn’t enough. The woman who took our order was suitably impressed that we knew how to order properly (thanks for the tips AJ) and she thought my accent was so suave that she wanted me to go round her house to record her answer-machine message. Was it tasty? Not really. Could it kill me? Probably. How big was the grease slick left on the plate? Big enough to take down a flock of geese. Do I want one now? Yes. Kate had stomach cramps walking away from the place and I didn’t eat again for a full hour.

During the 5 hours between lunch and dinner we drifted in and out of food coma and got rid of some chores but when 8pm came round I found myself surprisingly hungry again. Dinosaur BBQ has a place in New York but we never got round to going during our 18 months there hence this was kind of unmissable despite already having had this week’s recommended calorie intake at lunch. The smell of this place hits you before you even enter as the smoker is in the car park and knowing that the ribs I was about to devour had already had 14 hours of foreplay with this magnificent beast just turned up the hunger-ometer from puckish to ravenous. Kate went for some mojito chicken (nice but not the right choice in a proper BBQ place…sorry luv) whilst I had the embarrassingly named “tres hombres” involving ribs (of course), pulled pork (moist, tender, incredible) and beef brisket (oh my lord good). Sides were a tomato cucumber salad, Cajun corn, mashed pots and a carrot/raisin salad (good without exception). Bring on food coma number two of the day.

Luckily the next few days will be light on food. Oh no, it’s Thanksgiving. Speaking of which, we’ll be in Buffalo receiving the incredibly kind hospitality of the Johnsons so I’ll probably put in one Thanksgiving blog over the weekend. I’m not sure how you’ll cope in our absence but don’t go doing anything daft y’all…or, more accurately, y'both.

Day 20 – I’m Hungry

Author – Grant
From - Ogdensburg (NY)
To – The Outskirts of Fair Haven (NY), which is hardly a metropolis to begin with (NY)
Miles Driven – 175 Miles

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157610118902248/

Don’t expect the usual dissertation today because my belly is rumbling and we are in a city with a legendary bar-be-que place around the corner so the longer I spend writing this, the longer it will be until I have my choppers around some tender pig and Molly is already looking like one of those cartoon rotisserie chickens. In fact, it works out quite well because Day 20 involved a whole heap of driving so there’s not barrels of world breaking events to report. As such, let me just give you a brief list of the highlights of the day (i.e. the things that particularly stand out rather than the usual Dickens-esque descriptive soliloquy about the way the light shines off the frost blah blah blah) which saves all of us time and ensures that Porky didn’t die in vain and that I don’t waste away.

Therefore, in no particular order…

1) Visiting Thousand Islands in the Lawrence River Bay (the river that either feeds into or out of Ontario Lake, I haven’t been paying that close attention) – it’s a collection of about 1800 stunning islands, some of which are inhabited and some of which seem to contain a tree and a goat. One that stands out is a heart shaped one that some guy (I don’t have time to look up who, they may be selling out of ribs as I type) bought for his wife, built a castle on and then she died. There’s a moral in there somewhere but all I take out of the story is that building your wife a castle on a heart shaped island is a waste of time when Argos sell perfectly good foot spas.

2) Stopping in dozens of State Parks to walk our pampered pooch but my favourite was on a beach with a kid’s climbing frame with various slides. I regressed into a 3 year old for a good 5 minutes before banging my head (the 32 year old equivalent of grazing your knee) and having to retire. But I didn’t cry. I also tried to take (i.e. push) Molly down a slide but she was having none of it and chose to jump 12 feet down instead. I think she is part lemming.

3) Breaking into a mini-golf course that was close for the season (shocker) which was perfect for a freebie game given that I am carrying my clubs and some spare balls round in the car. But apparently this is against Kate’s morals…she can be so Sandra Dee at times. Admittedly it was minus 8 degree outside though…

4) I got mugged by a dog. No, really. I was buying booze in the world’s worst stocked liquor store (seriously, my gran’s sideboard could get more people squiffy than the contents of this shop) when the resident mascot (a friendly looking spaniel) took a dollar bill out of my hand and wouldn’t give it back. When I finally got it back through a genius diversion plan (belly rubbing) it was so soaked in dog saliva that I gave it back. Seriously, you have to tip everyone here in America.

5) Trying to find accommodation in Fair Haven was like trying to find an ice-cream van but we met many nice people in the process. Finally the motel we found had none of what we wanted (a kitchen, near a bar, non-foam mattresses etc) but it was getting close to going dark and we didn’t fancy a night in Bridget (the car, not Hef’s girlfriend…although…) so in we piled. When asked about somewhere to eat, our temporary landlord said there was a place 5 miles west but it wasn’t very good. So, instead, dinner was an incredibly good toffee apple crumble with vanilla ice-cream from a farmer’s market 11 miles east.

West to Rochester tomorrow which is our final stop before hitting the Thanksgiving celebrations in Buffalo. In the immortal words of the pilgrims, I’m well excited.

Day 19 - Too Cool For School

Blog By - Kate

From - Plattsburgh
To – Ogdensburg
Number of times I drove Grant nuts buy getting the name Odensgurg wrong: at least 10 before I started writing the blog but Im expecting to get a few more in before the day is out.
Calories burnt off in gym today: approx 180.
Additional calories eaten because Id been to the gym: (1 Twix, 1 chocolate donut & a bunch of crisps) approx 700 – hmmm can’t work out why we’re putting on weight.

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609892419887/

The Seaway trail is a scenic drive beginning at the Roosevelt Canada / New York border leading along Lake Ontario all the way to Buffalo so it’s a pretty darn perfect way for us to travel to Adams much anticipated Thanksgiving celebrations. We spent day 19 heading from Plattsburg to the start of the trail and then took in a handful of the first few stops before bedding down in Oddensgurd. I don’t remember anything special about the drive to Roosevelt mainly because it was too cold to leave the car and I might have actually got brain freeze. Once we were on the Seaway there were a few things of note on this first part but its worth mentioning that none of them managed to get us out of the car for more than 5 mins. The Eisenhower Lock was bigged up as an impressive sight but the visitor centre was closed and so we could only view it from a car park. This time I don’t blame them for being closed, I wouldn’t go to work in -8 degrees either. Next we went to a state park, not actually closed but too cold to walk around. We found an indoor nature centre on the outskirts of the park and although we were slightly afraid of the alive / stuffed animal combo we managed to spend a good 5 mins here. After that we stopped at what is really quite a lame diner but they had odd table decorations that kept us amused for hours. The most interesting part of the drive was through a town where there is some quite in your face animosity coming from the local native people towards the police. Signs like “THIS IS MOHAWK LAND NOT NYS LAND!!!” plastered around town were pretty interesting to see. Not long after that we hit Ottersmurgh.

Over the last 3 weeks we’ve noticed something that New Englanders all seem to have in common. When you ask them what there is to do or see in their town they all roll their eyes, sigh or laugh.
In Ogstenburough the woman who checked us into our Quality Inn (arrh the good life) did at first laugh when we asked if there was much going on in the centre of town but she came good with a couple of recommendations. The first recommendation was for a diner where she worked on her days off, we should have realized she was biased. The food was not all that good but it was nice to have an excuse to go to a place called the donut king and therefore end our meal with a chocolate glazed delight. The second recommendation was a little bit of home away from home. One of the local schools in Obeliskburg had a show on that night and the thought of some local am dram was too much to resist. It turns out though that the am dram we were expecting was actually a show on tour from Broadway. One of the local schools has amazing facilities – an ice rink, indoor pool, 2 gyms and a massive theatre. For the last 45 years the school has been luring massive broadway shows in to do 1 night stints for the locals, a few months ago they had Night fever, and Alter boyz (pure genius – go see it) is going to be on in a few months. This might not sound odd to those of you reading this from London on New York but Oaklomabugho is no metropolis, for instance we asked where the town centre was after we’d just driven through it. So we were really pretty lucky to catch the one night only showing of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels that was on. This was a musical version and given that I’ve seen the movie about 5 times we could easily have been disappointed but it was fantastic. The one night only element meant there was an occasional technical fault but that made it more amusing. The average age of the audience was 89 but according to Grant I was the only person shocked by the occasional blue moments in the show. Also the interval was a highlight for us as it gave us time to snoop around a US high school for the first time ever. They had all of the things you see on American movies; posters about prom, signs about yearbooks, pictures of the football team and endless corridors of lockers – it was just like saved by the bell and a nice and unexpected touristy moment for us.

Tomorrow we’ll head further down the trail.

Day 18 - Americana

From - Plattsburgh
To – Plattsburgh
Proudest Moment of The Day – An bloke in the pub asking me if I was English because I was good at darts. I nearly cried with pride.

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609829880149/

Americana wasn’t intentionally the theme of Day 18 – it just kind of worked out that way because we had made the unwise decision the previous day to stay on in Plattsburgh for an extra night so that, primarily, we could put some quality time in Dick’s Sporting Goods. It turned out to be a bit of a mistake because a) we ended up buying nothing from Dick’s Sporting Goods and b) there really is very little to do here and, despite being on the shore of Champlain Lake (pronounced like Champagne but with an ‘L’) it’s not really very nice. In fact, as a guy told us in the 20 minute wait for a table in Applebees (yes, you read that right – a 20 minute wait for a chain restaurant) that northern New York’s biggest industry is correction facilities (that’s prison to you and me). Now I’m not claiming that all Northern New York towns are inhabited by crims but it does take a certain slightly twisted mind-set to buy a house next to a prison and the presence of such establishments does mess with the atmosphere somewhat.

Anyway, our day started, as per usual, by looking for a walk for Molly which took us into the centre of town where we strolled along the shoreline back-dropped by the water treatment facility and the occasional putrid blast of sewage cleansing steam. Not an ideal start to the day.

So then Americana began. First stop – The Mall. With the vague mission of getting Molly a sturdier bed for the car we hit Petsmart and Lowes which were both big enough to comfortably fit in Wales and Ireland. Walking round both of these shops probably totaled 20 miles which was more than enough to build up an appetite although, to be fair, eating a meal seems to be enough to build up an appetite at the moment – it must be the cold weather and nothing to do with being a pair of greedy oinkers. Being in the middle of a shopping plaza and not having driven meant we were at the mercy of the chain restaurants but I’m not moaning as I really wanted to try Applebees. I have to say that, despite a hideously big starter, I had a really tasty salad (with fried chicken of course) and Kate seemed happy with hers so for $30 all-in I can understand why these places flourish. Now I just need to convince Kate that Aplebees or its ilk would make a good anniversary venue rather than the slightly pricier Ramsey establishments that she seems to gravitate towards on such occasions.

Bowling was next on the Americana check-list and we took on the US pseudonyms of Britney Spokes and Chad Bologne for the big game. We managed three games which Kate claimed victory in all of despite scoring about 60% of my score in each – I am still not entirely clear on the exact rules when playing sports with girls but I have noticed the recurring theme that I seem to lose even if I break an existing world record.

The evening involved piling into town (this was a Saturday night after all and we are crazy young people) where an inspection of each of the pubs through their window resulted in Olive Ridley’s being chosen as officially the busiest pub in town. What we only realized after getting through the door was that the busyness was caused by a sorority party that specialized in screaming and microphone feedback. Still, it took a good few pints and some mock pub lottery (it would take too long to explain) before we moved venue and found another electronic dart board. I might have to throw out my snowboard and golf clubs to make room for one of these magical machines in the back of Bridget but it will be well worth it.

Off up to the Canadian border tomorrow to begin the drive west to Buffalo…

Day 17 - Virtual Mistake

From - Lake Placid (New York)

To - Plattsburgh (New York)

Via - Au Sable Chasm (New York)

Miles Driven - 49 miles

Inches of Snow - 6

Vomit Inducing Rides - 1

Heart Attack Situations for Molly - About a dozen

Today's Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609651260670/

I hate the kind of sneeky hangover that lulls you into a false sense of security and then kicks you in the head later in the day. Waking up as early as usual I took the first tentative steps of the day and thought "I think I've got away with this". A glance out of the window was slightly heart stopping as I thought Bridget (the car) had been stolen but in fact she was hiding underneath 6 inches of snow. All good so far. Breakfast next and that went down without incident. Dog walking time next and we did the same 3 mile nature walk route as yesterday although it felt completely different thanks to the overnight dump. If you were wondering where your christmas card cover scenes come from - it's here. Just a mild headache forming now but I'm blaming that on the sub-zero temperatures that only allow 90 seconds of uncovered ears before they start to burn and feel like they're going to fall off. It's a shame as hearing is pretty important when walking through this wood as there is plenty of creaking and fallen trees.

Before leaving Lake Placid we wanted to go back to the Olympic Centre (where the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" USA 4 - USSR 3 took place) and ride the virtual reality ride which is a prehistoric looking affair that simulates a bobsleigh, downhill slalom, a ski-jump, skeleton and ice hockey. This was the defining mistake of the day as we both got off the experience feeling decidedly crappy and that is how I stayed for the next five hours. Still, we are professional tourists so on went the game faces and the obligatory head-in-wooden-scene shots were taken with exemplorary results as I'm sure you'll agree.

It was only about 50 miles to Plattsburgh and we went via Au Sable Chasm which claims to be the oldest tourist attraction in North America at 180 years old. Back in Britain we have internet cafes older than that...and, more importantly, they don't close in October. The chasm is made up of a big waterfall (which we could see from the bridge) and a set of 200ft deep gorges (which we couldn't see). Shame we missed out on one of the wonders of this country because their desire to earn cash from it during the summer meant that it was all gated off during the off-season. We're kind of looking forward to getting down south where things are going to be open.

Also en route was North Pole, New York which is home to Santa's Workshop. For some reason Kate knew all this was here but it was a total surprise for me and I was quite excited - not only was I interested to see if they had got my numerous letters this year but it was also likely to be open given the time of year. Well it probably was open but after failing to get a fully loaded Bridget up the entrance slope (it's a slightly nervy moment being in 2 tons of steel that is sliding backwards towards the edge of a cliff) we decided to do the safe things and plough on (literally) to Plattsburgh.

The rest of the day is pretty uneventful. We checked into our hotel (La Quinta - it's pretty nice with a really young feel thanks to loads of school teams being here) and hit The Butcher's Block for a very welcome Harverter-esque lunch. Kate has had her pamper day, Molly had hers and now it was Bridget's turn as we put her through a car wash. What we didn't fully appreciate was that Molly would nearly have a heart-attack going though the rollers...well, maybe we did see it coming but for some reason we both take pleasure in her being uncharacteristically needy.

The night was a non-drinking visit to the cinema to see Role Models which was good mindless fun and has some great laugh out loud moments. But the highlight of the night was the pre-cinema look in Dick's Sporting Goods. The place has everything from cross-bows to canoes and Kate claimed it was the best shop she has ever been in. I'm going to struggle to get across how excited she was about this shop but we are staying in Plattsburgh an extra night just so we can do it justice with a proper visit tomorrow.

Day 16 - Bobsleigh & Boozin'

Today's Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609633469441/

It's 5:30pm on Day 17 and I still have a lingering hangover from last night's speed drinking so forgive the brevity of today's entry. Still, yesterday was yet another jelly-packed day (see what I did there...) so I feel I have to pull my finger out and do it justice.

We've been slightly overdoing the food recently (shocker), so today was the start of a new regime of healthier eating. It is a special new leaf for me as it represents my five thousandth new leaf and you know what they say; five thousandth time lucky. Anyway, the way not to start a healthy cycle is with two vouchers for free breakfast at Howard Johnsons. 12,000 calories later (the corned beef hash was coronary-inducing heaven) and it was time to get in some walking. We did three of the local nature trails that start just behind our hotel as well as the 2.7 mile loop of mirror lake on which the town of Lake Placid is built (which makes you wonder why the town is named after Lake Placid rather than the more picturesque Mirror Lake). The walks were seriously pretty (see attached photos for details and add your own adjectives) but despite being a total of 5 miles, they probably barely burnt off the side order of toast.

Next it was time to work out what Lake Placid had to offer us for the remaining 24 hours of our stay. A quick trip to the tourist information booth (which was, miraculously, open) proved 50% useful. The lady told us plenty about the popular Olympic related things to do around town (useful) and also of the special screening of a silent movie with live organ accompanyment (not so useful).

If you're wondering why the name rings a bell, Lake Placid has held the Winter Olympics twice in the past and continues to act as one of three Team USA ("Amazing Awaits...") Olympic training bases. We got a tour of the training centre and we must have been the first people to tour in 2008 because Katie the tour guide sat with us looking utterly transfixed at the introduction video like it was the first time she'd seen it. Highlights of the tour (in reverse order) were...Bronze Medal = The largest treadmill in North America used by the cross country skiers on skis on wheels; Silver Medal = The kitchen staff of the canteen mocking a huge argument for us then coming back to take our applause; Gold Medal = Kate falling in love / lust with one of the young olympic hopefuls working out in the gym. To be fair, even I would have had his children...and if that sounds gay, well, then that's like calling me gay just because I have every Barbara Streisand album ever recorded and know how to braid hair. Hmmm...

We also drove out to the bobsleigh site on the outskirts of town where they were having an Americas Cup competition. Despite it being minus a squillion degrees, it was incredible to watch these bobsleighs hitting in excess of 70 miles an hour but the true stars of the show were the skeleton riders that went down first. Flying head first down a slope on a tea tray just 4 inches from the floor sounds as dangerous as it looks. Breathtaking stuff.

Late lunch was at The Cottage which is a cozy little log cabin overlooking Mirror Lake with a very welcome open fire. Again, the healthy eating went out of the window - it's hard to order a salad when it's freezing outside - so heaping bowls and plates of steaming, tasty stodge were ordered and devoured instead.

Night time entertainment involved a bar crawl along Main Street. We went into every single bar that looked good...they were both great. The first was a sports bar (i.e. it had three plasmas rather than the regular two) where the walls were covered with personalised dollar bills (hence the photo with the blog address on - I'm looking to take this phenomenom global!) and the second was the recomended Zig Zag. It had a pool table, electronic dart board and a 2for1 happy hour. Several hours, many frames, dozens of sets, gallons of beer and one ridiculously small bill later and it was time for a snowy, drunken walk home past a, thankfully, closed McDonalds.

Day 17 will be a day dealing with a hangover...

Big shout out to Lanky Brooklyn Mike who's restaurant we found on the outskirts of Lake Placid. You old dog you...

Day 15 – Back to New York

From – Stowe (Vermont)
To – Lake Placid (New York)
Via – Ticonderoga (New York)
Miles Driven –151
Attractions Revisited – 2 (Ben & Jerry’s, Von Trapp Family Lodge)
Minutes Spent Discussing the Relative Merits of Snow Chains vs Snow Tires – 120 to 180
Knowledge about Snow Tires – Zip
Knowledge about Snow Chains - Nada

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609492104098/

Kate and I differ on the best way to fully utilize a hotel and there was no better demonstration of this than on the morning of Day 15 when I was up at 7am to walk Molly round the grounds, go for a swim, lounge in the hot tub, sweat it out in the steam room and read the complimentary paper by the pool before breakfast. Kate, in contrast, put in some quality time under the duvet. Still, each to their own. The snow chains vs snow tires debate started over breakfast and continued for the next few hours with the typical Grant ‘n’ Kate conclusion of…let’s just wait and see how it goes. I was about to plough into the ins and outs of the debate then but I realized that it was dull enough first time round so there’s hardly any need to regale it here.

Before leaving Stowe, we had a few camera chores to get out of the way so quick repeat visits back to the Von Trapp Family Lodge (to take piccies of the place in the day and also to visit the little family cemetery where Maria, The Baron and Julie Andrews career are buried) and also back to Ben & Jerry’s (to get a photo of both of us in the pint lid as apparently the world might stop turning if we didn’t). I don’t think anyone would believe that, whilst back at the factory, we didn’t have another ice cream but it was minus 10 degrees centigrade outside so I promise you we didn’t.

The drive to Lake Placid was a real four seasons in one day affair as the conditions ranged from blizzard like snow (which creates a great effect not dissimilar to the warp speed scenes in Star Trek but replacing the stars for snowflakes – I wonder if that is the most geeky sentence ever written?) to glorious sunshine (but don’t be fooled – it never got above minus 5). There is a bridge that links Vermont to New York which feeds into a really well manicured state park that looks almost man made – it’s really nice but not really a good representation of New York. After that the weather turned a bit miserable again and we saw plenty of frozen lakes and icicles (in fact there is a huge one outside our room here in Lake Placid) which were spectacular but sent shivers down my spine about how damn cold it was going to be once we were no longer protected by Bridget’s heaters.

Nothing much to report after getting to Lake Placid. It looks like a pretty town but with an hour of sunlight left and having skipped lunch, priorities were walking Molly and finding food. A quick online search for food continually talked of a place called Caffe Rustica on the outskirts of town so that’s where we headed for a fantastic Italian meal (a couple of salads, lamb shank for me, pizza for Kate) but what made it truly great was that the restaurant was actually full and we realized that this was the first time we have dined surrounded by other humans in two weeks! On the downside, it meant we had to return to using cutlery and not belching loudly after each bite.

Assuming we don’t freeze overnight we’re going to take on some nature trails tomorrow and test the thickness of the ice on Mirror Lake..

Game 2 - What Food Was This?

I think the name of the game is fairly elf-explanatory...

First to answer corrently wins 1 million yen. Hint - it was an appetizer that we shared (i.e. I had 80% of).

Game 1 - Where's Molly?

The regular daily update for Day 14 is below but here is an additional bonus feature to celebrate our two week holiversary...

Study the picture below and find out...Where's Molly (copyright)? Hint - she's ginger.

First to respond with the correct answer wins the much desired respect of their parents.

Day 14 – Flat Hiking, Molly’s Spa Day and Dining With the Von Trapps

From – Stowe (Maine)
To – Stowe (Maine)
Via – High on a Hill (where there was a lonely goat herd)

Today's Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609476394359/

The original plan was to stay in our posh hotel for one or maybe two nights but a quick (and I mean lightening quick) glance at the upcoming schedule (we need to be in Buffalo by Thanksgiving) revealed that we could afford to spend another night here in paradise. When I say “afford”, I am talking about time rather than money because the longer we stay here, the longer Kate will fritter away money on non-essentials such as spa treatments (I think her and Klaus are now officially an item), mini-bar nuts and (my personal favourite) her insistence that breakfast should be accompanied by a pint of Bloody Mary. That’s right, my world renowned lightweight wife is turning into a booze-hound. I think her dad just punched the air with pride.
So suitably fortified by another astonishing Top Notch breakfast (these guys turn the mundane into the extraordinary with apparent ease) and one third of Team MacNaughton a bit tipsy, we got a lift into town via the hotel’s space age mini-van in order for us to walk the 6 mile recreational path back to our resort. Nothing major to report here other than my bold claim that morning that “there is no such thing as non-shorts weather” proved to be very, very wrong. By the end of the walk I had purple knees whilst Molly was looking rather snug in her embarrassing “I love New York” hoodie which I was seriously considering mugging her for by mile 2…if only I could catch her.

Now the odour of our vehicle has been turning more and more sour recently and Molly has also started to bite her nails which keeps us awake at night and makes us look like terrible parents so it was time for her to get some pampering. Dogs Etc couldn’t bathe her as they are booked out until past Christmas (thus confirming my belief that the highest earning industries are dog grooming and dry cleaning, both of which can be done by drunken monkeys) but they could clip her nails which, on closer inspection, resembled burnt cashews. As such, the bathing was done in the Top Notch bath – I only tell you this as you may want to avoid room 120 if you ever go there…avoiding the specific towel I used to dry her with is going to be somewhat more of a lottery.

Next was a trip up to the Von Trapp Family Lodge which provided the inspiration for The Sound of Music and is perched 2 miles up a hill with incredibly picturesque views of Stowe and the surrounding mountains. We had a very quick look around (it is beautiful but the average age of the clientele matches that of Maria and the Baron) and decided to return later for dinner with the vague hope that we may not be the only people in this restaurant because of its tourist appeal. Well, we weren’t the only people there was a table of four who were celebrating one of the couples 50th wedding anniversary (clearly a cover for some kind of muppet themed swinging vacation) and there was an entertainer who bashed out requests more impressively than iTunes. We were even treated to a Sound of Music medley which I am sure he is sick to the back teeth of playing. It might all sound cheesy but we were quite a couple of happy campers, sat in front of an open fire, munching wiener-schnitzel and finding out how to solve a problem like Maria.

Heading west into the Adirondacks towards Lake Placid tomorrow…but not before one more luxurious breakfast and, no doubt, a pint of reddened vodka for Fag Ash Lil.

Day 13 – It’s my birthday and I’ll eat ice cream if I want to

From – Stowe
To – Stowe
Via – The Ben & Jerrys Factory
Miles Driven – Not sure, Grant is really the numbers person

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609353633535/

It turns out that writing the blog isn’t all that bad. Right now Grant is trying to bath Molly and getting drenched meanwhile because I am blogging I am allowed to lie on the comfy bed watching VH1, eating skittles and drinking diet coke. I might do this more often.

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a real corker. We woke up to snow and a bunch of lovely messages from home. Thanks to everyone for thinking of me. We are still in the spa hotel and so headed down to breaky to start the day with a couple of huge bloody marys. There aren’t any photos of the pretty special breakfast because whenever the food and drink is really good we get too excited to think about the blog and just down whatever comes.

The main plan for the day was to abandon Molly in the room for a couple of hours while we hit up the Ben & Jerrys factory so we thought we’d better take her out for a wee stroll to wear her out. Since it was snowing I put on jeans, thermal socks, wellies (that might not mean anything to the Yanks - sorry), gloves, a wooly hat and about 8 other layers. Grant put on his shorts and T-shirt which is pretty much the same outfit he had happily worn on the beach in Malaysia a few weeks ago. Then we slipped into our matching waterproof jackets because we are super geeks and off we went.
We only managed 4 miles of the 11 mile loop because I was too excited about getting to the ice cream section of the day.

Ben and Jerry’s started up in Vermont some years ago. I say “some” years ago rather than giving you an actual number because I can’t honestly say I was on the tour for the learning experience and I didn’t take in enough to give you any details without cheating and googling them first. It was really all about the samples followed by the ice cream shop. Needless to say Grant asked lots of questions and was very disappointed in both Ben and Jerry when he found out that they sold the firm to Unilever “some” years ago luckily he still managed to force down his banana split. To be honest it was an interesting tour and the only disappointing part was that the ice cream graveyard for the retired flavours was closed for the season because in keeping with our trips theme something had to be.

It was still snowing lightly after the factory tour so we headed back to the hotels outside hot tub for some picturesque relaxing. I’d intended to swim first in the slightly less heated outdoor pool but didn’t last more than 10 seconds. The hot tub is really more my cup of tea. I’d been sharing all of my birthday treats so far with Grant so left him by the pool while I went to the spa for some pampering – I like this unemployed lark.

Dinner was at Michael on the Hill and had been hyped up a lot by the hotel. I had crab cakes followed by steak and both were delicious, Grant had sweetbreads, which he couldn’t pay me to try followed by salmon with red cabbage. Everything was washed down with Champagne which my hubby is sweet for drinking with me as he actually hates it. For desert Grant had arranged a surprise plate for me and so the cheese and accoutrements he had were apparently a cover for the surprise. Again he managed to force most of it down. This time we weren’t kicked out of the restaurant so that they could close but left pretty early as we were the only people there, in fact Grant had to go and find the waiter in the kitchen to say we were leaving. Town is officially dead this week still that’s a great excuse to be in bed by 10pm which now that I’m 31 is way past my bed time so we hit the hay at that point.

Tomorrow the Von Trapp family lodge – yes that’s right the family that inspired the movie The Sound of Music have a restaurant near Stowe – my sister will be so jealous.

Day 12 – Many, Many Waterfalls, Arrival in Paradise and A Large Portion of England

From – Brownfield (Maine)
To – Stowe (Vermont)
Via – Montpelier (Vermont)
States Visited – 3 (Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont)
Miles Driven – 132
Waterfalls Seen – You stop counting after 50
Waterfall Induced Pees – See above


Today's Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609238102267/

Not the most successful start to the day as, with another fairly hefty day of driving ahead, we took Moldovia for a good walk to a) knacker her out and b) work off the mountain of pancakes, bananas and maple syrup we had devoured that morning. 10 minutes in and the light drizzle turned into torrential downpour which we battled through for the best part of an hour before giving up as neither of us are particularly strong swimmers. Some would consider it Sod’s Law that the rain stopped the minute we got back to the cottage but actually it was nice that it all cleared before we hit the tarmac.

The driving route followed the latter half of one of the aforementioned (and mildly embarrassing) scenic routes which took in several thousand waterfalls, each of which was luckily paired with number one facilities. I think it is the same reflex that triggers a dog to yawn via suggestion or maybe it is just our walnut sized bladders and inflated prostates but I’m sure we both peed at least twice as much liquid as we took in. Anyway, let’s not let this blog entry turn into yet another soliloquy about bodily functions.

Several hours later (having driven the breadth of New Hampshire – whose license plate motif is “Live Free or Die”…seems a bit extreme) we arrived in Montpelier which is situated in a gorge and surrounded by densely wooded mountains (what else would you expect from the self proclaimed “Green Mountain State”) – pretty much exactly what you picture when imagining a Vermont village. The trusty Lonely Planet guide recommended eating at a place run by the New England Culinary Institute, so, being a food snob, we made a bee line there. Now, being a grad of the French Culinary Institute, I was looking forward to looking down, criticising and mocking this supposedly lesser institution much like an Oxford/Harvard grad would deride a graduate of Preston Poly/Detroit Tech. Luckily they made it really easy for me as they served only sandwiches and quiche which, admittedly I wolfed down and enjoyed but it’s hardly pushing the gastronomique envelope is it? Here endeth the snobbish rant…for now.

A short drive later we arrived in Stowe just as the snow began to fall. I’m not trying to turn this into a Disney fairytale scene and I realize I’m I danger of coming across a bit P-Town resident but, holy handbags, this place is seriously picturesque. And the hotel – WOW. After a couple of weeks in “budget” places, the Top Notch Resort (I know, the name is awful – like the golden rule of never staying in a hotel containing the word “Luxury” in its title) is impeccable. It has one of the top-ten spas in America which no doubt Kate will be taking full advantage of tomorrow but it has that great ski-village feel with a constantly blazing fire (both indoors and outdoors) and an outdoor swimming pool and hot-tub which we lazed in, chatting with some locals, for a good hour. It’s quite an experience to be 100F from the throat down but 30F from the chin up and one I look forward to repeating many times before someone drags me kicking and screaming away from this little slice of heaven. Oh, and I forgot that they had a birthday cake waiting for Kate (a day early) which should have fed a small army but only lasted about an hour.

So Stowe is primarily a ski-resort town which is currently warming up (by cooling down) for the forthcoming snow season which means that not too many places are open (inkeeping with the recurring theme so far on this trip) but it seems that the locally renowned (and therefore good) restaurants and bars stay open to quench then local demand. One place we had recommended was Mr Pickwicks (another awful name, I know) which is attached to “Ye Olde English Pub” (seriously, who is in charge of marketing in this town?) which carries over 250 beers and 100 whiskeys…sounds like a good Sunday night in my books. We keep forgetting that people eat really early outside New York so arriving at 8pm meant tagging the existing diners and we were left with the place to ourselves just 30 minutes later. I had wild boar ribs for an appetizer which were ridiculously big but also ridiculously tender and tasty whilst Kate had shrimp that, whilst they were alive, were probably the bouncers and bodyguards of the shrimp world. Mains were both a bit disappointing despite the waft of truffle oil clouding the table when the plates were put down (a soggy beef Wellington and miss-sold Irish sausages in the bangers and mash that turned out to be synthetic Linda McCartney-esque) but I don’t remember that stopping me clearing my plate and most of Kates. Post dinner we retired to the bar area to cross off a few more of the massive ale list but a combination of being the only people in there and finding out that the staff could go home once we left embarrassed us into leaving a bit prematurely. Still, with a new episode of Charm School on at 11pm and us both being seriously old, we weren’t complaining too loud. Needless to say we both fell asleep before finding out who got expelled this week so if you know (and more of you will know than will actually admit to knowing) then keep it quiet.
It’s Kate’s birthday tomorrow and I’ve already been ordered to be nice to her all day – it could be the breaking of us unless we have separate days…

Day 11 – Driving Fog & Bar Games Olympics

From - Bangor (Maine)
To – Brownfield (Maine)
Via – Errol (New Hampshire)
Miles Driven = 239 Miles
Distance Between Bangor and Brownfield in Direct Line = 165 Miles
Additional Miles Driven To See The “Scenic” Route = 74 Miles
Average Visible Distance Thanks To Fog = 7 Metres

Today's Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609237950067/

Days 11 and 12 are dedicated to heading west to get to Stowe in time for Kate’s birthday so these entries aren’t going to be too interesting as we spent about 6 hours in the car today. Even more disappointingly, it was a really foggy day with spells of torrential rain so visibility was rubbish. It was weird to see that Holly (the sat nav) was telling us that we were driving next to a river but not actually being able to see it. The most embarrassing book we have brought away with us is the Reader’s Digest “120 Scenic Drives Around America” which we had to ask an elderly person to buy for us as there is a 65 year old minimum age limit on it. So far, however, it hasn’t let us down as we have oooo’d and aaaa’d for the best part of two weeks. Today, however, I feel betrayed by it as it we put blind faith in the directions (taking us on a 74 mile detour) but, thanks to the pea-souper, all we got was nauseous from the winding roads. The highlight of the drive is supposed to be the 6500 foot high White Mountain but we could barely see across the road so we now have the unique accolade of having driven for 2 hours down White Mountain Road without actually seeing White Mountain.

Just to hammer home the feeling that today was more of a step sideways than a progression in our trip, our accommodation for the night was back over the state line in Maine. Still, what a place. We had a cottage on Sam Brown Hill Road in Brownfield (nothing to do with the singer of the huge hit Stop in ’88) which was the old Boy’s Club of Brownfield HQ so it was adorned with all sorts of anti-feminism paraphernalia and interesting curiosities like a gramophone, a bar (unstocked, unfortunately) and an olde worlde till. It also came stocked with plenty of games which provided fantastic post-dinner (home made spag bol) entertainment. I taught Kate how to play Texas Hold ‘Em which she picked up far too quickly and then relentlessly whipped my ass at until I went in a strop. Time to move onto darts, a game I would surely win given my previous competitive darts experience…wrong. Thank god I won Trivial Pursuit else I wouldn’t have been able to look myself in the mirror the next day. Oh, and I fairly comfortably won the impromptu boxing match as well.

Back on the road tomorrow…please let the fog lift.

Day 10 – Post Curry Thunder Hole

Miles Driven – 49
From – Bar Harbor (Maine)
To – Bangor (Maine, not Wales)
Inches of Rain – A Gazillion
Interesting Things to Do in Bangor – Zero, Zip, Nda...
Hotel Room Temperature – 125F

Today’s Photo Link - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609086377434/

Thanks to a combination of a Leadership Conference being hosted in our hotel and a distinct lack of hotels open this time of season, we had to leave Bar Harbor and the Acadia National Park area a bit prematurely. We still had a couple of must-see’s to check of the list and luckily there was a quick 3 mile walk that took them all in so, despite super-grey clouds and the imminent threat of a Mancheser-esque downpour, we managed to bash them out before the 11am check-out deadline. Attraction #1 was Thunder Hole, a natural phenomenon where the Atlantic has bashed away the sandstone but not the granite, resulting in a cave that basically makes a huge splash and explosion noise each time the sea laps against it. It was a strangely hypnotic sight although Molly was less than impressed. The second attraction was Otter Cliffs but there wasn’t an otter in sight. Being America, I fully intend to sue for false advertising, emotional distress and I’ll probably throw some whiplash in for good measure.

The day gets distinctly less interesting at this point as we hit the road and drove in the rain to Bangor. What can I say about this particular budget hotel? They have free cookies at the front desk…and therefore it is the best hotel ever. There is a spa pool thingy which has the weird twist of not allowing kids between 9pm and 10pm…presumably the lights go dim and Barry White starts blaring out but we’ll hopefully be in the boozer instead. And check out the photo of the patriotic light switch – Americana at its very best.

A quick search on Google for eateries in Bangor threw up BK, McDonalds and Wendy’s within the list of 10 suggested places. Not a great sign so we actually did fairly well to find the Muddy Rudder where the food was not bad but luckily the beers were huge. Post-lunch entertainment really doesn’t warrant writing about as there were a bunch of chores to be done, including finally getting some health insurance although it doesn’t actually kick in until 1st January so I’ll have to lay off the Greco Roman Wrestling ‘til then.

Now, being Northern, I inherently know how to treat a lady – hence dinner tonight was in the truck stop located round the back of our motel. But this was no ordinary truck stop – it has its own line of clothing for a start (an obligatory $6.99 t-shirt was purchased, of course). It sold burger flavour dog food. And “tyre checkers” which are self-defense baseball bats in any other language. Still, the food was pretty good (for a truck stop) specialising in Maine classics like Yankee Pot Roast and their 24 hour cooked baked beans…and the portions were predictably huge.

The next couple of days involve about 400 miles of driving to get across to Stowe in Vermont which will be our base for a couple of days over Kate’s birthday. Why Stowe? Because it’s close to the Ben & Jerry factory. Girls are so easy to please…

Day 9 – Mountain Climbing and Edible Rewards

Date: Thursday 13th November 2008
Miles Driven : 25 miles
From: Bar Harbor (Maine)
To: Bar Harbor (Maine)
Via: Acadia National Park Loop Road
Mountains Conquered: 1

Today's Photos Link : http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609052898534/

It all got serious today as we had planned to climb Mount Cadillac, the highest peak in Acadia National Park. Well, I say “planned” but what I really mean is that we had read somewhere that it was the biggest peak, that it took about 5 hours to climb and that the South Ridge ascent was the only one without precipice ledges requiring basic rock climbing skills and the use of ladders (Molly’s lack of opposable thumbs make ladders a no-no). So our sum total of planning involved wearing a huge number of layers of clothing (breakfast is a 2 minute outdoor walk from our room so we had previous knowledge of the sub-zero temperatures plaguing Maine at the moment) and…well, actually that was all we managed to plan. After leaving the hotel we drove in the opposite direction from the mountain for a few miles and once we were finally going in the right direction, we had no idea where we were supposed to start the hike from as the 712 information pamphlets we had collected the previous evening were cleverly stored back in the room. But this is the twentieth century and, being yuppies, we both have iPhones so luckily we have the world at our finger-tips…only there is no reception out here in the middle of nowhere. Holy crap, is this how they lived in the middle ages? As such, I had to accost a gentleman who was from that bygone era (and the only human within a 10 mile radius) in order to explain where the start of the walk was which he obligingly did with a look in his eyes that clearly said “you won’t last 10 minutes up there, you privileged scourge on society”. Maybe I am a little too sensitive sometimes…

The walk was absolutely stunning and, despite being officially classified as “strenuous”, it wasn’t too tough. A fairly constant up-hill all the way to the top with only the occasional big rock to climb up. Needless to say I was a perfect gentleman and, when the occasion arose, I helped both Molly and Kate up the aforementioned big rocks in the style of Benny Hill in The Italian Job. The terrain changed from dense forest at the bottom to bare rock resembling a Star Trek scene (hence the pose in the picture) at the top but views of the dessert island bay and the neighbouring islands were consistently incredible. It is also possible to drive up the mountain so the top is actually denoted by a huge car-park but, being off-season, there was only one car up there containing a couple of guys. I would imagine it is annoying to walk to the top in peak season only to be greeted by hoards of super-fatties but with only two non-hikers up there I quite enjoyed being the King of Smug for the 8 seconds we were brave enough to stand in the freezing breeze. At this point, the beautiful blue Maine sky decided to give way to dark, threatening clouds so a speedy descent was the order of the day. An hour later we were speeding back to Bar Harbor with the heaters on full blast.

Lunch was a huge affair of comfort food in the quirky Geddy’s (they take a photo of everyone that enters to put on their web-site…I would like to say that’s lame but the reality is that I am counting the minutes until it’s published). Post lunch entertainment was a lap of the National Park’s Loop Road but there was no need to stop at any of the attractions as we either saw them today or will see them on tomorrow’s walk. As such, the 20 mile drive more resembled a lap of the Nuremburg Ring than an idyllic drive in the country. I’m not sure what the lap record is but Bridget was definitely up there.

A dip in the hotel’s hot tub was cancelled because there was already a slimmer and more attractive couple in there so we retreated to the room to do what we do best – eat curry (a rather fine home-made beef curry) and watch telly. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame probably don’t need to reserve us any spaces anytime soon…

More walking, possibly a bike ride and then heading West to Bangor tomorrow…

Day 8 – A Tale Of Two Holidays/Vacations

Miles Driven – 141
From – Portland (Maine)
To – Bar Harbour (Maine)
Via – Freeport and Camden (both Maine)
One Way Streets Driven Down the Wrong Way – 1 too many
Streets Driven Down on the Left Hand Side – 1 too many
Principle Driver of the Day - Kate

Link to Today's Photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157609003205972/

I’m sure we had a conversation yesterday and decided that we were going to drive from Portland to Bar Harbour; stopping extremely briefly in Freeport (a horrific concept of a town where LL Bean was founded and has subsequently turned into the shopping Mecca of Maine) before hitting Camden for a healthy hike. It was only when we got in the car that I noticed that I was dressed head to toe in North Face whilst Kate looked ready for the red carpet. Clearly I had misunderstood the proportion of the day that was to be spent shopping rather than hiking.

Freeport is actually quite a pretty town although I would rather that quaint buildings were adorned with “Fox & Anchor” signs rather that “Abercrombie & Fitch”. I was assured that the one mile strip of shops would take “30 mins, max” but, two hours later, Kate had stopped answering her phone and had had one credit card blocked – and this is not an exaggeration. The highlight was a British store where I could get a Double Decker…and I am dribbling whilst typing that.

Next stop was Camden which is yet another incredibly idyllic Atlantic kissing coastal town where Molster and I hiked to the top of Mount Battie (insert Ali G gag here) whilst Kate drove up and met us up there. The walk was seriously picturesque and I love seeing Molly that happy. And the view at the top was truly incredible on this perfect Maine day but only Mollineaux and I really deserved and earned it. We got a take-away lunch in town which we tried to eat with a picture postcard view of the port but, after driving for a whole 15 seconds, our bellies took charge so we parked in front of a post box and wolfed.

The rest of the lit day was spent driving to Bar Harbor which will be our home for at least the next three days. It was dark when we arrived so I can’t comment on it’s aesthetics but I can tell you that the boozer across the road from our room is pretty friendly and provided a perfect distraction whilst the beef bourguignon I was cooking simmered on the stove…a great smell to be welcomed back to the room with and, more importantly, something to mask the musky, old woman’s closet smell that the room seems to have. I guess that is one of the down-sides of asking for pet-friendly rooms.

Serious hiking in Acadia National Park tomorrow…

Day 7 – Veteran’s Day, Emergency Poos & Questionable Cultural-ness

Miles Driven – 0
From – Portland (Maine)
To – Portland (Maine)
Via – Peaks Island (Maine)
Emergency Poos Required – 1
Cultural Experiences – 0 or 1, depending on your point of view
Old people in Becky’s eating for 50% off – Possibly Millions

Link to today's photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157608894259243/

This will probably be a slightly shorter and less cohesive blog than usual given that I am writing it the wrong side of a bottle of Chile’s cheekiest rouge. So what happened yesterday? Well, Kate had two breakfasts and then popped into a shop to buy me a “surprise breakfast” which turned out to be a soggy grilled cheese which she then had half of…before demanding a chocolate bar just 10 minutes later. I think she has a worm the size of a python.

Anyway, we decided to stay in Portland for an extra night as we hadn’t really seen much of the city centre despite being here for a couple of nights already. The other thing we hadn’t seen was Peaks Island which is one of the 211 islands that make up Casco Bay. A 20 minute ferry ride later we were on the island which is infamous for it’s failed attempt to secede from Maine just last year. It’s a seriously picturesque island with incredible isolated ocean views on the east side and takes just 90 mins to walk round (including one fairly marriage threatening argument about directions which I am man enough to say Kate was right about all along…although I can beat her in an arm wrestle so, net-net, I win). The only down side about the walk was the emergency bathroom requirement which dominated the latter 75% of the walk and may explain Kate’s strange facial expression in the photos.

The return ferry to Portland was far less idyllic than the outward journey as the sub-zero gale force wind decided to make an unwanted appearance. Whilst sitting on top of the boat seemed like a fun idea for the first 16 seconds, even our fur covered wolf derivation whined and cried enough to make us realise than the heated cabin was the way forward.

Becky’s is the notorious diner of Portland (every city seems to have one) and the food didn’t disappoint. I had a fantastic thick and juicy haddock sandwich whilst Kate and her giant worm had 6 sandwiches, 4 pasta dishes, the complete range of soups…all washed down with a diet coke. The place had what you expect from a local legendary diner - good food served with intimate, friendly service. But that isn’t what I’ll remember Becky’s for. Now America has a reputation for being almost stomach churningly patriotic but even I was a bit choked as a bunch of young lads intently listened to an “old-timer’s” war stories before buying him lunch and making the guy feel like a hero. I don’t care what your opinion of war is, or how appropriate you think it is to celebrate veteran’s day, I challenge you not to consider that a pretty nice moment and I’m glad I witnessed it.

The nights seem have taken a bit of a predictable regime – beer, food, more beer, sleep. So tonight, to mix it up a bit, we hit the local movie house to watch W (the story of George W Bush) which was a fascinating two hours, although I can never watch films like this without having two distinct thoughts – 1) clearly they have no idea of the exact dialogue so it’s completely hollywoodised and 2) I wonder if George has seen it? Now Kate thought that watching this film as two non-Americans made us cultural but I have to disagree as surely this is a story that we should already know. Anyway, just in case the experience was too cultural, the night ended in Bingas Wingas (American for Bingo Wings?) where we drank $3 local beer, ate buffalo wings (I opted for “hot” rather than the politically incorrect “Chernobyl” as I was with my wife rather than my footy buddies) and listened to neck threatening heavy metal. Marvelous stuff.

Northbound deeper into Maine tomorrow…

Day 6 – Biking, Hair dying & Lobsters (AKA Kates 1st blog)

Date : 10th November 2008

From : Outskirts of Portland

To: Outskirts of PortlandVia: Cape Elizabeth & 3 more Lighthouses
Miles cycled: 20 ish
Lighthouses photographed so far: enough already

Day 6 Photo Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157608896167030/

The readers who have met me will all know that I mumble when I speak. What you may not know is that I have an even bigger problem with my writing but Grant has done a lot of work setting up the blog and so felt it was about time that I should chip in (in reality he told me I had to write some of it and 5 days was all I could get away with). So here goes…

We are only 6 days in and I already feel like I’m putting on weight so Grant planned a picturesque sea side bike ride for us to get some exercise. What first started out as a 4 mile ride ended up being a 20 something mile ride through rolling hills in the freezing cold. You would think that peddling faster would warm us up but the resulting wind in face effect only seemed to make things worse. That’s my excuse and Im sticking to it for my incredibly slow speed on the hills especially as I recently gave myself the nickname Spokes and started to claim biking was my new hobby. Grant had to spend most of the ride waiting for me at the bottom of the hills and yelling at me to pedal faster from the top of hills. Apparently there is an amazing Lobster shack at Cape Elizabeth but as you can probably tell from the dejected look on Grants face in the pictures and because its becoming a theme on this trip the Lobster shack was closed for the season. Still the views were great and now that we have stopped shivering I can say it was a good day out.

For a few months now Grant has been obsessing over my hair asking me to dye it the same colour as some girl from college that he fancies. Recently he has stepped up the nagging somewhat and so weak from all the cycling I finally caved and bought an auburn home hair dye kit - yikes. Home hair dye is not really a one man job so I was forced to use Grant Macs Beauty Salon with surprisingly good results. After just 30 mins my hair was evenly coloured and I didn’t even have to leave the hotel room. On the other hand my stylist was practically naked and yelled at me for moving too much.

All of the hair excitement on top of our bike trek gave us the hungers and so based on a recommendation from a friendly boozed up couple we headed to Gilberts for dinner. The chowder soup was seriously good but it’s all about the Lobster at Gilberts. Served on paper plates with a bib and a bowl of melted butter as the dipping sauce the meal was a real experience. By the time we left I had lobster on my sleeves and in my hair (Grant was wearing short sleeves and has no hair so faired a bit better) but happily we also had plenty in our bellies.

It’s time to pass the blog to Grant for editing now so I’ll sign off . Peaks Island tomorrow with Molly ……..

Day 5 - Picture Perfect But Picture Free

Date : Sunday 9th November

From : Outskirts of Boston (MA)

To : Portland (Maine)

Via : Portsmouth (New Hampshire)

Miles Driven: 112

Radio Stations Found Already Playing Non-Stop Christmas Tunes: 1

Someone (Kate) forgot to charge the camera yesterday so unfortunately today's blog is comes with a single picture courtesy of my phone. Apologies to the beano subscribers out there...

So if you have been following this blog regularly then 1) you're almost as sad as the person writing it and 2) you'll know that we have been plagued with falling asleep at 10pm and waking up at 5am. Well I am pleased to report that we've found the solution and it's a remedy that has been close to my heart since I was 13. Yes, it's my good friend alcohol! It gives me superpowers until the wee hours of the morning and then helps me snore until Pebble Mill is well and truly over. It's a routine I look forward to repeating at least daily for the rest of my life.

Anyway, today was another three state day (from MA to ME via NH) and finally we were blessed with some incredible weather. Perfect blue skies, bright sunshine but temperatures hovering around 10 celcius (that's 50F for those Obamaland inhabitants) which ensured that I kept my fat-man sweats down to a minimum. So on went the Alan Partridge driving shades as we hit the road to Portsmouth. The drive was stunning and the back roads are seriously interesting to drift down. We've started playing Fast-Food Chain Bingo (copyright) where the winning move is to be the first to spot a junction where the four corners are inhabited by McDonalds, Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts and Wendys. This isn't going to turn into an "all americans are fat" rant though as I quite simply love a country where I am legitimately a medium in most clothes shops. I look forward to hitting Texas where I will be positively waif-like.

If Portsmouth is a good indication barometer for the rest of New Hampshire then it may be the greatest state in America. What a stunning little sea-side town. It's hard to put my finger on why it is so great but in our 90 minutes there we encountered super-friendly people, a picture perfect town centre with a real village feel and (most importantly) great food. We ate at Popovers where their house speciality was, funnily enough, a popover. I'm not sure if this is unique to them but basically it was like a giant savoury choux bun with your choice of filling. I went for chilli and it was truly awesome. A quick walk around this stunning town (mainly to find Kate an ice-cream) and then back in the car.

An hour later we were in Portland, Maine. With a population of just 60,000 it is has a reputation of being a fun place to drink and a gaggle of young chefs are putting the place on the culinary map. After a cheeky run (we have to work off these huge meals somehow as I don't want to burst within the first month of this trip) we hit the town in search of this legendary scene. Despite being a Sunday night, we still found willing drinkers - and a freindly bunch too. We had a good chat with a bunch of Portlanders who told us all about their pub membership scheme (annual subscriptions to bars ranging from $40 to $75 in Gritty McDuffs entitling you to your own mug and $2 beers all day Sunday...DANGEROUS) and how depressing the winter gets. With sufficient lubrication we set off in search of a recomended Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant but restaurants here shut really early so by the time we got there it was shut. The only place we saw open was 555 so in we piled...and what a stroke of luck that turned in to. Chef Corry recently hit the front page of Food & Wine as one of the country's best new chefs and he's not shy about publicising it with copies of the issue on every sapre piece of wall. Still, kudos to him as we had some pretty incredible food. Mussels and shrimp to start then hanger steak and scallops for mains. All washed down with a cheeky bottle of plonk. An outstanding end to a cracking day.

Day 4 - Witches, Clams, Mushy Peas & Strops

Date : 8th November 2008
From : Outskirts of Boston
To: Outskirts of Boston
Via: Salem and Revere Beach
Museums in Salem: 253
Museums Visited: Zero
Silent Car Journeys: 1

Today's photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157608789113067/

We're still cursed with hideously early starts to the days and today was no exception as I was on the move by 5:30am and Kate wasn't far behind. After some room juggling (my biceps should be getting pretty bulky from lugging a dozen suitcases around every day - the fried food, however, provides more than an offset), it was back on the road for a day trip to Salem - the sight of the witch burning frenzy of the seventeenth century (I can't be more specific than that). The story from start to finish is this: if you didn't like someone then you accused them of being a witch and they were hung. The frenzy ended when someone accused the governer's wife of being a witch but she was too posh to swing so it ended there. The fuller story is told in The Crucible but I have basically just saved you a week's worth of reading. Stay tuned for crib notes to all the classics going forward.

Needless to say Salem now has a thousand spooky museums ranging from live reinactments of witch trials to the slightly less related Frankenstein and Pirate museums. Still, plenty of opportunities for photos without actually spending a penny. Pure bliss.

Lunch was (thanks to a reccomendation from Jaff, a chef instructor from the FCI) a combination of fried clams and a roast beef sandwich as big as your head at Kelly's in Revere Beach. The seagulls are particularly fat in this neighbourhood thanks to their regular feeding either from Kelly's or from the tourists that visit the place. There was a diet coke incident on the way which caused a strop that resulted in a silent journey back to the hotel. Nuff said.

Coincidental timing meant that Teen Wolf (Adam) was in Boston seeing his girlfriend (whom he loves very much) for the evening so we went over to Cambridge (MIT territory...but I'm not jealous) for a bar hike. I would call it a bar crawl but the bars seemed to be 8km apart. Still, good times, hot dogs, mac & cheese, burgers, buffalo chicken and several beers were had by all. A most enjoyable evening and it was just nice to stay out past 10pm...

Portland tomorrow. Really looking forward to that...