Dear Friends,
How about another weekend update? We had quite the humid and buggy weekend, but it was wonderful, too. On Saturday we got up and hit the road to the coast. Boothbay, to be exact, to see our friends Erik and Jamie.
They live on an island in what I guess would be considered the “Greater Boothbay” area. Boothbay is small in terms of population, I think, but it is beautiful. Erik and Jamie’s place is very woodsy and up a hill. Their place is cool and in a great spot. You can see the water from their second-floor windows and their land is awesome. They also have two lovely dogs who like to play a lot. We enjoyed our stay, for sure.
On the way, we stopped in Farmington so we could bring them some booze and then in Belgrade Lakes for a bit of lunch. Belgrade Lakes is one of my favorite places. It’s about an hour-ish from Rangeley and really pretty. The lunch was just okay, though, and I think the fish sandwich I had (haddock) might have fucked up my stomach a bit.
Much of the drive after Augusta, which was about 50 miles or so, was new to me. It further cemented what I already feel about this state. I will happily go visit E & J any time because their spot is cool, and the drive is nice and easy. There are a bunch of places I want to check out now, too, from what we saw.
Once we got to their house, we headed straight down to the water and Erik took us all out on his boat. We went through the “river” which is salt water and saw seals and Osprey right away. We were heading toward Boothbay Harbor and Erik gave us quite the tour. There were tons of cool houses along the way, and we daydreamed out loud about buying boats and finding an affordable place there.
As we got into the harbor, which took us about 40 minutes because Erik was going slow and easy, we saw a huge yacht. We later learned it belongs to some guy who recently sold the UFC for four billion dollars or something ridiculous. It was crazy and I thought Erik put it well when he said, “the people on that yacht have no idea how regular people live.”
He’s probably right. We were told it was a $175 million for the yacht and it cost $17 million a year to operate it. That’s fucking crazy. It was a sight to behold, though. We wondered what would have happened if we would have approached the boat and we figured that someone was always on the lookout with a gun nearby for normal folks like us who might want to get shot.
After cruising around the harbor a bit, we tied up at one of the public docks and walked to a place called the Tugboat and got some appetizers and a beer. Rhondi got a Blueberry mule which was tasty, too. The Tugboat had a great view of the harbor, and it was fun to sit there, have a snack and drink, and talk to our friends.
Instead of exploring more shops and bars, we headed back to E & J’s because Rhondi had a bunch of swordfish marinating and we were ready for it. Jamie made some excellent, fresh green beans from their garden and Erik grilled up the fish. We ate well, and it didn’t kill my stomach, which was nice. I’d made a terrible mess in their bathroom when we got back, and I was a bit nervous about how dinner would sit initially.
I do have to mention that we were sitting on their deck while we were waiting for dinner and the bugs on the island were extremely aggressive. Those fuckers left a few nice welts that I’m still itching on a bit today and some of them, holy shit, the initial itch after the bite was horrendous. My skin was on fire during dinner.
After dinner we had a nice scotch, a 14-year-old Oban that I had never tried. It was mellow and smooth, and I would happily drink it again. We were all bushed, so we headed to bed soon after. About 2am or so, my stomach said, “hey buddy, where’s the bathroom again?” and the adventures started up once more. It was a long, miserable night, but by the time 5:30 or so rolled around, I felt okay and got a nice little nap in before it was time to have breakfast and hit the road.
One of my favorite parts about our time with E & J is that we had great conversation. I’m pretty sure they have some different political views than us, but we were able to talk openly and honestly and respectfully. I have thought about this a lot since then and have concluded that this is exactly what we need in the world.
Unfortunately, critical thinking has all but been erased from elementary schools, so people are just ready to accept whatever political pablum they are fed and far too often it comes with a heaping side dish of something akin to “hate the people who disagree with you because they want to eat your babies.” If people would just see through all that nonsense and think for themselves, I think we could start to get things turned around before it’s too late.
That’s my soapbox moment for this blog. Please be willing to listen to others, even if they are baby eaters.
When we left Boothbay, we headed over Worthley Pond where Cousin Hal has a place. I will have to devote a whole blog to Worthley at some point. There is too much to say about it for today, but it was great. We got to meet a bunch of Doug and Hal’s old friends who were there for the BBQ. Great stories were shared, and it was a lot of fun. A perfect endcap for the weekend, really, and another reason to accept that this life has been fantastic so far.
See you tomorrow.
I was sitting on the front of Erik and Jamie's boat, looking at the sunset and thinking, "Wow." so I took a picture and this is what I got.
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