Vacation!
Posted by Anonymous User
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Re: Vacation! July 07, 2006 |
catmommy, your trip sounds awesome! I checked out the inn's Website. Very cool. If I am ever in Maine .... So unusual that a place won't let 14 and under stay there. But when I think of a quaint bed and breakfast, I sure as hell don't imagine brats being there. Please tell us about it when you get back!
For my vacation, I may be going to Brazil! I'm not for sure about that, but I would go later in the year. Roughly, South America's seasons are the opposite of North America's. Last year I went to Paris by myself. I really love France. Vive les bleu
(Anybody follow World Cup?)
Anyway, I've traveled a lot by myself. Four countries (Italy, Peru, Belize, Guatemala) I went with my ex-BF. Before Paris, I went to Malaysia alone, before that India and Thailand solo.
My current boyfriend and I have argued over my love of foreign travel. He sees it as a luxury. I see it as something I love to do. Sure, it's not necessary. But I travel very cheaply. I plan everything myself. I don't hire any guides or take package tours. I stay in very modest accommodations, and travel the way the locals do. Once I stayed in an old mosque in India for $1.75 (US) a night. An Indian boy carried a big bucket of warm water for me to wash up. Traveling in many parts of the world can be done so inexpensively. And most Americans don't get that. Or they are afraid to travel. My BF has never left the country, so WTF, you know? We have friends who recently got married, and they do foreign travel together like I do, very modestly. So the BF has been slowly coming around to the idea that traveling is OK.
My BF wants to go to Yosemite for four days. (We live in the San Francisco Bay Area) so it's not that far of a drive for us. I'm thinking August in Yosemite would be Breeder Central. But we would camp at a campground that you would have to hike to get into. So I think that breeders with the little kyyds would avoid that. But I would still want to go somewhere else later (another country)!
For my vacation, I may be going to Brazil! I'm not for sure about that, but I would go later in the year. Roughly, South America's seasons are the opposite of North America's. Last year I went to Paris by myself. I really love France. Vive les bleu
(Anybody follow World Cup?)Anyway, I've traveled a lot by myself. Four countries (Italy, Peru, Belize, Guatemala) I went with my ex-BF. Before Paris, I went to Malaysia alone, before that India and Thailand solo.
My current boyfriend and I have argued over my love of foreign travel. He sees it as a luxury. I see it as something I love to do. Sure, it's not necessary. But I travel very cheaply. I plan everything myself. I don't hire any guides or take package tours. I stay in very modest accommodations, and travel the way the locals do. Once I stayed in an old mosque in India for $1.75 (US) a night. An Indian boy carried a big bucket of warm water for me to wash up. Traveling in many parts of the world can be done so inexpensively. And most Americans don't get that. Or they are afraid to travel. My BF has never left the country, so WTF, you know? We have friends who recently got married, and they do foreign travel together like I do, very modestly. So the BF has been slowly coming around to the idea that traveling is OK.
My BF wants to go to Yosemite for four days. (We live in the San Francisco Bay Area) so it's not that far of a drive for us. I'm thinking August in Yosemite would be Breeder Central. But we would camp at a campground that you would have to hike to get into. So I think that breeders with the little kyyds would avoid that. But I would still want to go somewhere else later (another country)!
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Re: Vacation! July 14, 2006 |
Hi all...I'm back! Well, I've been back for a few days now, but I'm just now getting to writing about things.
Rather than make this one long post, I'm breaking it up into several.
It was a very nice, peaceful trip. Except for Catdaddy feeling a bit under the weather, it would have been perfect.
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At first, we thought we were screwed. When we checked into the Pleasant Street Inn on Friday, Dan, one of the innkeepers, mentioned that there was a family group on the second floor. Since we knew about the *no sprogs under 14* rule, we assumed it was older teens and adults.
Nope. On the way up to our room on the third floor, we passed through the common area TV room, and what did we see but two sprogs, who both looked to be under 10. They were quiet, though...watching TV and being supervised by a woman who we later learned was their nanny.
Up in the room, Catdaddy and I wondered if this nice place was about to go down the toilet, if they were letting sprogs stay there and all. The kids may have been quiet when we saw them, but what if they ruined our breakfast and stuff? Last October, we were in Cooperstown, NY, and we stayed at our usual B&B, which does take kids. It's impossible to find a place there that doesn't. The kids were little shits, and not only did they ruin our breakfasts, but we could not enjoy the common TV area to watch baseball playoff games and such. The little shits HAD to have the fucking Cartoon Network on at all times. At full blast. I feared for a repeat of that sort of thing here.
But we needn't have worried. The next morning, we were the only ones at breakfast, which was served by Tim, one of the other innkeepers. He was truly worried that we'd be upset by the presence of kids in the place, and apologized profusely for them being there. He asked if they bothered us at all, and we said, no they didn't. Honestly, if we had not seen them in the TV room, we'd not have even known they were there.
Tim then explained that the father of these kids was a wealthy businessman who came to the area regularly on business, and always stayed with them (sans kids) on such trips. He was a single father and a nice guy. In this case, they were on their way to their vacation home (it was *being prepared* and wasn't ready yet, whatever that means) and they needed a place to stay for just the one night. So the innkeepers reluctantly agreed, and made sure to put them as far away from us (the only other guests there that night) as possible. And the reason they were not at breakfast is because they checked out very early, to head for the vacation home.
Tim also assured us that this was a one-time thing...as the painter of much of the artwork hanging in the place, he most certainly did not want sprogs running around touching and ruining it. He knew that if this guy's kids damaged anything, the father would pay for it. But as we all know, most breeders would just say, "kids will be kids" and refuse to pay for damaged goods. That's just one reason why they don't allow them in the place.
Also, they promote the place as being a quiet and romantic place to stay, two things which are not possible if they let all manner of sproggen stay there.
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Anyway, all was forgiven, and the rest of the trip was wonderful. The weather was nearly perfect. We took the lake cruise on the Katahdin on Saturday afternoon, and it was a nice, relaxing time. I packed a cooler with food and beer, and we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the scenery. There were a few sprogs on the boat, but they were well-behaved. As I've said beford, this area is not really a breeder magnet. What you see parent-wise are pretty much PNBs who are teaching their kids to appreciate nature and such. The average Breederson Famblee would probably not find much to enjoy there, as there are no kiddie parks, video arcades, and such. The Breedersons who do stay in the area are all at this place called The Birches, where we had to go last year to take a moose safari trip. They had all of these cabins there, and free-range sprogs were everywhere. We did a different moose safari this time, and it was way better...and we didn't have to see the breeders and brats at The Birches.
But most breeders take the brood to places like Old Orchard Beach, where they have a boardwalk and arcades and rides and such. You could not pay me to take a summer vacation at that place! They can have it...give me Moosehead Lake any day!
Anyway, on board the Katahdin, they sell raffle tickets. These are to raise money for the Maritime Museum, and to keep the boat running and all. The prize was winner's choice of a T-shirt, sweatshirt, or ball cap from the gift shop. I won! I picked out a nice hooded sweatshirt with a picture of the ship on it, to save for the winter. I never seem to have enough sweatshirts!
Part Two follows...
Rather than make this one long post, I'm breaking it up into several.
It was a very nice, peaceful trip. Except for Catdaddy feeling a bit under the weather, it would have been perfect.
----------
At first, we thought we were screwed. When we checked into the Pleasant Street Inn on Friday, Dan, one of the innkeepers, mentioned that there was a family group on the second floor. Since we knew about the *no sprogs under 14* rule, we assumed it was older teens and adults.
Nope. On the way up to our room on the third floor, we passed through the common area TV room, and what did we see but two sprogs, who both looked to be under 10. They were quiet, though...watching TV and being supervised by a woman who we later learned was their nanny.
Up in the room, Catdaddy and I wondered if this nice place was about to go down the toilet, if they were letting sprogs stay there and all. The kids may have been quiet when we saw them, but what if they ruined our breakfast and stuff? Last October, we were in Cooperstown, NY, and we stayed at our usual B&B, which does take kids. It's impossible to find a place there that doesn't. The kids were little shits, and not only did they ruin our breakfasts, but we could not enjoy the common TV area to watch baseball playoff games and such. The little shits HAD to have the fucking Cartoon Network on at all times. At full blast. I feared for a repeat of that sort of thing here.
But we needn't have worried. The next morning, we were the only ones at breakfast, which was served by Tim, one of the other innkeepers. He was truly worried that we'd be upset by the presence of kids in the place, and apologized profusely for them being there. He asked if they bothered us at all, and we said, no they didn't. Honestly, if we had not seen them in the TV room, we'd not have even known they were there.
Tim then explained that the father of these kids was a wealthy businessman who came to the area regularly on business, and always stayed with them (sans kids) on such trips. He was a single father and a nice guy. In this case, they were on their way to their vacation home (it was *being prepared* and wasn't ready yet, whatever that means) and they needed a place to stay for just the one night. So the innkeepers reluctantly agreed, and made sure to put them as far away from us (the only other guests there that night) as possible. And the reason they were not at breakfast is because they checked out very early, to head for the vacation home.
Tim also assured us that this was a one-time thing...as the painter of much of the artwork hanging in the place, he most certainly did not want sprogs running around touching and ruining it. He knew that if this guy's kids damaged anything, the father would pay for it. But as we all know, most breeders would just say, "kids will be kids" and refuse to pay for damaged goods. That's just one reason why they don't allow them in the place.
Also, they promote the place as being a quiet and romantic place to stay, two things which are not possible if they let all manner of sproggen stay there.
----------
Anyway, all was forgiven, and the rest of the trip was wonderful. The weather was nearly perfect. We took the lake cruise on the Katahdin on Saturday afternoon, and it was a nice, relaxing time. I packed a cooler with food and beer, and we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the scenery. There were a few sprogs on the boat, but they were well-behaved. As I've said beford, this area is not really a breeder magnet. What you see parent-wise are pretty much PNBs who are teaching their kids to appreciate nature and such. The average Breederson Famblee would probably not find much to enjoy there, as there are no kiddie parks, video arcades, and such. The Breedersons who do stay in the area are all at this place called The Birches, where we had to go last year to take a moose safari trip. They had all of these cabins there, and free-range sprogs were everywhere. We did a different moose safari this time, and it was way better...and we didn't have to see the breeders and brats at The Birches.
But most breeders take the brood to places like Old Orchard Beach, where they have a boardwalk and arcades and rides and such. You could not pay me to take a summer vacation at that place! They can have it...give me Moosehead Lake any day!
Anyway, on board the Katahdin, they sell raffle tickets. These are to raise money for the Maritime Museum, and to keep the boat running and all. The prize was winner's choice of a T-shirt, sweatshirt, or ball cap from the gift shop. I won! I picked out a nice hooded sweatshirt with a picture of the ship on it, to save for the winter. I never seem to have enough sweatshirts!
Part Two follows...
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Re: Vacation! July 14, 2006 |
Part Two:
The Pleasant Street Inn will prepare dinner for guests only, and only upon advance reservations. The breakfasts at this place are to die for, as we learned last year, so this year we did decide to go for a dinner. We scheduled it for Saturday night. Two of the innkeepers are professionally trained chefs: John is the one who does the breakfasts, and Dan prepares the dinners. Everything is of the highest quality, fresh and in season whenever possible. They even make their own stocks and sauces from scratch. They are not licensed to sell beer or wine, but you are allowed to bring your own. So we brought a couple of bottles of a nice Maine blueberry wine.
These dinners are not cheap, but let me tell you that they are WELL WORTH the money! We started with a silky smooth cream of cauliflower soup...perfectly seasoned and wonderful. And I don't even care much for cauliflower! But I LOVED this soup, and one of these days, I'm gonna pry the recipe out of them! Then there was a wonderful mixed green salad, and the main course was a roast loin of pork with a balsamic vinegar reduction. This was served with fresh green beans and a zucchini timbale. And dessert was a sublime lemon tart.
Do yourself a favor. If you ever do come to this place, request a dinner when you make your reservations. You will NOT regret it!
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We were supposed to take the moose safari on Sunday evening, but Catdaddy wasn't feeling well, so I went over to the Northwoods Outfitters place that does this, and asked if we could re-schedule. They agreed and we re-scheduled for Monday evening. So on Sunday, we didn't do much of anything. I had packed some of my craft supplies and set up shop on the front porch of the house. There's a bit of a story behind this too, which I will save for a separate post in another thread.
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There is not much of a *dining scene* in Greenville. Pretty much everything closes early, as in by 9PM. The most fun place is definitely The Black Frog. http://www.theblackfrog.com/bf_home.html Be sure to check out the menu page on the site...this is the menu they give you when you are there, and it's very funny!
The place to go drinking is definitely the Stress-Free Moose, about a block away from the Frog. They stay open until a whopping 11PM. Only bad thing is that they don't have a real kitchen...they just do sandwiches, wraps, microwave nachos, hot dogs, and chili. But thenstuff they do have is very good...we got takeout sandwiches from then to eat on the Katahdin cruise. The food on board that ship is kind of icky and greasy, but luckily, they let you bring your own if you want to.
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We ended up not going on the moose safari on Monday, either. The Northwoods Outfitters guy called and said that they were expecting thunderstorms. He knew we were leaving on Tuesday, but they could take us out on that morning, at 6AM. Catdaddy wasn't thrilled with the idea, but I accepted.
We did get the thunderstorms...not only that, we lost power in Greenville for several hours. Good thing we'd decided to have lunch at the Stress-Free Moose, where they don't need electricity just to make sammiches and pour draught beers. So we sat there and ate lunch and drank beer until the storms let up. Not a bad way to pass a rainy afternoon! One of the other customers had a battery operated radio out in his truck, and he brought it in so that we could have music.
The power did come back on, and later, we went to dinner at a place in Greenville Junction called Kelly's Landing. It was okay, but not spectacular. Nice view of the lake, though!
Part Three to follow!
The Pleasant Street Inn will prepare dinner for guests only, and only upon advance reservations. The breakfasts at this place are to die for, as we learned last year, so this year we did decide to go for a dinner. We scheduled it for Saturday night. Two of the innkeepers are professionally trained chefs: John is the one who does the breakfasts, and Dan prepares the dinners. Everything is of the highest quality, fresh and in season whenever possible. They even make their own stocks and sauces from scratch. They are not licensed to sell beer or wine, but you are allowed to bring your own. So we brought a couple of bottles of a nice Maine blueberry wine.
These dinners are not cheap, but let me tell you that they are WELL WORTH the money! We started with a silky smooth cream of cauliflower soup...perfectly seasoned and wonderful. And I don't even care much for cauliflower! But I LOVED this soup, and one of these days, I'm gonna pry the recipe out of them!
Then there was a wonderful mixed green salad, and the main course was a roast loin of pork with a balsamic vinegar reduction. This was served with fresh green beans and a zucchini timbale. And dessert was a sublime lemon tart.Do yourself a favor. If you ever do come to this place, request a dinner when you make your reservations. You will NOT regret it!
----------
We were supposed to take the moose safari on Sunday evening, but Catdaddy wasn't feeling well, so I went over to the Northwoods Outfitters place that does this, and asked if we could re-schedule. They agreed and we re-scheduled for Monday evening. So on Sunday, we didn't do much of anything. I had packed some of my craft supplies and set up shop on the front porch of the house. There's a bit of a story behind this too, which I will save for a separate post in another thread.
----------
There is not much of a *dining scene* in Greenville. Pretty much everything closes early, as in by 9PM. The most fun place is definitely The Black Frog. http://www.theblackfrog.com/bf_home.html Be sure to check out the menu page on the site...this is the menu they give you when you are there, and it's very funny!
The place to go drinking is definitely the Stress-Free Moose, about a block away from the Frog. They stay open until a whopping 11PM. Only bad thing is that they don't have a real kitchen...they just do sandwiches, wraps, microwave nachos, hot dogs, and chili. But thenstuff they do have is very good...we got takeout sandwiches from then to eat on the Katahdin cruise. The food on board that ship is kind of icky and greasy, but luckily, they let you bring your own if you want to.
----------
We ended up not going on the moose safari on Monday, either. The Northwoods Outfitters guy called and said that they were expecting thunderstorms. He knew we were leaving on Tuesday, but they could take us out on that morning, at 6AM. Catdaddy wasn't thrilled with the idea, but I accepted.
We did get the thunderstorms...not only that, we lost power in Greenville for several hours. Good thing we'd decided to have lunch at the Stress-Free Moose, where they don't need electricity just to make sammiches and pour draught beers. So we sat there and ate lunch and drank beer until the storms let up. Not a bad way to pass a rainy afternoon! One of the other customers had a battery operated radio out in his truck, and he brought it in so that we could have music.
The power did come back on, and later, we went to dinner at a place in Greenville Junction called Kelly's Landing. It was okay, but not spectacular. Nice view of the lake, though!
Part Three to follow!
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Re: Vacation! July 14, 2006 |
Part Three:
Tuesday morning...I set the alarm for the butt-crack of dawn so we could meet up with the guide on time at Northwoods Outfitters, which is half a block away from the inn. But Catdaddy was being whiny and wouldn't go. I was pissed, but I didn't let him ruin my fun...I went without him.
There were five other people coming along besides me and the guide: a couple who was staying at the inn where we were, and a family of a mother, father, and a girl of about 10. Once again, the little girl was well-behaved. The guide, Chris, took us by van to some remote place DOG knows where. We stopped at this one big pond to see if there were any moose therein. Chris had been seeing lots of moose there over the past few days, so it was a good place to check. Sure enough, there were moose to see, so we got into the canoes to paddle out to see them.
I can't even swim, never mind neer canoed before. Since I was alone, I got to share a canoe with Chris. The couple had their own, as did the family. Chris was very nice and made sure I didn't drown or anything. It wasn't long before I stopped feeling scared and nervous, and began to relax and enjoy!
We were able to get within several feet of some moose...we saw about 10 altogether, but some of them took off when we got too close. But still, it was well worth getting up early for, as it hadn't gotten too hot or humid yet, and more moose come out in the AM than the PM trips. I did not want the trip to end!
When I returned, I made Catdaddy feel sufficiently bad for missing out on it, and hopefully, he'll make sure he does it when we go back next year!
It was sad to come home, back to all of the noise around here...but we missed the kitties and were happy to see them again!
Tuesday morning...I set the alarm for the butt-crack of dawn so we could meet up with the guide on time at Northwoods Outfitters, which is half a block away from the inn. But Catdaddy was being whiny and wouldn't go. I was pissed, but I didn't let him ruin my fun...I went without him.
There were five other people coming along besides me and the guide: a couple who was staying at the inn where we were, and a family of a mother, father, and a girl of about 10. Once again, the little girl was well-behaved. The guide, Chris, took us by van to some remote place DOG knows where. We stopped at this one big pond to see if there were any moose therein. Chris had been seeing lots of moose there over the past few days, so it was a good place to check. Sure enough, there were moose to see, so we got into the canoes to paddle out to see them.
I can't even swim, never mind neer canoed before. Since I was alone, I got to share a canoe with Chris. The couple had their own, as did the family. Chris was very nice and made sure I didn't drown or anything. It wasn't long before I stopped feeling scared and nervous, and began to relax and enjoy!
We were able to get within several feet of some moose...we saw about 10 altogether, but some of them took off when we got too close. But still, it was well worth getting up early for, as it hadn't gotten too hot or humid yet, and more moose come out in the AM than the PM trips. I did not want the trip to end!
When I returned, I made Catdaddy feel sufficiently bad for missing out on it, and hopefully, he'll make sure he does it when we go back next year!
It was sad to come home, back to all of the noise around here...but we missed the kitties and were happy to see them again!
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Re: Vacation! July 26, 2006 |
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Re: Vacation! August 08, 2006 |
it recharges the batteries, i have gone town on my own when faust was here, she has gone as well(which i am proud of strange town and she got there ok and back).. it just recharges the muscles, only a couple of hours.
and when you come back your in a better mood and feeling better and so you can go snuggle better
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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii
Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.â€
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein
and when you come back your in a better mood and feeling better and so you can go snuggle better
*********************************************************************************************************************************
I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii
Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.â€
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein
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