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...