Monday-Thursday, June 8-11.
We're back on the road again. But this time the drive was short. Boring but short.
We said adios to Dick and Dorothy and headed north for the Maine woods. Traffic was surprisingly light and we made good time on I-495 west of Boston and I-95 north through New Hampshire and on into Maine. Once we arrived close to Bangor we drove straight to nephew Jon's home where Joyce was watching her grandkids.
After spending a nice afternoon reconnecting with several of the Bergman kids and watching grandma help them with sewing projects we drove Joyce home where we caught up with Avery.
The plan was for us to check into our hotel, unpack and return to take them out for dinner.
And so we did.
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| Marsh Island Brewery |
The four of us went to Marsh Island, a relatively recent addition to the eateries in Hampden. The service was very good, the outside semi-enclosed room quiet enough to have a decent conversation. The food was OK -- the fried cauliflower appetizer was very tasty and the girls had wedge salads which they enjoyed. Avery had fish and chips which he deemed delicious. I was the odd man out. I ordered the fried chicken plate and after a few bites thought the chicken quite "spongy" and oddly difficult to cut. Having gotten used to cooking with the superb Otto's chicken from Middleville, MI, this was a disappointment by comparison. But the local beer was tasty.
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| fried cauliflower |
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| my fried chicken plate - note the beer looks like grapefruit juice |
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| wedge salad with pulled chicken |
After dropping Joyce and Avery off back at their home we returned to the hotel and tucked in for the night.
Tuesday morning opened cool and crisp. Since we had no agenda for today other than meeting up with family later this afternoon we relaxed over coffee in our room. We had brought our mini Nespresso with us on this trip -- in fact we usually bring it with us on long road trips -- so we always have pretty good coffee. Hotel coffee in places like Hampton Inn etc can often be dark but in actuality mostly brown water. Ya gotta be prepared when you travel, right?
Anyway, while Susan spent some quality time in the hotel pool, which she had all to herself, I worked on my Duolingo (I suppose I should call it my Triolingo: Spanish, Italian and German.) Early afternoon gave Susan and Joyce some time to chat and share many thoughts and feelings about life - the good and the not always so good.
Later afternoon we returned to Joyce and Avery's and, after a short visit spent with their gorgeous rhododendron, the four of us convoyed over to Bangor and Angelo's Pizzeria for dinner. There we met up with the Bergman clan: Jonathan, Naomi and their four kids, Addie, Johanna ("JoJo"), Abe and Eliza. Run by a Greek -- the tipoff were the series of (very old) photos of Athens and the Acropolis - the food was tasty and filling. I had a roast beef wrap, Susie had a custom pizza with chicken and broccoli while the group shared a variety of tasty pies.
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| Sisters Joyce and Susan |
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| Susie's pie |
We said our goodbyes to the Bergmans but that's only temporary. We'll see them all again later this month at the Bergman clan reunion in Manistee.
Joyce and Avery followed us back to our hotel and after parking we walked next door to Fielder's Choice for some of their delicious homemade ice cream. Apparently much of Bangor had the same idea and the place was packed, some of course playing mini golf, and the queue for the ice cream was serious.
It was a lovely evening and watching Americans lining up for food and entertainment is always fun.
The following morning we packed up, loaded the car and headed over to J&A's to say our final goodbyes (although they plan to be in Manistee as well). Susie also wanted to pick up a goat's beard plant that Joyce had split up for her -- and we were not surprised to see her in full Maine outdoor garb -- the black flies are terrible this time of year and this morning was no exception.
We were on the road by about 8:30 and made good time retracing our steps to Mass before turning due east and stopping for the night in Utica, NY. After checking in to our hotel we made our way to Ancora for dinner. Located right up Genesee Street from our hotel, we ate here in the winter of 2012 while passing through town and recalled a pleasant experience then. Although they had expanded somewhat in the intervening years we were not disappointed: Susie had a very nice chicken Caesar and I had chicken with orzo and asparagus.
The next morning we were back on the road for our final leg to Grand Rapids. Before leaving we submitted a number of complaints about the room -- it was really quite dumpy and broken -- and made our way back to the Thruway.
The drive home took us about 9.5 hours but time went by rather fast we thought and our border crossings went off without a hitch. In fact we zipped right into Canada and thanks to our Global entry passes right into the US, no waiting thank you very much.
All in all a wonderful trip; seeing family and a few friends, experiencing new places and old, all at the price of a few dollars in tolls (OK maybe more than a few), and about 2500 miles.
Not bad I'd say, not bad at all.
Oh, and we did make reservations on Air BnB for a home in the Upper Peninsula for four nights in late September. Stay tuned!
