The End of the Line...For Now

            Well Portland, Maine is all I hoped it would be.  It is cold and sunny and friendly and lovely.  I have to admit, when I first arrived I was a bit shaken with the realization that my road trip had reached it destination.  I felt trapped and uncomfortable unpacking, but my cousin Hailey was kind enough to let Charlie and I take refuge in her adorably tiny apartment on the comfiest couch known to man, and I was soon able to come to grips with my temporary immobility. Hailey and I spent the next few days walking, running, cleaning, baking granola, cooking soup, hanging Christmas lights, farmers marketing, holding babies, painting nails, attending yoga, chatting, and just enjoying each others company in general.  It was really wonderful I must say.

I visited the bakery she works at (which so reminds me of Stacey Cakes) called Katie Made.  The elevated exterior and tiny kitchen gives it a cozy rather than cramped feel, and any glamour lost in its size is more than made up for by the alluring smell wafting down the street and delectable mixed berry scones.  We also caught a glimpse of the city Holiday Tree coming down the road to be erected in Monument Square.  Santa controlled the crane. I can’t wait to see it all lit up! 

Portland is a conscience community with a wonderful mix of city life and small town tradition.  It has large grass roots/ locally preferred influence, which is noticeable everywhere while still living up to its reputation as Maine’s largest city.  I could see myself staying here for an extended period of time, but then again I can also see myself leaving…

Not all who wander are lost.  I’ve heard that quite a bit in my life, and I like to think it suites me.  If I have learned anything on this trip, it is that I will most likely always wander.  There are those who know from near infancy what their calling is (or maybe I should say callings) and work consistently and heartily to achieve it (them). In the past I prided myself on membership of that category, but in experiencing even a tiny fraction of the world unknown to me, my previous goals and ideas unraveled before my very eyes.  I realized wanted to do and see and experience so many things.  There were too many paths to choose from and I didn’t know where to start.

There are infinite ways to live a single life, which means in some way we all search how to navigate it.  When it comes down to it, deep breaths are taken, opportunity cost considered, decisions made (some slow, some fast), and action taken with each step creating repercussions and abounding with endless possibilities.  And that is life. 

It is impossible to know what is coming and in that hides the beauty of the entire process.  Will I stay here? Maybe.  Will I move again? Maybe.  I will know what is right when the time comes, and you (my ever faithful readers!!) will be the first to know. Happy Holidays everyone, and may your hearts and homes and tables be overflowing with gratitude and love.

New England

           Charlie and I rolled into Essex, Connecticut on Sunday evening just in time for supper with my Grandparents and my Aunt Sally who was temporarily seeking refuge there from the chaos of New York City.  Gram and Grandfather live in a small community called Essex Meadows and have access to many small towns strewn about the Long Island Sound.  They (luckily) missed out on the worst of Hurricane Sandy, but many communities nearby lost power and had days off work and school.

            The first few days of my visit were spent shopping, eating, and visiting while the last two were spend holed up inside watching movies while a strong Noreaster brought piles of snow and rain.  We ate at a great restaurant called the River Tavern (try the date pudding, or don’t, you’ll be disappointed in every dessert forever afterwards) and hit up a great independent bookstore where I got a fabulous cookbook containing almost a zillion soup recipes.  Charlie was unhappy with the snow because it was nearly up to his belly, and Stella was certainly having a bad morning after the storm.  So after a few days of relaxing, hot-tubing, and enjoying life in general, Charlie and I scraped the snow off Stella and we scooted North to Boston, Massachusetts to see my Aunt Caroline.  On the way we made a stop in Newport, Rhode Island, where we wandered along the cliff walk (which was so so beautiful although included a somewhat snotty aura) and had lunch at this little café downtown. 

            My Aunt is the head mistress of a middle school called Dana Hall where she lives on campus and luckily had a bed for me! On Saturday we went for a walk in Wellesley College and then had a lovely shoe-shopping/dinner date, which was a huge success.  On Sunday we went out to a farm (owned by a friend of Caroline) to watch a fox hunt and go for a walk with the doggies and Charlie was just in heaven!  

That evening my cousin Hailey and her boyfriend Will came down from Maine and we spent the evening chatting about Will’s upcoming adventure in Jackson Hole and eating Thai food.  It was lovely.  

            The following day I wandered around town and hit up a bookstore and paper shop where I purchased this year’s Christmas cards, which of course got me all pumped up for the holidays!  So excited for pumpkin pie and holiday lights!!! That evening Hailey and I went to Harvard Square for dinner and did a little window-shopping (no purchases). The next morning we hit the gym early and before we packed up and I followed Hailey on the last leg of my journey to Portland, Maine.  I can hardly believe it….

Richmond and Washington DC

            So we rolled into Richmond, VA in the late afternoon on Tuesday.  We were staying with my good friend and Sorority sister Jessica Lewis who is getting her masters in Hospital Administration there at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her and her roomie Katy live in a chic downtown apartment (like I can see the capital building from her window, kind of downtown) which they kindly allowed Charlie and I to invade for a few days.  We went on a quick tour of downtown before heading off to explore a haunted on campus buildings with one of her professors as a guide.  I wont lie, it sufficiently creeped me out and I clung to Jessica because she had the flashlight the entire time.  It was all very appropriate for the night before Halloween!  The next morning while Jessica was in class, I went for a run around the capital grounds and through a bit of downtown. 

Sadly I caught a cold a few days before and wasn’t feeling up to a big Halloween bash so when Jess got out of class we went and wandered Cary Town where we hit up a Goodwill and I got a pair of $10 boots! Yahoo!  We made dinner in her apartment and polished off the evening with a movie. 

            The next afternoon after a nice long walk on around Maymont Park, Jessica and I spent a few hours wandering the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which of course we only saw a fraction of and never made it off the first floor.  When we were absolutely famished, we satisfied our hunger with good old rice and beans from a Hispanic Dia de los Muertos festival a few blocks from her apartment.

            On Friday before I had to leave, we slept in and had lunch at Panera.  I was so sad to leave my dear friend but we made future travel plans and I see no reason why I couldn’t come back for a visit because Richmond is so lovely! Upon arriving to Washington DC (that’s right, I drove in downtown DC, what!?) I could only think of one term to describe it: concrete jungle.  The buildings towered and the people bustled and I gawked, as any good tourist would do as I drove by the jutting Washington Monument.  Sadly, I only had one full day our nations fair capital, so I had to cram in a dozen or so monuments sandwiched between hot laps at the National Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Museum of Natural History. Something really great about DC is that all the sights and museums are free.  You can literally spend hours wandering the streets around the National Mall and only pay for the calories to keep your legs truckin’.  I hope they never change that because it is a true asset to the city.

            Unfortunately, the glamor and history cannot cover up the stifling drabness of the place.  It strikes me as odd the epicenter of freedom is so unmistakably uniform. Everyone wears black and gray and white and brown and they match all the buildings and all the cars and streets and attitudes. I won’t say its citizens are unpleasant because that denotes some kind of action, when what I experienced was a lack there of…of anything.  No hello’s or good morning’s or smiles or waves… so I’ll just say they are much less friendly/helpful/warm/nice than their southern counterparts.  

Don’t get me wrong; there is a lot to respect in those individuals who work in the professional atmosphere of the city, but I have never understood why there are so few string tying professionalism to human kindness. Feel free to disagree, and although seeing the US capital is worth the trip, one day was enough for me and on Sunday I headed North to my Grandparents in Connecticut.