bugsii

Here I am in Maine, my 44th state. We decided to take a side trip for the night and visit the ocean and some outlet malls. On our way, we drove through 3 states. First… Massachusetts. I’ve already been there, but it’s still a nice drive through the Berkshires. New Hampshire was my 43rd state. Yippee! The sign says their state motto, “Live Free or Die!” Awesome.
This sign was on a bridge going over the Piscataqua River. As soon as we got there, we had to go to a seafood shack, so here it is.
And Dan was a good New Englander and got a big basket of fried clams from a guy that said, “You can’t get they-ah from he-yah.” Well, at least he could have if he wanted to. (Please note Ray’s Giants hat… we were in Patriots country and he got two different rants from two different Patriots fans just ten minutes apart. They’re still mad about the superbowl upset.)Then we went to our first shopping stop. The Kittery Trading Post. Here we are walking in. It was a huge place. After a little shopping and checking into our hotel, we drove around Kittery a little and found a lookout with a historic fort. Here’s the view.
Then, we headed to downtown Portsmouth, NH for dinner. We didn’t know it, but we ended up in the cutest little town. It kind of reminded me of Saratoga Springs but more New England-ish. Here’s the church at the center of town, whose congregation was formed in 1627. Crazy. So, since I have enjoyed Maine so much, I’ve decided to dump Saratoga Springs. Now, we’re going to buy a house on the ocean, get a fishing boat, wear LL Bean all the time and have kids with funny accents. I just need to find a place to work…

Oh, and an update on yesterday’s nomination. I now have opponents. God help us all.

Dan and I went for a run this morning. Okay, it was really around 11am, but we’re on vacation. Here we are in front of the famous 1027 West Claremont.

Later, we decided to go up to Saratoga Springs, home of the famous horse races. Ray said it had a cute little downtown and it really did! It was old, well-maintained, and kind of ritzy. Right away, we ran into this place called Putnam Market. It had salads and sandwiches all made fresh and an awesome looking dessert case. It also had lots of candies and chocolates including these.

Yum! Pony poop! Then, we walked down the street and found this place called the Stadium Cafe. It was a neat place, and had jockey jackets (or jerseys or whatever they’re called) all over the walls. While there, I decided that this would be a cool college town and Ray informed me that there is a college here called Skidmore.

Here are some shots of the town. They have horses painted all of the place (makes sense).

Here’s an old hotel. I think it was called the Adelphi. Very cool.

When we were finished walking around, we decided to go drive by the college. On the way, we ran into a street full of ginormous mansions. Here’s a shot of one of the biggest ones through the window of our car.
I then decided that I liked Saratoga Springs so much that when I graduate from OSU, I will work for Skidmore, live in a house in walking distance to the downtown (probably not one of the mansions), own a horse, and spend the winter skiing in the Adirondacks. Done deal.

We also bought Ray a late birthday present and here he is showing it off. Go Bucks!

We all slept in until 10am today. We must have been tired. Later on, we went to Crossgates Mall, where I bought a bunch of clothes for my new job (or something). We went home for dinner, but out for ice cream, of course. There’s a place down on High Bridge Road and their serving sizes are huge. Ray is holding a small that he had already eaten part of. I should have gotten a shot of Dan’s “medium.” It was hilarious.

We’re here! After 8 hours in the car, we made it. It was a long ride, but I can’t complain because Dan drove the whole way. When we got there, we ordered High Bridge pizza, a family tradition to get on the first night. Here’s Ray in his favorite spot at the kitchen table.

Oh, and here’s a video of Katie twirling fire from last night. It only has the tail end of the fire part, but it’s still neat. I couldn’t get it to upload yesterday.