from the road

Days 15-16: Brooklyn & Manhattan

I’m starting this post at 6:52pm because we are meeting Sam and Christin, two high school friends (and my fellow senior class officers, aHA!), for dinner at 8:45pm. I am decidedly too old for this city because at 8:45pm, I usually want to be sitting in my “home clothes”–not sitting down to eat. However, for these winners, it is totally worth it.

We’ve spent the last two days walking around Brooklyn and a little bit of Manhattan, mostly people-watching and just taking in the sights. There are so many things to see and do and eat here; it’s quite overwhelming. It’s cliché to say that we’ve “just scratched the surface” but that is, of course, really true.

Neither of us had been to Brooklyn before, so we weren’t sure what to expect. It definitely has a different feel from Manhattan (the only place that we had ever visited), but it is dangerous to try to sum up an entire borough when I haven’t seen most of it. So here are some brownstones.

Bagels in Prospect park.

Yesterday, we took Kristen’s suggestion and walked around DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass–so clever!) and admired the Brooklyn Bridge:

Also on Kristen’s suggestion, we took an evening stroll around Prospect Park after dinner last night. Since I suffer mightily from Mean World Syndrome (particularly strong in NYC), I would have never done this on my own, but it was quite pleasant. We even saw a runner having a very loud business conversation as she hauled ass through the park. Busy, busy!

This morning, we had breakfast at Milk Bar, right around the corner from Kristen’s place. I am astounded (not that I should be) by the number of food establishments within a quarter-mile of any given place. Milk Bar, as the reviews would indicate, did not disappoint and was a somewhat calm way to start our day–though the space was so small that I felt like a giant oaf trying to get out from my seat. (Sorry, man next to me, if my bum grazed your coffee at least twice.)

Then we walked to DUMBO again for lunch. On the way, we stopped in a Trader Joe’s because I am always curious about where residents of large cities procure their groceries. Why, in reclaimed awesome buildings, of course!

After a surprisingly short wait at the much-recommended Grimaldi’s, we got to dig into (with moderation on my part) a delightful New York pizza.

And we are not amateurs. We know how this is done!

Having consumed four slices of pizza, Harrison was in need of a walk. What better way to let that pizza-bomb digest than by crossing the mile-long Brooklyn Bridge under relentless sunshine into the smog of downtown Manhattan?

I’m smiling here, but on the inside, I have suffocated.

Okay, let me just say, that one of my circles of hell would be an endless crossing of the Brooklyn Bridge in summer. Today, it was not only hot, but it was particularly crowded because of bridge construction taking up some of the walkway. And as you may know, I have an unbridled hatred for slow-walkers in cities, and the bridge is, like, 1000000% tourist slow walkers trying and failing to capture the grandeur of the bridge on their cellphones or iPads. (Okay, just do everyone a favor and buy a postcard of the bridge. It will look nicer, and you won’t have my sweaty, contemptuous glare in the background.) But rant over, I digress….

Once across the bridge, we walked onto Wall Street (which I always forget is an actual street) and stared at the outside of the New York Stock Exchange building.

Then because Battery Park was, by this time, rather close, we said, “Why the hell not?” and walked down there too.

Having reached the bottom of Manhattan, there was nowhere to go (Well, there was because this is New York and there are a crap-jillion things to do at any given moment) but back to Brooklyn. Somehow, we crossed the bridge again and made it all the way back to Kristen’s apartment, only to realize that we had walked a total of 10 miles today. Maybe that’s small change for a native New Yorker. I don’t know.

And now, it is time to leave for dinner, so I shall continue this later….

7am, 6/28 – I am resuming writing this post.

Dinner was a delight. Sam made a reservation at Hudson Clearwater, which he and Christin had been wanting to try for awhile. It was rather tasty (cheese plate recommended!), and they had a delicious Pimms, which, of course, is one of the only alcoholic beverages I will drink willingly.

In the world’s largest coincidence, Kristen was also there eating dinner, and so I take that as a sign that it must be good!

One thing of note–HC has a “hidden” entrance. Though the stated address is on Hudson St., if you try to enter through the “front” door, you will find it to be locked and inaccessible. Instead, you must go around the corner to a completely unmarked green door which enters into the back patio. I learned this ahead of time from reading reviews, but while we were there, at least two people tried to enter through the front door. This hidden entrance must be a New York thing and was the reason for much eye-rolling on my part last night.

Anyway, seeing Christin and Sam was a delight!

I had been rather overwhelmed and intimidated by the size and energy of New York, but seeing them helped a lot. Harrison and I remarked that it’s so nice to catch up with Governor’s School (high school) friends because they haven’t changed at all and are just so comfortable with who they are. Sam and Christin seem to be enjoying the city and all that it has to offer, but they haven’t changed into slick city-dwellers or hardened assholes (as I certainly would).

Even Cal, who was busy at a client dinner and then working in his office until 10:30pm, is the same! Bless him, he came out to Lillie’s with us after his normal workday. This is, I’m sure, par for the course, but I know for a fact that this kind of work schedule would kill me. I’m really shocked at how all three of them take their insane hours in stride.

So a successful trip to NYC! I was telling Kristen that every time I come to New York, I’m at a different stage in my life and want it to be something different. This was the first time that I had approached it with–honestly–fear and trepidation, but with the right group of friends and fun things to do, we had a good time and saw lots of new and exciting things. Do we want to live here? Absolutely not. Will we visit again? Certainly.

Uncategorized

Quoddy Contest Winner!

I am delighted to announce that we have a winner from our photo identification contest!

Jordan, start-up founder extraordinaire, correctly (albeit a little vaguely) identified the mystery object in the photo:

“It’s a bird! On the log! A Brown bird of some kind that I might now if I had ever read some kind of birding book!”

Yes, my friend, that is generally correct.

However, an honorable mention goes to James for being much more specific, but unfortunately, past the entry deadline:

“what was it? did anyone guess? did you post the answer somewhere?

is it a female pheasant sitting on a log?

i’m seriously obsessed with this picture now and i have to know…”

Based on what we saw, I think it was a female grouse (My dad has a funny story about being attacked by a grouse.), but it could very well be a young female pheasant.

Congratulations, you excellent bird-identifiers! Jordan, we will bring your prize when we arrive at your doorstep in a few weeks. James, you have the prize of knowing that you can spot well-camouflaged birds, a skill that will surely serve you well in life.

from the road

Day 14: We drive to New York City!

It was with a heavy heart that I left my new favorite beach town and the hospitality of Casa J. We packed up our duffle bags (the content of which we had somehow managed to lay strewn over every square inch of the guest bedroom) and said good-bye to Fannie with promises to return ASAP. (Yes! Ashley and Kyle, this can and must happen!) Then it was time to get on the road again.

About an hour away, we made it to Rhode Island’s very large and impressive State House.

But it was quite hot, so we hopped back in the car and sped off to Hartford to see Connecticut’s really beautiful capitol. It really looks like a castle!

We loved the big park surrounding the capitol, and perhaps more, we loved that food options were available nearby. Harrison remembered that the show Man v. Food had visited Hartford and featured Woody’s, a local hotdog joint.

He was specifically interested in trying the Deputy Dawg: an all-beef hot dog covered with pulled pork barbecue and cheddar cheese.

His verdict? “As good as I expected, but not better.” (I opted for a veggie wrap from a nearby restaurant that served pizza, wraps, panini, deli sandwiches, frozen yogurt, chicken parmesan, hot bar, cold salad bar, burritos, coffee, and pastries. It was a real life incarnation of Seinfeld’s Dream Café.)

Refueled, we headed down the highway through Connecticut, where, for the first time in his life, Harrison did not get stuck in a snarl of traffic.

However, once outside of New York City, traffic snarls are inevitable. Meanwhile, I choked over what is apparently considered a “cheap” bridge toll:

We’re staying with my friend and former TA Kristen, who has a fabulous apartment in Brooklyn (More on Kristen later!). While she was commuting home, we spent a good 30 minutes driving around her block looking for street parking. We finally managed to nab a prime spot and were so proud of this accomplishment, we did a victory dance (probably to the amusement of the guys hot-boxing down the street).

Parking deserves chocolate cookies!

We also celebrated to the much recommended Ample Hills Creamery just down the street. Seriously. This place closed within four days of opening because it sold out of ice cream. WHAT!

I see a second trip to Ample Hills during our short stay in Brooklyn.

But now, off to explore!

from the road

Days 12-13: Cambridge & Hull

Phew, it has been hot in the Boston area these past few days. Yesterday, we took the ferry and T to Cambridge to visit some of Harrison’s favorite college haunts. On the way, we passed by one of Hull’s two wind turbines.

For lunch, we went to Darwin’s Ltd., where we miraculously found a seat to eat the tasty sandwiches. Harrison likes the Story with prosciutto, mozzarella, pesto, tomatoes, lettuce, and vinaigrette.

I’m a fan of the Hubbard Park: hummus, lettuce, tomato, carrots, apple, sprouts, avocado, and honey mustard.

Harvard Yard in the summer is full of people:

And this girl’s shorts were full of cheek, so much so that it is spilling out the bottom.

We snuck into Kirkland to see Harrison’s second-year dorm room…door. Another illustrious former resident of H33? Mark Zuckerberg.

Harrison’s friend Raj is still in the area, doing a PhD in bioinformatics and enjoying the Boston area. It was great to see him and catch up after five years.

It was actually much too hot to walk around much in Cambridge, unfortunately. We poked in a few shops in Harvard Square and spent an hour or so in the Co-op looking at books. For dinner, we made a bee-line to our most favorite Indian restaurant, Tanjore. Mmm, vindaloo, I missed you!

After a short walk along the Charles at sunset, we headed back to Long Wharf to pick up the ferry back to Quincy where we had parked the car. The company that runs the ferry system will apparently lose their contract with MBTA at the end of the month, so it comes as no surprise that their service is winding down. While the ferry was slated to depart from Long Wharf for Quincy at 9:35pm, it arrived closer to 10:30pm.

The upside of waiting for a very long ferry? We commiserated with the other ferry-hopefuls, including this very brusque man. At one point, he called the company and demanded to know when the ferry would arrive: “Is it going to be five to ten minutes or 20-30? Don’t lie to me! I live up the street from you guys. I know where you work!”

After he hung up, he announced/muttered to himself, “I hope the guy who told me five to ten is on this ferry. Ima’ punch him in his fuckin’ face!”

Can’t make this shit up!

Today, we laid low in Hull, keeping cool with Fannie on the porch as the temperatures soared into the 90’s. For dinner, they ordered pizza, and we pulled a wagon to the beach for a picnic!

Okay, Tim helped with wagon-pulling…a little! (Just kidding, a lot once we got to the beach!)

The tide was way out, and the sun was low. We ate pizza and chips and looked out over a calm ocean. Really! It’s the best! I love Hull!

Our idyllic meal was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a very audacious seagull. He boldly walked right over our picnic blanket, snatched the remaining three slices of meat pizza with his beak, and flapped away (albeit weighed down by the purloined pie), while we yelled, laughed, and stared incredulously.

It wasn’t long until we had attracted a large percentage of Hull’s seagull population:

It was more funny than distressing. We considered calling the Hull Police department. I’m sure it would make good fodder for the weekly police report.

Don’t worry too much–really. We got ice cream afterwards at this local establishment that is open “7” days a week.

It has been a great weekend+ in Hull. This is the greatest little town, and Tim and Fannie have been fun and gracious hosts! I will be sad to leave tomorrow morning. I hope we can come see them again soon (with Ashley and Kyle, too!!!!).

But now, the Blackhawks vs. Bruins game is on. I better go ~~watch~~ fall asleep!

Tomorrow, we head to Brooklyn. No stop ’till Brooklyn!

from the road

Days 10-11: Go to Hull (& also, Boston)!

Hey! Did you enter our photo identification contest? If not, you should!

I’m writing from the most adorable beach cottage/house ever! My friend Ashley’s parents, Tim and Fannie, moved from Midlothian, VA to Hull, MA a few years ago. When they heard we were coming to the Boston area on WVT, they generously offered to host us for a few days.

They even put up a message in nautical flags!

Hull is a small town across the harbor from Boston, so I expected it to look something like Baltimore–on the water, but mostly docks and no beach. Instead, it’s an adorable, quaint beach town, but not one of those ritzy, only-boat-shoes-and-madras-print towns; it’s very real, as if people actually live here (which they do). There are small streets, lined with unique New England beach cottages, some of which are summer homes and some of which are year-round homes.

When we arrived Friday evening, we got a tour de Hull courtesy of Tim and Fannie:

It has a view of the Boston skyline. Tim’s commute to downtown Boston is a 20-minute ferry ride. He even has “ferry friends” with the other regular commuters!

This is my first time experiencing a New England beach town. The boardwalk on Nantasket beach has several ice cream and fried dough establishments, as well as Fascination, which is like Skee-ball.

This particular arcade has been in operation since 1914, according to Tim.

Hull is such a great little town; I love it! There’s a sandy rock beach on one side and the bay on the other. Fannie walks on the beach every day, and their house has tons of cool treasures that washed up on shore.

One of their favorite pastimes is scanning the weekly “Police Report” section of the Hull Times, where all of the weeks major crimes are reported. I was stunned to see that Hull is such a dangerous and crime-ridden area:

On Saturday afternoon, after a leisurely walk on the beach, we took the ferry into Boston.

We walked around Boston Common, where I was very excited to see some ducklings:

These kids were having a great time swimming in the fountain, but a park attendant put a damper on their fun.

We looked at the very old tombstones in the Granary Burying Ground, which dates back to the 1660’s!

And for dinner, we walked around the North End and went to one of our favorite restaurants, Rabia’s. There was an awesome narwhal chalk mural behind our table.

Harrison realized that though (or perhaps) because he went to school in Cambridge, he has never been to Boston in the summer months. It has a different feel: a lot more tourists and lots of people outside, enjoying the common spaces in the warm weather.

Dessert was a lobster claw (or at least, part of it!) at Caffé Vittoria. It really is as big as it looks.

After walking around and choking over real estate prices (We found a condo for $5.5 million. Anyone want to go halfsies?), we headed back on the ferry…

…which is nice because you can see the Boston skyline, all lit-up at night.

Having lived in government subsidized housing on grad student salaries for the past five years, I am always shocked to encounter the displays of wealth in a large city. I don’t begrudge these people; I’m just amazed that people can not only afford million dollar yachts, but also moor them in prime harbor real estate right off the North End. Money, man.

Tim gave us another example. Two tandem parking spaces in Beacon Hill just went to auction and were sold for $560,000. Two homeowners apparently got in a bidding war over them. Geeeeez.

Now, we’re off to explore Cambridge for the afternoon! ❤ Boston ❤

from the road

Days 8-9: Camping in Maine + a Contest!

Hello there! Did you miss me? I was in the depths of the wilderness, fighting off predatory bears with my bare hands and rubbing sticks together to make fire.

Actually, I was just away from cellphone service while we camped in Cobscook and Acadia National Parks in Maine.

After leaving St. John, we crossed back into the US and arrived in the tiny town of Lubec, Maine, which is right outside Quoddy Head State Park. Lubec is a tiny town (with five restaurants!), but with tons of charm and the essentials (ice cream). It is hosting its first International Marathon tomorrow–I may have to consider this in the future.

About four miles outside the town, you can visit the adorable candy-striped West Quoddy lighthouse, situated on the easternmost point of the United States.

Harrison visited Quoddy Head State Park fifteen years ago. My last visit to Lubec was also a long time ago.

Quoddy State Park

There is a rock beach with lots of seaweed and a “violent” surf that thunders in against the rock cliffs. It’s pretty impressive.

We had fun poking around at low-ish tide:

I would not recommend swimming in late June at Quoddy Head State Park. The water in the Bay of Fundy is frickin’ cold!

I’m a sucker for nostalgia, so visiting Quoddy Head State Park was a real treat. I ran up and down the paths, alternating between saying, “I LOVE THIS! IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL!” and taking in large lungfuls of sea air mixed with the scent of balsam fir trees.

Then…

View from cliffs, Quoddy Head State Park

Now…

I even insisted that we visit the rare Arctic bog in the middle of the park. I was so overcome with feelings of nostalgia (from visiting this with my parents) that I took an ironic bog selfie:

When I’d had my fill of nostalgia coastal memories, we headed to Cobscook State Park, where my dad claims to have had the best camping of his life.

We finally got to camp, and I am delighted to report that we survived our first camping adventure with minimal issue. We even made a fire “from scratch” (=We got a pack of free matches at the Lubec IGA.).

Whatever, no judgment. Indulge Harrison in his feelings of manliness.

You can’t see from the picture, but our campsite overlooked Cobscook Bay, which also has a rock beach and seaweed, as well as mudflats where campers can dig for clams. (I enthusiastically proclaimed that I wanted to dig my own peck of clams, only to realize that I have no idea what to do with said claims once they are unearthed.) At least we went to sleep in our extremely cozy two-person tent to the smell of salt air.

I was very proud of our ability to pitch a basically fool-proof tent outside of my mom’s living room. “This is easy,” I thought, “How have I not gone camping more? I did so much camping with my family when I was younger.”

Oh right. Bugs (and also spiders). I hate them. HATE THEM. Mosquitoes think I taste delicious, and I swell up a lot when I get bitten. (Also, like a four-year-old, I cannot stop itching any bites once I get them. I had very scabby legs as a child.) Fortunately, my dad let us borrow these “mesh covers” (=mesh drawstring bags) to keep out bugs. In addition to keeping out the monstrous mosquitos and no-see-ums, it also did a good job keeping my sandwich out of my mouth…until I got creative.

I have to say, Cobscook was a little too “rustic” for my taste–or, at least, a little too “real camping”-like after living a non-nature-filled life for the past ten years. For one thing, on my trip to the toilet (a toilet seat over a hole), I was terrified that a predatory bear was stalking behind me. To ward off any bears, I swung my flashlight around erratically and hummed pop songs loudly until I reached the safety of the bathroom, which is to a say a stall in the middle of the woods. (There I found a very large spider guarding the stall handle.)

After surviving that harrowing experience (I kid!), I was happy to break camp and head off to Acadia National Park. First, we made a stop in Bar Harbor, ME, where we were certainly underdressed. Even this moose statue (not $25,000) was full of judgement:

We did a short hike in Acadia to look out over the water [Unfortunately, those pictures are on my DSLR, the cord for which I left at home. If you have a USB cord that connects to a Nikon port, I might need to borrow it.] and then headed to the smaller of the two Acadian peninsulas to set up camp at Seawall Campground.

Seawall Campground is, shockingly, located right off the natural seawall:

I highly recommend this campground. The bathrooms are pristine, and there is a nice, smooth paved road around all the loops. It was great for taking an after-dinner hike to ~~spy on~~ see the other campers, many of whom were taking family vacations with pop-up trailers and kids on bikes (Nostalgia alert!!!). The only downside is that the campground has no working showers. You can pay for hot showers at the nearby camp store.

And, of course, we engaged in the most time-honored of camping traditions: Making s’mores!

[Dad, you will be proud that I remembered our long-standing tradition of foraging for firewood in other people’s abandoned campsites. I had accumulated quite a bit of “reclaimed” wood, only to find that the rangers had already chopped up tons of wood, left out free for the taking. We made a huge-ass fire, that’s fo’ sho’!]

So, okay, maybe we’re not the most daring and rustic of campers, but I think we did an okay job. We didn’t burn the campsite to the ground, and we successfully built and broke camp twice.

Finally, we thought we would spice things up on the blog by adding a small contest. There is something hidden/camouflaged in this picture we took at Quoddy Head State Park. What is it?

What is hiding here? [Click to enlarge.]

E-mail your guess to info[at]weddingvictorytour.com with the subject line “Quoddy Contest” by Sunday, 6/23, at 10:00pm EST. The person with the most specific and accurate guess will be awarded a cool prize (something yet to be determined–a souvenir from our travels)!

[Sorry, only US residents and non-family members eligible.]

Now, I’m writing from the adorable beach town of Hull, MA, just outside of Boston, where we are staying with my dear friend Ashley’s parents. But this post is getting long already.

from the road

Day 7: Driving to Saint John, NB

I don’t have much exciting news to share today. We spent most of the day in the car, driving along the Ceilidh trail on Cape Breton on our way to Saint John, NB. We’re stopping here for the night before heading back to the US for a camping adventure.

Check out the assortment of proffered condiments at breakfast:

Top row: Cheez Whiz, Raspberry & Strawberry Jams
Bottom row: PB, Honey, Orange marmalade

Remember how I said that Chéticamp is Cape Breton’s largest Francophone enclave? Well, that seems to be true. We encountered a lot of Francophones in our 16 hours in Chéticamp, including this charming group of women having a breakfast chat. I tried to be sneaky and take a picture of them.

SO SNEAKY.

When I asked them if I could have some sugar, they did not understand my French. Eventually, they figured it out and responded all in English. Lesson of the day: Don’t take foreign languages. Even if you study for a crap-jillion years, no one will understand you. Just give up. [I kid. Sort of. I made myself feel better by saying that I have a different accent, but HAHAHAHAHA.]

from the road

Days 5-6: Along the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton

Well, we planned to go camping the past two nights, but the weather conspired against us.

Yesterday, we made a very long trek across Nova Scotia to the northernmost section: Cape Breton Island, full of small Celtic seaside communities. I have to admit that I did almost no planning for WVT; that was Harrison’s job. (I’m in charge of trip documentation.) As such, I had no idea where we were going in Canada, so everything has been a delightful surprise.

Like Canadian money having a transparent panel? Delightful!

And the amazing views along the Cabot Trail? Delightful surprise!

This scenic overlook on Cape Smokey? Delightfully surprising!

Once we arrived in Ingonish, we nixed the camping plan. Rain on the forecast and driving around with a very wet tent did not sound wedding victorious, so we opted for a “motel” in Ingonish. Along the Cabot Trail, there are no big hotels. All the accommodations are either small cabins/cottages for rent or “motels”–basically, long-ish trailers with small, no-frills rooms.

Last night, we stayed at Sea Breeze Cottages & Motel. The room was spartan, to be sure, but it was clean and much preferable to huddling in a dripping tent all night. Also, check out the view from our room (for $79/night!!):

And this was the view from the Sea Gull restaurant where we ate dinner last night. Unlike most waterfront dining and lodging, the businesses in Cape Breton are cheap and small. Last night, we ate at a plastic picnic table, overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on a screened-in porch that threatened to slide into the water. It was tasty and thrilling.

Today, we got our park pass to enter Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Unsurprisingly, I made sure to peruse the information about wild animal safety. The brochure [PDF linked–highly recommended as general knowledge] helped you understand the difference between defensive and predatory bear attacks. The former, you play dead, and the latter, you fight back to the best of your abilities, make yourself “large,” and engage other offensive maneuvers. (My plan was to stand on Harrison’s shoulders, while pelting any predatory bears with rocks and sticks, while singing showtunes at the top of my lungs.

(Bears, you best start runnin’!)

Inside the park, we drove along the Cabot Trail, stopping at scenic overlooks or taking short hikes into the forest or along the coastal cliffs. I am sorry to say that the photos don’t do anything justice; it’s hard to capture natural beauty and wide landscapes on camera.

At Green Cove, I was on the lookout for extra large waves:

Looking out for extra large waves….

Fortunately, none swept us away:

Look at how relevant I am! Even in Canada!

After failing to find an open establishment at midday, we stopped for a picnic lunch by the water. Meanwhile, John Cabot‘s bust judged my consumption of large quantities of hummus.

As you can see, it was very cloudy today. In fact, we drove through a lot of clouds. Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like driving or walking with 0% visibility, knowing that you are a few yards away from the edge of a cliff.

I insisted that we stop at the Bog trail based on feelings of nostalgia for Maine vacations with my parents to peat bogs. I was delighted to find that the green frogs were in the middle of procreation season. Here I am, trying to get as close to the tadpoles as possible without falling into the pool. (I attempted to scoop one up in my hand for closer inspection, but he pooped on me.)

We walked the 5.7-mile Skyline Trail loop in the hopes of seeing moose or whales. The fog was too dense to see much of anything except for the 2349802384032 slugs on the trail.

We did actually see a moose today along the side of the road. We turned a corner…and there he (she? Couldn’t see a beard) was. I tried to get a picture, but it ran away, so you’ll have to believe me.

I did get a picture with this pine tree. It did not run away.

I’m currently writing from the Acadian Motelin Chéticamp, the largest Francophone enclave (linguistic words!) on Cape Breton. Our (also cheap!) room looks out over Chéticamp Harbour.

We ate dinner at the Co-op Artisanale, which serves tasty traditional Acadian dishes. Our meal came with fresh bread, served with butter and molasses. Why didn’t anyone tell me about this combination before?

And while I did not order it, I was intrigued by “unemployment pudding” (pudding [au] chômeur). Maybe once I get a job, I’ll eat some unemployment pudding and then laugh in its face….

So yes, our séjour in Cape Breton was not what we expected (Well, it wasn’t what Harrison expected. I didn’t have any expectations.), but it has been awesome nonetheless. I keep saying, “Why don’t more Americans come here?” And the answer is probably (1) they don’t know it exists and (2) it’s freaking far away! We didn’t get to see nearly as much as we wanted, but this is apparently the point of the trip: getting previews of cool places so we know they’re worth returning to.

And I definitely encourage you to come check out Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail for yourself. There’s, like, an 85% chance you’ll see a moose!

from the road

Day 4: We enter Canada.

Hello from Fredericton, NB (That’s Canada!)!

After saying good-bye to White River Junction today, we headed to Concord, NH. It was a quick stop, just enough to take a picture of the State House and the statue of illustrious president Franklin Pierce out front:

Heading up 95N, we stopped quickly in Freeport, ME, to visit the flagship LL Bean store which is open 24/7.

We were in no way prepared for the overwhelming size and selection of the LL Bean complex (“campus”). I mean, the inside of the general retail store has a pond full of trout and salmon:

Hey, in case we don’t get jobs and are homeless, maybe we’ll buy this tent and stay in your backyard. Sound good?

It helped to enter the store with an agenda. Harrison grabbed a water bottle, and we both picked up a large LL Bean duffle to carry our clothes. (We planned to visit the store for luggage in advance and had packed our clothes in reusable shopping bags.)

Room to spare!

We were in Maine, so Harrison tried a lobster roll:

And I looked longingly at the whoopie pies. (Maybe on the way to Boston next week.)

After our quick in-and-out shopping trip at LL Bean, we zipped up to Augusta to get our next capitol photo:

It was very exciting to cross the border into Canada. We’re in another country, so WVT is officially international! Tonight, we’re staying in Fredericton before embarking on a camping adventure for the next few days.

Most exciting about entering Canada? Well, things are in French and English, and poutine is on the menu:

And while driving through New Brunswick, we saw a moose (!!!) standing by the side of the highway. This has made Harrison’s day. Unfortunately, driving at 60mph makes photographing moose somewhat difficult. As such, Harrison has been kind enough to provide us with a very accurate artist’s rendering on the roadside moose:

It was a long drive, so I’m going to curl up with a book and get ready to enter the wilderness tomorrow. Please keep your fingers crossed that we do not meet any unfriendly moose!

party

Day 3: Muneer & Megan’s wedding

Well, guys, there’s a new married couple on the block! Today, Muneer (Harrison’s college suitemate) and Megan tied the knot in a small ceremony in Hanover, NH.

Congratulations to the newly married couple!

I even got to recycle my reception dress:

The reception was held in nearby Quechee, VT at the Simon Pearce glass blowing gallery and restaurant.

I smell a new hobby….

The building is over top of a waterfall!

The glassware was somewhat out of our price range, but it was really nice. We got to eat and drink off it at dinner:

That’s sparkling cider! Modern Face of Temperance, yes!

Guess how much this bronze moose statue costs. GUESS!

Did you guess $25,000? Because that’s how much it costs to own this miniature bronze moose calf. Mmhmmm.

It was a mini reunion of Harrison’s Harvard buddies:

Roommate Ahmad

Shaq & Kamila

Brian & Jenn

David & Gin

A long-running joke between us and Muneer is his “death grip” in otherwise friendly photos:

The wedding weekend happens to fall during the Quechee Balloon Festival. As the party was winding down, some of the balloons were being illuminated in a field next to the reception venue. I’ve been waffling back and forth as to whether I should get tickets to see Wicked on Broadway next week. (As you probably know, I love Wicked. Harrison is ambivalent towards it, but I’m sure he does not appreciate being greeted in the car by a blast of “No Good Deed” from the stereo cranked on high.)

This is a sign that we should go see it, right? RIGHT?!?

Three times isn’t too much “Wicked”!

It has been fun, Vermont!

Tomorrow, we head to Canada!

	Tina’s Magical… on Day 43: Seeing the Pacific Oce…
	Mid-week update… on Days 8-9: Camping in Maine + a…
	Days 47-48: To Horse… on Day 42: Beverly Hills to San D…
	Driver’s Log v… on Day 44: Brother(-in-law) &…
	Driver’s Log v… on Round Lake, IL to Sioux Falls,…

Wedding Victory Tour

Monthly Archives: June 2013

Days 15-16: Brooklyn & Manhattan

Quoddy Contest Winner!

Day 14: We drive to New York City!

Days 12-13: Cambridge & Hull

Days 10-11: Go to Hull (& also, Boston)!

Days 8-9: Camping in Maine + a Contest!

Day 7: Driving to Saint John, NB

Days 5-6: Along the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton

Day 4: We enter Canada.

Day 3: Muneer & Megan’s wedding