maine was surprising but as fun as i had hoped. timmy and i left on a thursday afternoon and made it to his grandparent's home in bridgton, in the mid-western part of the state, by evening. the next day we had a great time canoeing on moose "pond," a 14-mile lake that spans the towns of sweden and norway, maine. who knew canoeing was so fun? we made it to his friend's place in freedom by late evening, barely escaping the most intense thunderstorm i've ever witnessed. the lightening was so bright, it light up the entire (dark, due to a power outage) trailer. we could see it even with closed eyes. the rest of the weekend was spent reading, listening to/talking about music, playing backyard sports, meandering through the lush farms around freedom and the quaint, patriotric town of belfast. it was all much more all-american than i'd expect from maine. another surprise was that the wealthy coastal image most people associate with maine only applies to that- the coast- and not the majority of the state. apparently it was one of the nation's poorest states until very recently.
rockport, the adorable town on the atlantic coast north of boston, was the site of more weekend fun. i joined my host family at their friend's amazing house on the beach. rockport truly lives up to its name- the coast was made up of enormous, golden boulders- and couldn't have been more perfect. it was wonderful to take part in a family vacation, although not truly my own, and to see an ocean again. we enjoyed the sunbathing at the beach, making elaborate vegetarian meals, playing cards, walking around town to get ice cream, and reading on the deck overlooking the ocean.
my streak of weekend trips will continue, in a sense, as my parents arrive (any minute now!) and we explore boston and baltimore. by next weekend, i will have bought my school necessities, settled into my room, had a day of orientation committee training, and have had a chance to show my parents my favorite b'more locales. how time flies!
