A hand across the sea II
Aug 31st, 1999, 10:31 AM
#1
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A hand across the sea II
I'm a Brit who posted a couple of months ago asking for vacation suggestions to suit our particular family, and having just returned from a '3 centre' trip put together from the advice I received (Boston/Southern Maine Coast/NH Lakes & Mountains region), I'd like to say thanks & three cheers for this forum. We had a brilliant time.
Aug 31st, 1999, 10:55 AM
#2
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Hilary, "a brilliant time" might suffice as a trip report for your youngest's offering for Show and Tell next week, but I, for one, would love to hear something a little more detailed. How did New England measure up to expectation? How were the accommodations? How did you find the food? And, perhaps most important, can the US version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" hold a candle to the UK original?
Sep 2nd, 1999, 01:14 AM
#6
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Well okay, you asked for it. Here’s my warts & all account of our recent 12 day hol. I do tend to like the sound of my own typing so it’s a bit long I’m afraid.
Our trip started, after some grief with Virgin Atlantic over a seat allocation cock-up, with two nights (one full day only really) in Boston. We stayed at the Midtown Hotel, which from the outside is a pretty ghastly grey building that I never would have chosen had I not read several recommendations for it on the web. I was glad I did though as once inside it was perfectly nice, with friendly efficient staff, an outside pool, an excellent breakfast-only restaurant, and even its own car park which I gather is rare in a Boston hotel. It was centrally located and yet a lot cheaper than many other more obvious choices, which meant we had more money to spend elsewhere.
We’re not ones for organised city tours but we’d heard the Duck Tours were fun (World War II amphibious landing craft driven by wacky guides, which after a while splash into & navigate the Charles River as part of the tour) & after queuing a while managed to get on one. It was great, although the monstrous building site which is Boston at present left a little to be desired, particularly in the baking heat. We did enjoy ourselves though, mostly just walking around a lot enjoying the nice architecture & shopping. Our teenage boys are into the small skateboard/surf type clothes shops and we found excellent bargains (compared to here) and friendly service in both Newbury Street and over at Harvard Square, so they were happy. We also went to Quincy Market & the unbelievably long food hall in Faneuil Hall, which was all fun, although VERY crowded.
Our youngest was too tired to go but in the evening my husband & our eldest went to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park and enjoyed it loads. Us two went out for a bite to eat then came back & enjoyed the novelty of watching cable TV - no "Millionaire" programme though, Neal ... I can't stand it! The US tv is very strange to us - we never seem to be able to tell when one programme ends and another starts! The kids found a commercial for Easy Mac macaroni cheese highly amusing and kept quoting from it the entire trip.
The next day we picked up our rental car from close by and started off up the coast, stopping at Hampton Beach to let the kids (ie all three males) loose on the arcades etc. I’ll remember the place mostly for the slice of pizza I ate at this fairly cruddy looking place – it was the best I’ve had anywhere. And I’ve had plenty. Carrying on up the coast, one of my overriding memories was of lots of telegraph wires everywhere. Our base for three nights was a motel-cottage in Ogunquit called The Innkeeper’s .... our little ‘home’ was pretty but overly dark inside, but the cooking facilities came in handy, and the small swimming pool very welcoming in the heat. Ogunquit was very nice, and to be honest that was almost the problem with it. It was a bit twee for me & there were too many tourists for my liking, but there are certainly worse places to base oneself and the Marginal Way walk was very pleasant.
Somehow we never quite made it to Kennebunkport until we drove through it on our way out of Maine which was a shame as, although not totally dissimilar to Ogunquit, it looked like a really good place & I’d like to go back there one day, as I would to Northern Maine, Nova Scotia etc. We spent an afternoon at the beach at Wells which was good, although we felt like we could have easily been on one of our good beaches in the UK, it was so similar. I got a bit stuck with an American lady who started a conversation with me thus: “Oh you’re English. I just loved Lady Di ...” & went downhill from there! Interesting though. She was one of the few people who commented on our accents, unlike our previous California trip where we’d got quite a few “Oh I just LARVE yer ACKsent!!” type comments. I suppose New England is more used to the English. There were certainly very many moments on our trip where we picked up on similarities with the UK, the obvious one being that to get "a green & pleasant land" a little rain must fall. We had two days where the wet stuff reigned supreme from morn till night but for the rest of the trip the weather was almost perfect.
We spent one day at the big water park at Portsmouth which everyone enjoyed. This gave me a chance to study the American population at large. And large they were! Being overweight myself though I fitted in nicely. Talking of large creatures, we’d planned to go out on a whale watch while on the coast but when it came to it we were stymied by storm warnings so it never happened. Ironically neither did the storm in the end. One evening our three motorsport-mad males went off to a speedway which had advertised itself on the web as a Friday night hotspot but when they got there Fridays had apparently become Saturdays and it was shut. Yes I know, always ring first. They picked up a drag race at another track though so all wasn’t lost.
We then drove inland into New Hampshire and parked ourselves at our rented lake
home for a week, which we’d lucked into bigtime. It was a wonderful house in a fantastic peaceful spot at the north end of Lake Winnipesaukee (a place I’d never even heard of before posting my original request), and I honestly think I could have sat outside overlooking the lake for the whole week and not been bored. Unfortunately the house was down a very long wooded road, absolutely gorgeous but quite a trek from anywhere ... probably nothing to Americans used to big distances but something we had to get used to, which we did quite quickly, and the glorious position of the house was definitely worth the driving. We did some swimming plus the house had a rowing boat which we took out, and we also rented a speedboat for a couple of days with a tube behind it (huge fun, I didn’t fall off once) and then later a wakeboard which my son felt proud of himself for mastering for the first time. Driving the boat was quite tricky to start with as the water levels were low because of the dry summer & there were rocks in the water, but we soon got the hang of following the marked buoys.
The towns/villages dotted around the lake (it's 25 miles long, the largest of several in the area and it has lots of islands & rocks on it) were lovely but again, initially, a little too "nice" for my liking. I warmed to them by the time we left though. To start with I couldn’t put my finger on what it was that wasn’t quite right until I realised that they reminded me of the fake ‘villages’ that are to be found in several of our UK theme parks!
There were antique stores dotted around the area but unfortunately I didn't get to go to many because of the kids & the travelling distances; I’d like to go back again sometime without them in tow. There was enough in the general area to keep them (& us) amused ... more water parks, mini golf, arcades, bumper cars, a scenic railroad ride along the lake complete with ‘turkey dinner’ (a somewhat strange meal, several facets of which seemed to be geared towards people with no teeth), and we even took in our first ever drive-in movie which was quite an experience. We also went off up to the White Mountains one day (you probably need at least a week to even hint at doing the area justice so unfortunately it was only a taster). At Waterville Valley I sat in the sun watching people on pedaloes & taking in the lovely still calmness of the whole place while our eldest went off & hired a BMX at a "wicked" skatepark and the other two went off on a tandem. We then had a picnic in a wooded river area near Lincoln where we later discovered there were wild bears. Talking of food, we ate tons of it throughout our trip, particularly seafood, both in restaurants and on the barbeque at the house, which was a treat as it’s not cheap here. Food generally was very good, a little traditional at times but that was fine. One restaurant we liked was Chequers Harbor at Center Harbor - very pretty with a good range. Of course this whole trip wasn’t cheap, but at least the cost of food, petrol, clothes etc. were considerably less than they are here so there were many times when we felt we were getting bargains.
Our last day wasn't great. We had to be out of the house by 10, our flight wasn't till 8.30 in the evening, Logun Airport was only two hours away, and nothing seemed to go right in between. We wanted to do some shopping but every town we went through seemed to disappoint somewhat because, it seemed to us at any rate, the out of town malls have half-killed them off. Unlike Britain, so many of the towns seem to be spread-out linear efforts, sometimes with no real centre, which every time we come to the States we forget we need to get used to. We finally visited the first big mall of our hol and it turned out okayish (just like the one close to where we live here though) but by that time we only had a short time to spend there. By the time we got into Boston airport after driving through a day's torrential rain, getting stuck in the traffic for ages & dropping the hire car off, I was in a right mood, not least because I was depressed at leaving behind my lovely lakeside home, but mostly because I knew we were going to have a battle at the check-in about seat allocation, and battle we certainly had. To cut a very long story short, we won’t be flying with Virgin again.
It’s not easy going away with kids the ages ours are (16 & 13) and we weren’t without our share of dissent, but overall I’d give the holiday 9 out of 10 for providing four very disparate individuals with the mix I’d hoped for in my original posting. For what was probably our final proper family holiday together for a while, now that our eldest is going his own way more & more, the North-East definitely came up trumps. I just got my photos back from the developers and they’re stunning, but that’s because the subject matters were so great. Well apart from the one of me bending over to look at a chipmunk while holding a cucumber. Don’t ask .....
Our trip started, after some grief with Virgin Atlantic over a seat allocation cock-up, with two nights (one full day only really) in Boston. We stayed at the Midtown Hotel, which from the outside is a pretty ghastly grey building that I never would have chosen had I not read several recommendations for it on the web. I was glad I did though as once inside it was perfectly nice, with friendly efficient staff, an outside pool, an excellent breakfast-only restaurant, and even its own car park which I gather is rare in a Boston hotel. It was centrally located and yet a lot cheaper than many other more obvious choices, which meant we had more money to spend elsewhere.
We’re not ones for organised city tours but we’d heard the Duck Tours were fun (World War II amphibious landing craft driven by wacky guides, which after a while splash into & navigate the Charles River as part of the tour) & after queuing a while managed to get on one. It was great, although the monstrous building site which is Boston at present left a little to be desired, particularly in the baking heat. We did enjoy ourselves though, mostly just walking around a lot enjoying the nice architecture & shopping. Our teenage boys are into the small skateboard/surf type clothes shops and we found excellent bargains (compared to here) and friendly service in both Newbury Street and over at Harvard Square, so they were happy. We also went to Quincy Market & the unbelievably long food hall in Faneuil Hall, which was all fun, although VERY crowded.
Our youngest was too tired to go but in the evening my husband & our eldest went to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park and enjoyed it loads. Us two went out for a bite to eat then came back & enjoyed the novelty of watching cable TV - no "Millionaire" programme though, Neal ... I can't stand it! The US tv is very strange to us - we never seem to be able to tell when one programme ends and another starts! The kids found a commercial for Easy Mac macaroni cheese highly amusing and kept quoting from it the entire trip.
The next day we picked up our rental car from close by and started off up the coast, stopping at Hampton Beach to let the kids (ie all three males) loose on the arcades etc. I’ll remember the place mostly for the slice of pizza I ate at this fairly cruddy looking place – it was the best I’ve had anywhere. And I’ve had plenty. Carrying on up the coast, one of my overriding memories was of lots of telegraph wires everywhere. Our base for three nights was a motel-cottage in Ogunquit called The Innkeeper’s .... our little ‘home’ was pretty but overly dark inside, but the cooking facilities came in handy, and the small swimming pool very welcoming in the heat. Ogunquit was very nice, and to be honest that was almost the problem with it. It was a bit twee for me & there were too many tourists for my liking, but there are certainly worse places to base oneself and the Marginal Way walk was very pleasant.
Somehow we never quite made it to Kennebunkport until we drove through it on our way out of Maine which was a shame as, although not totally dissimilar to Ogunquit, it looked like a really good place & I’d like to go back there one day, as I would to Northern Maine, Nova Scotia etc. We spent an afternoon at the beach at Wells which was good, although we felt like we could have easily been on one of our good beaches in the UK, it was so similar. I got a bit stuck with an American lady who started a conversation with me thus: “Oh you’re English. I just loved Lady Di ...” & went downhill from there! Interesting though. She was one of the few people who commented on our accents, unlike our previous California trip where we’d got quite a few “Oh I just LARVE yer ACKsent!!” type comments. I suppose New England is more used to the English. There were certainly very many moments on our trip where we picked up on similarities with the UK, the obvious one being that to get "a green & pleasant land" a little rain must fall. We had two days where the wet stuff reigned supreme from morn till night but for the rest of the trip the weather was almost perfect.
We spent one day at the big water park at Portsmouth which everyone enjoyed. This gave me a chance to study the American population at large. And large they were! Being overweight myself though I fitted in nicely. Talking of large creatures, we’d planned to go out on a whale watch while on the coast but when it came to it we were stymied by storm warnings so it never happened. Ironically neither did the storm in the end. One evening our three motorsport-mad males went off to a speedway which had advertised itself on the web as a Friday night hotspot but when they got there Fridays had apparently become Saturdays and it was shut. Yes I know, always ring first. They picked up a drag race at another track though so all wasn’t lost.
We then drove inland into New Hampshire and parked ourselves at our rented lake
home for a week, which we’d lucked into bigtime. It was a wonderful house in a fantastic peaceful spot at the north end of Lake Winnipesaukee (a place I’d never even heard of before posting my original request), and I honestly think I could have sat outside overlooking the lake for the whole week and not been bored. Unfortunately the house was down a very long wooded road, absolutely gorgeous but quite a trek from anywhere ... probably nothing to Americans used to big distances but something we had to get used to, which we did quite quickly, and the glorious position of the house was definitely worth the driving. We did some swimming plus the house had a rowing boat which we took out, and we also rented a speedboat for a couple of days with a tube behind it (huge fun, I didn’t fall off once) and then later a wakeboard which my son felt proud of himself for mastering for the first time. Driving the boat was quite tricky to start with as the water levels were low because of the dry summer & there were rocks in the water, but we soon got the hang of following the marked buoys.
The towns/villages dotted around the lake (it's 25 miles long, the largest of several in the area and it has lots of islands & rocks on it) were lovely but again, initially, a little too "nice" for my liking. I warmed to them by the time we left though. To start with I couldn’t put my finger on what it was that wasn’t quite right until I realised that they reminded me of the fake ‘villages’ that are to be found in several of our UK theme parks!
There were antique stores dotted around the area but unfortunately I didn't get to go to many because of the kids & the travelling distances; I’d like to go back again sometime without them in tow. There was enough in the general area to keep them (& us) amused ... more water parks, mini golf, arcades, bumper cars, a scenic railroad ride along the lake complete with ‘turkey dinner’ (a somewhat strange meal, several facets of which seemed to be geared towards people with no teeth), and we even took in our first ever drive-in movie which was quite an experience. We also went off up to the White Mountains one day (you probably need at least a week to even hint at doing the area justice so unfortunately it was only a taster). At Waterville Valley I sat in the sun watching people on pedaloes & taking in the lovely still calmness of the whole place while our eldest went off & hired a BMX at a "wicked" skatepark and the other two went off on a tandem. We then had a picnic in a wooded river area near Lincoln where we later discovered there were wild bears. Talking of food, we ate tons of it throughout our trip, particularly seafood, both in restaurants and on the barbeque at the house, which was a treat as it’s not cheap here. Food generally was very good, a little traditional at times but that was fine. One restaurant we liked was Chequers Harbor at Center Harbor - very pretty with a good range. Of course this whole trip wasn’t cheap, but at least the cost of food, petrol, clothes etc. were considerably less than they are here so there were many times when we felt we were getting bargains.
Our last day wasn't great. We had to be out of the house by 10, our flight wasn't till 8.30 in the evening, Logun Airport was only two hours away, and nothing seemed to go right in between. We wanted to do some shopping but every town we went through seemed to disappoint somewhat because, it seemed to us at any rate, the out of town malls have half-killed them off. Unlike Britain, so many of the towns seem to be spread-out linear efforts, sometimes with no real centre, which every time we come to the States we forget we need to get used to. We finally visited the first big mall of our hol and it turned out okayish (just like the one close to where we live here though) but by that time we only had a short time to spend there. By the time we got into Boston airport after driving through a day's torrential rain, getting stuck in the traffic for ages & dropping the hire car off, I was in a right mood, not least because I was depressed at leaving behind my lovely lakeside home, but mostly because I knew we were going to have a battle at the check-in about seat allocation, and battle we certainly had. To cut a very long story short, we won’t be flying with Virgin again.
It’s not easy going away with kids the ages ours are (16 & 13) and we weren’t without our share of dissent, but overall I’d give the holiday 9 out of 10 for providing four very disparate individuals with the mix I’d hoped for in my original posting. For what was probably our final proper family holiday together for a while, now that our eldest is going his own way more & more, the North-East definitely came up trumps. I just got my photos back from the developers and they’re stunning, but that’s because the subject matters were so great. Well apart from the one of me bending over to look at a chipmunk while holding a cucumber. Don’t ask .....
Sep 2nd, 1999, 04:37 AM
#8
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Bravo! for the posting; a tour de force of travel reporting. It is seldom that American get to read about themselves and their country with such wit.
Perhaps as a result of your reportage, one or two of us 'Mericans, upon hearing a UK accent, will decline to talk about Princess Di and how much she meant to us.
But you also said that you found the food, "a little too traditional..." Traditional to whom?
Perhaps as a result of your reportage, one or two of us 'Mericans, upon hearing a UK accent, will decline to talk about Princess Di and how much she meant to us.
But you also said that you found the food, "a little too traditional..." Traditional to whom?
Sep 2nd, 1999, 10:35 AM
#13
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Hilary, Thank you for your wonderfully detailed travel report! We Americans have never been called fat in such a charming way! Now this is my question: would you say that the same percentage of Brits are overweight as Americans? I actually almost dread making my first trip to England for fear that all the skinny Europeans I've heard about will fall down laughing at my extra 50 pounds!
So glad that you enjoyed our beautiful New England area, but next time, come to the Southeastern part of the country, which is absolutely God's land! And EVERYBODY will probably comment on your accent.
Why do you not like to discuss Diana? You see, since we wouldn't be caught dead with a royal family, we've had to adopt yours! And I must confess - I loved her! But we just won't discuss it!
Come back to see us, you hear?
Bonnie
So glad that you enjoyed our beautiful New England area, but next time, come to the Southeastern part of the country, which is absolutely God's land! And EVERYBODY will probably comment on your accent.
Why do you not like to discuss Diana? You see, since we wouldn't be caught dead with a royal family, we've had to adopt yours! And I must confess - I loved her! But we just won't discuss it!
Come back to see us, you hear?
Bonnie
Sep 2nd, 1999, 01:44 PM
#15
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Gosh, jolly nice responses I must say. At the risk of starting a Princess Di thread, Neal, don’t take too much notice of me on that subject (ha! subject – get it?), as my views probably aren’t typical. There are many Brits who would be very happy to discuss Diana, as I myself was up to a point. I did like the woman, well mostly. I don’t like the system around her but we won’t get into that, and I liked the press hype surrounding her death (& life, of course) even less, if that’s possible. My comment was more in relation to the fact that her name came up in what was literally this woman’s opening sentence. No “Are you enjoying the States?”, or even “Oh you’re English, I have a second cousin in Edinburroh, do you know him?” I’m sure you have your equivalents the other way round, and I expect someone will offer one up! (We have a wonderful tv commercial showing here for British Airways, wherein P J O’Rourke ridicules Britain beautifully. It’s a joy to watch.)
Re the traditional food thing, I don’t know what I meant really, as there was plenty of variety available. I suppose I’m used to some fairly ‘modern’ restaurants local to us here where you have to look hard on the menus to find a steak amongst the endless goat’s cheese & rocket, and even when you do somehow it isn’t seen as awully politically correct to order it. Said places are often full of chrome & stylish young professionals, a combination which has us sad old midlifers running to the warmth & safety of the curry house for yet another lamb madras. Of course the main difference between eating here & in the States is that out there you get a third more food on your plate. Why do you think I keep coming back to visit, hahahaha?
We’re all getting fatter here too apparently. Oh no, that’s just me. No, no, I was right the first time. If I’m honest, I chose the States over Europe a tiny bit because (despite the US obsession with vanity, in certain quarters at least) I thought my oversized bottom would feel a little more at home there than amongst the glamorous stick insects of, say, Biarritz or Nice. If all up & coming European fatties start to now follow my example, though, America will eventually be overrun by foreign flesh, in the tourist season at least.
And on that delightful thought, I’m off to get some grub.
PS Nice try Martha, but I’ve revealed enough of myself already, the photo stays URLless.
PPS Al, I know that quote but not who said it ?? Here’s one for you: "I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." - James Baldwin
PPPS Bonnie, I was just sending this through when I saw your new posting. Re the subject of Being Fat In Europe, don’t take too much notice of what I’ve said above! For one thing Italian men are supposed to love a bit of meat on their women. As for comparisons with Britain, there are plenty of fatties here – I don’t know whether the percentages are the same, possibly yes, possibly slightly higher in the States, but there seem to be a few more VERY LARGE people in America than here, although ours may just be hiding in their basements of course. If we are smaller in any way than Americans, I think it’s because we drive a bit less. Either way, 50lbs is nothing, and you absolutely mustn’t let those gorgeous Euro-babes intimidate you away from visiting OUR green and very pleasant land. You Yanks are already way too out of touch with us lot over here as it is, don’t perpetuate that! (Ouch!) Remember, my dear, Real Women DO eat quiche, not just the salad with it. Go book that ticket, woman. Oh & re the worshipping of Diana, someone else can take up the reigns (ha! reigns, get it?) on that subject & the mysteries behind it if they want to, but for now I’m too pooped and am going to bed. Via the fridge, naturally. Cheeribye, chaps.
Re the traditional food thing, I don’t know what I meant really, as there was plenty of variety available. I suppose I’m used to some fairly ‘modern’ restaurants local to us here where you have to look hard on the menus to find a steak amongst the endless goat’s cheese & rocket, and even when you do somehow it isn’t seen as awully politically correct to order it. Said places are often full of chrome & stylish young professionals, a combination which has us sad old midlifers running to the warmth & safety of the curry house for yet another lamb madras. Of course the main difference between eating here & in the States is that out there you get a third more food on your plate. Why do you think I keep coming back to visit, hahahaha?
We’re all getting fatter here too apparently. Oh no, that’s just me. No, no, I was right the first time. If I’m honest, I chose the States over Europe a tiny bit because (despite the US obsession with vanity, in certain quarters at least) I thought my oversized bottom would feel a little more at home there than amongst the glamorous stick insects of, say, Biarritz or Nice. If all up & coming European fatties start to now follow my example, though, America will eventually be overrun by foreign flesh, in the tourist season at least.
And on that delightful thought, I’m off to get some grub.
PS Nice try Martha, but I’ve revealed enough of myself already, the photo stays URLless.
PPS Al, I know that quote but not who said it ?? Here’s one for you: "I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." - James Baldwin
PPPS Bonnie, I was just sending this through when I saw your new posting. Re the subject of Being Fat In Europe, don’t take too much notice of what I’ve said above! For one thing Italian men are supposed to love a bit of meat on their women. As for comparisons with Britain, there are plenty of fatties here – I don’t know whether the percentages are the same, possibly yes, possibly slightly higher in the States, but there seem to be a few more VERY LARGE people in America than here, although ours may just be hiding in their basements of course. If we are smaller in any way than Americans, I think it’s because we drive a bit less. Either way, 50lbs is nothing, and you absolutely mustn’t let those gorgeous Euro-babes intimidate you away from visiting OUR green and very pleasant land. You Yanks are already way too out of touch with us lot over here as it is, don’t perpetuate that! (Ouch!) Remember, my dear, Real Women DO eat quiche, not just the salad with it. Go book that ticket, woman. Oh & re the worshipping of Diana, someone else can take up the reigns (ha! reigns, get it?) on that subject & the mysteries behind it if they want to, but for now I’m too pooped and am going to bed. Via the fridge, naturally. Cheeribye, chaps.
Sep 3rd, 1999, 04:59 AM
#16
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Dear Hilary!
Thanks again for your wonderful account. As a New Englander exiled to Dixie -- and one who has spent summers at Winnepesaukee and on the Maine coast -- I loved it, esp. comments about California Gushspeak and turkey dinners.
A couple of comments: Traditional New England cuisine is not America's highest culinary achievement, although the larger cities now have all the "modern" and ethnic restaurants. But when I grew up (just after our Civil War), the norm was meals with no color other than white or brown (potatoes, boiled fish, etc.) or "New England boiled dinner" (boiled corned beef and cabbage. It was always explained to me that this was the legacy of our ancestors from England and Ireland.
It doesn't sound to me like you got a glimpse of the beautiful rocky shores of Maine but rather the rather gritty beaches of NH and southern Maine. If that's so, 'tis a pity, because the majesty of those rocks and lighthouses is incomparable and worth traveling out of one's way to see.
I was interested in your comments about towns that seem "too perfect." This may be one of those cases where the contrived, synthetic towns of resorts and theme parks -- having copied some real towns for their charm -- spoil the experience of the real towns. On the other hand, some parts of Winnepesaukee have been developed more than others by those who use "cookie-cutter" blueprints.
But thanks very much for taking the time to write your impressions. Let us know when you are planning your next expedition -- some of us might even want to have a cuppa and promise: if you won't mention Ms. Lewinsky or Mrs. Clinton, we won't talk about Princess Di or Mrs. Bowles (if that's the correct title). I'm sure we can find other things to talk about.
Thanks again for your wonderful account. As a New Englander exiled to Dixie -- and one who has spent summers at Winnepesaukee and on the Maine coast -- I loved it, esp. comments about California Gushspeak and turkey dinners.
A couple of comments: Traditional New England cuisine is not America's highest culinary achievement, although the larger cities now have all the "modern" and ethnic restaurants. But when I grew up (just after our Civil War), the norm was meals with no color other than white or brown (potatoes, boiled fish, etc.) or "New England boiled dinner" (boiled corned beef and cabbage. It was always explained to me that this was the legacy of our ancestors from England and Ireland.
It doesn't sound to me like you got a glimpse of the beautiful rocky shores of Maine but rather the rather gritty beaches of NH and southern Maine. If that's so, 'tis a pity, because the majesty of those rocks and lighthouses is incomparable and worth traveling out of one's way to see.
I was interested in your comments about towns that seem "too perfect." This may be one of those cases where the contrived, synthetic towns of resorts and theme parks -- having copied some real towns for their charm -- spoil the experience of the real towns. On the other hand, some parts of Winnepesaukee have been developed more than others by those who use "cookie-cutter" blueprints.
But thanks very much for taking the time to write your impressions. Let us know when you are planning your next expedition -- some of us might even want to have a cuppa and promise: if you won't mention Ms. Lewinsky or Mrs. Clinton, we won't talk about Princess Di or Mrs. Bowles (if that's the correct title). I'm sure we can find other things to talk about.
Sep 3rd, 1999, 08:49 AM
#19
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To Cass, Dan & all,
Your praise for my ramblings has made a self-esteemless woman very happy. (I’ve been known to light up just from being told I was gorgeous, intelligent, witty, warm, fun and generally super-talented. Silly I know.) Just a cuppla points. While we were there I was never actually comparing the lake region’s food with our semi-sophisticated little corner of west London because I knew the two areas aren’t comparable. The UK’s Lake District would be a more likely comparison.
I can remember going to Orlando when the kids were little and being bowled over by the food to the point of feeling sorry for Americans visiting our sorry London restaurants, but the standard of food, service & choice in Britain has improved beyond belief in the last few years, although it probably means we’re now still only level-pegging with you lot. I have an uncle living in Vancouver who visited us recently for the first time in ten years and he didn’t recognise the place foodwise etc.
I would have loved to have seen Maine ‘proper’ but it just wasn’t possible on this trip. I kind of imagine the coast further up being a bit like the west coast of California, which was spectacular. My husband and I have planned for some time to do a 6 month motorhome trip of the States when the kids are off our hands, which is one of the reasons why I love this forum so as I’m slowly gathering tips etc. for the future. All suggestions for specific ‘special’ areas to visit anywhere will always be gratefully received. (We’ve been to New York, Orlando, Sanibel/Captiva, LA & the coast road to SF including Santa Barbara, Monterey & Carmel, plus Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu & Palm Springs. Gosh, I hadn’t realised we’d visited so many places!) Likewise if anyone needs suggestions re the UK, I’ll be happy to try & point you to those roads less travelled.
Finally, I’ve got to tell you that I would be delighted to sit down and have a juicy gossip about All The President’s Women. But would a six-month trip be long enough to cover it?!
Your praise for my ramblings has made a self-esteemless woman very happy. (I’ve been known to light up just from being told I was gorgeous, intelligent, witty, warm, fun and generally super-talented. Silly I know.) Just a cuppla points. While we were there I was never actually comparing the lake region’s food with our semi-sophisticated little corner of west London because I knew the two areas aren’t comparable. The UK’s Lake District would be a more likely comparison.
I can remember going to Orlando when the kids were little and being bowled over by the food to the point of feeling sorry for Americans visiting our sorry London restaurants, but the standard of food, service & choice in Britain has improved beyond belief in the last few years, although it probably means we’re now still only level-pegging with you lot. I have an uncle living in Vancouver who visited us recently for the first time in ten years and he didn’t recognise the place foodwise etc.
I would have loved to have seen Maine ‘proper’ but it just wasn’t possible on this trip. I kind of imagine the coast further up being a bit like the west coast of California, which was spectacular. My husband and I have planned for some time to do a 6 month motorhome trip of the States when the kids are off our hands, which is one of the reasons why I love this forum so as I’m slowly gathering tips etc. for the future. All suggestions for specific ‘special’ areas to visit anywhere will always be gratefully received. (We’ve been to New York, Orlando, Sanibel/Captiva, LA & the coast road to SF including Santa Barbara, Monterey & Carmel, plus Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu & Palm Springs. Gosh, I hadn’t realised we’d visited so many places!) Likewise if anyone needs suggestions re the UK, I’ll be happy to try & point you to those roads less travelled.
Finally, I’ve got to tell you that I would be delighted to sit down and have a juicy gossip about All The President’s Women. But would a six-month trip be long enough to cover it?!
