**Firstly, before any holiday talk, I would like to apologize. I posted my last post believing it to be complete, but in the mad rush of last week I hadn't finished it. The last paragraph has now got an ending. Sorry about that!**
T had a quiet spell at work last week - which is not the norm these days - and so we decided we had better take advantage of it and have a break away whilst the going was good, otherwise we may not be able to grab a short holiday this summer.
This decision was made on Monday lunchtime; on Wednesday evening Albie had been dropped off at the cattery and we were in the car en route to Maine!
This decision was made on Monday lunchtime; on Wednesday evening Albie had been dropped off at the cattery and we were in the car en route to Maine!
Monday afternoon was spent booking last minute accommodation; in August, prime summer holiday time; in Maine, a popular summer destination. I spent five continuos hours looking at website after website, slowly but surely going hotel crazy. All the nice places were fully booked, operated a two night minimum policy, or cost $1,000 per night (I found a surprising number of rooms at this price!). I hate looking at hotels, I feel I should have it down to an art by now as over the years we have spent many hours looking for - mostly last minute - accommodation. So many places have bad websites, and even the better sites have unflattering pictures of the rooms and facilities. You can never guarantee the quality of the place booking online but a blurred image of a flowery bedspread and a flowery carpet and pink bathroom just doesn't fill me with too much confidence. I may be a bit of a hotel snob, but we have experienced strange stains on the carpets, blood on 'clean' bedsheets and bedbugs and do not want to go there again!
By the time T came home from work, I had accumulated a - very short - shortlist of places to stay. Maine had been suggested to us by a couple of people out here. The whole coastline is supposed to be stunning, so we went on where the hotels were rather than a specific town (which was a good job considering the lack of available places to stay...).
Our go-to website for accommodation is 'Mr and Mrs Smith'. The places on this website are lovely, all the ones we have booked through here have been stunning, it's just a shame they don't have many hotels for North America. After looking at their website initially and thinking the hotel available is a tad over our budget, I came back to it as the rooms were some of the cheapest I had found, but the place was one of the nicest looking in Maine. So in the end, along with that one, there was another hotel on the Mr and Mrs Smith website for Vermont for the Saturday night, and we just needed to find a hotel for the Wednesday night. The Wednesday night hotel was finally booked on Tuesday evening.
By the time T came home from work, I had accumulated a - very short - shortlist of places to stay. Maine had been suggested to us by a couple of people out here. The whole coastline is supposed to be stunning, so we went on where the hotels were rather than a specific town (which was a good job considering the lack of available places to stay...).
Our go-to website for accommodation is 'Mr and Mrs Smith'. The places on this website are lovely, all the ones we have booked through here have been stunning, it's just a shame they don't have many hotels for North America. After looking at their website initially and thinking the hotel available is a tad over our budget, I came back to it as the rooms were some of the cheapest I had found, but the place was one of the nicest looking in Maine. So in the end, along with that one, there was another hotel on the Mr and Mrs Smith website for Vermont for the Saturday night, and we just needed to find a hotel for the Wednesday night. The Wednesday night hotel was finally booked on Tuesday evening.
Albie's accommodation was much easier to book, thankfully; the vets have a small cattery, and we were in luck as they had one place left. It was hard putting him in there, as our last experience with catteries was not a good one: we went on honeymoon, placing our two cats in the local cattery in Spain, and returned home to two very sick animals, which we then sadly lost a few days later. I didn't think I would be so emotional, and it's been nearly three years since our horrible experience in Sevilla, but dropping him off there was horrid.
I left the vets to the sound of him hissing at the receptionist, wishing all parties involved good luck...
I left the vets to the sound of him hissing at the receptionist, wishing all parties involved good luck...
The plan was for T to leave work early on Wednesday and then we could drive for a couple of hours and stay somewhere Wednesday night, meaning more time in Maine on Thursday. However T didn't manage to escape work as early as we would have liked, and by the time we had packed the car with two bikes, a surfboard, all the gubbins that goes with them, as well as hiking gear and our suitcases it was 7pm.
At least it was still light, and the evening sun showed off the Quebec countryside to it's best. We reached the border at dusk and had to fill out a visa waiver form. This was the first time we had had to do this - our ESTA had covered us for 90 days so our previous trips across the border had been free from forms. We were both frazzled from a hectic few days and even answering simple questions and filling out bits of paper was tricky, especially with the feeling if you make any mistake you could be turned away - nothing like the pressure to get things right! Thankfully the border wasn't busy, so we got through pretty quickly and were soon back on the American road.
The last leg of the journey had been in darkness and arriving in the pitch black we hadn't a clue where we were and what the surrounding scenery was like: was it rolling hills, forests, flat fields, or was it ugly tarmac?
We reached at our hotel, The Sugar Hill Inn in New Hampshire, after 10pm - 2 hours after we had said we would be arriving. I had visions of the door being locked and us having to resort to sleeping in the car, but the owner greeted us with a big smile, no worries. Our room was lovely, with the highest bed I have ever seen - it reminded me of the fairytale 'The Princess and the Pea' - and I had to clamber to get on it. I then fell out when getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, expecting the floor to be about a foot closer than it was.
We reached at our hotel, The Sugar Hill Inn in New Hampshire, after 10pm - 2 hours after we had said we would be arriving. I had visions of the door being locked and us having to resort to sleeping in the car, but the owner greeted us with a big smile, no worries. Our room was lovely, with the highest bed I have ever seen - it reminded me of the fairytale 'The Princess and the Pea' - and I had to clamber to get on it. I then fell out when getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, expecting the floor to be about a foot closer than it was.
When we finally switched off the lights the room wasn't plunged into darkness as we were hoping. The blinds covering the five windows were thin for a start, and then there were the lights: from the coffee machine to the pilot light of the fire, the TV to the alarm clock, to the landing light outside. Being used to a dark room this was not the best recipe for a good night's sleep. My body uses any excuse not to sleep: too light, too noisy, too hot, too cold, et cetera. Slightly wired with my head in sleep mode but my closed eyes were sensing light and therefore telling my brain it was getting up time, I got up and made use of my 'sleep kit': I keep a small bag in my suitcase, in it are some eye masks and ear plugs - you never know how light and noisy a room will be.
Eye mask on, it was time for sleep.
Eye mask on, it was time for sleep.
We woke up to blue skies, and keen to get on the road, headed downstairs for a quick bite to eat before getting on our way...
Breakfast:
Another difference between countries we have found is the way they offer accommodation packages. In Europe it seemed to be the norm to offer a room rate, and then have an optional charge of around 20-30 Euros for breakfast. Once we had overcome the annoyance at this - 30EUR for breakfast?!! - we actually liked it, as most of the time we seemed to be in the midst of driving long road trips therefore it was nice to get on the road and stop for coffee and a bite on the way, and with the service stations in Spain offering cheap coffee and tostada (toasted bread with olive oil and fresh tomatoes) for about 3EUR it was cheap and much more tasty than the offerings from the hotels. Or if we were on a city break, it was nice to get up and have a breakfast at a cafe around the corner whilst watching locals get on with their early morning (OK, late morning) tasks.
I appreciated it especially, as I have found through many a trial and error anything more than an apple of cracker for the first meal of the day and I can feel ill the rest of the day, so this way I could slyly have my apple or cracker and not feel weird about it.
In England, breakfast is usually included, a choice between a sausages, bacon and beans in a 'Full English' or a croissant with the 'Continental' option. Or a big buffet-style spread where you can make your selection of breakfast dish from the array of items on offer.
In North America however, the norm seems to be you get breakfast included in your room rate. And it isn't just any breakfast: this is a three course breakfast.
Another difference between countries we have found is the way they offer accommodation packages. In Europe it seemed to be the norm to offer a room rate, and then have an optional charge of around 20-30 Euros for breakfast. Once we had overcome the annoyance at this - 30EUR for breakfast?!! - we actually liked it, as most of the time we seemed to be in the midst of driving long road trips therefore it was nice to get on the road and stop for coffee and a bite on the way, and with the service stations in Spain offering cheap coffee and tostada (toasted bread with olive oil and fresh tomatoes) for about 3EUR it was cheap and much more tasty than the offerings from the hotels. Or if we were on a city break, it was nice to get up and have a breakfast at a cafe around the corner whilst watching locals get on with their early morning (OK, late morning) tasks.
I appreciated it especially, as I have found through many a trial and error anything more than an apple of cracker for the first meal of the day and I can feel ill the rest of the day, so this way I could slyly have my apple or cracker and not feel weird about it.
In England, breakfast is usually included, a choice between a sausages, bacon and beans in a 'Full English' or a croissant with the 'Continental' option. Or a big buffet-style spread where you can make your selection of breakfast dish from the array of items on offer.
In North America however, the norm seems to be you get breakfast included in your room rate. And it isn't just any breakfast: this is a three course breakfast.
Three courses for breakfast?!! I didn't know such things existed before last week!
We sat down in the dining room and, as we sipped tea (not forgetting the splash of milk, of course) whilst everyone around us was drinking coffee, we were served a freshly made blueberry muffin and presented with a menu. The breakfast dishes on offer: Pancakes, omelettes, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, French toast... I looked around the dining room at the large platefuls of pancakes, bacon and eggs and saw a woman eating from a small bowl - that must be the granola with yogurt and berries I reasoned. I ordered the granola, and then the waitress came out and served us a fruit cup. Turned out the fruit cup was what I had seen the woman eating.
It was just the second course...
Sure enough, I looked over at the woman again and a plate piled high with scrambled eggs was sat in front of her. My homemade granola came, a bowl as big as my head, filled to the brim. It was delicious, but I had to leave most of it as soon started feeling sick. T's waffles with maple syrup, bacon and berries were good, although I think we both decided we weren't too keen on the maple syrup/bacon combo which seems popular this side of the Atlantic.
We sat down in the dining room and, as we sipped tea (not forgetting the splash of milk, of course) whilst everyone around us was drinking coffee, we were served a freshly made blueberry muffin and presented with a menu. The breakfast dishes on offer: Pancakes, omelettes, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, French toast... I looked around the dining room at the large platefuls of pancakes, bacon and eggs and saw a woman eating from a small bowl - that must be the granola with yogurt and berries I reasoned. I ordered the granola, and then the waitress came out and served us a fruit cup. Turned out the fruit cup was what I had seen the woman eating.
It was just the second course...
Sure enough, I looked over at the woman again and a plate piled high with scrambled eggs was sat in front of her. My homemade granola came, a bowl as big as my head, filled to the brim. It was delicious, but I had to leave most of it as soon started feeling sick. T's waffles with maple syrup, bacon and berries were good, although I think we both decided we weren't too keen on the maple syrup/bacon combo which seems popular this side of the Atlantic.
Totally stuffed, we rolled into the car, loving the novelty of being on holiday in America but not having to deal with jet-lag. Admiring the beautiful setting we found ourselves to be in - no tarmac, only the lush green trees of the White Mountain National Forest - we set off for our next destination: Kennebunkport, Maine.