|
It's taken me a while to sit down, upload all my photos, and write about my summer mini-vacation, but at long last... here it is!
Thursday, July 3
We decided to take a short road trip up to the Kittery, ME area. We started in York, because I had read that it was full of fun, touristy things to do. Well, it wasn't quite as exciting as they made it out to be, but we still had some fun driving through and exploring. One thing I can say, is that York must be the antique capital of the world, or something. I counted no fewer than six antique shops... and that's just the ones I spotted.
We continued driving north out of York, into Ogunquit and then Wells. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Mainiax, which couldn't seem to make up its mind whether it was in Wells or Ogunquit. After lunch, and after looking at the free area map the restaurant provided, we visited a little outlet called The Sweatshirt Shop, which we would never have spotted without said map. After doing a little damage there, we drove down to Kittery to check out the many outlet malls there. I have to say there wasn't anything that special about it. There weren't really any outlets we couldn't find closer to home. Still, I managed to find a dress for Saturday's party at the Tommy Hilfiger outlet, so I was happy.
When we got bored with Kittery we drove back up to York to visit a place we had spotted before. York's Wild Kingdom: Maine's Largest Zoo & Amusement Park. If this was the largest, I really have to wonder about the smallest (or maybe it was the only?). But it was a lot of fun; the animals seemed to have a lot more personality than those you see in large metropolitan zoos, and there was a lot more interaction between visitors and the animals. There were several hands-on feeding/petting areas, including the usual goats and llamas, but also ducks and geese, and even deer. The highlight for us though, was three of the caged animals - I only wish we had taken the camera in with us!
First, was the kangaroo. It was rather warm out, but at the time we visited the kangaroo cage, a breeze had begun blowing, providing some relief. The male kangaroo took advantage of this breeze, by lying down flat on his back, legs spread with everything on display, letting the wind blow across his belly and other unmentionables. You could tell by his face that he was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Then, the frustrated lion. The male and female lion were separated, presumably to prevent unwanted breeding. And there was the male, pacing back and forth, rubbing against the female's cage door, grunting like Tim Taylor. Another guest standing next to us said, "I know what he wants," resulting in many chuckles from other onlookers.
And finally, the best of all, was one of the monkeys. This guy knew people were looking at him, and definitely knew how to work a crowd. He would prance back and forth across the front of the cage, strutting his stuff like some kind of model, and then suddenly he would stop, grab the cage with both hands, give the toothiest grin you've ever seen, and bob his head from side to side. Bursts of laughter would set him off again, prancing back and forth, making everyone wait until he would do it again, drawing it out, then finally doing it again just when you were about to give up on him. I have to say it was the funniest thing I have ever seen in a zoo. Oh how I wish I'd had the camera!
During our exploration of the area, I made note of a few business names which struck me as funny for one reason or another. "Sister Mary Catherine's Internet Cafe" - I don't know why; this just made me laugh. "Rent-A-Husband" - do I want to know? And "Yum Mee Chinese Restaurant" - need I say more?
Friday, July 4
The long-awaited fireworks cruise on the Southland Riverboat! We wanted to go on this cruise last year but when we called for tickets, it was already sold out. So we put in a reservation for this year's cruise. We nearly forgot about it in the busy year that has passed; fortunately Chris remembered just days before they sold out, because they didn't bother to contact us and would have sold our tickets. What was the point of making the reservation then? I don't know. But we did get our tickets, and I got to go out on the ocean (well, the bay really) for the first time in my life.
The fireworks themselves were a bit disappointing. They were low and kinda difficult to see, and they started 20 minutes late, which meant the boat had to turn around and head home before the grand finale. But the boat ride itself was well worth the $25 ticket - I loved it! Now I'm hooked; I'm going to be out on the water every chance I get. The water was beautiful, the sunset was gorgeous, and the ride was so relaxing. We took lots of pictures... tried to capture the fireworks but no luck.
Saturday, July 5
We had the best party we've ever hosted (it helps when people show up). There isn't really much to say... we just had a really good time. We did have a slight problem with our first attempt at making Jello shots - way too much rum. Seriously, they tasted like jellied rum. However, that didn't stop me from going back for a second one, after I had a few drinks in me. Lesson learned, next time we'll try using half as much.
We played a great party game called Man Bites Dog, courtesy of my sister Dana who bought it for me for my birthday (thanks Dana!). It was a lot of fun, and I suspect the levels of alcohol in our bloodstreams compounded that fact. We had to slightly change the rules... play is normally to 500 points, but since Chris decided to score half that in the first round(!), we doubled it to 1,000. Unfortunately, he still won!
Since Chris got a little distracted by his bottles of Corona and forgot to take pictures, we let our friend Joe get ahold of the camera. He came up with some interesting shots, to say the least.
Sunday, July 6
Ah, the morning after... Surprisingly, I did alright. In fact, it was the first morning all week that I didn't wake up with a headache. Hmm, maybe I should eat jellied rum more often!
Chris, however, wasn't so lucky. Even the dog was worn out. Of course, I had to finish filling up the camera's memory card, at their expense.
Thursday, July 10
Now technically, our vacation was only the week of the 4th. But since it took me so long to get all of this posted, I decided to include this week's adventures in the same post.
Thursday was the day of the Bayside Country Club (our apartment complex) annual pool party. Okay, so it was nothing special... a bunch of neighbors we don't know, a dorky DJ, mediocre food. The only reasons I have to make note of it here, are 1) because I actually won one of the raffle prizes - a three-tiered tabletop water fountain with a candle holder at the top - and 2) to lead into Friday...
Friday, July 11
Sandra (Joe's girlfriend and my best friend on this side of the country) works for the company that owns our complex, and invited us to the pool party at her complex, Cowesett Hills, Friday night. This party kicked the pants off of the one at Bayside! The catering was wonderful... beautiful displays including huge floral arrangements, and awesome food. And they had karaoke! And the most surprising thing, I got up the guts to sing... not once, but twice... without a drop of alcohol to encourage me. I'm so glad I did, because it was a blast. I had so much fun. I have Sandra to thank, for being the type of friend who brings me out of my shell, brings out the wild girl hidden under my shy exterior. Given the chance, I will definitely sing karaoke again, especially if Sandra is there to egg me on.
<< prev • home • next >>
|
![[photo of me]](/glasses144.jpg)
![[album thumbnail]](/photos/halloween2008/thumbnails/albumthumb.jpg)
![[album thumbnail]](/photos/redsox2008/thumbnails/albumthumb.jpg)
