The Maid Goes to Maine – Part 2: Not that Portland, the other Portland

After finally escaping our annoying airplane neighbors described in Part 1, Mr. Maid and I landed in Portland International Jetport in Portland, Maine. That’s right. Not an airport, a “jetport”. Not sure why they call it that, but it made me feel a bit like Jane Jetson.

Fancy name aside, it is a really nice, small airport only a few miles from downtown Portland. In no time we had collected our bags, picked up our rental car and hit the road for our hotel in the Old Port district of the largest city in Maine.

The Maid Goes to Maine – Part 1: Airplanes and Eye Rolls

I don’t travel as much as I’d like to, and I definitely don’t travel enough to make this a travel blog. But I recently returned from a lovely vacation with Mr. Maid to the awe-inspiring Maine coast that I mentioned in my post Coastally Deprived. I’d love to tell you about it.

This is what happens when you leave your job. I have no coworkers to talk to about my trip, so I get to play show-and-tell with all of you kind people! So, I will spend the next few posts boring you recounting spine-tingling tales of our journey.

Before I get to the “good stuff” of our beautiful travel destination, I want to tell you about our adventures getting there. Most of our vacations are road trips, but since we only had a week, we decided to fly and rent a car.

We’d heard the recent horror stories about long TSA lines and missed flights. Mr. Maid and I both hate feeling rushed, so we left home

Opposites – Both Attracted

This post is in response to The Daily Post topic “Opposites.”

In 2010 we headed west on vacation to the Grand Canyon. Just like everyone else, we had always heard about what an incredible experience it is. And also just like everyone else, we really didn’t get it until we saw it for ourselves. I’m not sure how many times I said “WOW!” that first day, but I’m pretty sure I broke some kind of a record.

While walking along the path at the South Rim, where every few seconds affords you with a completely unique and always spectacular view, I noticed this very diverse grouping of people.

Under the tree, in the shade, a group of girls in their austere, modest clothing – dresses below the knee, small hats in place. (Amish? Mennonite? I am unfamiliar with the customs, so I cannot name them.)

Out on the ledge just beyond them, a group of leather-clad bikers, dusty from their travels on their motorcycles.

I snapped the picture, thinking how fascinating it was that two such divergent groups – whose lives and lifestyles may not intersect in any other way – are nevertheless struck equally speechless by the beauty and grandeur of the wonders of this earth.

It helps reinforce my belief that we are all more alike than we are different.

Coastally Deprived

I wrote this post a few weeks ago and I’m resubmitting it in response to the WordPress Daily Post prompt of “Water.”

Image from www.visitmaine.net

For yet another day (I’ve forgot how many so far) the temperature here in my part of the Midwest U.S. will be near 100 degrees. This is just one reason why I am so thrilled to be heading out on vacation in a few days. Mr. Maid and I are packing up to spend a week in Maine where the high temperatures promise to be in the low 70s. Sounds like absolute heaven!

Our plan isn’t complicated: explore the coast between Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine, hike in Acadia National Park, sample local beer and wine, and eat our weight in lobster.

As a lifelong resident of Illinois, it will be a particular treat to spend time by the ocean. The sea is so foreign to a landlubber like me. I am jealous of those who live near it and wonder if they take it for granted.

The bodies of water that I grew up with were limited to lakes and backyard pools.

The pools in our middle-class neighborhood were not snazzy “c-ment ponds” like on The Beverly Hillbillies, but the above