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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Maine-ly Speaking!

Hello from Maine!

I arrived in Portland yesterday morning and was met at the airport by Carol who owns Threads Galore Quilt Shop in Rangeley! Carol puts on this Quilt Camp every year, and it is she who is responsible for contacting me a couple of years ago and seeing if I wouldn’t like to come up and enjoy Maine in the height of fall color and teach at Quilt Camp!

I’ve never been to Maine before, but if I was going to come at all, I knew that this was the PERFECT time of year to do so.

Rangeley is a few hours drive from the airport, up in the mountains ---and Carol had planned a little scenic route for us to take so I could see a bit of the coast as well as inland.

Our first stop?? The LL Bean Flagship Stores in Freeport! FUN! I had to take a photo op with the world’s biggest LL Bean Boot :cD

From here we drove our way along some country roads that looked very much like this:

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All the way til we couldn’t drive much farther….and we stopped here for lunch:

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Isn’t this cute? Look at those pumpkins! This is Cook’s Lobster House on Bailey Island –and you know you can’t come to Maine without having LOBSTAH of some sort!

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If you look at the map on the left of the place mat, you can see the red star marking where we were! There is water on ALL SIDES of these narrow islands that are linked together by bridges.

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And this, my friends, is a Maine Lobster Roll! MMMMMMMM! ((Yes, this should have come with a foodie post warning, at least to get Amy to avert her eyes because she doesn’t LIKE seafood at all! LOL!!)) Sorry—can’t help myself!

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Me, by the dock, complete with lobster traps just sitting there. Carol was very indulgent in helping me find places to get good pics! I suspect you’ll be seeing lots of them over the next few days!

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I love this shot of the rocky coast line! It was “ALMOST” wanting to be sunny…just not quite…but almost!

As we drove our way inland and up toward the mountains, this was the kind of scenery that beckoned us to stop:

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Oh, how I love mirror image photos with still water! The trees really are much more vibrant that this…we are just lacking some sunshine and blue sky to really bring out their color.

My internet connection is precariously iffy. Sometimes I can get a phone signal if I go outside and watch my phone until it goes from No Service to Searching to showing that I have 2 bars. And if the wind changes, I lose signal completely.

The wifi where I am right now seems to be much the same way, so I’m hoping I can even upload this post!

And that goes for any future posts I try to send while I’m here…will they go or not? It remains to be seen! Wish me luck! I'll keep you updated as much as I can!

19 comments:

  1. You're in Maine!! My 'home' state! Have lots of fun!

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  2. OMG! The scenery is just so beautiful, like a postcard. Thanks for sharing. What a great place for a Quilt Retreat and the time of the year is perfect.

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  3. That reflection photo is WONDERFUL!!!

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  4. Watch for the metal scupture that is hanging on houses and building like frogs, bird, That is my Dad's work, I live in fla. and he is in AZ.
    would love to see pix. of them. so please take a few. His name is Dan Daniels and he live in ST.Geogore form BAR Harbor. a fun place to see.
    Dani, for Fl.

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  5. Haha, well that shot wasn't so bad, at least the lobster shell wasn't anywhere around :-) If it doesn't LOOK like seafood, then I'm OK :-) The scenery is just gorgeous, I'm glad you get to enjoy it. Have fun at quilt camp!

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  6. it's traps, bonnie, traps...LOL

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  7. Beautiful pics, Bonnie! Great location for a quilt retreat. Sign me up! Enjoy!!!

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  8. Gorgeous colors, the lake photo is spectacular. I got an email today telling me your dh is a Broncos fan,check out my blog today, and no, it's not my quilt, but a customer one. Enjoy the rest of your time in the fall colors.

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  9. My mom's people are from Maine, and I took her and her sister back to Maine in 1999 to visit their cousins they hadn't seen since the 1940's. Parts of Maine are actually similar to parts of Washington state - except for what we call mountains have snow and have actually erupted once upon a time. The weirdest thing about Maine (from our point of view)? You could get lobster rolls at McDonalds!

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  11. That scenery is still breathtaking in your photos.

    Quilt Camp would love to hear more details about that. I'm too far away so it would likely be too expensive for me but sounds interesting.

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  12. Love the fall foliage! I know it is more vibrant than the photos show. Three years ago, on a trip through New England this time of year, I bought fabric to match the vibrant colors I saw. None of these muted things we think of as fall colors. As I pull out those fabrics to start planning a quilt I think they look so much brighter than the colors in my photos, but I know that is how bright the leaves were!!

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  13. LOL! You are the most gallavanting gal I know. Love the boot photo! And a lobster roll?? *drool*! :)

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  14. Wow! Beautiful colors. Have fun!!!

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  15. Oh how lucky that you were able to experience Cook's Lobster House. The food is wonderful and the trip out to the island is just plain fun. We had dinner there when we were in Maine several years ago and loved it.

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  16. I totally love Maine. We had several opportunities to travel there when we lived in Maryland. My mouth is watering for that lobster roll.

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  17. Oh Bonnie...I am so sad that you are here, and I cannot be at your retreat! Hubby has been out of work for health reasons since Nov. of last year and no telling when he is going back; so it just wasn't in my budget. I want to say "Welcome to Maine" and it looks like Carol got you off to a great start. She owns a wonderful shop and the area speaks for itself. Hoping you like it well enough to come back again and that will be when I can attend. Happy Quilting!! Nancy

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  18. DH & I spent our 20th anniversary in Maine a few years ago. Make sure you get some blueberry pie! Lobster and blueberry pie. Doesn't get much better than that. Yum!

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  19. Anonymous4:58 PM EDT

    Hi, Bonnie. I was so tickled to see this post, as I lived near Bailey's Island Maine 30 years ago while pregnant with my son. We ate often at Cook's Lobster Pound. Isn't it wonderful?! Of course, fresh lobster tastes even better when you're pregnant! lol! So glad you found Bailey's Island - what a treat.
    michele in Jackson, TN - Peace by Piece Quilt Guild member

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