The Maine Thing

I'm still sorting photos and all that goes along with that, but I wanted to jump on and post because it's been a long time and I'm just feeling antsy to get working on this blog again!

The first few photos are some of my favorites from OOB, Maine. There's some amazingly beautiful sunsets on the east coast, I can tell you. This surprised me, since the sun sets in the west, so I wasn't expecting the sunset to still be reflecting over the ocean waters...but as you can see in the pics (click to enlarge), it does so, and wonderfully. Our Christmas tree was a beauty, such a comforting sight on a cold winter night...but it was dwarfed in size by the OOB tree that overlooks the ocean! It was probably 25-30 feet tall, and seeing it the night I took this photo, in the snow, was a sight to see for certain!

This was the snowfall in a matter of 4 hours one afternoon. It began with light flurries around 8 am that morning, and quickly turned to fat, fluffy flakes (say that 5 times fast! lol) by noon. By the time the sun had set around 5 that evening, it was piling up quite well. It was a gorgeous site to see, a White Christmas after 20+ years in Southern California, where all Christmases are green. Everything was layered with a thick coating of marshmallow fluff :)

One of the many places we visited was the LL Bean village. I was expecting a large store, to be sure, but not an entire village! There are half a dozen LL Bean stores surrounding a courtyard that, for the holidays at least, was decked out in brilliant, colorful lights, anchored by a huge brightly lit tree. It was a site to see, for certain. And, they're open 24 hours!

We did a lot of driving while we were there, up and down the coast. From Bangor to Penobscott Bay, from Kittery to Kennebunkport, from Portland to Boston. As I get through the photos I'll post a few more here and there, but two of my favorites were in a single location: Cape Elizabeth. Just outside of Portland, Maine, this quaint area boasts some spectacular views. Especially lovely is Two Lights State Park, where you can see the two Lighthouses in the photos above. I can't wait to go back and see them in the summer when they're surrounded by sunshine and greenery...but they are absolutely breathtaking in the winter I assure you.

Now, I know I haven't mentioned much in the way of food...I will, don't worry :) I'll post about some of the places we ate, and I have a couple pics of someo of those too. One thing I can tell you right now: I was surprised how many pizza places there were! When I think Maine, the first thing that comes to mind is seafood: Lobsters, Clam Chowder, etc. And, to be certain, there was plenty of that. But there were more pizza places than I know of here in San Diego!

This post is a little all over the board, and I'm sorry for that. I guess I'm still sorting through my brain as well as my camera! lol But I'm glad to be posting, glad to be back. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that 2009 proves to be a joyful, prosperous year for you all!!