Hittin' the road with the Coodys

This place is famous for its programs and its campus. People from all over the country come for two week courses on glass blowing, paper making, ceramics, jewelry, woodworking, and other crafts. We toured the facility and enjoyed the beautiful setting for the “dorms” and cafeteria. It’s pretty inviting.

On Deer Isle.

Well, sadly we left our buds Katie and Barry and son, Ethan, today to visit the wonders of Niagara Falls from the Canadian side. We had a great time in Dublin, N.H. We heard the San Francisco Guitar Quartet, which was excellent, and the world premier of a string/vocal composition that was probably not intended to be hysterical, but it was. Words cannot describe. Perhaps it will appear on YouTube. After the performance I studied the score trying to determine how etherial chaos is written. No luck.

We traveled to small towns in the area. Brattleboro is a very interesting Vermont geriatric hippie community. We loved it. I actually found and purchased a mint, first issue of Frank Zappa’s “Freak Out.” Now THERE is some musical chaos I can understand.

Ethan made doughnuts, licked the bowl. We discovered a great swim/slide area on a nearby creek. We shall return!

Deer Isle, Maine

Just southwest of very chi chi Bar Harbor (pronounced “Bah Hahbah” for all us hicks out there) lies Deer Isle. It’s a place for artists, lobstermen, clammers, wooden boat builders, artists, those who use “summer” as a verb, and artists. It’s a beautiful place with shores composed of granite and limestone boulders and dense forests. When the mosquitoes come out at dusk, give up and go inside.

All the communities are small and filled with artists who moved there 10 to 20 years ago, before land values escalated too much in the 90′s.
Stonington is super quaint with a beautiful harbor and Blue Hill is a picture perfect (wealthy and touristy) small community. There were no hotels but small, mom and pop accommodations. Eating places for every budget. The folks who “summer” there are known as “from awayers.”

High temps in the 70′s, lows in the 50′s. I can see why “from awayers” “summer” there.

A story in the Halifax paper talked about the reduction of phytoplankton in the world’s oceans. Down 40 percent since 1950 perhaps due to rising ocean temperatures. It’s the foundation of the ocean’s food chain. It produces about half of Earth’s oxygen But we shouldn’t let trifles like these rush us into any kind of sustainable energy policy. No. After all, climate change is just a hoax, right?…..right?

We traveled up the east coast of Cape Breton to St. Lawrence Bay and camped at a private campground called “Jumping Mouse”. The campground was o.k. in that the view was nice and the owners were great, but the lack of tree cover made it tough in the wind. The view included some power lines and outhouses, but overall it was a beautiful sight. St. Lawrence Bay is a small, working port supporting the lobster/fishing trade.

The local campground at Meat Cove (not sure how it got its name) has some small cabins with great views and a one kilometer walkway to the coast. When you traverse the walkway it becomes apparent that Canada is not as litigious as the U.S.

There are some families there and it’s obvious the kids don’t have nearly enough to do. The area seems to have a reputation as a place where the local kids cause some kind of trouble. The area is very depressed and has been for a long time. The best part of Cape Breton is from the northeast around to the Chiticamp area on the northwest side. We wanted local Scottish music but it’s played mostly at festival time. To our surprise Country music was more popular.

Smith and Wesson stock has risen sharply since Obama got elected.

Well, I’m sorry. Neither Deborah nor I quite get it. Everyone said, “O-MG!” (have I mentioned how detestable our language has become? “You HAVE to have a lobster roll while you’re in Maine!!” (insert feigned swoon here)

So we tried one. It was cold. It was flavorless. It was texturally ambiguous. It was $12.50. Don’t say “well, you didn’t get a good one.” We know that. But everyone around said this place made the wold’s BEST! (more swooning).

The lady behind the counter said a side of mayo was traditional but butter was becoming “all the rage”. We tried both. Even the butter didn’t help (I Can’t Believe It’s Not Better) so we tried the mayo. It did give the bread more of a mayonnaise flavor.

“How was it?”, she asked.
“it’s good!”, I lied.

Harrumph. We prefer a proper haggis.

This 10 car ferry is articulated so that the boat rides along beside the car carrier like a sidecar to a motorcycle. When it wants to make a return trip the boat swings around to face the opposite direction but the barge part stays facing the same way. Each end drops to let the cats off and on right onto a gravelly beach where a Canadian customs agent asks if the car’s occupants plan on leaving anything behind. At this point on a long trip the husband and wife usually point to each other.

Gas is $1.09/liter. The only thing we’re leaving behind is money.