Maine, we have arrived!

Coastal Maine

Amherst, MA to Kittery/Boothbay/Bar Harbor, ME  

First stop post Amherst was in the cute little border town of Kittery, Maine (right across from Portsmouth, NH). Our Austin ultimate friend and former teammate Patrick Treviño, his wife Tina, and kids Lucia and Diego have managed to pull up the stakes of their deep Texas roots and relocate to Maine. 

Diego, Patrick, Lucia, and Tina posing as a family of sea creatures. They were amazing hosts, and we spent our time taking the dogs to run around at the local seaside park, talking over amazing homemade meals (Patrick smuggles suitcase loads of food back from San Antonio every time he travels there for work), and touring the quaint town of Portsmouth, NH across the water. One morning, Lucia and Diego took Mike and I on a walking bakery tour to sample all the local delicacies, which resulted in Mike finding his most perfect pastry of all time: the French cruller. It's a New England thing, an intensely sweet cross between a popover and a donut. I'm also happy to report that Hudson did NOT eat either of their two cats. 

After hanging out in Kittery, we we determined to head up the coast to Acadia National Park. We stopped in Portland, ME for lunch to see what all the fuss was about regarding lobster rolls, and ended up at a food trailer in beautiful seaside Fort Williams park. This postcard worthy image was oh so cliche Maine. 

It's hard for me to get behind lobster. I don't love the taste, or texture, not to mention it's the diamond equivalent of the seafood world. The prices are wildly inflated, not necessarily due to supply and demand, but a highly manufactured sense of social classiness. During colonial times it was considered trash food fed to indentured servants and prisoners, and it was canned and sent to soldiers on the European front during WWII. It gained stature partly due to railroad companies in the late 1800s serving it to inland customers who had no idea how low status it was, and therefore it became a fancy schmancy requested delicacy. 

My ridiculous moral positions on lobster aside, the truth is that our $17 lobster roll just tasted like tasteless and slimy crab. I'm with the colonists on this one, "Give me crab, or give me death!" I'm pretty sure that's how it went. 

Once again, the ultimate community comes through big time. I'm not sure how we get so lucky, but once again we were the beneficiaries of some wicked good fortune (as they would say up here). When we were sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Portsmouth with the Treviños and their frisbee friend Dave saw us and sat down. After hearing that we were headed up the coast, he offered for us to stay in his INCREDIBLE vacation house right on the water in Boothbay. He's an architect, everything was wood, and the house was full of little details and touches that made my heart swoon.  For example, there was an astronomy telescope nook on the 3rd floor, and at least 7 bay windows with comfy reading nooks overlooking the forest or bay. 

The view of low tide from the wrap around porch [swoon].  

This is the view of the house from the water.

There were a few kayaks tied up off the dock, so we went for a nice sunset kayak the first night we got there. Living in landlocked Austin, we're not accustomed to basing our schedule off of the earth's rhythms, but here it was important to pay attention to them. Due to the extreme tides of the area, this trip would not have been possible just a few hours before or after. 

We kayaked down to Ovens Mouth Preserve, a beautiful spot a few coves away. The next day I went back for a hike with Hudson because it was so beautiful and serene. 

The dog and the lobster regarded each other. We bought some crab from the dock in Boothbay to make a pasta with the first night, and Hudson met his first live lobster. 

The second day Mike and I went our separate ways, he on an extended kayak trip and I to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. It was awesome, and something my mom would have absolutely loved. My favorite part was a "senses" garden where they had specific sections of plants you could taste, touch, see, and smell. 

Dave recommended a few short hikes in and around Boothbay. This one, Porter Preserve, had an amazing view at sunset. We then went into the harbor for a delicious halibut dinner. 

After a few restful days in Boothbay, we headed onward to Acadia National Park. After Boothbay, while beautiful, Acadia was less impressive.  I was also itching to get to the mountains in northern Maine, and it was packed with people. The main draw of the park is biking or walking the beautiful historical carriage roads (built by John D. Rockeffeler Jr.) that criss cross through the parks. 

Mike did a trail run on one of them with Hudson on our second day there while we were driving the scenic loop around the park, which was beautiful. 

We did manage to get a few hikes in. This one is a view of Echo Lake, a short walk from our campsite. I went for an early morning jog to Echo Lake one morning and took a dip in the chilly water while Mike took Hudson on a driving tour of the southwestern portion of Mount Desert Island (the island that most of Acadia is located on). 

While on tour, Hudson almost got caught in a lobster trap. 

Hudson and I waiting for Mike to get his beach fix at Sand Beach, one of the only natural sand beaches in the northeast. The water ranged in temperature from 45-55 degrees F, no thank you! 

Hudson, ready for more adventure in the mountains of Maine! 

NUTC & A Walk in the Woods

Drive #4

Bloomfield, NJ to Amherst, MA

Distance ~ 180 miles

Our drive times have not decreased proportionally with the distance traveled mostly due to slower speed limits and traffic.  Those long drives on open roads out to west Texas driving 80 mph seem pretty good right about now.  

The plan in Amherst was to: 1. track down all of Brett's, Colleen's, and Bonesaw's recommendations, 2. for Cara to coach at NUTC, and 3. for Hud and me to go for a hiking adventure in Vermont.  Huge thanks to Jeff Babbitt for housing Hud and me in his apartment while he and Cara coached!

NUTC was held on the Amherst College campus.  There are 5 colleges in this small town.  It was a few days before I realized that Amherst College was not UMASS, the school Brett attends.  Hud and I later took a walking tour of the UMASS campus.  This beautiful campus is where Cara spent 6 days coaching high school ultimate players.  From her telling it was a professionally run camp that provided great opportunities for these kids to learn and play ultimate, something that everyone there was extremely passionate about.

Hud looking out from the Amherst College campus towards the Holyoke Mountains.

Trying out Hud's newish doggy pack on the Robert Frost Trail in the Holyoke Mountains. (Colleen/Bonesaw's reccomendation: Check!)  This was our test run before we went deeper into the woods for our Vermont backcountry adventure.  After this ten mile hike I found five ticks on Hud.  Thankfully they were all easily removed because of his new tick collar.  Thanks Katelyn for the tick warning before we left!  You were clearly not exaggerating on how big of a problem it is in the northeast.

Hud and I had a day of reading, swimming, and relaxing at Puffer's Pond. (Brett's recommendation: Check!)  Hud and I were ready for our Vermont adventure.  Green Mountains here we come!

Hud and I hiked a stretch of the Appalachian/Long Trail in Green Mountain National Forest to our campsite next to Griffith Lake.  It was a great experience hiking on the AT and meeting a few of the thru-hikers along the way.  For most of the hike you feel boxed in because the forest is so dense and because the mountains have been weathered for many moons (most are around 3,000 feet), so you are never above the tree line for those big horizon amazing views.  After setting up camp we continued our hike to Baker Peak in the hopes of finding the big view we had been missing.

Baker Peak did not disappoint!  Our efforts were rewarded with a beautiful view of the surrounding valley.  Enough walking, time to enjoy the lake.

I love taking pictures of mountain streams.  This is one that we passed along the trail that eventually lead into Griffith Lake.

Another view from Baker Peak.

Griffith Lake!  There were only two others campers at this site so we had plenty of time to swim, think, nap, and swat horseflies.  The smack of Hudson's mouth trying to catch the flies buzzing around his head was the loudest noise by far.

Hudson tuckered out after his big day of hiking.  Ten miles with his doggy pack put a toll on him.  The next morning we hiked out back to our car to drive Highway 100 north a scenic byway to Lake Champlain.

Scenic Byway 100

Hud enjoyed smelling and watching the cows while I enjoyed the ice cream they helped make at Flayvors, another recommendation from Brett.

Next stop, Maine!  

New Jersey and NYC

Drive #3 

Outer Banks, NC to Bloomfield, NJ 

Distance ~ 430 miles 

In 2004 I moved to Atlanta, GA to play ultimate with their women's team, Ozone. At the time, I only knew 2 people there, Katherine Wooten and Eileen Murray. I played Savage 7, one of my all time favorite tournaments (for no good reason) with them that January, and decided to take a leap of frisbee faith and live there for a season. Eileen found out shortly after "playing" with us at Savage (I say "playing" because she mostly spent the entire tournament hacking a lung out on the side of the field) that she had lymphoma. So I struck a deal to live with her and Chris (then her boyfriend), their 4 dogs, and her tarantula for free rent in exchange for doing her bidding. I grocery shopped, vacuumed, worked a few odd jobs (fabrication/construction and temping mostly), vacuumed, went to practice, entertained them with my gullibility, worked out, and vacuumed some more. It was awesome, except for the whole cancer part. They have since bounced around while Eileen finished 2 masters and a PhD in education, and landed in Bloomfield, NJ where Eileen is a professor and Hatton works in graphic design (he's a talented artist). 

Hatton the dog whisperer working his magic on Hudson. When I lived with them in Atlanta they had 4 large dogs: BJ, Wanda, Keisha, and Cody. Only Wanda is left of those dogs, but they've since acquired a hound/great dane mix named Hurley Grace. 

We hung out, worked out with Eileen, hung out with their adorable kids Max and Joseph, and talked about coaching (Eileen was the assistant coach to the New York professional MLU team the New York Rumble and now she and Chris are co-coaching the local men's club team, Garden State Ultimate). It was the perfect stop to catch up and also get in the coaching mindset for spending a week coaching high schoolers at the National Ultimate Training Camp, or NUTC, in Amherst, MA (my next stop). 

Bloomfield is only a 30 minute bus ride to New York, NY. So on Friday we convinced Eileen to venture out with us into THE BIG CITY! I'd been wanting to check out the High Line park, an inventive use of an out of commission raised rail line that they converted to a walking green space. It was a beautiful respite from the bustling city, and incredible how a little greenery 20 feet off the ground can neutralize so many of the sounds and smells of the city. It was like being in a completely different world. 

Eileen and I on the High Line. 

We also stopped at the Chelsea Market, a hipster foodie paradise of artisan cheese, seafood, meat, and donut shops. It was a cool space in the former Nabisco factory, and I would highly recommend grabbing some grub there for anyone who loves food. Unfortunately, due to Lil' Bit (the newest name), I couldn't imbibe the local craft beer that the Eileen and Mike were enjoying. 

Great view from the top floor of the Whitney

The Whitney Museum of American Art had just reopened after moving to new digs, so I took the opportunity to soak up some culture. Meanwhile, Mike and Eileen went to drink beer at a local pub. It was a beautiful building, and arranged in an appealing way based on chronological periods of American history, from the top floor down. I thought they did a good job connecting the artistic style with the social and historical context of the time. 

Some of my favs: 

Loved this one. It spoke to me of the hero worship that I believe is an integral part of American culture, mostly to a negative degree (imo).  

A funny sculpture with Jasper Johns' famous American flag piece in the background. Jasper Johns' use of bold color, symbols, and maps appeals to pretty much all of my artistic leanings. 

Mike and I, once again, on the High Line. 

We tried, in an unmatched bout of optimism and naivety (even for Mike!), to take Hudson to watch the fireworks for 4th of July at their local park. It was packed, and the minute the fireworks started going off, Hudson absolutely lost his shit. To be fair, it was  frighteningly loud and right over our heads. I'm sure he is suffering from PTSD because every time he hears a remotely loud noise, he ducks for cover. 

Thanks to Eileen, Hatton, and the kids for hosting us. I did a lot of growing up when I lived with them in Atlanta in 2004, and they will always hold a very special place in my heart as incredible people and friends.