We checked out of our tiny hotel room Sunday morning to make our way to Kennebunkport, Maine as part of the slow travel loop we’ll make to see some of the northeastern United States as we push the pause button and enjoy some of the natural beauty of our country before the holiday season. We will bask in the silence, unplug, and enjoy some quiet time focusing on each other – without deadlines and rushed agendas. I’ll go to bed early just to wake in time to catch the glorious sunrise in these places.
First on Sunday, though, Ada Limon! She was the keynote speaker for the closing session of NCTE 2024 – our 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky and has written such spellbinding poems about place and moments. I love How to Triumph Like a Girl, and her books The Carrying, The Hurting Kind, and Bright Dead Things, which contain a variety of her poems. My friend Fran Haley of North Carolina and I led a book study on The Hurting Kind last April, and we had trouble deciding on our favorite poems to discuss. If you haven’t read any of her work, I recommend beginning with The Carrying. It’s my favorite collection ~ perhaps because those poems spoke to where I was when I was reading them, needing the deep cerebral massage of her words.
Next, we grabbed an Uber to the airport to pick up the rental car to drive through the scenic places we’ve picked to stay. We’re hoping for some leaves left on the trees so that we can see the seasonal burst of color, and Boston gives us hope that we will see these magnificent sights.
Ah, but as we drove, they turned out to be few and far between, with a pop of red here or a last smattering of yellow there. Most of the trees are bare, and then – just like that – we cross the Maine state line and begin to see the magnificent pine and spruce trees. I’m smitten with the landscape, and it takes me back to the part I loved most about Route 66 when we traveled it a year and a half ago: the changing landscape of America (and of each state – because it changes from border to border) that helps me feel like I’ve seen the fingerprint of a place more than one lone city.
We checked into The Boathouse in Kennebunkport – right on the water with a balcony view of the harbor. Although the room isn’t much larger than the one we left in Boston, we fell in love with its decor and cozy feel. The colors of nautical navy and white, with warm woods, gave us the vibe of New England hygge, when the wind is whipping cold outside but it’s warm and glowing indoors.
Since we’d skipped lunch, we were hungry for supper early, so we headed downstairs to the restaurant directly beneath our room and shared a pair of crab cakes, a bowl of New England Clam Chowder, and a lobster roll. It was the perfect way to cap off the day before getting a hot shower, wrapping in the luxurious bathrobe, and retiring to read and write.
Tomorrow, we will piddle in town, try the lobster rolls at The Clam Shack that we have heard so much about, and then make the drive from Kennebunkport to Woodstock. We will share more of the journey as we go!
Common Threads 