Bring Out Your Inner Slovak

Something that Spike and I have come to realize is that the weekends in Portland don't always necessarily mean that we'll have a ton of things to do. In San Francisco, we could take the train into the city and find some new restaurant or activity to experience every time. Portland isn't that kind of town - it's small even though its Maine's largest city.

This past Friday was no different. We'd finished dinner and were sitting on the couch watching tv at 8:00 when the feeling of being bored and lame came to us both at the same time. We asked ourselves, "When did we become some boring? What's wrong with us?" It is understood that we don't find each other boring, just the situations that we've found ourselves in lately. So Spike went back to the New York Times article (posted in the entry before this one) and suggested we go bowling. Sure, it seems like one of those last resort kind of things, but we were desperate to get out of the house.

Bayside Bowl is a fancy looking bowling alley that doesn't bring back memories of those seedy types you remember from being a kid. No obnoxious carpet, no cigarettes allowed, no arcade games, and certainly no soggy nachos with fake "queso." This place has a real kitchen with a menu and a full bar. Not to mention a stage with a band playing there that night! We were in for a treat. We put our name down to reserve an alley and got a beer while we waited.

The band that was playing that night was Slavic Soul Party. I can't liken it to anything specific because I really think they're the only band that does this kind of music. Take a New Orleans funeral procession. Now make them white and add one hispanic dude. Now make them play eastern European music, but put a funky soul beat behind it. Now you have the band. These guys killed. The drummers came off the stage a few times, trumpeters and trombonists soloed and the accordion player serenaded. We cancelled our lane and just listened to the band. And danced. And smiled. Now does anything like this exist in Texas? I don't know, but I'm just glad they came up to entertain us for the evening so we didn't have to watch "Bruce Almighty" on Fox.

Only Going to be Here for 36 Hours?

Ever wonder what you could do in Portland if you came to visit Spike and me? Well the New York Times has it all planned out for you! I realize that there's quite a bit listed, but you could do whatever you wanted. The best part is that Portland is so small that you wouldn't be in the car for most of the time. Check out the article here!

A Foggy Day in Portland Town...

This morning I came back from dropping Spike off at work and I saw this spiderweb attached to the clothesline at the back of the house. It seemed so picturesque because it was foggy, which made dew collect on the web. I came back downstairs and took four pictures - this was the third. I hope you can imagine the stillness of the morning and appreciate nature's gift as much as I did. Click on the image for a bigger (and better!) view.

The Subaru Obsession

When I was a teenager, I somehow got it in my head that I wanted...no, NEEDED to get this Volkswagen Jetta. It was a cute, small, sporty car that I thought fit my lifestyle. Everywhere we went I'd point out the Jettas. They were everywhere! Or so I thought. Before that, it was this Kia Sportage, but let's not go there.

These days, I've seen a lot of Subarus on the road here in Maine. I never gave the Subaru a second thought until I seemed to notice them around town. I always thought the earlier models of the Forester were really awful, but it's seemed to pull its act together and redesigned the body. But back to my point...there's a lot of those cars around this area. I wouldn't have the slightest clue as to why, but it might give you an indication that they're good here in the winter. This year they discontinued their LL Bean (a Maine-based company as discussed in an earlier post) edition cars. Kind of like how Ford had the Eddie Bauer edition Explorers. Have I lost you completely? Warning: serious off topic subject coming up. I've always been the type of person to notice the slightest things that change or are wrong in areas around me. I could go on about how it bothers me when gas stations put their 8s in upside down (there IS a right-side-up) or when the fast food places use a W to replace the lost M (or the other way around). But I SERIOUSLY digress.

Since I started thinking about Subarus, I started doing research to find out more about them. Turns out they're really safe cars. Five stars on the government safety crash tests on all their models. I guess Mainers care about being safe on the slick roads during the cold months (I haven't gotten to the reliability research though). It never fails either that there's a kayak, canoe, or some of rack storage type thingy on the roof, i.e. they seem to live pretty active lifestyles. They don't care about the body style of their vehicles. It's a box on wheels that gets them from Point A to Point B.

I guess I'll just keep noticing the Subarus until something else catches my eye. But I swear there's tons of them around town!

You Wanted Canadians, eh?

You asked for it, you got it! In my first reader's poll, you told me that you wanted to read about Canadians more than Wal-Mart or the political air of the state. I followed this poll somewhat closely and Wal-Mart had a pretty good lead for a while, but the Canadians pulled out in front for the win, a first I'm sure (kidding!). So here goes nothing...

The first night that Spike and I were in Maine, we went to On the Border for dinner. It was something familiar in this strange place that we would call our "home away from home." On our way out of the restaurant, we saw a license plate from New Brunswick, Canada, which is just north of Maine. That started the awakening that we weren't in Texas anymore. Since then we've seen license plates from Quebec, Nova Scotia and other provinces close to Maine partially because the Canadian dollar has seen a boost. While it might not be a huge boost, they still come to Maine during these months for vacation, and a weaker American dollar has only helped.

Case in point, when my sister was here this past week we went down to the Maine/New Hampshire border where there are lots of outlet shops. In Van Heusen, Monica paid with her local bank's ATM card. The clerk didn't recognize it and asked if it was Canadian. Monica's answer? "No, it's Austin, Texan." This could have also been spurred on by the fact that there was a Canadian couple in there speaking French. Next we went into Aldo where I saw a pair of really great cowboy-ish looking boots. I tried the brown ones on, but wanted to compare with the black. Since they didn't have my size in black the clerk told me that they could ship them to me for free - if I lived in the US. I've never experienced anything like this! Was I American? Oh honey, you have no idea.

Vacationland Says it All

Maine isn't called Vacationland for no reason. My sister Monica recently was here in Portland for a week and took these pictures. These are quintessential Maine.

The Portland Head Light

The back of the Harbor Fish Market

Five Islands, Maine

After dinner at Five Islands Lobster Company

with two of the islands in the background.

Portland's Old Port

Cathedral Immaculate Conception

in the background.