Day 6

 We woke up this morning and had a tasty breakfast at the hotel, including waffles. Our plan for the day was to drive up to Maine. 

We drove through the town of Hampton Beach, NH, which I'm pretty sure was where I celebrated my 20th birthday, fifty years ago, in a camper. As far as the town goes, I wasn't all that impressed. I'm finding that typical beach towns are not my favorites. 

We then stopped in Portsmouth, NH, which turned out to be a quaint New England town, which is something I really like. We walked around the downtown area and saw a beautiful church, along with picking up some finishing salt at a fancy kitchen shop. (FYI- it cost $3.00 to park)

From there, we continued to Portland, Maine, where it cost $40.00 to park! We walked around the downtown area enjoying the sights. We indulged in some yummy ice cream, bypassed the $40.00 lobster roll (We’d had one in Cape Cod a few years back and felt indifferent about passing them by), and were able to collect another thimble for my collection. 

When we left, we were hungry and decided to stop somewhere for some more reasonably priced food. We made the mistake of exiting at Old Orchard Beach, ME, where we were stuck in traffic way too long as we attempted to escape from another beach town. Old Orchard Beach just solidified my opinion of beach towns. 

We had a sandwich for dinner back at the hotel. Thank goodness for that loaf of Artisan bread that I packed. 

By this time, my side was really giving me the blues. Before leaving Texas, I had been coughing for about a week. The day we left, I reached over to pick up the cat carrier out of the front seat. I think between the coughing and the weird angle of lifting the cat, I must have pulled a muscle in my side under my arm. 

What is it about me and pre-vacation injuries? Two years ago, when we visited California, I had a broken toe and had to basically wear flip-flops in November wherever we went.