Today consisted of a short drive, a free family meal, a great show, a search for a hotel, and a new experience at McDonalds!
We woke this morning in New Hampshire. One thing that our family loves is constantly staying in new places. This particular hotel had an indoor pool, and we had some time before checkout. Baby Eli loves the water!
We woke this morning in New Hampshire. One thing that our family loves is constantly staying in new places. This particular hotel had an indoor pool, and we had some time before checkout. Baby Eli loves the water!
We headed toward Maine and immediately started looking for somewhere for lunch. Here in the Northeast (at least where we are), it seems that there's often nothing at the interstate exits,- gas, food, or otherwise. That's quite different from Cincinnati, Ohio, where there's every restaurant you could dream of at every highway exit. We were happy when we found a Taco Bell/ Long John Silver's combination restaurant. We've had a decent amount of Taco Bell on this trip but none of us have had Long John Silver's in a very long time. So, in we went, and we spent quite a while discussing the most cost-effective option. For six people, do you get individual meals, or do you go with the family deal which has 12 pieces of fish and chicken, or is it six of the 2- piece baskets and split those, or??? We finally decided on what to do and just as I was counting out the money, a random stranger steps in front of me and hands his credit card to the cashier. She asks what it's for and he points to us. It literally took me a few moments to realize that a complete stranger had just paid for my family's meal! Seriously? I thanked him and he said that he's a father of five and his youngest just graduated from college, so he has an empty house. He shook my hand but clearly didn't want to stick around, and out the door he went. Unbelievable! The things that just keep happening are amazing me every day!
We arrived at our venue in Maine (another short drive- awesome!). The church had signs set up in front and on the side road:
We arrived at our venue in Maine (another short drive- awesome!). The church had signs set up in front and on the side road:
Our load-in was smooth thanks to Pastor Will and a couple of local volunteers- thanks Matthew and Sebastien! I always appreciate when we have a few willing volunteers to help move everything. It means that I have that much more energy for the show! Our performance was very well received by a fun crowd. I still need to learn to take a good photo during the show- I think I blocked out more than 2/3 of the people here:
We had a really great time in Maine and hope to return soon. Thanks again Pastor Will!
So, we still had to find a hotel for the evening. How hard can that be? Well... if you know your way around Maine, it might be easy, but we don't, so... remember that there really isn't much off the highway exits? We drove to Kennebunkport and began the search. There were quite a few "specialty" hotels, but nothing that a family of our size could stay in for less than a zillion dollars. We went on another 9 miles to Wells, Maine, and at this point it was 10:30 P.M. Everyone was really hungry (we usually eat dinner after the show, because we have to be at the venue early enough that we've usually just had lunch, and that makes dinner late by necessity). Our only real option was McDonalds. Now, certain folks have differing views of McDonalds, but for me, it's one of my major food groups. When ordering, though, I did have an interesting conversation with the girl at the register. Clay likes a double cheeseburger but with no cheese, and it's usually no problem to get it that way, but this was a new one for me:
Me: I'd like a double hamburger with only pickles and ketchup, but no cheese- just a double hamburger.
Cashier: What? We don't have anything like that.
Me: Just a double cheeseburger but with no cheese, so... a double hamburger.
Cashier: We don't have that.
Me: (Not really sure what else I can say)- Can you do a double cheeseburger but without cheese?
Cashier (Hesitantly)- Umm... I'm not sure, I think maybe...
I had already ordered several items with no onion and with no mustard, but apparently "no cheese" is outside the allowable limits!
We had a good meal. We finally found a nice hotel in which the office was just about to close for the night, but the nice lady saw us turn into the parking lot and graciously rented us a room for the night. We've gotten proficient at rearranging the hotel room furniture to accommodate the inflatable mattress which we sometimes have to bring in. When deciding what to bring along for this long trip, I never would have thought of bringing along an air mattress, but my Mom insisted and I'm so glad she did. It has saved us countless times. Mother always knows best!
Tomorrow it's on to Massachusetts. Gotta say, these New England states are really beautiful. Can't wait to see them all!
So, we still had to find a hotel for the evening. How hard can that be? Well... if you know your way around Maine, it might be easy, but we don't, so... remember that there really isn't much off the highway exits? We drove to Kennebunkport and began the search. There were quite a few "specialty" hotels, but nothing that a family of our size could stay in for less than a zillion dollars. We went on another 9 miles to Wells, Maine, and at this point it was 10:30 P.M. Everyone was really hungry (we usually eat dinner after the show, because we have to be at the venue early enough that we've usually just had lunch, and that makes dinner late by necessity). Our only real option was McDonalds. Now, certain folks have differing views of McDonalds, but for me, it's one of my major food groups. When ordering, though, I did have an interesting conversation with the girl at the register. Clay likes a double cheeseburger but with no cheese, and it's usually no problem to get it that way, but this was a new one for me:
Me: I'd like a double hamburger with only pickles and ketchup, but no cheese- just a double hamburger.
Cashier: What? We don't have anything like that.
Me: Just a double cheeseburger but with no cheese, so... a double hamburger.
Cashier: We don't have that.
Me: (Not really sure what else I can say)- Can you do a double cheeseburger but without cheese?
Cashier (Hesitantly)- Umm... I'm not sure, I think maybe...
I had already ordered several items with no onion and with no mustard, but apparently "no cheese" is outside the allowable limits!
We had a good meal. We finally found a nice hotel in which the office was just about to close for the night, but the nice lady saw us turn into the parking lot and graciously rented us a room for the night. We've gotten proficient at rearranging the hotel room furniture to accommodate the inflatable mattress which we sometimes have to bring in. When deciding what to bring along for this long trip, I never would have thought of bringing along an air mattress, but my Mom insisted and I'm so glad she did. It has saved us countless times. Mother always knows best!
Tomorrow it's on to Massachusetts. Gotta say, these New England states are really beautiful. Can't wait to see them all!
RSS Feed