Blankbaby

Over the last two weeks I’ve been on vacation (hurrah for working at a University!). Since Marisa had some book events scheduled in Vermont and Maine she suggested I come along, and a vacation was born!

Sadly, over those two weeks I also had to finish the draft of my latest book (details, details). However, it worked out well since while Marisa was out being famous I could write, write, write (also, thanks to my trusty laptop I could write and edit while we were driving).

Our first stop was the Ben and Jerry’s Factory tour:

I like this motto:

The Flavor Graveyard is where late lamented flavors go to die.

The spoils of the tour! Honestly, the tour was fun but it lasts about 15 minutes and you don’t see much. But they do give you a free sample.

Morning ice cream! pic.twitter.com/LjBV8N0oG2

— Scott McNulty (@blankbaby) August 20, 2014

Then it was off to Montpellier to visit the Vermont State House:

Ethan Allen, famed for his fine furniture.

Lincoln. Our tour was lead by a Vermont State representative. Who knew?

Every governor gets his portrait on the wall of the State House. When this one of Howard Dean was unveiled it was dubbed “L.L. Dean”:

Back to the Bed and Breakfast which was right on the water:

Then we scoped out Brunswick, ME and visited an indie bookstore:

And Bull Moose where I bought two mystery packages of books (one marked Sci-Fi and the other marked Star Trek) and got 10 books for $2:

Returned to the Bed and Breakfast. This place was great, and we had lovely conversations at breakfast. Two old ladies who have been friends for over 50 years have vacationed together here for the last 12 years. Crazy!

Our dinner views:

Lobster dip:

I could have gotten a lobster roll here, or two full lobsters but I opted for the lazy lobster tails. They were great:

I couldn’t resist:

The next morning included delicious donuts from Frosty’s:

Then it was off to Portland. As we drove to our hotel we passed this place:

I thought to myself, I wouldn’t want to eat there! But Yelp told me that Three Buoys had a great lobster roll so we went there for lunch. Yelp was not wrong:

When in Maine. pic.twitter.com/PgIHLqg8YV

— Scott McNulty (@blankbaby) August 23, 2014

We went to Eventide Oyster Company for a much more upscale dinner:

Fancy lobster roll is fancy. pic.twitter.com/aI2mggkzx3

— Scott McNulty (@blankbaby) August 24, 2014

The lobster roll was fine, but this ice cream sandwich was really good:

When in Portland you’re super close to L.L. Bean’s flagship store which is gigantic and open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We decided to check it out around 10pm:

I purchased both of these items.

I did not purchase this:

When in Portland you have to see a lighthouse. On our way to the lighthouse I had my first Tim Horton’s doughnut. It was fine.

My first Tim Hortons doughnut ever. pic.twitter.com/PP8rXgCKd9

— Scott McNulty (@blankbaby) August 25, 2014

This is Fort Williams Park:

A great time was had by all, and I kind of want to move to a cove in Maine or anywhere in Vermont.