Notes and photos from our big trip north, September-October 2013

1. Anne and Jeff’s Grand 2013 Northbound Adventure
Tuesday, September 24th
Left Barnardsville by
way of some errands in
Asheville, then made it to
Jonesborough with time to
look around and have lunch
before the matinee at the
International Storytelling
Center and meeting with
executive director, Kiran
Sirah. Very excited about
the possibility of future
work and writing/speaking
opportunities with this
organization.
Wednesday, September 25th
After dinner at the Mill Room in Stauton,
VA (artichoke chicken and salmon salad),
we spend the night in the historic
Stonewall Jackson Hotel. The next
morning we toured the town on foot.
Nice architecture, especially around
the old train station. We headed north
through the Shenandoah National
Park, but didn’t see the area that we
remember from our last trip to New
Jersey. It must be nearby.... but we didn’t want to be too late getting to NYC. As it was, we
came in in the dark and went to the wrong apartment building! Thanks to Fergie, we corrected
the error of our ways and successfully parked (on the street!) in the Bronx.

2. Thursday, September 26th
Up early for a meeting in Times Square with Eddie (with
the folks behind Angry Birds.. really!), then some touring
on our own before taking transit to Queens to meet with
Fergie and his team at LaGuardia Community College.
Lunch was swanky and delicious, but interrupted by a
situation back at the school. Glad we got to tour a bit
on our own ahead of time. Afterwards, we took the
train back to the Grand Central Station area where we
did some hipster shopping for Jeff (great new sweater)
and worked a while in the food court. Quiet evening at
the “Pixel” (Ed is recovering from surgery) and a great
night’s sleep!
Friday, September 27th
Living the NYC lifestyle by working at the apartment with
Ed all day. Exactly the experience we were hoping for!
The apartment is great, many additions to the decor
since I was there last. Delicious dinner of carrot soup
and smoked chicken, care of Edwardo, and a high school
football game viewed from 18 floors above.

3. Saturday, September 28th
Morning ‘round the
apartment (complete with
Columbia University marching
band serenade), then
“entrepreneurs’ brunch” at
New Leaf before hitting the
road for Providence. The
drive through Connecticut was
gorgeous, really highlighting
the fall leaves. It was good to
travel some new roads. Saw
several beautiful bridges, and
Mystic is as magical as ever.

4. Arrived in Providence in the late afternoon and had to run off like crazy kids to find all our old
haunts. The apartment building is somewhat changed (washers and dryers in the basement
and Star Market is now a Whole Foods!), but College Hill is still familiar. Downtown, however,
is completely changed. Uncovering the canal is just one detail, the whole place is crazy busy
with a real tourist focus (who’d a thunk it possible?). We had a dinner with Antonio Peters at
Bravo. What a gentleman! We had a great time and he tolerated the “old timers” quite well!
ADRP friends thought we were crazy to miss Waterfire, but we knew we could see that on
Tuesday.

5. Sunday, September 29th
Our first full day apart. Anne was up and out
of the room before 8:00am and we didn’t see
one another again until after dinner, around
9:00pm. Anne’s whole day was dedicated to
the ADRP board meeting (good, but not the
best we’ve had... it started to drag on. I do
enjoy seeing these friends. Patricia is
determined to lure us to Detroit; Jeff would
prefer a visit to Ashleigh in Montreal. Jeff
setting up Heurista- and home-away-fromhome central at the Providence Omni.
Monday, September 30th
Conference in full swing, and knocking a
big dent in the day for Anne (and Jeff). Jeff
busy keeping the Heurista juggernaut in
action while taking some time to explore the
area. Interesting having Robin at the table at
breakfast (we acknowledged one another, but
no more).
Dinner at Aspire with Nina and Emily from
College of Charleston. A little too fancy for
our liking (really, who needs beet foam?)
Bummed that there wasn’t time to work in a
visit to Big Nazo puppet theater; we’ll have
to make sure to get there when we’re back
in two weeks.
Jeff is property shopping everywhere we go.
The Dynamo on Weybossett Street is a little
more than anyone can handle, but this florist
compound on Hope Street, just before Thayer
Street, might just fit the Heurista bill!

6. Tuesday, October 1st
More of the conference, but the pace is picking up. Anne scrambling to keep all the plans she
made straight. RISDiversity presentation was a huge hit! A little bummed that we missed the
festivities at the cocktail party, but we had a very nice dinner at New Rivers with Julia Emlen.
Local fare, fancy but not silly. Anne is super excited about being asked to participate in top
level think-tank about the profession led by Julia. And, as a Rhode Islander, she gave us a
primer in what’s what in the “new” Providence.
After dinner, we met Ashleigh, two folks
from her McGill University team and
Kourtney (for a total of four Canadian
women... you know Jeff was happy) for a
gondola ride in the Providence River and
in and around the Waterfire. Wow, is that
well done! The gondola driver sings and
tells stories and they have great music at
the “burn”. A real highlight of the trip.
Wednesday, October 2nd
This was the “big day” for Anne at the
conference, even though it was the
shortest. Two presentations (first with
the Newseum, then with the Darla Moore
School of Business) went well. And sweet
Jeff got us out of the Providence hotel
and into a little roadside motel, the Surfside at
Charlestown Beach in southern Rhode Island. It
was a great way to change gears, see more of
the state and have a long, much needed night
of sleep before heading into the second phase
of the trip.
Thursday, October 3rd
Decided to travel the slow route north through
Newport, and so very glad that we did! It is
obviously not much changed, but we never
really took the time to explore when we were
there. We saw lots of sights, including the old
town shopping area, the docks (who knew
there’s an International Yacht Restoration
School?) and many a mansion. We were
curious about Salve Regina University and will

7. be looking into that further. Great
lunch in a streetside café; Anne had
fish and chips and Jeff had an Italian
chicken sandwich. Hard to decide
which was better. Got on the road
a little later than we’d meant to
and got in some big-time traffic in
Boston. We hear it is like that all
the time, but wow, what a mess.
Anne was on a call as we were going
through tunnels and a tangle of
bridges that make Atlanta’s Spaghetti
Junction look straightforward! Good
‘ole Jeff got us through!
We arrived in Portland, ME right at
dark, finding our AirBnB house with
relative ease. Folks have laughed at the queen-sized
bunk bed in our studio room, but we loved it (Jeff
was just really tired)! It got Anne day-dreaming
about living that way again (although I don’t know
that sharing a bathroom with the folks next door is
a long-term plan). Jeff joked that he felt like he was
staying with a cousin he didn’t really know.
We had fun walking around Portland
(the hipsters there give Portland, OR,
Asheville and Brooklyn a run for their
money!). Our beef ramen at Miyake
was good and different from any
we’d had before, and Anne got really
excited about the Baby Jimmy’s
cider, so much so that we visited
the Urban Farm Fermentory before
leaving town! The fish market was a
highlight, and we enjoyed imagining
all the properties we might buy.

8. Friday, October 4th
Leaving the “big” city of Portland behind, Friday was the start of our rural Maine exploration,
and we loved it! We didn’t realize Maine is so close to Rhode Island... why were we never here
before? In every town we passed through we found beautiful buildings we talk about buying
(none really rational considerations, and some downright fantasy-based conversations, but boy
is it fun!) We stopped so many times (and could’ve stopped so many more), that if we were
doing it again, we’d stay over somewhere between Portland and Bar Harbor. We had a great
lunch in the waterfront park in Bath; glad we didn’t rush by that.

9. We rolled into Bar Harbor at nearly 8pm, checking into our
very Victorian B&B, the Mira Monte Inn. Our room is so
quaint, including a woodstove, balcony and lace curtains.
Thanks to Jeff’s good planning, we had a delicious picnic
of smoked turkey, apples, cheese and cocktails in our own
room and fell into the fluffy bed for a great night’s sleep.
Saturday, October 5th
Up in time to enjoy breakfast
with our very “Maine”
hostess (bossy...., but really
just forthright) and fellow
housemates. Delicious
pear ginger muffins, organic
oatmeal with homemade
granola and maple syrup and
baked eggs. We didn’t yet try
the steamed (not boiled) egg;
we’ll save that for tomorrow
morning.
Luckily, our hostess has no
fear of circumnavigating
the government shut down
that would keep us out of
the Acadia National Park
(you won’t be able to see it
either, as they shut down the
website, too!) We received
several pointers on where and

10. how to drive through state roads
that traverse the park or walk in on
private trails that then meet the
park. Our one foray into that, at the
Rockerfeller carriage roads near Seal
Harbor, was pretty but tame, very
manicured gravel roads and ponds.
It was nowhere near as enjoyable as
our accidental find at the Cooksey
Road coastline overlook! We were
able to climb all the way down to
the water, walk in the woods and
see the lobster boats at work. That
is an experience that we wouldn’t
trade for any amount of Acadia
Park driving tour. We’ll be headed
back to the park tomorrow to see
what we can sneak into! Oh, and
we may have to go back to gape
at Ravenscleft, Jeff’s biggest lust
property yet!

11. We “lunched” (after 2:00) at Stewman’s Lobster Pound in downtown Bar Harbor, where
we could watch the water taxis and tour boats. Anne went for the traditional lobster bake
(complete with chowder, mussels, corn and
potatoes) and Jeff had the Seafood Basket (fry up
everything and serve it with fries). We washed
that deliciousness down with local beers and

12. topped it off with blueberry pie ala mode
(it came with the meal, or we would’ve
deferred)! We had to walk that off by
strolling through the tourist shopping area
downtown, looking at other properties
as we went along. A young woman at
one shop explained that she’ll be leaving
town for the ski resorts soon. She says,
“It’s too cold to even go outside here in
the winter!” Our hostess, a native of the
area with most of a century’s experience
behind her wrinkled facade said, “Oh, she
must be a tourist!”
Sunday, October 6th
This morning Jeff braved the steamed
egg, which was basically a boiled egg that
required the overtly hands-on-your-food
intervention of our hostess for it to be
peeled her way! Anne opted for the waffle
with real maple syrup... and the baked
eggs, the blue berry muffin and a sliver of
the apple caramel cake and
some coffee. (Don’t worry, we later
hiked it off.)
After packing up our stuff (which by now had
grown to an embarrassing number of bags), we
visited College of the Atlantic, one of the schools
we learned about in looking for progressive
liberal arts colleges with Rachel.
The campus is beautiful and proud of
their eco-friendly principles in action.
We were impressed by the community
bike collection (take any one, just put
it back) and sad to have missed the
Starship Enterprise, which we saw pulling
away from the pier as we arrived.

13. On the road north, we happened upon what turned
out to be one of the best adventures of the whole
trip. Having had such good luck with the Cooksey Road
Overlook, we took the quick turn onto the gravel when
we saw a sign for the Bog Brook Preserve. Looking at the
simple sign there, we discovered that it was a 1.3 mile
hike in, with the promise of a beach at the other end.
Knowing us, we were a little concerned about hunters
(given the “are
you wearing
orange sign),
time and terrain,
but in we went
anyway.
It

14. was a magnificent
hike through lots
of different terrain,
with spectacular
vistas, fun log
bridges through
the bogs and a
spectacular beach
on the very chilly
Atlantic!
The drive north took us
by a lot of small villages
where people live and
work of the ocean or
the trees, not tourists,
wide expanses of old
mountains and blueberry
farms. We watched (with
secret glee) as our cell
service and all roadside
signs disappeared.

15. Just before sunset, we arrived at the Whale Watch Motel on Campobello Island, one short
bridge over the border into Canada. Every bit the “motel” (sliding glass doors looking onto
the parking lot with two plastic whales), we had a great time there because the proprietor
was so nice. Her first instructions: “If you hurry, you can get out to the lighthouse before dark.
You’re not going to be able to do that in the morning.” So, without unpacking the car or even
acknowledging a desire to see the lighthouse, we set off. Luckily we paid a little attention
to the remainder of the instructions: “The stairs will be slippery, follow the orange dots and
don’t stay out there more than an hour.” What you can’t fully comprehend from the photos
is the fact that the tide in the Bay of Fundy is so dramatic, that for a short window at low tide,
it is possible to walk across the bottom of the bay - 28 feet below the parking lot. Yes, that is
seaweed we are walking through!

16. Monday, October 7th
Monday morning started with a little panic
over how to participate in an international
conference call, but our hostess came to
the rescue yet again, letting me use her
landline. The weather thwarted our plans
to go whale watching, which was a bit of a
disappointment, as they had been having
such good luck with the sightings. However,
it made for a very dramatic drive around the
island and visit to the cliffs.

17. As we left Campobello, Jeff spied a whole
group of seals in the water near the
bridge. Because the ferry was closed for
the season, we drove to Saint Stephen to
cross into Canada, headed for St. John.
Saint John turned out to be more industrial than we’d anticipated (think Tacoma, Washington),
but we loved the architecture and the grittiness of the areas outside the tourist zone. Our
third floor room in the Chipman Suites was great! That night we went out for dinner. If you
find yourself in the Saint John’s Ale House, I heartily recommend the roasted cauliflower, with
sardines and capers, and Andrew (yes,
Canada has hipsters, too!) was great at
recommending local beers.

18. Tuesday, October 8th
The next morning we set out to give
the area around us a better look.
We were right in the heart of all
things touristy, with nice parks, and
a waterfront. The restaurants are
right on the pier, in a shopping mall
that also includes the convention
center, museum and the town
library. Jeff was impressed by the
community input sessions about a
future development project going
on while we were there. Anne was
intrigued by the fact that everything
was connected in ways that would
allow one to move around without
going outside... and into the snow.
We visited Market Square, the
oldest market in Canada for some
shopping, including groceries for our
in-out-room pasta later that night.
And we like our hotel so much, we decided
to fix a picnic lunch there, too, outside on
the picnic table. The house was really fancy,
and while our room was small, it was quaint

19. and well appointed. We loved the fancy windows.
Anne’s guess is that it used to be a study.
We ended our sight-seeing for day with what has been
called, “The Ugliest Tourist Attraction Ever” – the
reversing rapids of the St. John River. Again, because
the Bay of Fundy is such a wild and dramatic place, this
is a rocky stretch of river where tectonic plates meet
in such a dramatic way that the river literally changes
course at low tide, creating a dramatic churning of
water and some awesome whirlpools. The problem
is, someone decided that it would also be a really
convenient spot for a pulp mill. So, there we found
ourselves, with two bus loads of tourists, watching the
sunset over a river (which only flowed one way while
we were there). Impressive... well, in theory anyway!
We were even less impressed as we left the next
morning to see all of the foam discharged onto the
river (now flowing towards the city) by the mill.

20. Wednesday, October 9th
In all honesty, it would be an unfair recounting if
our travels if we did not admit that by this point
we were becoming a little testy with one another,
with the car, the bags and the travel. But, being
Anne and Jeff, we rose above it (or at least spattted
just a bit, laughed it off and kept on driving). This
was one of the “big travel days”, roughly 8 hours
from St. John’s to Laconia, New Hampshire. We
had a tense moment coming back into the United
States when the car was opened by the border
guard looking for firearms, tobacco, alcohol, fresh
fruit or veggies. He made no complaint about the
Honduran banana, which in fact we had brought
into Canada without question but he was quite

21. suspicious about the feather Jeff had on the dashboard. When we
clarified that it was found on the U.S. side of the border, we were
allowed to pass, feather intact (now why was this guy working, but
the rest of the U.S. government is shut down?)
We arrived at our lakeside destination just as the sun was setting,
another motel, this one named the “Lazy E”. Jeff was skeptical, but
Anne was instantly in love. It is a 1940’s roadside attraction that
includes six motel rooms, several cabins and a couple of “suites”
tucked up under the office, all looking out on Lake Winnipesaukee,
the sixth largest lake in the U.S., after the Great Lakes. It was just
as hokey as it could be, but then, so was the whole Wiers Beach
community! Anyone would have to admit, the bring your own
beverage outdoor “lounge” with a 50” television fitted into an old
boat is pretty darn cool!
Thursday, October 10th
After sleeping in, we put up a pretty good front
working for a while, then did a tour of lakeside
homes from the car. There were beautiful cabins,
and the lake is pretty, but this area was too touristy
for our tastes. The New Hampshire vacation
destination equivalent of Pigeon Forge, complete
with pancake houses and putt-putt golf, all recently
closed for the season. And the weather was
beginning to follow suit. The evening was cold, grey
and blustery. We decided to invest the evening in a
movie a the theater, a rarity for those who live way
out in Barnardsville! We saw Gravity, which was
good and well-attended in the world’s tiniest threescreen first run theater.

22. When we got back to the Lazy E,
Anne was determined to get in
the hot tub. After interrupting the
proprietor’s dinner to get him to
open it up, we blew a big blast of
visible breath from our balcony and
headed in. Wasn’t it sweet of Jeff
to join in? (He really didn’t want to,
but he sure loves Anne.)

23. Friday, October 11th
The day started as only Anne would start it... with a swim in Lake Winnipesaukee! That lasted
less than 30 seconds because it was W-A-A-A-A-Y too cold! This time, Jeff was a spectator only.
After thawing, we hit the road for
travel south to Providence, stopping
along the way for apples and the
apple cider donuts Heather urged
us to find (and oh, what a delicious
recommendation that was!).
We stopped for Bob & Timmy’s
wood-fired pizza (as recommended,
by Antonio), which was fabulous!
After checking in at the RISD event, we headed for our
AirBnB “apartment” in Warren, RI, now our favorite
of all our accommodations on the trip! The house
is adorable and apparently decorated by our soul
brother and sister. Anne fell in love with the crazy
crocheted flower throw on the couch, and Jeff perked
up to the sounds of some Friday night guitar practice.
During a run to the local post office and a Ned’s frozen
lemonade (a local delicacy), we decided to forego the
evening activities in Providence because we were so
enjoying Warren and the surrounding areas. We took a
drive, visited Colt State Park, found lots of property and
boats for Jeff to lust after and hit the grocery store for
a made in “our” apartment dinner of farm stand corn,
zucchini and tomatoes with pork chops.

24. Saturday, October 12th
Okay, today we made up for any shortage on our
exercise quota for the trip! We were out of bed and at
RISD by 8am. We did a bit of walking on our own, later
followed by a guided historical tour of the campus,
followed by more walking, followed by walking through
the six floors and three buildings of the RISD Museum,

25. followed by a walk around downtown and then a walk along the river for Waterfire. All total,
we were pretty much on our feet for 8 hours or so our of an 11 hour outing! Seeing the
school was fun and the event was very well attended, but I really
didn’t encounter anyone I remembered until we met up with
Erminio Pinque of Big Nazo Puppets! He seemed to recognize
me and was astonished that Jeff remembered seeing
him in Rome... in 1986! That was the highlight of
the “reunion”.

26. Sunday, October 13th
Dedicated to rest and relaxation, today we woke up
late, ate breakfast in (cheddar cheese and pears from
the New Hampshire farm stand) and went to the
laundromat and car wash to put ourselves back in
order. With that done, we headed into Providence,
thinking we’d check out some things we’d missed.
What we found was the Columbus Day celebration
on Federal Hill, which we knew about, but hadn’t
really planned to attend. The Italian community in
Providence uses this holiday to
invite the whole diverse city up
to the top of the hill for cheesy
music, spectacular food and the
best people (and pet) watching
ever. We ate oysters and spicy
lobster wantons followed by a visit
to Pastiche for three desserts for
two people, plus cappuccino and
hot chocolate. Back to the Warren
apartment too fat and happy to do
anything but watch some Netflix.
Monday, October 14th
We left Warren, still in a “we should travel the road
less traveled” mentality. Between Rhode Island
and Connecticut, that was less impressive than one
would’ve thought. We didn’t really stop to take in
the highlights as we should, and we’ll regret missing
some spots like East Beach in Rhode Island (a favorite
when we lived there) and the quaint seaport town of
Mystic, CT.

27. We visited with Tina and John at their
beautiful home on the river in Deep
River, CT. It was good to get to see
them there, as they say that they will
soon be moving to build their own
home on hillside property across the
road, careful to avoid a highly-taxed
view of the water.
Leaving there, Anne’s wanderlust
took us on a new route, west through
more of Pennsylvania. Enjoyed the
Blue Colony Diner in Sandy Hook, CT,
were amazed by the Hudson River, and
had to push (hard) to make it as far as
Harrisburg, PA for the night.
Tuesday, October 15th
We woke up, determined to find
something fun to do. Harrisburg was
not a scheduled stop and we knew
nothing about it. The National Civil
War Museum sounded worthwhile,
but a bit further out of our way and

28. not very uplifting. Next on the online list of top hits
was the Capitol... an unusual stop for us, but pretty
darn impressive! And we found a great stop for
urban breakfast right near by. As we left town, we
were craning our necks to look at the various bridges
and islands in the Susquehanna River. We’ll make
plans to come back.
With that, we hit the road for the long drive home.
The Shenandoah Valley is beautiful, but we’d seen
it before and it stood between us and home. Jeff
is the superhero who does most of the driving, yet
he was willing to make a significant stop at a great
“antiques” mall and then lunch at the Southern
Diner in New Market, VA. Once we got back in the car after that, it was rest stops and gas
alone, as the couch... then our OWN BED were calling! Nonetheless, Jeff had to stop for his
lottery ticket habit, and went straight for the guitars when we got in the door!