Expeditionary visit with mom

1) We went to the Tulluride by the Sea film festival at the
in Portsmouth. Neat old theater.







We saw Coco Avant Chanel, a very good indep. French film starring Audrey Tautou. We felt pretty darn intellectual. Then we drank pumpkin spice lattes at
, which also made us feel intellectual.


2) breakfast at the slightly odd restaurant,





3) house-museums and
, a 12 acre museum of homes running from colonial era to WWII. Mid-September, the gardens are still blooming with a hundred colors and the grass is still a lush green while at the same time, some of the trees are turning red and orange and yellow. COLOR! We history-buff nature lovers really enjoyed this place.

4) toured to the top of the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse.









then dinner at Petey's Lobster Shack on Rye Beach.

5) watched the Texas Tech vs. tu game. I have never turned on my TV, so mom just about freaked out when we couldn't figure out how to turn on the game on .
Oh and Jordan Shipley almost got impaled by Bevo.


6) I went to the 30 mile cycling race through historic downtown. I snagged a great spot in eye shot of the starting/finish line. I got a cold drink and wondered around the festival, then strategically balanced myself on a 4 ft. concrete pillar to watch the end. I had never been to a race before. It was fun.

7-9) I spent the evening on my own (while mom worked). I went to Sarah Goodwin's garden at Strawbery Banke and memorized plant and herb names for a long time. It was too lovely to leave. Summer is desperate! Fall is migrating southward. There are a few strawberries still on the patches, the morning glories are still glorifying themselves and the johnny jumps have yet to stop jumping. Some trees remain July-lush green and half of the other trees are red, organge, or orangy-red. I left there to go to another garden where I practice my expertise treeclimbing skills and balancing acts. I got some weird looks. Then I went and watched the sunset over the Pascataqua River from a dock at Prescott Park.

10) Rented
11) drove through the white mountains to see the beginnings of fall leaves. Then ate half orders of pasta at a really fun restaurant at the Inn at Mill Falls right on the Lake Winnepesaukee. So we watched the sunset over the water while we ate and that was so marvelous.


12) down to historic Boston and Plymouth on the way to

13) Cape Cod. Walking uphill on fine sand for a long distance works your quads. We drove out to the very tip of the cape and spent the night in a Provincetown.

14) Then Wednesday, we went to the Masalin's (the most kind and hospitable family I've ever met) house for dinner, which was oh so wonderful!

And then headed back to Maine. Mom left for Dallas today.