A week in Maine

Jacque and Gordy France, Gary and Alice Wick, Karen and Richard Magin and I have just spent a week in York Maine....most of us to do some serious pleine air painting and a couple of the spouses simply to enjoy all that a New England seaside town has to offer.

The scenery is beautiful and the sun shone every day. However, it was rather hot, in the 90's every day and in an unairconditioined house. But the temperature dropped into the 60's and 70's every evening so everybody slept. The Frances and the Magins drove, the Wicks and I flew to Boston and rented a car. Before joining our group at the house, I enticed Gary and Alice to stop at Bosun's Landing for a lobster roll...the best in south Maine as far as I'm concerned. What a way to start!

Every day we wandered around the area, painting, photographing, drawing...Prescott Park in Portsmouth, Cape Neddick, the Garrison House on Rt. 91, the Pepperel House in Kittery, the town dock in York, by Sewell's Bridge again in York, Cider Hill in Eliot, and in front of the house overlooking the tidal pond.

Sometimes we stopped early enough to go down to the beach and take a dip in the rather frigid Atlantic. Some days we cooked at home....grilled salmon, grilled steak, steamed lobster. Other times we traveled to local restaurants. It was all delicious. In the evening we sat around the table with wine and upper New York State homemade beer, looked at Gary photos, played cards, made comments on the paintings we had drying on the screened in porch. It was relaxed and fun. Several very good paintings were created. Gary was disappointed that there was no fog. Most of us were delighted. On the last night it rained....big time...the next morning, before we had to leave, York was covered in fog. Gary took off with camera, happy as a New England clam. His pictures are great.