From Sea...

After flying into Manchester, NH we had lunch at a little restaurant recommended by the host at our B&B in Manchester.  We wanted to walk about the city but succumbed to the 90 degree temps and drove to Concord to see the state capitol building and the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium and discovery center.  Much of the center is hands-on student activities, just what I can imagine McAuliffe would have wanted.  (We came to find out later that Becky, Mike's new wife, has a brother who had McAuliffe as a teacher and her dad knew her from his business.)  Later that night we went to an IMAX theater to see Star Trek.  

The next day we we joined at breakfast by a couple from Wisconsin, originally from Michigan.  She grew up in Detroit--east side like me--and did her student teaching at Utica High School.  How many degrees of separation?  Afterward we walked down to the Merimack River, around the Millyard area which has old red brick textile mills now being used for offices and housing.  Then through downtown Manchester and a bite to eat at a diner.   We visited the Currier Museum and took a tour of the Zimmerman House, one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright--o much like the lake house.  After that we drove to York, Maine for lobster dinner with Mike and Becky, their families, and many of their friends.  Kathy was in seventh heaven with the fresh seafood.

Saturday morning we walked from our resort into downtown Ogunquit with the obligatory tourist shops, restaurants, and pubs.  The wedding was nearby at Clay Hill Farm.  Mike and Becky wrote the service which was performed by a close and longtime friend.  Met Mike's wonderful neighbors from D.C. and some of his longtime friends at dinner.  Then the music and the Eschenburg clan eventually changing into some comfortable clothes and doing the alligator which has become a tradition being passed down to another generation.  Afterward we relaxed with a walk on Ogunquit Beach reached via Marginal Way, a paved walk along the ocean edge overlooking small coves and inlets, and cliffs punctuated by the crashing waves on the rocks.

We visited Cliff House resort where Kathy spent summers giving workshops to educators in the northeast.  The cliffs are high, the rocks are large, the setting beautiful. Then a drive up the coast.  We eventually reached Old Orchard Beach that seems to be for teens and young adults with its carnival atmosphere.  On our return we stopped in Kennebunkport for lunch and a walk in scattered light showers.  We did not try to find the Bush compound but a few in our group quite by accident did.  We meandered back through some of the off-coast countryside and relaxed outside and read before joining the Eschenburg family for a night of pizza and pop and laughter.  

Before we broke camp Monday we walked to Perkins Cove along Marginal Way in the opposite direction as before--just as breathtaking in this direction.  Our drive to the airport took us along Shore Road through York Beach, downtown Portsmouth, NH (which was busy with people everywhere), then a walk in the historic district of Exeter, NH's Revolutionary War capital where we passed a house that predated the RW by about 70 years.  Then to the airport and home.

Great fun with a great family!!!