Maine-iacs

Where do I start? Maine is like no place I've ever been to, but it's like every New England town I've ever seen in movies with beautiful fall colors, bays and rivers, and little towns with buildings as white as its citizens. Slightly different from Baltimore.

We stayed with Charity's Aunt Jo and Uncle Clyde in their home in East Orland, which is a town that you kind of have to stumble upon if you don't know where you're going. Uncle Clyde proudly showed off the gas station he referred to as the "business district of East Orland." It is a very quiet town surrounded by lakes and trees and squirrels and turkeys and deer and . . . well, you get the picture. It was great. No computers. Poor cell phone service meant no phone calls. And no work or studying.

So, what do you do in a secluded town? Everything! We hiked, ran, canoed, kayaked (is that a word?), and even swam in a freezing pond. All of this surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen.

And what did I do while Charity did all of the athletic stuff above? I ate. I ate homemade everything in sight. And you can't go to Maine without having lobster, so we went to place with awesome lobster rolls. They were so good, you can see my neck veins in this picture.

None of these pictures of me eating are intended for comedy or to gross anyone out. They're simply proof that Charity feeds me.

We spent a lot of time in high altitude. We went up Cadillac mountain, Great Pond Mountain, and a very tall bridge with an observatory that looked over the town of Bucksport. We also got to visit many of the original birthplaces of . . . Charity's family. Most everyone I met in Maine grew up within a few miles of each other so it was cool to see the famous family landmarks like birthplaces and old houses.

We also got to visit the Fort (FORT! FORT!). Fort Knox in Maine is an old revolutionary war fort that was never actually used but has a lot of history nonetheless. Uncle Clyde gave us his guided tour which included him sneaking into fort after hours as a kid and tossing garbage cans down the hallways. (Uncle Clyde is in his 70s now, but you'd never know it when you see him lift a metal canoe over his head). We even got to hang out in the dungeons areas which were obviously made for smaller prisoners at the time.

And I got shot out of a cannon.

Charity's family was wonderful. I got to meet almost all of her east coast family and everyone approved of me (at least to my face). I even got to meet Charity's 97-year-old great grandmother who is sharper and funnier than most 27-year-olds I know. She told me to be a good doctor and take care of her Charity. She also told Kenda after I left that I was "a good old chap." Awesome.

We had a great time. It's so hard to describe Maine in words that I'm glad we have these pictures. I got made fun of for laying down in the grass, lagging behind while canoeing and carrying my camera everywhere to take these shots, but I know it was worth it.

Love,

Aaron and Charity