Regentrification

So today we ventured 10 minutes across the bay, or 50 minutes by car, to Eastport. We can see Eastport from our house ... but it takes almost an hour to drive there. How silly is that?

When we were here 11 years ago, I would have guessed that Eastport would have been a complete ghost town by now. It was almost completely dead. It's waterfront was listless, faded ... nothing happening. You couldn't even get a cup of coffee in Eastport. Okay ... that may be the tiniest exaggeration. But it was on the way down.

That has changed. Not that things are booming now ... but there's even a Mexican restaurant in town ... La Sardina Loca (the Crazy Sardine - which has a fine logic in an old sardine factory!!) By northern New England standards it was fine Mexican fare ... for those of us who have had actual Mexican food, it was ... well ... shall we say ... um ... slightly commercial. But ... they're trying and we have to give them an A for effort.

There were several gift stores and LightGirl and I went shopping. LightBoy and LightHusband had fun "helping" the fisherfolk out on the wharves and taking pictures. Then we found another restaurant and I discovered that I'm slowly morphing into ... MY FATHER! (imagine horrible organ music here) Here's a funny thing up here in Maine that's on the menu almost everywhere ... Bread pudding. Okay ... so here's the list of things that you can't find down south that I have just been so happy to see all around me all week.

- Bread pudding - I love homemade bread pudding (this is evidence that I am morphing into my father ... if you knew him you'd be frightened).
- Beets on the menu everywhere - I love beets.
- Iced tea UNSWEET and I don't have to say it!!!! Because who in their right mind would put sugar in their iced tea for HEAVENSSAKE.
- Brown bread in a can (with and with out raisins) - this is to be steamed in the can and eaten for dinner on Town Meeting Day. Don't ask.
- In EVERY restaurant the sign when you walk in "Please seat yourself"
- There is not a grit, or an okra, or a hushpuppy to be found ... anywhere.
- Mosquitos are the state bird ... or think they ought to be. They are HUGE ... okay this does not make me happy ... but saying it's the state bird annoys LightGirl and that makes me happy in an annoying mom way.

Okay ... back to regentrification ... so we walked around beautiful downtown Eastport. And I tried to tell LightGirl about how dreadfully boring it is to grow up in a small town. But all she can see right now are the benefits. Like she could ride her bike anywhere. Like she doesn't get that that would be fun for about half an hour. Of course, my hometown is LOTS smaller than Eastport or even Lubec Maine ... so ... those might be different. She is very enamoured of small town life at the moment. UGH. Just the thought makes me claustrophobic. Of course, I grew up in the tiniest ... most pretentious little snotty town there ever was. Maybe it could be different somewhere else.

When we were done walking, shopping, helping the fisherfolk and taking pictures, we drove back to Lubec just in time for dinner and a piano concert at the gazebo. Well ... after the late lunch and dessert, LightBoy was the only one hungry enough for dinner. This picture here on the left is of the Masonic Lodge and the line for dinner. But we went down and listened to the music anyway and LightHusband took some more pictures. I worked on this little quilt I'm making and talked about the music with LightGirl ... she was convinced it was all just boring. I could see (it was alot of show tunes - lots of Gershwin - and without the words) how it would be kind of repetitive and boring. I had the words in my head ... but those of you who know me well, know that I shouldn't sing out loud. It's not pleasant. Or polite. I tried just saying the words to Porgy & Bess, but even that was embarassing to LightGirl, so I kept the words inside my head (as we like to say in our family).

So it was a good day and you have to check out my new picture in my profile ... it's from today. On the wharf at Eastport ... I think it goes with the whole "Light" theme I have going on my blog ... don't you?