It was a real treat to be in a home instead of a hotel and Bob and Marge provided some wonderful home cooked meals of steak and lobster. (Eat your Hearts out!)
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| The volunteer is trying to stop me taking this picture. Oh Oh too late! |
After a leisurely breakfast they took us to Salem, where we went to the Peabody Essex Museum of Art. I especially enjoyed the display of very large canvases of American artists and was amazed that such large canvases could be done in such meticulous detail.
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| Bob and Marge coming out of the Museum and a Revere Bell-left corner |
Then we had lunch and left Salem, seeing some witches and the Witch Museum on the way home.
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| Bob returning from a short drive in the MGA |
We have been watching "Irene" very carefully for the last few days, and decided that it would be prudent to leave Boston a day early and get in front of the storm, to an area where it's power will be diminishing. Our cousins were fully expecting to lose power and possibly have some trees down in their yard. It seemed our best bet would be to head for the Maritimes as the brunt of the storm was to hit northwest of Boston. We had two nice days travelling the 450 miles to Saint John NB. On the way we stopped at some outlet malls in Kittery and Ellsworth to do some shopping. The first day to Bangor was mainly big highways but the second day we took Hwy 1 and 1A along the coast.
It is an area of green rolling hills, forests, lakes and ocean inlets. The road is winding and mainly in good shape so the MG was happy. It is dotted with quaint villages, some established in the 1700's and 1800's. It seems to be an artists' paradise, as we saw many art galleries, sculpture and pottery studios. It also seems to be a mecca for antiques. 
We found this covered bridge while exploring the historic village of St. George.We are now at Chateau Saint John, a really nice hotel with underground parking, where we are waiting out the storm.
