Day two

and a light breakfast in America in a typical mom and pop diner. A short walk along the coast past anglers and beautiful and expensive houses - hard not to be jealous. I must start doing the lottery again... Driving off to Manchester by the Sea - by the sea! - and then turning north.

Morning

Angler, expectant seagull and unsuspecting fish

And an interesting day ensues. Drove South, as recommended by the motel owner to see Gloucester and Manchester - Gloucester famous as a fishing port and has a memorial to the lost. As I got lost, I feel the need. Then turned North and drove highway 1A along the coast - some of it a bit disappointingly built up and developed, but then it got more coastal and cheered I stopped for cheesecake and coffee at Rye Harbor. The restaurant advised I stay the night in Portsmouth - drove there, but found it too urban and even a bit industrial for my tastes. There then began a typical Spark-fussy search for a hotel, involving many stops and enquiries. At one point I thought I'd blown it and would have to stay in the US equivalent of Morecambe (Kiss me Kwik), but the day magically turned around and I found the York Harbor Inn, in "yorkshire" Maine (I drove right through New Hampshire, somehow.) A lovely hotel by the ocean, a lovely cliff walk and lovely little room in the attic (I think I may stay a second night.)  Sometimes it all comes together, much to my surprise. A beer at the bar and writing this text almost convinces me God exists (that comment especially for Liz.)

The fisherman's memorial

Who knew the iconography of the 1920s would date so in the 1930s?

 Possibly the only free parking in the entire Hamptons

Lunch at Rye Harbor

Something near salvation, the York Harbor Inn

My little attic room

Cliffside walk (and me)

Nice to be rich

I reflect on Maine