Life's a Beach

July 15, 2013

I stood in the street below, staring upward, toward the open window. The curtains rippled ever so slightly in the gentle breeze. The knowledge seeped slowly into my body, filling me with the awareness of what lay before me. I screamed ... with every ounce of energy that I could muster ... with every breath, past and future ...

"Call me Ismael!"

No,no, no ... not that  ... wrong story! I screamed ...

"Stellaaaaaaaaa!"

"Stellaaaaaaaaa!"

"Stellaaaaaaaaa!"

The sign in the window read, "Closed". In fact, the name in the window read something like Corner Cafe ... not Stella's. Since Stella's no longer existed. Anne and I spread out in search of another place to have a decent breakfast. 

I initiated an immediate street-by-street search of the vicinity, starting at the Visitors Center ... which, naturally, was closed. Anne tried another technique. As soon as I rushed away, she asked the first person who walked by where a good restaurant could be found. Seems there was a good restaurant close by. In fact, it was only twenty feet up the street in the opposite direction from which I had headed. It is a free country. Personally, being a man, I am not attuned to asking others for directions ... it is generally not productive. But sometimes you get lucky.

In fact, I probably would have noticed the place myself. I was thrown off track due to the huge sign hanging outside the restaurant door that read, "Fowles". Underneath that, in Foot high lettering was, "CIGARS". I did not notice the insignificant smaller lettering that read, "Breakfast Lunch Dinner".  

We went inside and were pleasantly surprised. The menu was extensive and unique. I admit that I am not a fan of carrot cake. However, I could not resist the carrot cake pancakes with a dollop of cream cheese icing. They were delicious. Even if I don't like carrot cake.

Following breakfast, we drove to North Hampton, New Hampshire to visit the Fuller Gardens. The turn of the century formal gardens were designed and planted by the Fuller family. Fuller was a used car salesman who went on to become the governor of the state and to amass a personal fortune. Ummmm. It is good to have used car sales experience ... it is good to be the governor. Profitable too it seems. 

The gardens are somewhat of a best-kept-secret. There were about five gardens at the site. The largest was laid out in more formal planting and highlighted the roses.















Interspersed among the flowers were lots of statuary tucked here and there to be found by the visitors. I particularly enjoy this aspect of the gardens. The contrast between the fragile nature of the flowers and hardness of the metal and stone statues has a strong appeal for me.

When we bought our ticket, we were encouraged to check out the Japanese garden.  Given the 93 degree heat, it was suggested that, the shaded pathways, the benches tucked away beside the koi ponds, and the quiet solitude would make the Japanese Garden  a great place for us to take a well-needed rest. I suspect that the worker may have mistaken us for one of the other senior citizens visiting the gardens. Those other visitors would definitely need to take a few breaks ... to take advantage of those benches. Anyone can make a mistake. Clearly, there are degrees of senior citizen.

The gardens were nice. Worth the entry fee? Not really. Would I make a special trip there? Not really ... not again, that is.








This whole adventure was about the ocean. It was about our need for an ocean fix. Every so often we need to hear the breaking waves ... to see those waves rolling toward the shore ... to smell the salt in the air and the seaweed ... to stick our toes in the water and if we are brave that day ... jump in. We considered Ogunquet Beach, Hampton Beach, and the state beaches in North Hampton. Since the rose gardens we wanted to check out were nearby, we decided on the state beaches.

We got lucky and found a parking space pretty quickly. The parking fee was pricey, but I have seen worse.  To be honest, the state beaches in North Hampton is not a great choice. The beaches are long, but very narrow. They tend to be more muddy than sandy at the waterline. The beach and water both are very trashy with seaweed and debris.

                          

For us, we got to be at the beach ... the sun was shining ... it was warm ... we took a dip ... and it was a good day. Can't say this would ever be a do-over. Next time, it is back to Ogunquet for us.