My Maine Squeeze-New England Living

I have been so lucky to live in so many beautiful places in my life, but I feel like it’s most necessary to be braggy about my current residence. I’m originally from Chicago so of course I lived there for 18 years, then Minnesota for 5 years, Norway for the better part of a year (wish I still lived there), Arizona for 2 and I’m just about to hit the 1 year mark here in good ole Maine. Of all the places I listed, none of them were near the east coast region and I really didn’t know too much about this area which is probably why I decided it would be a good place to start my adult life. What do you think?

I remember being a month away from graduating with my Master’s degree thinking, “Shit, what the hell do I do next?”- a thought I’m sure many of you have had before. So, I decided it wouldn’t be fair to who I am as a person to go back to what I know in Chicago or Minnesota and that the only logical thing to do was challenge myself with something that would be completely new for me. I like to think of myself as pretty adaptable and good with all things change, so I chose to apply to higher education positions solely on the east coast (mostly New York, Virginia and Maine). When I flew into Maine for my on-campus interview, I felt like I was flying into another country. I still remember looking out of the tiny airplane window thinking I had gotten on the wrong plane because of the mass amounts of green and water I saw. Almost instantly I fell in love with Maine and knew this was a place I needed to experience first hand.

So here I am living that New England life full of coastal visits, so much lobster everywhere (even the McDonald’s have lobster rolls), Stephen King and endless trails for all the Tom walking I can take (but mostly what his old man dog body can take). Also, I’ve never heard of lobster rolls until I moved to NE. Has this been a thing my whole 26 years of life and I’m just learning about them now-it’s a travesty! They are so amazingly delicious. If you head out this way and want to try one, I like the ones that are tossed in butter. The other option is Mayo which is good, but a bit too thick for my liking. But, to each their own, as long as you have lobster in some form, in your mouth-you’re doing it right! You're doing it wrong if you get it from McDonald's though, very wrong!

Now back to the beauty of Maine-

This is one of my favorite picture of Dog Tom and I by Bar Harbor, Maine in late October. Bar Harbor is one of the MOST incredible towns I’ve been to and I’ve traveled a good chunk of places. They have phenomenal restaurants (Side Street Cafe in Bar Harbor for that lobster roll phenomenon I was telling you about, it'll change your life), trails and the most beautiful sunrise/sunset’s you could ask for.

This picture was taken when Fall foliage was heading towards the end. What is fall foliage you ask? Let me tell you-I have never in my life seen a fall like a New England fall. If you’re thinking about visiting NE/Maine especially-you MUST come during fall foliage. I have never seen so many intricate colors that I never knew could exist in nature. It is insanely beautiful and vibrant.

Some people cry from looking at babies, I cry from looking at fall foliage.

I also cry because my pupper is the cutest thing in my life and this is exactly how he feels about my new love affair with Steemit!

Cheers to you, Steemians!