September 1, 2006
The University of Maine is
in Orono...we drove
up to nearby Bangor--
550 miles (885 km) from home--the
day before move-in...
This is downtown Bangor at
rush hour...Route 2 runs right into town
(yup, the same Route 2 that
starts in the Lake Champlain islands
and goes all the way to New
Brunswick, Canada).
Sunflowers and park benches
downtown.
Bangor is the "big city" six
miles from the University of Maine campus
but until the students move
in, it's pretty quiet.
Zinnias in Bangor
Friday morning, 8 am: cars
pulling up
to drop kids off at Hancock
Hall, Tim's dorm
we were allowed to quickly
unload the car and then
had to MOVE IT immediately
so others could pull up
another view of Hancock...Tim's
on the second floor
first view of Tim's room
other side of the room
Tim's beloved bike (second
from left) joins others in the rack outside the dorm
the side of the library, covered
in ivy
Maine may not be "Ivy League,"
but it IS in the top
1% of colleges in the country
(along with Drexel, Syracuse,
Sarah Lawrence, Rider,
Delaware, Rhode Island and
Skidmore--most of the family's schools)
kids approach the entrance
to the library
library, periodicals room
The school is right beside
the beautiful Stillwater River
Maine Bound is the local chapter
of Outward Bound
kids have lots of chances
to go canoeing
Two cannons from the Civil
War face the Stillwater under towering pine trees, right next to Tim's
dorm
Liese outside the Student
Center
close-up of those gorgeous
flowers
Tim and Liese on the "mall,"
or what we used to call the"quad" at Syracuse...
the big green in the middle
of campus, suitable for frisbees.
You can see a map of the whole
campus here.
The day was breathtakingly
beautiful.
another view of the mall
The MCA or Maine
Center for the Arts,
the largest theater/concert
hall and art exhibition space north of Boston
Winslow Hall, one of the older
buildings on campus
(the university opened in
1865)
Happy Tim putting stuff in
his closet.
Bye honey, we will miss you,
see you at Thanksgiving!
After moving Tim in, Deb and
Liese headed back to civilization in the form of Portland,
2.5 hours south of Orono,
to spend a night in this beautiful harbor city.
Part of the mural on the side
of our hotel
view of Casco Bay from the
top floor of our hotel
Portland's Civil War Memorial
"To Her Sons Who Died for
the Union 1860-1865"
Walking down to the waterfront
for dinner...Portland is brick buildings,
cobblestones, lots of cool
shops and restaurants, and the smell of the ocean.
houses in the arts district,
across from our hotel
great name for a foot spa!
welcome to the wharf
"serving nice people since
1954"
We managed to find this little
dive on the wharf called J's Oyster,
which the concierge had recommended,
but there was a long wait so we went next door...
concierge says people are
catching on to J's...
Liese's shirt was a perfect
match for the orange picnic tables at the Portland Lobster Company.
Girl has been waiting more
than 18 years to be an only child...
and she now gets to enjoy
it for less than three weeks!
the restaurant was lighted
by little miniature lobsters, of course.
The real ones were very yummy.
Bye Maine, see you again soon!