01 - Maine, Pre-PortCon
8 July 2007 14:16![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
argurotoxosThe drive up to Maine on Thursday, 21 June, went smoothly enough, at least traffic-wise. It was the first time we'd been in Maine since my Aunt moved to a new apartment and the first thing we did was stop at was her new place. It's only a few minutes' drive from her old apartment and her new one has more room, but it's also on a fairly busy street and lacks some of the quite and privacy of the old one.
My grandparents were coming over on the ferry to meet us for dinner in about an hour, so until then we mostly talked and caught up with each other. My Aunt also gave me a surprise gift I'd completely forgotten about -- a belated birthday present. It was a pirate hat, the closest she could find to the type of hats they wear in Horatio Hornblower.
For dinner, we ended up going to a rather upper-class restaurant in the Old Port, the kind where the presentation of the food is just as important as the taste and one meal can easily cost $30. Apparently, one of my uncles had given my grandparents a gift certificate there several years ago that they'd never used. It was an interesting experience, even if I felt rather out of place; besides the fact that we almost never eat at restaurants like that, if I had know beforehand that we'd be going to that kind of place, I would have worn something besides my Yuugiou T-shirt, an old grey jacket decorated with worn blue dragons, and a baggy pair of black pants.
The food was mostly good, though I wasn't very impressed with their fish. The dessert my Aunt and I split at the end was very sweet and rich, so much so that I ended up with an upset stomach afterward. I'd had one the day before from a different food, too, so I was somewhat worried going into PortCon that I'd get sick again there. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
I didn't know whether I'd be spending the night at my Aunt's or my grandparents' before arriving, so we figured out plans for that night and Friday during dinner. Since I didn't have to be at the hotel Friday until after noon, it was decided that staying at my grandparents and then taking the ferry over to the mainland in the morning was best. Staying at my grandparents' house also gave me a chance to spend some time along the ocean.
By the time we arrived at my grandparents' house, it was almost bedtime. I stayed up about an hour after my mum, drinking water and listening to the rest of Lestat.
It usually takes me a few nights to get adjusted to sleeping in a new place, with the result that I end up waking up much earlier than usual. I ate a very light breakfast outside and then went down to the ocean.
The waiting is always the worst part. After I had gotten into my Killua cosplay, I couldn't even focus enough to read anything to pass the time.
My Aunt pick my mum, my grandmother, and myself up at the ferry port and then it was over to the hotel. We arrived around 12:15 PM, said our goodbyes, and then I made my way inside the hotel lobby with my three bags and picked a comfortable corner to settle down, watch the various cosplayers wandering through, and wait for Kun and company to arrive . . .
My grandparents were coming over on the ferry to meet us for dinner in about an hour, so until then we mostly talked and caught up with each other. My Aunt also gave me a surprise gift I'd completely forgotten about -- a belated birthday present. It was a pirate hat, the closest she could find to the type of hats they wear in Horatio Hornblower.
For dinner, we ended up going to a rather upper-class restaurant in the Old Port, the kind where the presentation of the food is just as important as the taste and one meal can easily cost $30. Apparently, one of my uncles had given my grandparents a gift certificate there several years ago that they'd never used. It was an interesting experience, even if I felt rather out of place; besides the fact that we almost never eat at restaurants like that, if I had know beforehand that we'd be going to that kind of place, I would have worn something besides my Yuugiou T-shirt, an old grey jacket decorated with worn blue dragons, and a baggy pair of black pants.
The food was mostly good, though I wasn't very impressed with their fish. The dessert my Aunt and I split at the end was very sweet and rich, so much so that I ended up with an upset stomach afterward. I'd had one the day before from a different food, too, so I was somewhat worried going into PortCon that I'd get sick again there. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
I didn't know whether I'd be spending the night at my Aunt's or my grandparents' before arriving, so we figured out plans for that night and Friday during dinner. Since I didn't have to be at the hotel Friday until after noon, it was decided that staying at my grandparents and then taking the ferry over to the mainland in the morning was best. Staying at my grandparents' house also gave me a chance to spend some time along the ocean.
 | While waiting for the ferry after dinner, two events happened that made me think of Sarah. First, my grandmother brought me a map of Portland to look at while waiting. It was fairly large and the edges were filled with ads from various businesses. One of them was for Tim Horton's (on left): The second was after we had boarded the ferry. Standing on the top deck, we watched The CAT pull out of the bay. |
By the time we arrived at my grandparents' house, it was almost bedtime. I stayed up about an hour after my mum, drinking water and listening to the rest of Lestat.
It usually takes me a few nights to get adjusted to sleeping in a new place, with the result that I end up waking up much earlier than usual. I ate a very light breakfast outside and then went down to the ocean.
The waiting is always the worst part. After I had gotten into my Killua cosplay, I couldn't even focus enough to read anything to pass the time.
My Aunt pick my mum, my grandmother, and myself up at the ferry port and then it was over to the hotel. We arrived around 12:15 PM, said our goodbyes, and then I made my way inside the hotel lobby with my three bags and picked a comfortable corner to settle down, watch the various cosplayers wandering through, and wait for Kun and company to arrive . . .
 | That's all for the pre-PortCon post; the narrative will be continued in the next entry along with all of my photos from the convention. The image on the left is a scan from the map of Portland mentioned above; as you can see, PortCon's hotel - the Sheraton - is quite literally right across from Maine Mall. |
