I’ve said before that it doesn’t take much to make us happy. A pretty and private campsite, a leisurely cup of coffee, scenic vistas, intriguing walking or biking paths, the sound of running water or ocean waves, fresh regional foods – all can be easily enjoyed without much effort or expense. When we arrive at a destination, it’s often with a scavenger hunt type of list loaded with places that we think we’ll find interesting, good possibilities for a picnic lunch with a view and fun-filled activities we might want to try. We’ve survived many an outing on nothing more than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, granola bars and iced tea or water, but those PBJs are quickly swapped out for regional foods and unique dining opportunities that we come across by happenstance.
On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, Alan and I began our day with another scavenger hunt list. We have no idea whether or not other tourists do anything similar and, frankly, we don’t care. To each his own. Our particular brand of exploring suits us just fine, and we happily set out with our list of destinations. The list included a couple of towns west of Ellsworth (the Gateway to Down East), so maybe we should consider Sunday’s adventures to be Up West. Or Out West. Never mind. Instead of going “that a way,” we decided to head “this a way.”
