The weekend
Friday we drove up to Maine, leaving here around 10 in the morning and arriving before 6 PM, I think. We didn't really do anything other than check out the tattoo convention, have dinner and call it a night. Harry, having been stuck at a required meeting at work, flew into Maine and got there around midnight.
The convention, a homage to the original Mad Hatter's, was much smaller than I had hoped and anticipated. There was only one vendor although the flier seemed to indicate there would be more. Tattooing was only in one room, not three, which was disappointing. The same great talent was there, though, and that was good. Also, Lou Robbins, the Mad Hatter himself, was there for most of the weekend and gave the event his blessing. We didn't get any ink but Howard had a brain fart, supplied by Bree and me, that may end up becoming a tattoo somewhere down the road. We did have fun looking at all the flash and talking to the various artists.
Although our time was limited at the convention itself, that didn't stop us from having a good time. Saturday morning, Bree and I took an early dip in the outdoor heated pool. My family is kind enough to indulge my obsessions so we spent a great deal of time Saturday traveling to local bead shops. That was a blast and I bought several really nice things. While looking for one bead shop, we found a little hole in the wall comic shop that had some very wonderful merchandise. I scored some "Unexpected" and "Tales from the Crypt" comic books, which pleased me greatly. And we found a Lindt chocolate shop right next door to another bead shop and bought way too much chocolate, which happened to be on sale. We also hit our favorite thrift shop and scored some nice clothing there. Saturday night we went to Margarita's, my favorite Mexican restaurant in the area, and had a blast. It kinda felt like being at Rose's Turn, since we had a drunken party of loud and badly behaved people next to us.
On Sunday, we started with another swim and then headed to our favorite comic book shop in the area. Actually, Newberry Comics is more of a comic/novelty/music store. I found a most awesome Iron Man glass from the 2008 Comic Con plus a Wonder Woman glass, lots of neat music, and some Sweeney Todd stuff for Howard, spotted by Harry and Bree. Then, later in the day we went to an arcade, which Bree used to love but it seems she has grown a little too old for. We still managed to have fun playing the games and earning tickets. We also took one last look around the convention. I'm not sure if there will be another next year, but it was really nice seeing old friends and familiar faces. Sunday night, we ended up at the Macaroni Grill for dinner. That was very, very nice.
Monday, Bree and I swam again but this time it was snowing. I love swimming in an outdoor pool in the snow. Then we started to head home, making a detour to Worcester, Mass. to finally meet adamantine1 in person. We had a nice lunch together at a fifties themed diner called the 5 and Diner. I gave him a moose bead and he gave me a very cool earring that I will make into a pendant. After leaving adamantine1, we headed back out into the snow storm, which seemed to be following us, and headed home, arriving here around 6 PM.
The weirdest thing about the weekend was the weather. The original convention used to be in February and so we were used to very cold temperatures and lots of snow. This year, it was an absolute pleasure to walk around Maine in March without a jacket because the temperature was in the mid 40's.
I miss Maine already. We've bantered about the idea of going up there when the weather is warmer just to get away. There really is plenty to do there and we could visit other towns than just Portland. Being in Maine really feeds my soul.
The convention, a homage to the original Mad Hatter's, was much smaller than I had hoped and anticipated. There was only one vendor although the flier seemed to indicate there would be more. Tattooing was only in one room, not three, which was disappointing. The same great talent was there, though, and that was good. Also, Lou Robbins, the Mad Hatter himself, was there for most of the weekend and gave the event his blessing. We didn't get any ink but Howard had a brain fart, supplied by Bree and me, that may end up becoming a tattoo somewhere down the road. We did have fun looking at all the flash and talking to the various artists.
Although our time was limited at the convention itself, that didn't stop us from having a good time. Saturday morning, Bree and I took an early dip in the outdoor heated pool. My family is kind enough to indulge my obsessions so we spent a great deal of time Saturday traveling to local bead shops. That was a blast and I bought several really nice things. While looking for one bead shop, we found a little hole in the wall comic shop that had some very wonderful merchandise. I scored some "Unexpected" and "Tales from the Crypt" comic books, which pleased me greatly. And we found a Lindt chocolate shop right next door to another bead shop and bought way too much chocolate, which happened to be on sale. We also hit our favorite thrift shop and scored some nice clothing there. Saturday night we went to Margarita's, my favorite Mexican restaurant in the area, and had a blast. It kinda felt like being at Rose's Turn, since we had a drunken party of loud and badly behaved people next to us.
On Sunday, we started with another swim and then headed to our favorite comic book shop in the area. Actually, Newberry Comics is more of a comic/novelty/music store. I found a most awesome Iron Man glass from the 2008 Comic Con plus a Wonder Woman glass, lots of neat music, and some Sweeney Todd stuff for Howard, spotted by Harry and Bree. Then, later in the day we went to an arcade, which Bree used to love but it seems she has grown a little too old for. We still managed to have fun playing the games and earning tickets. We also took one last look around the convention. I'm not sure if there will be another next year, but it was really nice seeing old friends and familiar faces. Sunday night, we ended up at the Macaroni Grill for dinner. That was very, very nice.
Monday, Bree and I swam again but this time it was snowing. I love swimming in an outdoor pool in the snow. Then we started to head home, making a detour to Worcester, Mass. to finally meet adamantine1 in person. We had a nice lunch together at a fifties themed diner called the 5 and Diner. I gave him a moose bead and he gave me a very cool earring that I will make into a pendant. After leaving adamantine1, we headed back out into the snow storm, which seemed to be following us, and headed home, arriving here around 6 PM.
The weirdest thing about the weekend was the weather. The original convention used to be in February and so we were used to very cold temperatures and lots of snow. This year, it was an absolute pleasure to walk around Maine in March without a jacket because the temperature was in the mid 40's.
I miss Maine already. We've bantered about the idea of going up there when the weather is warmer just to get away. There really is plenty to do there and we could visit other towns than just Portland. Being in Maine really feeds my soul.