Maine Thing

A few months back I had the opportunity to go to Maine for work.  I had been there once before but it was a very quick visit and I didn't get to see anything.  This time I figured I would correct that and stay for the weekend and do some exploring.  I have never really done much exploring on my own, especially this far from home, not because I haven't wanted to but it just always worked out to go exploring with friends and family.  To say solo travel was a bit outside of my comfort zone would be a fair statement, but when in Maine! Since it was the National Park Services 100th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of Acadia National Park I knew that I had to visit, it was just meant to be. Plus it was only a 3 hour drive from where I was in Portland and who knows when I would be back, so that just made my decision even easier.

Before heading north to Acadia I was told my numerous co-workers that I needed to check out the Portland Headlamp in Cape Elizabeth.  It is probably one of the most photographed lighthouses on the east coast and it really didn't disappoint but maybe not for the reasons you think. I got to the lighthouse fairly early on a Saturday morning before most of the crowds would show up, remember I still had a 3 hour drive ahead of me. The place was pretty much deserted except for a few locals that were walking the cliffs with their dogs and a few other brave tourists like myself.  I took this opportunity to enjoy the sounds of the water crashing on the rocks and listen to the birds sing in the early morning light. After taking a walk along the cliffs and a little jaunt down to the rocks below I headed back to the parking lot ready to make my way up the coast.

More on that in the days to come...

 

Allow me to introduce myself

Hello. Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Eric and this is my blog.  I have attempted this whole blog thing before but kind of let it go by the wayside. But this time will be different, I promise. Since that first go around I have joined Instagram at the urging of my good friend Caity after many protests on my part fearing that it was all too hipster and I am anything but hip. That was 2 years ago and I have to admit I was very wrong about the whole Instagram thing and found myself addicted to it.  I loved finding new places to explore be it in real life or even just virtually, and have met some incredible people through the little photo sharing app. But I struggle with the insta part of Instagram.  I want to tell a deeper story, one that will serve as a journal of sorts of my adventures and the things that I have learned along the way.  Be it about myself or a certain trail or people I have met along the way. Hopefully you find this entertaining or beneficial in some way or another, it is my goal to try to uplift and inspire or perhaps just show you a new place to explore. I would love to hear your feedback along the way as well so please don't hesitate to comment.  I may not be quick to reply but I promise I will read each comment.

As I get this blog up and running feel free to take a gander through my excessive Instagram posts @e2the3. (I even put a little hyper link up above for your convenience.) But before you do that let my explain my username as people always ask me what it means.  Its simple really.  I have a very common name and as indicated above I was late to the Instagram party so any variation of my name was taken long ago, probably on day one of Instagram if we are being honest. When it came time to pick a username I figured my name was a nonstarter and quickly realized that any nickname was out as well, not that they were any more original than my name! So what was I to do? I didn't want some long bulky name with underscores and 15 digits worth of special characters. I wanted something simple that would also be unique and still be close to my name, which is how I came up with e2the3.  It is basically my own shorthand version of my name. The first letter is E, for Eric; 2 represents the second letter and 3 represents the letter C since I am Eric with a C not a K as I am asked all the time. That is it, no greater meaning just my way of trying to be creative with my very common name.

See you on the flip side! -e