the [cape] escape

being new to the area, there are many three hour road trips i could take and not have a clue what i would find.  last weekend my fiancee and i took one of those three hour trips to visit cape code.  we were attending a wedding of a friend but took time on either side of that event to explore the cape.  i could go on and on about how i'm still blown away with the amount of history there is here on the east coast and how looking out at the sea is still an incredible experience for me, but by now you all get it. so for this post i'll just hope the pictures speak for themselves.

side note, this was a trip were i purposely brought my dslr camera which has been absent in my life the past few years.  i absolutely love the instant social gratification the iphone gives you, but in a world filled with camera pics, the warmth and feeling of a better camera is priceless.

i'm curious if anyone else can tell the difference.

[home] away from [home] away from [home]

there have been places in this world i've traveled to for the first time and for some unknown reason they felt like home.

ouray, colorado
manhattan, kansas
san diego, california
portland, oregan
austin, texas

and now...

boothbay, maine

it's a hard feeling to describe, how someplace can just *feel* like home, but as i look over the cities on my list, i know it has something to do with expectations, first impressions and instant memories.

as a kid growing up in kansas, colorado is a magical place. drive just eight hours and you're in a whole new world.  i couldn't wait to visit ouray, colorado as a kid.  i was told we would be staying in an old hotel in a secluded mountain town and that's exactly what we did. becoming friends with the family who owned the hotel may have helped add to the experience. i was able to explore a place which had been in operation since the 1800's, an amazing adventure to have as a kid and exceeded any expectations my little adolescent brain had.  memories from that trip have stayed with me to this day, including the best peanut butter pie i've ever had. it felt like home.

manhaattan kansas was a different feeling.  i was trying to decide where to go to college and kansas state was not on my list,  i didn't want to visit it and i didn't want to like it.  my expectations were low.  however after spending a day on campus i loved it.  i loved how the limestone buildings bordered the grass filled quad.  the tress filled in their fall foliage put the vision over the top.  in my mind, it felt the way college was suppose to feel, it felt like home.

my whole life i had wanted to visit california. a place where things happened, a place with culture, a place with an ocean.  my expectations were high when i finally visited the state at age 18.  i saw celebrities, i surfed, i saw a shark and i watched the sun set over the pacific ocean. there was just something about california and especially san diego.  it felt alive and youthful. maybe it didn't feel like home as much as i just wanted it to be home; which i eventually did for a little bit years later.

portland and austin were hipster fantasy lands in the mid oughts.  everything in my life i was interested in during that time was pointing me towards these two cities. music, coffee, beer, food trucks, flannel shirts, trucker hats.....these two cities at that time were peaks in the hipster timeline and i was glad i had a chance to visit them when i did.  a home of culture.

boothbay was different.  i had no real expectations, it was just a regular weekend trip.  however upon entering this little village tucked around a small bay, if felt quintessentially maine. lobster boats by the dock and seafood restaurants on the shore.  to add to the experience it was a weekend of their "harbor fest" so everyone was in goods spirits.  in the short time we were there the locals made us feel incredibly welcome. somehow in the middle of all this friendliness i was entered into an oyster chucking contest. a contest that brought more humor to those watching me than anything else.  expectations were exceeded, the first impression was picturesque and the whole weekend was filled with memories and even a few souvenirs.  i was gifted an oyster chucking knife and glove for my effort.

for a few days, i felt a part of a small community.  for a guy who grew up in a town of 2,000 it really did feel like a home...away from home...away from home.

[reel] fashion

i enjoy creativity in all places.  

the other weekend i saw creativity combined in two places foreign to me; fishing and fashion.  i attended the aptly named "fishing' for fashion" event during the boothbay harbor festival. an event requiring designers to use items and materials usually found on boats to create dresses.  among the materials used to create gowns were netting, woven nautical maps and even sea glass!  as an architect who enjoys using local context and materials for inspiration, i found this event incredibly fascinating.  i enjoyed seeing the imagination of the designers to find materials normally used for one specific purpose and envision them in a completely different way.  a quality i not only enjoy in architecture but any creative field.