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Most savy people would know not to expect to sightsee in Monaco during Grand Prix week, nor to find accommodation near Wimbledon during July – but a few years ago my wife and I made just this mistake.
Timing in life is everything. Most savy people would know not to expect to sightsee in Monaco during Grand Prix week, nor to find accommodation near Wimbledon during July – but a few years ago my wife and I made just this mistake.
We arranged to visit some of our mail order catalogue customers in New England a few years and made an innocent bad choice timewise. It was late September and little did we know that Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are overrun with visitors at that time of the year…..
Our plan was to fly into Portland (Maine), visit a few clients there, see the lobsters and all year Christmas shops, and then drive through to New Hampshire. It all looked so simple on the map at home in England.
It was late September and little did we know that Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are overrun with visitors at that time of the year…..
Fortunately we did think ahead a little and booked a hire car in advance but decided to look for accommodation “on the hoof” as we drove and stop at whichever country inn we liked.
My first inkling that something was wrong was at the hire car desk in Portland airport. The attendant asked me casually “Are you here for the ‘Leaf Peeping’ ?” expecting a positive response. My confused reaction confounded her – I had never heard of “Leaf Peeping”.
By the time she had explained directions from the airport through the valley up to New Hampshire, she also told us that visiting the Notch Valley in late Autumn (aka Fall) was a national pastime for Americans from all over the States who came to soak up the glorious vistas of orange and brown hued forests on either side of the mountains along this route.
My first inkling that something was wrong was at the hire car desk in Portland airport. The attendant asked me casually “Are you here for the ‘Leaf Peeping’ ?” expecting a positive response.
Our journey over the next few days was hectic with roads full of glass topped buses and cars piloted by drivers whose eyes were not always on the traffic!
Some of you will know that Maine is home to Stephen King, and many of his books are set in the countryside around the Leaf Peeping region. As we rounded a mountain bend on the second night of our journey looking for a hotel for the night, we came across a large rambling place with a vacancy sign.
As I pulled the car to a halt we both looked at each other and said the same thing – “The Shining?”
But that is for another story ………..
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