Moon River and me...

It's with a heavy heart that I heard today of the passing of one of my favorite singers, Andy Williams.

Here's a classic clip of Andy Williams and Henry Mancini (who composed the song) performing "Moon River."

RIP, Andy. Thanks for the memories.

The rain in Maine

Waterville, Maine -- Boothbay Harbor looks more than a bit like Cabot Cove, but, alas, "Murder, She Wrote" was filmed in Mendocino, Calif.

Still, we enjoyed the charming village, its harbor and the fine-looking Fisherman's Wharf Inn. Jenn took my picture beside it.

Jim woke us up early enough this morning to see several of Maine's 10 prettiest villages, at least those named as such by the readers of Down East magazine, before the rains came.

We saw a loon in Dameriscotta. Jenn shot a fantastic photo I would share here had her company not blocked that function on her iPad.

We ate lunch at Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, serving hungry motorists along U.S. 1 since 1927. In true Matlock fashion, I ordered a hot dog. Jenn got a BLT.

Jim and Judy took us to what's left of the original Maine State Prison, inspiration for "The Shawshank Redemption." Prisoners sell wooden items in the Showroom. The state collects the cash.

Henry Knox (Knoxville, anyone?) had a home here called Montpelier. We passed by.

The formal part of our day ended at Owls Head Headlight. The Maine rain began to fall. Fog rolled in to the shoreline. The lighthouse was bright. The fog horn didn't blow.

On the way back to Waterville we passed Hussey's General Store. Its marquee boasts:

"Guns, Wedding Gowns, Cold Beer."

The essentials of life...

On Great Pond

Watertown, Maine -- We looked out over Great Pond on this pretty-as-a-postcard Monday. The radio from a briefly-abandoned boat played Bob Dylan.

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me.

Great Pond was the inspiration for Ernest Thompson's hit play "On Golden Pond," later made into a poignant motion picture starring the Fondas, Henry and Jane. Here in Maine, anything less than 50 feet deep is considered a pond. You might know them as lakes.

We crossed the campus of Colby College, its Georgian architecture resplendent. Parents were dropping children off for fall semester. Students were throwing frisbees in front of the magnificent library. I longed for days gone by on The Hill.

It was a lazy, somewhat lugubrious Labor Day despite its beauty. Fall, which seems forever, is upon us, followed by winter's freeze.

I am falling in love with Maine. It may prove very hard indeed to leave Vacationland.

The Way Life Should Be

Greetings from Maine.

Autumn has arrived in this beautiful state, one that boasts, "The Way Life Should Be."

Gentle rain fell as we picnicked in Acadia National Park. It continued in Bar Harbor, that charming coastal town, climax of the coast of Maine. We may return for Christmas.

I bought a book about this coastline by Christopher Camuto at Sherman's. "Time and Tide in Acadia." Awesome.

We ate fresh lobster tonight ($4.99/pound at the grocery). I drank an overrated English beer while fighting the dead red crustacean.

We are staying in Waterville with Halls High graduate Jim Marine and his wife, Judy. Dr. Richard Hornberger, late of Waterville, wrote the novel "MASH" under the nom de plume Richard Hooker, by the by.

It is laid back, peaceful, perfect. You see green, lots of it, spruce-fir forest in Acadia, undeveloped land elsewhere. I could live here, even in winter, calm, quiet, "The Way Life Should Be."