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| The Bayside Inn -- highly recommend! Lovely hosts and location! |
We went to Maine for vacation and family things, and stayed 5 nights in Boothbay Harbor at a charming inn. We'd stayed there in 2021, and due to COVID surging, there was no breakfast served. So, we went to a small cafe with outdoor seating across the street. This year, though, there was breakfast, and as you may know, when you stay in a small inn or a bed-and-breakfast, this can be an interesting time for social interactions with strangers.
Case in point: We stayed at an inn for our anniversary pre-COVID in our general area, and breakfast was a landmine -- one morning a guest asked if we had kids, and when we said no, it didn't work out, she continued with "but it's not too late! You're still young! (I was 43) and finally I had to say forcefully, "I DON'T HAVE A UTERUS! IT'S REALLY OKAY!" Sigh.
Back to Maine: We cycled through 5 different couples during our stay, and at NO TIME did ANYONE ask us if we had kids. Or why we didn't have kids. Bryce did offer up with one couple that we live "just us and the cats," but that particular couple was very interested in talking super loudly about themselves, so it didn't result in any conversation down that line.
HALLELUJAH!
Is it because now we're older? Or is it because people like talking about their own kids and don't think to ask if you don't volunteer information about your (nonexistent) kids? Were we just lucky?
IT DOESN'T MATTER. It was glorious. Maybe, just maybe, this could be the new normal!
And now, some gratuitous Maine pictures:
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| Last day, soaking up Ocean Point |
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| Lobster Cove |
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| Bryce tidepooling at Ocean Point (low tide) |
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| The gardens everywhere were gorgeous |
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| Somehow, it wasn't even 70 but I was SO SWEATY |
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| Ocean Point with Tropical Storm Ernesto high tide waves |
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| Muscongus Bay in the fog |
It all looks gorgeous - as is the sweaty you (I couldn't tell in the photo!).
ReplyDeleteI often find that conversations with fellow travellers can be more about the place we're travelling and activities for the day than whether or not we have kids. Though being older definitely helps too. (Though I was told I "could always adopt "when I was 50!) I've found in recent years that the people I've met often figure it out - their references to their kids, and our non-references make the question unnecessary. The polite ones, anyway! lol
Getting away and realising you don't get asked the question is a wonderful feeling of freedom, though, isn't it? Sooooo glad you experienced this!
Oh, what great pictures!! So glad you had a nice time! :)
ReplyDeleteOh yes, hallelujah! I can relate to that because people ask us about kids every time we're on vacation. Or they assume we're on our honeymoon, which implies that we're (probably) “working” on having kids. We just decided that we are always on our honeymoon. And have been for 9 years! And we will always be on our honeymoon đ We recently bought a new couch. We were told that the fabric is suitable for children.... I just replied, oh and it's fine without kids isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting for the moment when we won't be asked. Please celebrate and enjoy your vacation! The pictures look like a lot of fun!
That looks like so much fun! And I'm glad there is less child-chi-chat now than before.
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