The Distracted Wanderer

  On a wander over to the United Kingdom to visit some of the ruins and former forts along Hadrian's Wall - a 79-mile long defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia built between AD 122 - AD 128 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian - research showed that most of the sites that we were going to want to see were located nearby the village of Haydon Bridge in Hexham. Deciding that would be the ideal spot to spend several nights, I looked for accommodations in the area and chose the Anchor Hotel  which is an easy drive from the parts of the Roman Wall that we wanted to visit.  Situated on the bridge of Haydon Bridge which crosses the River South Tyne and originally dates back to the 1300's, the Anchor Hotel is a Grade 11-listed hotel, pub and restaurant that is steeped in its own history and has been a hotel in various guises for many years. Though its history dates back much further, in 1442 the Anchor served as a court house complete with hangin...

Recently I had the opportunity to wander up to the beautiful MidCoast region of Maine, my favorite area in The Pine Tree State aka Vacationland - take your pick on the nickname! Located about 26 miles north of Portland, the region stretches along the coast from Brunswick northeast to Searsport on Penobscot Bay and includes the classic New England villages of Belfast, Camden, Rockland, Wiscasset, Bath, Boothbay Harbor and Damariscotta. The region is loaded with world-renowned coastlines and beaches, art galleries and museums, lots of lighthouses and many a vibrant working waterfront where a delicious lobster dinner couldn't be much fresher if you had gone out and hauled it in yourself. Yes please! For this visit to a state that I had really come to love but had avoided for way too many years because I had read way too many Stephen King novels, my Distracted Sidekick and I were going to be hanging our hats at the Rockland Harbor Hotel for several nights. Presiding over the northe...