We spent the morning of the Fourth on Popham Beach. The water was 55 degrees. Y'all that is cold, cold, cold. That is 23 degrees away from FREEZING. Cold.
We went to dip our feet in, got ankle deep. Hard pass. No. Nope. Not even. There were two other people in the water. Who were crazy. But in all fairness, we wanted a cool, cool summer (I know it's cruel, cruel) because last year in Destin it was way too hot.
After our morning at the beach Mary took us on a history tour of Malaga Island. Y'all, Maine has some dark, racist history. Talk about COLD! 1912 was a crazy year for this island. The interracial families who lived there were exiled to the island and then kicked off later. They were sent to a school for the feeble minded. I'm sorry, what? Interracial kids were thought of as feeble minded simply because they were mixed? It's been a really long time since I've started to post things on this blog again. I try to avoid politics and rants, but I can't be quiet about the continued injustices happening in our country currently, and wanted to shed light on this new found knowledge. And this would have affected Eric and me directly if we lived in Maine all those years ago. I've been reading many of the new liberal black authors over the last two summers trying to educate myself on the Black Lives Matter movement. Our book club discussed Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson last week at our home. I try to stay positive without being naive, but it is really tough with all the realities that are coming into focus. There was a fact Mr. Stevenson quoted regarding interracial marriages that 46% of the Mississippi Republican party would have voted to ban interracial marriages in 2011. THIS BLOWS MY MIND. What are people so afraid of? What were the people in Maine afraid of with regards to this quiet little island. Is it because people had just been taught it was illegal for so long without having a reason. Whew, there is so much more to discuss so I'll leave this here for now.
View of the island from Anna's Water's Edge, which was closed for the holiday. But we ran into Anna and she gave us a brochure about this historic island.
Anna's has a great plaque with information about the island. The governor today, who himself is racist as F, put up a plaque to make all things better for the ancestors of Malaga. I have a lot of feelings about this too. Too little too late, and the fact that this guy is using this dedication to his advantage is just...extra frustrating. Racism man. It's really bizarre to think of this happening in Maine.
Was the Fourth of July weird for anyone else this year?
Back to Maine, we had a little break on the Kennebunk River with beers, boats and very little patience with the passport UPS situation.
Mary and I went to the grocery store and got supplies for our 4th of July BBQ. I cooked real meat on Mary's grill for Hank. Mary and Vickie are vegetarians. I think Hank was happy with his buttermilk soaked chicken. I love that Mary has this family in Maine who are basically like her second set of parents. They are awesome and we got to see them in January when we went up for a quick weekend as well.
After dinner we walked into town as the sun was setting to listen to Hank play in the Bath Municipal Band at the gazebo.
This little town is the freaking cutest place ever. Mary calls it Mayberry. I think it's totally Stars Hollow.
The band played everything from Souza Marches to Lady Gaga. They were so good!!! They played until it got dark and the first fireworks started to boom.
We watched from the hill over the Kennebunk River.
I'm so thankful we got to spend more time with you this year Mare. Twice in 2017 and Girls Gun Club last fall. Whoohoo.
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