Maine Attraction

May 2015, By Nicole Langelier.

For as long as I can remember I have been going to Maine (in the North East of the US) with my mother on antiques and lobster expeditions. Every year for my birthday from when I was a little girl we would drive up with my two best friends and spend the night in a charming B&B, eat lobster rolls and fried clams on the water and troll antique shops for vintage treasures. My mother collected silver matchboxes and Bakelite shoe clips, and I collected faux pearls and funny hats full of feathers and lace.

As I got older and friends came and went, I still continued to go to Maine with my mother. The treasures I hunted for changed from jewellery to art and furniture (although to this day I can’t resist a cool vintage statement necklace), and my previously ‘general’ admiration for the charming and the quaint surroundings became a more specific appreciation for the close to 300 year old houses, their colour palates, windows, roof lines, etc.

I don’t believe I have ever visited my mother in Boston without at least a day trip to Maine. This visit has been no exception. This time my sister came too.

There is a story-book charm to the properties in Maine that is distinctly New England. It is ‘Ralph Lauren-ie’ (as we refer to it in my family) – the colours, the chill in the air even in the summer, the salty smell of the ocean, the weather beaten shingles and the antique stores that line the streets. It is as if the doll-houses of my childhood have been blown up to life size proportions. It is almost like a fairytale land – America 101.

I am literally like a kid in a candy store when I am in Maine. The antique stores are so plentiful and the bargains are endless – it is impossible to leave empty handed (even if I do have to schlep it all back to Australia – I try to limit my treasures to things that will easily fit in my suitcase – I can not say the same for my mother and my sister however). I run through the rows with elation breathing new life back into things someone once loved.

I do love a treasure in its original state – like a piece of jewellery for example, but I also love to ‘contemporize’ something – like a print or a picture that no longer seems relevant and current – by framing or reframing it. It’s amazing how a simple modern frame can bring a previously daggy piece of art into the 21st century. My sister for example, found some really great old buttons stitched to coloured card stock which she plans to frame in a simple white shadow box and hang in a grouping. Presto! What was old is new again.

Maine is a special place full of history and memories and treasures waiting to be discovered and reinvented. Although it is a place full of nostalgia both on a personal and historical level, it never fails to offer up new memories and adventures and leave me feeing inspired and thoroughly charmed. I can’t wait for the next visit where we will stuff ourselves full of antiques and lobster rolls and memories of old world Americana. Thank you Maine, you are like a glamorous older lady that never has a hair out of place. You are full of class and wonder and you never disappoint.