Ainsworth Describes Saratoga, An Place Everybody Used to Go

Sunday morning on the southern Maine coast. It’s a beach day and a beach town, and I’ve got the sand in my shoes to prove it. As I think about beach vacationing, I think about my recently departed Uncle Bob, who always said he preferred the excitement of Saratoga and horseracing to anything involving ‘sand in the sandwiches.’

Yesterday I read a wonderfully written piece by Chip Ainsworth in the Recorder saying mostly the same thing. He describes that excitement and makes the New York state destination sound darn right inviting. He describes that jovial spirit of mutual sporting events, harkening back to the days when this was really the king of sports, and it wasn’t just the silly women’s hats and mint juleps. It was a time before television and other distractions, so handicapping on an August Saturday in Saratoga was where the action was.  Chip really hits the nail, and has this wonderful tendency to find out what people do, (Bob, an architect from Pelham NY)  and uses his descriptive power to really set the scene with a blue hat here, and a pungent smell added there.

It’s like we’re with him, riding on his shoulder, ‘hey look at that’  and ‘wow that’s cool!’  I admire his writing and have read his columns for more than 30 years!

I will turn Ainsworth’s column into a GoNOMAD feature story about Saratoga. So I rang up Sony Stark who has spent time by that racetrack. She has some photos; hey here we go. Another piece of writing that will be perfect for us.

See, it’s hard for me not to be thinking about publishing, even while on vacation.  But that’s a good thing, this place inspires me, and maybe tomorrow I’ll go up to Portland.  I found some nice looking bike trails right by the ocean up in Munjoy Hill down to South Portland.  Might make a good story!