My favorite city is really not a city at all,but rather a small town in midcoastal Maine.  It sits on the Damariscotta River,the oyster capital of the world,so my friend Bill tells me.

On  sunny day the river sparkles with tiny diamond points reflecting the clear unpolluted blue of the sky above.Seagulls soar overhea,.as we are only 20 minutes from the coast,and Main Street is lined on both sides with shops and restaurants,all small and homey,with friendly clerks who know everybody.

At the end of town is a bridge spanning the river and connecting it to the twin town of Newcastle,which is mostly statley old clapboard houses,several churches,a gas station,an art shop.

The smell of the sea is near,as the river is saltwater,and flows cleanly,free from pollution,according to the strict Maine laws that other states could do well to follow.

My family vacations near Damariscotta at a camp called Kieve,which operates year round  and helps many children grow up to make good decisions in life.

My husband designed the alumni cottage,where we stay every year,25 feet from DAmariscotta lake,provided with canoes,kayaks and the wonderful clean lake to swim in.

I would move there in a heartbeat,but my husband's work keeps us here.So I have to be content to visit this lovely place for one week out of the year.

My brother Mike and his family,and our family friend,Bill,are lucky enough to live there year round.

So my favorite city is not Paris,or Las VEgas with all the glitter and glitz,or Sanfrancisco(although I would like to visit there someday) or New York,with its melting pot of swarming humanity,nor Philadelphia,the city I live closest to,no, give me the smell of the sea,the sparkling river,the small town friendliness,and I feel I have come home.