Friday, June 6th--A Special Day for the 44th Time

Today was our 44^th wedding anniversary. We got married at 11 AM at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Albany, NY. My maid of honor was my cousin Sandra (more like a sister) and I had two bridesmaids, Linda Drexel (now Reiss) and my sister-in-law, Patti Ann. Bob’s best man was Mike Manning, and his groomsmen were Bobby Chapman and George Fritz. The reception was at the DeWitt Clinton hotel ballroom in downtown Albany. Everybody was having so much fun that my mother had to extend the reception an hour and then the party proceeded at my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Jiggy Long’s house where everyone brought so much liquor that my uncle ended up with more liquor than he had when everyone left.

As I said numerous times, this cottage is rural Maine and away from all things tourist, so when my love woke me with coffee (as he does almost every morning) and a card and chocolate bar, I was very surprised. Years ago, that chocolate bar would’ve resulted in a comment like, “That’s it? That’s all you got me for our anniversary,” but this was special and showed that he thought ahead and picked it up without me knowing about it. I love this man.

We drank coffee and lounged around a while, showered, and head out to the Blue Hill Peninsula. This gorgeous peninsula is on the east coast of Maine north of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. It ends at Deer Isle accessible via a causeway. Some of the small coastal towns on the Blue Hill Peninsula are Brooklin, Brookville, Penobscot, Castine, Sedgewick, Blue Hill, and Uniondale (on Deer Isle). The drive is quite picturesque along a two-lane road lined with forests—mostly deciduous, some pine. The views at many spots of the ocean are breathtaking. Dotting the sides of the road are beautiful Maine homes, large and small, neat and tidy and festooned with flower beds and vegetable gardens. According to everyone we speak to, this past winter was a very nasty and long one here in Maine. For the past four days, it’s been raining and a bit cool (55 degrees), so these hearty folk were anxious to get out and plant their flowerbeds and vegetable gardens. We saw one old woman with a winter parka on working the soil of the large garden on the side of her house. Every time I see a house for sale, I want to tour it. I picture myself living in Maine by the water, but even the money left to me by my mother and that from the sale of the house wouldn’t be spent on a Maine home. Bob reminds me of the harsh winters this far north and tells me that my wanting to live here is like wanting to teach again. All I remember about teaching is the good stuff—the better students, the performances, the making a difference in someone’s life. I forget about the interfering administrators, board members, district office—the paper grading, the angry parents, the lazy students, and, most of all, the disrespectful ones. So, guess we’ll just have to be satisfied with living here in the summer when we want to. However, I have a feeling the owners of this darling place have plans to move in permanently now that it's an all-season home.

Blue Hill Peninsula--we are about where the Route 1 sign is

Driving to Deer Isle

Blue Hill Mountain

Our first stop, because we were starving, was, we thought, the Anchor Inn pub on Main Street, but for some reason, it was closed. So we went into a small bakery-deli and saw the fresh homemade breads, scones, rolls, pastries and a nice menu. I got a grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread (sliced thick) with mozzarella cheese, spinach, and roasted red peppers—served with potato salad. Bob got a Cuban sandwich—ham, roast pork, pickles, Swiss cheese on a hoagie roll with potato salad on the side. Both were delicious and maybe more than we should’ve eaten since it was almost 2:00 PM and our dinner reservations were for 5 PM. We visited a coffee shop, a Maine artist guild gallery, and a few gift shops selling Woolrich and Pendleton clothing. Very cute and, I’m so proud, I didn’t buy anything.

Lunch at the Deli

The Coffee Shop

Lilacs (a strong memory and scent from my childhood)

Near Deer Isle

Then, we decided to take the loop road down to the tip of Deer Isle, again passing through small towns, adorable houses (all on acreage), water views, Main Streets and worked our way back to Blue Hill and our dinner destination, the Barncastle Inn and Restaurant.

The Barn Castle

The Barncastle

The grounds of the Barncastle

Bob at our table

One of the dining rooms of the Barncastle

The Bar at the Barncastle

The Barncastle Inn

The Roasted Pepper, eggplant, and Goat Cheese Garlic Pizza (mine)

Bob's Meatball and Sausage Pizza

Bob's Happy (his belly's full and we have leftovers)

What an amazingly interesting building it was. It was Victorian with a bit of the Byzantine or Moorish—not sure what it was, but it was an inn and a restaurant most known for its pizza (wood-fired pizza oven pizza). I’m sorry, but as I was eating my small pizza, my thought was, “Eat your heart out Chris Bianco” as the pizza was that good. I ordered a gin and tonic while Bob had a local brew. I had their corn chowder, which I’ve taken quite a liking to lately as we’ve been in New England. This had the usual creamy soup with potatoes, corn, and chipotle. Delicious, but not as good as the one Bob had in Santa Fe. Bob ordered a large “make-your-own pizza” with meatballs and sausage. I had a small roasted red pepper, goat cheese, eggplant pizza. The crust was thin (and not salty as many thin-crust pizzas are) but the edges were crispy and fat. Delicious. Because it was a special occasion, we ordered dessert—again, a wonderful selection. I had two hazelnut cannollis and Bob had flourless chocolate cake and we both had coffee (make mine decaf please). The bill came to less than $50 and we had plenty of leftovers for snacks all week.

We were both pretty tired, so when we arrived home, we finished reading the New York Times, cleaned up a bit, and went to bed (though I didn’t get to sleep---AGAIN—until about 1:30 AM.