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.

Thursday, June 5th, Errand Day in Ellsworth

Ellsworth is a cute little town. It has a number of restaurants, antique shops, boutiques, and chain grocery stores, drugstores, a TJ Max, an LL Bean outlet,  chain fast-food joints, a Home Depot and Walmart, and RENY. We love Reny. Reny is kind of like Yellow Front, combined with Big Lots (no furniture except for outdoor furniture) and an LL Bean outlet with a lot of Maine things (lobster stuff, outdoors goods).

Our first stop was to Walgreen's and guess what we saw as soon as we walked in?

Yup, those are lobsters.

After Walgreen's we went to Reny and picked up a bird feeder, TV table, tarps, teas, rope for the hammocks, teriyaki sauce, wine glasses---and much more, but I named the items so that you got an idea of all the stuff available here.

We were hungry again, so we went into downtown. There is a wonderful BBQ place there called Mainely Meats, and a great wrap shop called 86 This, and a terrific Mexican restaurant and an ice cream shop. However, we love Finn's. It's an Irish bar and so much more. The food is delicious and they have a great variety of beers on draught. Bob got a beer and I got a beer. He ordered Bangers and Mash (sausages and sauerkraut on a roll and garlic mashed potatoes on the side). I had a Celtic Garden (all veggies with pesto on a hoagie roll) with a small side of Lime potato salad. We are so glad that nothing's changed at Finn's. Everything was delicious.

Finn's Pub, Ellsworth

Bob captured eating

Bob went to one of the antique stores where he had seen a framed photograph of the wrecked schooners at Wiscasset. He had seen that picture two years ago, but he didn't buy it. Well, it was still there and Happy Father's Day, Bob. I visited two of my other favorite places, but didn't see anything that I wanted to spend my money on. We didn't go to the kitchen store (Roosters) or TJ Maxx or the cottage furniture store or a few of our other favorite places. Instead, we saved them for the next time we were in Ellsworth.

It was after 4 PM when we left Ellsworth and started driving to the cottage. It took us a while to bring everything in and put everything away. Again, we wanted everything out of the way because Clay and Bethany (our hosts) had really streamlined and simplified (elegantly) the things in the cottage when they renovated it (new bathroom tile, shower, wooden floors throughout, kitchen cabinets, doors on both bedrooms, new apartment sized stacked washer and dryer). It didn't take long and it was time for us to do some reading, work on the blog.

We want all of our friends and family members (especially our New York families) to come stay with us. Send a text and we will put you on the schedule. We promise fun, good food, and beautiful scenery. We already have a few return visitors who asked us if they could come, so don't ask, just check my and your calendar.

Internet connection is not very good here, so it takes much longer for me to post to the blog. I probably won't post unless we have an exciting day or I have something to say or pictures to post. Tomorrow is our 44th wedding anniversary. I wish I had a picture of us on that day, but they're all home in Glendale. We are going into the Blue Hill area to explore and have an anniversary dinner at a wood-fired pizza place called the Barncastle . Read all about it tomorrow. I'll take pictures.

Wednesday, June 4, Taking a Sick Day

I woke up coughing and feeling putrid. Our ocean view was completely fogged over. It was cold enough that we considered putting on the heat. Bob wanted to cook and take care of me--so I let him.

All day--and I won't bore you--I read magazines and a book, took meds for my coughing, and pretty much laid around. Oh, and I made more lists. I have been doing a lot of that lately.

Bob made delicious Ronzoni Healthy Harvest spaghetti, sauce, and NYC Meatball Shop spicy pork meatballs (but with turkey). Dinner, with wine, was delicious.  He also cleaned up.

I sure home I feel better tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 3, Unpacking and Organizing

Because it's what we do up here with no television and no place to go, and because it was raining, we went to bed at about 9:30 PM. I read, worked on the blog, wrote lists of stuff we had to do, and could not sleep. Maybe it was just because I was so excited to finally be here. This place is heaven and if we had found it twenty years ago, we definitely would have bought it. No, wait, we didn't have money to buy it twenty years ago.  Anyway, where was I? Oh, yeah, I finally fell asleep at about 3:30AM.  We were both up with the sun and the birds, but we lounged around for a little and then we got to work. I didn't want to put this off.

We unpacked, reorganized, and put as much of our junk out of the way, I know for sure, now, that we did not bring as much junk as we did last summer. There was plenty of room in the closet for our clothes and in the drawers for our foldable clothes and other stuff. What we weren't going to use daily, we left in the shed--which is fine as there is plenty of room there.

However, we were starving at about noon.Luckily, the cottage owners had left us wine, cheese, crackers, and chocolate, so we had a little of that last night. There are no groceries in the house, so we'll have to take a ride into town (about 1/2 hour). There are not a heckuva lot of choices in town: Joshy's (love the fried bologna sandwiches) but it was closed and there was talk in town that it might not open up this year. There are two strictly breakfast places (but it was past 1:00PM) and there was the Mexican place which used to be run out of a truck but it's now in a building--take out only. Our favorite place has always been 44 Degrees North, anyway, so I don't know why we were thinking of going elsewhere.  It has a very large bar area in the back and a restaurant area in the front. There was no one in the restaurant area, but some of the locals were hooting and hollering in the bar, so that's where we went. We noticed that they had new items on the menu and we started with two local brewskies. Then I ordered, of course, a lobster roll and Bob had prime rib (for lunch!). After three beers, and the lobster roll (perfectly done lobster--and a lot of it-- with a little mayo in a grilled hot dog bun--the kind with the sides not crusty) and Bob's prime rib was lean and delicious. $30. Can't beat that.

The restaurant is right next to the little grocery store (Stop and Save). It's pretty small and doesn't carry a lot of the things we needed, but it would provide us with what we needed until we can go into Ellsworth (almost an hour away) another day. After we got the groceries, we had a few odds and ends to pick up at the Family Dollar, then we were in the van to drive back to the cottage.

The refrigerator is much smaller than the regular sized one that was here two years ago and there was little space for canned and boxed goods. The owner is a baker and has wonderful appliances and baking utensils and pans. However, we had plenty of space for what we bought. Last time we were here, we ended up boxing up (three boxes worth) all of the food we had bought and not even opened to take to the mission. I think we will be more careful this year. We are trying to eat less and move more, so we have plenty of food for now. There are still a few staples that we need, but we don't need them now.

Neither of us were that hungry, so we just had some wine and cheese and crackers and it was another early night to bed. I read for a while and dozed off at about 10AM. It is supposed to rain tomorrow.

Monday, June 2, Driving the Maine Coast and the Arrival

We slept so well last night. The B&B had a sound machine, black out shades and this morning we had the most amazing breakfast imaginable. One of the innkeepers, Tim, loves to cook. This was our breakfast: homemade honey wheat bread, fresh blueberry or cranberry jam, yogurt (delicious Cabot) with maple syrup, egg fritatta with Maine fiddle heads, fresh brewed coffee with cream. So wonderful. And the company of a couple from Brooklyn and a couple from South Carolina.

Look Bob! A moose! LL Bean window

Look Bob! Two meese.

Bob moosing around--I think it's a theme.

The flagship in Freeport ME

Outlet shopping in Freeport ME

When we checked out of the B&B, we drove to Route 1, the coastal route. We drove through a number of picturesque villages/towns and stopped in Freeport where we visited the over-priced LLBean (and came out with an individual cup coffee maker). I picked up a few things at Maidenform (sleeping wardrobe) and Bob picked up a few things at Tommy Hilfiger. We got bored with shopping pretty quickly.

Rock Harbor Pub and Brewery

Rock Harbor Brewery

Later, since it was time for lunch, we stopped at the Rock Harbor Brewery and Pub. I had a delicious roasted tomato, with goat cheese and pesto on foccaccia and Bob had a "Growler" which was shredded pork with ham and Swiss cheese on a pretzel roll. We each had a beer. Then we visited an art store and picked up supplies, a book store and picked up a few books and magazines, and a number of other shops.

By this point, Bob was ready to book it to the cottage. After a few traffic jams, we arrived at the cottage. The changes the young couple (new owners) made were remarkable. It's so lovely--and it seems so much more spacious. When I tell you that Bob and I had tears in our eyes, I'm underplaying it. Bethany showed us where everything was and gave us some information about some events happening in nearby towns. She was so gracious--she works for a non-profit in Milbridge, is a vegetarian, recycles, gardens, and bakes--can you say VERONICA!!! She so reminds us of our wonderful daugher-in-law.

The cottage as you drive in

The long driveway to the cottage from the dirt road

Behind the cottage

To the right of the cottage looking out to the bay

Part of the deck (BBQ grill on other side). This is where Bob and I watch the sun set.

The front lawn and the water

The front of the cottage facing the water, deck on left, chairs and fire pit (note the windows that look out on the water--that's the living area of the cottage

When we arrived, we noticed the beautiful flowers she had planted and that it was high tide and very cool (about 50 degrees with a strong breeze). We loved it. She had left us fresh wildflowers throughout the cottage, wine, cheese, and crackers. The refrigerator and stove are smaller, but there's also an apartment sized washer and dryer, which means no more trips into Milbridge to the laundromat. The smaller refrigerator means that we cannot go crazy buying food that we end up giving to the mission when we leave.

This is the summer for healthy eating--smaller meals, exercise, walking, kayaking, and enjoying each other. I am also going to force myself to write an hour every day--maybe more. Because there's no television, we go to bed earlier here (we both read, though) and wake up when the sun comes up. I'm hoping that in addition to changing our daily cycle in that way, we also change our eating and drinking habits and are more active. We have to start now. We're not getting any younger and we need to be healthy so we can live long enough to see all the grandchildren that will be coming.

Day 6--June 1

For some reason, it was so easy to get up this morning. Maybe it was because we knew that we were close. Also, the room, bed, linens, were so nice. It took us minutes to gather our stuff together and get some coffee from the bar in the lobby. This hotel was wonderful--a little eco-boutique hotel, in Syracuse practically on campus. Wish I had taken more pictures. I promise to be better about that.

In about three hours, after a stop for necessaries, we arrived in Albany and, at the last minute, decided to stop at my cousin Antoinette's. She was all dressed up for a wedding that she had to go to in an hour or so. She had iced tea for us and we sat on the front porch since it was such a beautiful day. Her potted geraniums were gorgeous--I'm so jealous.

Janine joined us, but we didn't stay very long. Bob was antsy to get on the road and he was sure that the traffic would be horrible. Antoinette didn't think so. Bob was right again!

Traffic was terrible on the NYS Thruway, on the Massachusetts Turnpike, on 495, on 95. We usually go along the coast to get up to Maine, but we didn't this time. This was annoying to Bob, but we were only about 4 hours from Portland going this way.

Casco Bay

We finally reached our destination for the day, Portland, Maine.

I chose an eco  B&B, The Mercury Inn, in South Portland by a beautiful park. It is an old house on State St, so the stairs are steep old man killers. Poor Bob. Of course our room is on the second floor, so once we climbed the stairs to the front door, we had another flight to climb. Bob was not very happy with me. I don't think they were that bad which makes me think that his knees are worse than mine.

This inn is a sustainable-living business.

Our room

Mercury Inn decor

Mercury Inn breakfast rooms

Our Innkeepers: Tim and Jacob

 Sample Breakfast Menu

SAMPLE MENU

At Mercury Inn, we strive to deliver the best food, made from the freshest ingredients that are seasonably available. Upon request we will prepare special dishes to accommodate dietary restrictions.

Here is a sampling of some of what we offer for breakfast in the winter:

House Made Wild Maine Blueberry Muffins
Wheat grown and processed by Maine Grains, Skowhegan, Maine
Wild Blueberries from Wyman's of Maine, Millbridge, Maine
Honey cultivated by Sparky's Apiaries, Hope, Maine

Apple-Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats
Oats grown and processed by Maine Grains, Skowhegan, Maine
Apples sourced locally through Rosemont Produce Co., Portland, Maine

Savory Cabot Cheddar Bread
Extra-sharp Vermont Cheddar from Cabot Creameries, Cabot, Vermont
Wheat grown and processed from Maine Grains, Skowhegan, Maine
Organic raw cream from Misty Brook Farm, Albion, Maine

Root Vegetable Home fries
Celeriac, potato, and turnip sourced locally through Rosemont Produce Co., Portland, Maine

Breakfast Casserole with Potatoes & Spinach
Eggs from Bowden's Egg Farm, Waldoboro, Maine
Potatoes and spinach sourced locally through Rosemont Produce Co., Portland, Maine

Light & Dark Roast Fair Trade Organic Coffees
Provided by Seacoast Coffee, Portland Maine

McIntosh Blend Apple Cider
Ricker Hill Orchards, Turner, Maine

We checked in and went to the Old Harbor for something to eat, as we had only had breakfast today. We went to Gritty's Pub in the Old Port area.

The other side of the bar in the next room

Gritty's Pub

A mural in the other room about brewing

Grizzly

At the bar

More shops in the Old Port area

A shopping area (stores were closed by the time we left Gritty's) BUMMER!

Mugs for the regulars hung above the bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

So tonight we'll catch up on our walking and do some sightseeing around town. Tomorrow, after breakfast, we'll head out to the coast highway to visit the small towns (and shops!)