One day
We sat around at home because there was quite a bit of fog. Bob had gotten a number of boxes from the post office and Home Depot, so he packed quite a bit of things (mostly books) to send home. We're trying to get the weight and bulk down of what we've brought with us so the car wouldn't be quite as loaded. Also, we must accommodate the extra weight of the extra kayak and the antiques we bought.
On that day, however, I made pasta carbonara for dinner. It was excellent and it's nice to cook again. I love cooking, but I've been lazy lately. I am still reading about a book a day and have gotten through all of Diane Mott Davidson's Goldie the Caterer books. Very light reading, but good writing--not really a predictable ending to the murder mysteries, and I love the characters that recur. I'm ready to begin the Secret Life of Lobsters, a non-fiction, and I've loaded some other author's chef/mystery book on my Nook. I'm trying to decide whether to get a Kindle Fire or an I-Pad, or both, but I really don't want to spend money on myself that way.
I shopped online for some clothes for Ana and hope they will be delivered soon, so Kayla can mail them to her.
Another day
Our first stop was an antique place on Route 1 that we've passed but never visited. OH. MY. GOD. It was wonderful. I got quite a few things. I've gotten into some new collections (which is deadly for me since I wanted to cut down on collections and junk I already have). I like Ironstone pitchers (I now have three in three different sizes) and I also bought a turquoise Fiestaware pitcher. I bought an old breadbox that I can repaint, and a number of glass storage jars for my pantry project. Since we were already haflway there, we drove to Ellsworth, had lunch/dinner at Finn's again. This time I had a hamburger and it was delicious. We stopped at Morton's Moo for gelato--it, too, was delicious.
Yet another day
One of the MUSTS for our trip was a whale watch. We finally got to do that even though the day was riff with stress. First, Bob's alarm didn't work, so we got up later than we wanted to. Then the traffic on the way to Bar Harbor was ridiculously heavy and slow. Since I had already purchased tickets online, we had to be at the dock, in line, by 12:30. With the traffic so heavy, I was already worried, but then we had to contend with the lack of parking. Bob dropped me off to pick up the tickets and wait in line. I had jumped out of the car so quickly that I left my phone in the car. After getting the tickets, trying to speak Italian to a couple in line, and stressing that Bob wouldn't make it in time, Bob finally shows up. He had parked at Testas parking lot again. We were in the middle of the long line and I was worried that we wouldn't get good seats on the top deck. When we got up to the top deck, just as I realized there were not two seats together, a woman gets up right in front of us, I grabbed the two seats and stationed myself at a great place on the rail. What is the lesson I should have learned here (but won't have)? Things work out in the end. It was a great trip. We saw two whales often, along with shearwaters, phalaropes, puffins, gannets, petrals, porpoises, and harbor seals. The naturalist on board was excellent even in her youth. Articulate and bright. We befriended a couple of which the wife was an English teacher at a community college in New Jersey (Monmouth). We shared a lot of the same thoughts about teaching, education, and students. Maybe too much shop talk, but it was still interesting and quite a coincidence. During the trip, which was 3 and 1/2 hours long, we also learned a lot about the history of the area, the names of the light houses and islands, and much, much more.
When we disembarked, it was still too early for our 5:30 PM reservation at Cafe This Way, so we stopped to see Debbie, the bartender at Testas and had a couple of drinks. Then we walked to Cafe This Way. Dinner was amazing. As an appetizer, I had Duck pate and Bob had bruscetta with cheese, roasted peppers and tapenade. For dinner, Bob had pork tenderloin chipoltle peppers and garlic mashed potatoes, and I had the Southwestern Shepherd's Pie (garlic mashed potatoes between two breaded and fried slices of eggplant, with a corn, red pepper, tomato salsa. He also had a salad with mandarin oranges, fried wanton strips, and a sesame dressing. I had the pot de cremes again and Bob had coffee.
Alas, this might have been our last trip to Bar Harbor for this summer. I was sad since there were so many places on the way that I had wanted to stop at.
Today
More packing and disassembling (to dry) the inflatable boat, the hammocks, the camp chairs. Bob's going to Cherryfield to try to find some larger postal boxes as the post office here in Milbridge only have the midsized ones (and they told Bob those were the largest ones--we know that's not true). It's going to rain, so we're not planning on doing anything fun today.
As the time draws nearer and nearer to leave this wonderful place, it also brings us closer to the time when we'll see our precious children: Bryn in Long Island before we set "sail" for our trip across the country, Sean in Colorado as we near the end of our journey, and Matt and his family once we have a few days at home before our drive down to Tucson.
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