It's All About ME

This weekend we had an awesome time thanks to Kay Bradley and her fantastic parents. Kay B is from Freeport, ME, and she invited a bunch of friends up for the weekend.

Micah, Dave Kuhl and I packed up the Golf and headed north on Friday after the guys got off work. We drove through New Hampshire up to Maine. In the process, we paid approximately $1.80 in extra tolls due to a couple wrong turns. Wrong turn #1 was when we exited for food, only to realize that the food was not right off the exit ramp like the signs lead you to believe, but much further away. So, 60 cents later, we're back on 95N. And then, I, serving as navigator, lost track of what exit we were at as we started to go through Portland. At exit #47, I realized we had indeed already passed exit #44. So, 60 cents later we were turned around going back. And then, the exit numbers went from exit #46 straight down to #42...so, there was another 60 cent turnaround before we were finally headed the right way. We got to the house, which is awesome by the way, around 10 or so and had a beer, chatted with Kay B, her parents (Ed and Jane), Caitlin, and Allison. Then we turned in to rest up for a fun-filled weekend.

We woke up early so we could go get some breakfast at a local place. We took the boat over to South Harpswell and ate at the Dolphin. They keep their boat moored at one of their neighbor's places. Their neighbors run an oyster farm which is pretty cool. So anyway, to get to the boat, you have to row out there in a little dingy. At high tide you can drive it up to the dock, but at low tide, you can't because it's too shallow. Off into the hazy morning in search of breakfast. On the way we passed an island that had a bunch of seals around it. So cute. But all anyone could reference were mean seals in Happy Feet and other movies.


The Dolphin was really cute, and it had amazing french toast. Yum! We talked and tried to teach Kay's parents more about the advertising biz. I think it's definitely one of those professions that's hard to understand unless you have experience working in it. I know I have a hard time explaining exactly what everyone does and how their positions work together. On the boat ride back, we stopped at an island that has Robert Peary's house on it. It's a pretty cool place, all alone on an island off the Maine coast that he bought for $500. After that, we headed home, and saw some bald eagles along the way. There was a giant (we're talking huge) nest in a tree. And you could just make out the male AND female parents perched in trees nearby. It was really cool (see if you can see him below - it's like Where's Waldo).



We got back just in time for our other friends to arrive - Chris, Kay Miller, and Kelly. We changed into shorts since it was getting hot and played games in the huge backyard. We set up a croquet match. None of us were very good, except Ed. And maybe Chris. Kuhl (pronounced 'cool' for those of you who don't know) supplied us with bags (aka Baggo, aka Corn Hole) which, if you have never played, is an awesomely competitive backyard game. You stand at either side and throw bean bags at boards and try to get the bag in the hole. Not as easy as it sounds. I promise.

After some backyard fun, we ordered some sandwiches and headed to the beach. We took the boat over to an island where we ate lunch and sat in the sun and swam in the freezing cold water. Seriously, I didn't think it was possible to have goosebumps while in the water. It was just a little too cold to be considered refreshing. After the swim, we took a exploratory tour of the island led by Micah. Who though traipsing around an island in flip flops, with beers in hand, in towels was a good idea? I guess we all did for some reason. Anyway, everyone made it and we ended up coming out on the other side of the island on Private Property. Oh well.


After that, we got back on the boat and headed to Freeport to pick up some dinner. That's right folks, you guessed it, lobster. We bought live lobsters (cheap!) to take home and cook. Then we headed home for showers and dinner.

Ed showed us a lobster game where you have to lull the lobster into submission and then put him in a yoga-like pose. Whoever's lobster lasts the longest wins. Kuhl won. Then, they went in the pot...dum dum dummmmmm. Ed also cooked yummy corn on the grill and Jane made a great salad. Dinner was really good. And then, for dessert, we had a variety of ice creams.



After dinner, we sat around and had a few (or more) beers. We sat on the deck, we played flip cup (my team won - yay), some went swimming, we tried to play Trivial Pursuit (but, as usual, the questions were super hard).

The next day Ed made great blueberry pancakes. And we had fresh melon. So good. Chris, Kelly, Caitlin, and Allison left first. Micah, Kuhl, the Kays and I stuck around. We shot skeet which was kinda fun. Definitely something to mark off my 'things to do before i die' list, but maybe not something I'll do again. I don't really like shooting guns. Never really liked rifelry at camp. Micah was the only one who hit a clay disc. Good work!


After that we packed up and headed into town to hit the outlets. We went to the Patagonia outlet, the LL Bean store, and some others. I ended up getting a bunch of stuff I wasn't planning on, but it'll be useful (like a hiking backpack and sleeping bag). Then we got on the road. By that time, it was getting on toward 5:00, so we went into Portland for dinner. We ate at Gilbert's Chowder House out on the deck. It was good. Filling...

So back on the road home...we stopped at McDonalds for Kuhl. He loooooves the dollar menu McChicken sandwiches and apparently they aren't carrying them in Boston anymore. So he ordered 4. And I think he ate all of them. On the ride home.

All-in-all it was a great weekend. We've been invited back and I am sure we'll go. Good scenery, good friends, good fun, good weekend.

Whew! Long one. More photos on Flickr.
~Marianna