Welcome to the MAINE event!

Sometimes you have those vacations where you sit around and do nothing.  This was not one of those vacations.

My parents picked us up at the Portland Airport, which means I can add one more to the list, and all but threw water and snacks at us.  It was time to hit the road, and off we went driving from Portland to Camden via the scenic route.

Our first stop was a lighthouse

And a bit later a road side lobster (pronounced: lobstah) shack, for our first-ever lobster rolls. This is no ordinary lobster snack, as this one has been on some food channel show.  Did I mention the fried dough for dessert?  Yes, please.

Just when I thought the night was over, we finally made it to Camden, Maine, where we walked through town for a bit at sunset.  

The rental house my parents stayed at was perfectly sized and charming.  Completely outfitted with IKEA everything, it felt both classy yet replaceable.  The perfect balance.  It was probably not much bigger than our two bedroom apartment, but laid out much better and with a killer kitchen perfect for preparing lobster feasts.  The guest room, however, was a sight to behold.  And no one warned us.  In fact, the only tip I received was a text from my sister that said, "take a picture of Eric in bed for me" to which my reply was, "No way, you creep"  Until I walked in the room and saw the two kiddie sized twin beds.  Ha!  No wonder everyone was waiting for a photo of my 6'4" husband in the bed.  He looked like ELF.

Friday morning my parents made amazingly perfect Maine blueberry pancakes and a feast of eggs, bacon and sausage.  We couldn't get a ride on the sail boat until 3pm so off we went in search of more lighthouses, granite rocks, and delicious food.

view from lunch

Eric is proud of his 0 pounds of pregnancy weight :)

Eric took this one!

Skipping rocks

Is that a good wave, Mom?  

I cannot mention Friday without my obsession over the little kids in the sailing school.  I took pictures of them from three different parts of Camden, but here is the best one to see how small and cute they are!

We ended up skipping the sailing adventure because it was almost 100 degrees (yes, in Maine! waaahhh!) and I was getting dizzy and cranky.  It was the one thing I was looking forward to the most, but as you can see we'd already packed a lot into the day and I needed a nap.  So we headed back to the house for just that.

My dad ordered some lobstahs for dinner.  Eric did the honors (honahs) of putting them in the pot.

Thirty minutes later we were ready for dinner (you guessed it, pronounced dinnah)

After eating our weight in lobstah, we walked it off with a night time stroll through downtown Camden.  Dad and I had fun taking some long-exposure night shots of the harbor.

30 second exposure.  Two boats went by during that time.  

this is the sail boat we were supposed to go out on (and the shot could have used a tripod)

My hope for Saturday was to catch the 10am sail and be on the road after lunch, however, it rained. Seriously.  First it was 100 degrees, then it was raining.  BUST!  But in the long run it was for the better because the day ended up long enough....and Eric got a surprise visit to Shipyard Ale's Federal Jack's Restaurant and brew pub in Kennebunkport.

My hubby was in hog heaven.  He even had beer and pretzel fudge for dessert! Thank goodness my dad was driving!

And what's a trip to Kennebunkport without the obligatory photo of the Bush compound?

Anyone see Babs? 

And from there we drove down to Portsmouth, NH to visit the Randalls, family friends of ours from Florida that I hadn't seen in at least 6-8 years?  I'd seen Courtney one time during college, which I'm sure she'd be embarrassed if I told you what happened that night, but I digress.  It was so great to see everyone all grown up and doing fun things with their lives. Eric finally got to meet Mr. Randall, the only person more enthusiastic about 1023812098 sports than he is.  Our visit was too short, but we had to be down in Boston for dinner.

I told you this trip was jam packed.

Our first (yes, first) stop in Boston was with my dad's family friends the Taylors.  We had a few appetizers and good, but short visit with them, before their son drove Eric and I into the city to visit Eric's friend-since-fourth-grade, Chris.

Thank goodness we'd decided not to go to the Red Sox game because at dusk it was still about 93 degrees with no breeze.  And, as you could imagine, I was exhausted!

Chris found a fabulous French restaurant for dinner and after we visited the bar where he works.  It's much like The Fred in Atlanta, but a little more hipster than speakeasy.  Eric and Chris talked beer for a good two or three hours while I feasted on some gourmet ice cream sandwiches the chef made me.

But the night didn't end there.  I had the guys walk me home around midnight (but not without touching the walls of Fenway park first!) where I promptly fell asleep on the couch. They stayed up talking about video games for another few hours.  It's funny how their day-to-day lifestyles are different now, but how they can still talk, almost in secret code, for HOURS!

Sunday morning Eric and I woke up in time to walk to Dunkin Donuts (a staple in our weekend's diet) to pick up breakfast which we ate in a little park on the way to Mass.  Unfortunately, it was still rainy so I didn't dare risk packing my camera.

Mass was in a tiny little church near Berklee's campus.  Obviously the music was fantastic, as was the homily and the parish community.  But the church building didn't have air conditioning and only boasted a few tiny windows.  Needless to say, I spent most of Mass slurping water from the cooler in the Narthex.

Chris took us to a fabulous place for brunch and sent Eric and I on our way to the North End.  Other than sailing the only other thing I wanted on this trip was a cannoli from Mike's Pastry.

 But after hauling our luggage a mile from the T stop...you guessed it...the line was down the block.  All I got was a super blurry picture and some pit stains.  BUST!

It was time to say goodbye to Boston

And take the T to the airport

It was a long, hot weekend and we were ready for our own bed (and not twin sized ones!), some fruit, and air conditioning.

Even though it was exhausting, it was great to talk with my parents who'd been gone all summer, unplug from electronics, spend time away with my husband, and enjoy long overdue visits with friends.