Bit noisy for nesting, but clearly she’s a Cubs fan.
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Lord, I hope not. Mine have expanded greatly post menopause.
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I’m sure you’ve all read about this genetic abomination. And while I am completely and absolutely 100 percent against rejuvenating extinct species… as a GOT lover I will say this now that’s it’s done –
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😉
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Good for her…?
🥴
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Does Artificial Intelligence require bacon treats as well?
There’s a restaurant under the black awning in this corner building in downtown Augusta.
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It’s a place my husband continually thinks he likes, but really doesn’t.
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I love that their beer is tapped in an old copper still.
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And while the pomegranate margarita was killer, I admit their version of hushpuppies was not.
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We’ve been here a few times and because I enjoy barbecue, I liked my meal.
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Half a dry rubbed chicken, sweet potato fries, slaw and jalapeño cornbread.
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My husband on the other hand complained his (very tender and flavorful) ribs didn’t have enough meat, his beans weren’t New England style, his slaw was too dry and his cornbread too spicy.
He doesn’t really like barbecue, but always thinks he does… no matter how many times I tell him he won’t be pleased.
Short memory, or stubbornness? Either way it will probably be another year before he suggests going out for barbecue again.
Down to the end of a peninsula, an area called Galilee.
You can see Jerusalem from there.
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No, I wasn’t kidding.
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Our destination was George’s.
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A seafood restaurant with a water view.
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Lunch off season left us with the place pretty much to ourselves….
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So I settled in with a perfectly refreshing Spring Sangria…
grey goose l’orange vodka, st. germain, pineapple, white wine, club soda
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Husband started with garlicky mussels..
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And I had Rhode Island clam chowder, which is pretty much the same as New England clam chowder… rich, creamy and delicious.
Before long a few locals joined us at the bar.
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Since the gentleman closest to me was wearing a Marine Corps hat, a conversation began. These two men had been friends since they were in elementary school. They married local girls, went to war and came back home to raise families.
We bought their drinks.
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As we watched the Block Island ferry come into port.
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My crab stuffed shrimp with garlic butter roasted baby potatoes and broccolini was divine.
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As was the husband’s shrimp scampi.
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After eating, serious storytelling commenced.
😊
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I left them to it and wandered outside to enjoy the view.
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You can always tell when a fishing boat has taken on bait.
Because they took care of our cat while we were in Newport, I returned the favor and watched our neighbors two cats while they were in California. Upon return she brought us a thank you gift of regional beer.
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But not just any beer.
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Beer with a sense of humor.
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Ah, spring in Maine. It can go from 70 degrees to snow in 24 hours.
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And when the grass starts to green…
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The deer start blowing winter coats.
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They look like scruffy ragamuffins..
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And we find clumps of hair all over the lawn.
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We definitely did not.
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Unfortunate typo aside, I’m going to try this and report back.
Continuing our tour of the Elms, we learned some interesting history of the home before entering the breakfast room.
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When the sister of the original owner passed in 1961, she left the estate to her nephew. Not having the money for its upkeep… he auctioned off all the furniture and sold the property to a developer. Three days before the entire house was due to be demolished, the Preservation Society stepped in, raised funds for purchase and opened it to the public in 1962. Over the decades the Society has bought back a lot of the original furnishings you see here.
But back to the breakfast room. It’s walls are 18th century K’ang Hsi lacquer.
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Superb examples of the art form, this is one of only a few surviving lacquer rooms in the world.
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Next door is the butler’s pantry… where food would be plated before serving.
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The electric dumb waiter connects to the kitchen below and to the upper level of the pantry where the china was stored.
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The silver safe.
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View of the dining room from the pantry.
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Heading up the stairs to the second floor.
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In the center hall sits a large and extreme heavy ( two and a half tons! ) marble table.
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It was sold at the auction of furniture in ‘61… but proved too massive to move and was set to be demolished along with the house.
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The family’s private rooms are on this floor.
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Bedrooms.
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And baths.
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Please note the wicker “throne” in the masters bath below.
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Fit for a king of industry?
The sink is white onyx..
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So, perhaps.
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🤣
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These light fixtures made me smile.
Not sure why.
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Along with the bedrooms, we found the family’s personal sitting room.
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Downstairs was for guests.
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This was a private space, and filled with donated family photos.
A few more amusing regional maps for your consideration.
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Lewiston, Maine is an old mill town gone to seed. It tries to put on a pretty face with downtown rejuvenation projects but to my mind will always be a poor, sad relative to its coastal cousins.
If I lived there? I’d be drunk as well.
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This is a map no one really needs to see, but Italy?
What the utter hell!
😳
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Proud to have the most trees, that’s me!
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Most excellent.
I love cows.
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Though it seems a little strange Wisconsin was singled out for cow ratio when it turns out they didn’t make the top bovine tier.
Since it was still raining on our fourth afternoon in Newport, we opted for more indoor entertainment.
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And who doesn’t love an aquarium?
Yes, this one was small and heavily geared to children with various petting pools… but there were fish.
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And I love watching fish.
Almost as much as this turtle loved watching me.
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Watching fish lowers my blood pressure.
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And watching this small ray float back and forth made me smile.
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Especially when he surfaced for a few close ups.
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See?
He’s smiling too.
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A few days before we visited, I saw a printed advertisement for this aquarium in a local magazine. It showed a surround tunnel and I love walking through those!
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Of course the ad…. ⬆️
Turned out to be a bit different than the reality… ⬇️ .
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Yup.
That’s the tunnel.
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And yours truly is a little too large to have made that enjoyable.
😒
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But back to the fish.
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I fell in love with these little weirdos.
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And yes, I think we had a moment here.
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They were fascinating fellows to watch.
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All with slightly different markings.
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I turned to see what my husband thought of them but as usual… I’d lost him.
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You know he had to find someone to talk to besides me.
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So while he made friends with the marine biology student attendant…
I made friends with a shark.
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Who, it turns out, isn’t supposed to pop up vertically and greet guests… but I must be irresistible because he did it on multiple occasions.
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Kevin on the other hand, is a very friendly dude.
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And enjoys the occasional back rub.
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The lovely and quite special thing about this aquarium is that all the marine life comes locally from Narragansett Bay. Many… like Kevin who is blind in one eye… are disabled in some way and will have a permanently safe home here.
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The other creatures do a six month rotation for exhibition and are then released back to the wild.
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Once in a while invasive tropical fish are found …
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And are not released back in the bay to upset the natural order.
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Is that guy on the bottom waving?
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Tilt the picture slightly and I see an owl with a sharp beak.
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This poor fellow lost an eye.
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There’s the husband, still chatting.
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Fish.
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Fish.
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And more fish.
And though my spouse was still talking, closing time was 5:30 so we were politely scooted out the door.
Dinner was a local Chinese restaurant with very fresh and tasty food.
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And appropriate vacation fortunes.
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😊
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 