We had 5 full days with our favorite people and needed to make the most of it. D’s husband T. and daughter G. had never been to Maine before and we wanted to give them the full immersive experience.
First stop?
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L.L. Beans.
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And the required tourist photo in front of the giant boot.
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A giant backpack had been added since my last visit so that had to be tried on for size as well.
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The L. L. Bean perpetual clock.
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If you’ve never been, the flagship stores in Freeport are worth a visit. Just remember to bring your wallet.
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Next stop? The Eastern Promenade in Portland, where you can see luxury yachts….
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And whatever the heck that is.
Speaking of yachts…
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Because everyone needs a spare.
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Damn!
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Moving on to South Portland, we visited Bug Light Park where T. was loving the ocean views.
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Bug Light.
A famous (in these parts) mini lighthouse.
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G. was fascinated with the cruise ships that are now allowed in Portland harbor.
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And took a break from walking on the rocks.
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The beach.
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The light.
Next up was Spring Point lighthouse, which the husband and I had never visited.
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We could see it… but never managed to find it.
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We followed the gps directions to the parking lot and climbed multiple hills but couldn’t find a way down.
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We walked paths that dead ended in the woods… and circled the embankment.
But still couldn’t get there.
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After half an hour of fruitless searching?
We gave up, took a few photos from a distance and moved on.
A little history is required to fully enjoy my next series of posts.
When we lived in NC we had a neighbor. She was a single mother with two children and her daughter D. stole our hearts from day one. She was a happy little munchkin we enjoyed spending time with but when D’s baby brother stopped breathing at the babysitter’s and suffered irreparable brain damage, her life changed forever. We stepped in and helped wherever we could, taking her under wing and making sure she still enjoyed the part of her childhood untouched by tragedy. She became the child we never had… the daughter of our hearts, and we love her still.
Fast forward to present day… that young girl is 39 and married with a child of her own. We brought D to Maine with us a few times when she was young and the week after Labor Day 2024 life came full circle when she brought her family to visit the legendary land of lobster.
Meet G.
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And the lobster I gave her at the airport upon arrival, Larry.
G. is a little peanut and the granddaughter of our hearts.
The family stayed at what looked to be a cute little AirBnB on a lake.
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The view was lovely.
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But the house itself was weirdly laid out.
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No living room, a weird staircase and camp like accommodations downstairs.
Though it did come preloaded with a can of beans.
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Welcome to Maine!
Feel free to toot..
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As they’d be spending most of their time with us it wasn’t a big deal, but a tad disappointing all the same.
The first afternoon was spent settling them in, stocking the weird house with groceries and then back to our place for a home cooked lasagna dinner and happy hour in the man cave/Barn Mahal which they all fell in love with.
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Me?
I was so happy to have them here I reveled in the moment and only took one picture.
I was doing some paperwork at my desk the other day so of course His Lordship had to join me. After booting him off the desk three times he decided to jump on the printer and cause trouble.
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He’s good at that, but looks oh so innocent.
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Needless to say everything up there was knocked to the floor before long.
It’s been an unusually wet summer and while this time of year usually finds our lawn dry and crunchy, the grass is verdant green.
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Which shows off the rainbows to perfection.
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I don’t care if it tastes good, the can alone would make me try it.
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Work has resumed on the view busting greenhouses across the street.
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Can’t say I’m in a hurry for that to be erected.
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I could never make decent shadow figures when I was young, but I found this recently and wanted to share. The spider looks like a scorpion and the puppy resembles a hippo but they’re still better than I ever managed.
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Mr. Hawk is back and has discovered a power line perch.
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Whether that’s a very brave or very stupid dove has yet to be determined.
River's world..... 