Our Trip to Maine

Hi All,
Kelsey's napping and I'm doing laundry, so I thought I'd put up the next installation of our vacation. I still owe photos of Kelsey's birthday party, which came before the last post and this one, in addition to Heather's BBQ photos. Oh well.

After our China 130 reunion, we headed up to beautiful Maine. My brother Jim and his wife Judy have been married 11 years and Jim's lived in Maine almost 15 years now. He loves it and has definitely completed the transition to New Englander (without the accent, but in full beard)

Here's where I feel the need to apologize. I am not a photojournalist. My Dad was, and in fact, if he were still here, I'd call him and say "I get it!" My Dad wasn't really into telling family stories through photography, because it was his profession (and then he went into the photo chemical business)

It takes real planning and dedication to your art to be able to tell a story in photos. I think we did a better job in China, although still not great. I think I prefer to live in the moment than behind the lens. In fact, I had to head to my brother's job the morning we left because I thought we didn't get a photo with him and Kelsey. We weren't able to get even one of Judy. And I feel bad about that because I want photos of Kelsey will all her family members. Judy, I promise next time! :)

We arrived on Sunday evening, spent some time with Judy, Jim and Cassie. Kelsey was first afraid of Cassie, but warmed up quickly and loved her! Jim's remodeled his upstairs bathroom and it is really beautiful! (Jim if you want to send me a photo, I'll post it for my league of readers! ;) We had a great rib dinner and then hung out in the backyard where Kelsey had her first toasted marshmallow, courtesy of the Chiminea!

Jim took a few days off and we set out to see the sights. We took a cruise on his boat, which was originally our father's. Jim's really restored it and loves it. Dad's smiling at how much Jim loves that boat. Kurt, Kelsey, Jim and I headed out on a grey morning to Castine. I've always been a little queasy on that boat, but we didn't go into the ocean, so it was calmer and so was my stomach. Kurt, of course, being a sailor, loved it and Jim allowed him to drive it. Kelsey really didn't enjoy the boat at all. I think she didn't like the life preserver we made her wear and she didn't smile on the boat once. She even fell asleep up and back for part of the trip...which meant she was shutting down because she didn't want to deal.

In Castine, we stopped for lunch. This was about 30 miles south east of where Jim lives. Don't you know he saw an old friend of his on the docks of Castine? How ironic! We had lunch outside and Kelsey shook off her malaise and enjoyed the birds and lunch. That big old seagull in the photos really staked his claim on the pier, he was literally the "cock of the walk" and ate all the leftovers. Of course,you're not supposed to feed the seagulls (so not to encourage them). So we didn't.Then we headed back on the boat.

After going back to Jim's house, we chilled for a bit, then headed off to a kid's museum before going to visit his Mother in law Grace. Grace is a sweetie! We all headed out to this funny restaurant, which is really a truck stop called Dyserts! They made the most delicious lobster bisque and lobster roll I've ever eaten. We all ended the meal with incredible homemade desserts! Maine is famous for its wild blueberries. Everywhere I go in Maine, I try to eat as much lobster and blueberry as I can cram in :)

The next day Jim, Kurt, Kelsey and I headed to Bar Harbor. Bar Harbor is part tourist-y with tons of fun shopping and part incredibly beautiful scenery. I enjoy both, but there's not much hiking we can do with a two year old, so we headed off to some fun shopping and restaurants.

For our final evening in Maine, Jim treated us to his homemade eggplant Parmesan. It was fabulous! As good as our Mom's! and it is my all time favorite food. You will never ever see me order that in a restaurant because no one can make it the way our family likes it (take off the skin please! and don't breadcrumb it, egg and flour it!)

So, that was our trip to Maine. Kelsey did pretty well, thanks to the portable DVD player. Plus, either Kurt or I was in the backseat with her hanging out or entertaining her. She was much better traveler than I thought she'd be.

Enjoy the photos!

JoAnn

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