In lieu of Crooked Acres Thursday, I’m sharing my vacation pictures with y’all. There are a lot of them, so I broke them down into categories. Y’all know that you can always click on the picture here to go see a larger version over at Flickr, right? If you didn’t, you know now!
Food.
A lobster BLT (and a tank of lobsters) at Newick’s in South Portland, and lobster pie (and a sign over their tank of lobsters) at Spinney’s. When I go to Maine, I eat as much lobster as I possibly can. Not pictured: the lobster roll at the Muddy Rudder in Yarmouth, and the 10,000 whoopie pies I ate while I was in Maine. The Muddy Rudder lobster roll is in my opinion the BEST lobster roll. Huge chunks of lobster and just a tiny bit of mayo.
Popham Beach.
We went to Popham Beach so I could see how much the beach has changed in recent years. There’s hardly any beach there anymore due to erosion. Plenty of people there even though it was colllld. Funny how they didn’t seem to think it was all that cold, while I was shivering the entire time. We drove down to near the fort and had lunch. There were otters in the water watching us watch them.
There was a gathering of the Ancient Riders at the beach, and at some point a foot race around the “pond.”
Wildlife.
Squirrels and birds, birds and squirrels. No cats (my parents haven’t had a cat in years, and my brother’s cat is a scaredy), no dogs (my parents’ dog Benjie passed away last Fall and they’re not ready for another yet). I never did get up early enough to see the wild turkeys that rampage through my parents’ back yard every morning.
Random Pictures.
Panoramic shot of my parents’ back yard (I love their back yard).
The room where I stay when I’m visiting my parents, everything else is pretty self-explanatory. That broom hanging on the brick chimney has been hanging there for years and years. That doll was mine when I was little. It’s in rough shape, but Danielle wanted it and took it home with her. (Danielle is my daughter, also known as the spud, and she lives in Rhode Island with her father. She’s 23.)
Made With Love.
Various hand-made things around my parents’ house (except for the picture of the cottages by the water, which my mother bought and which I absolutely love). Some made by my mother, some by my grandmother, and that “A grandmother’s heart” cross-stitch was, I believe, the very first thing I cross-stitched. That was back when there were two grandchilden (my nephew and my daughter). Now there are five – and two great-grandchildren!
People.
And, the reason I went to Maine in May instead of waiting ’til July or August like I usually do: to meet my grand-nephew, Alexander. He was 10 days old in those pictures, and just as adorable and bright-eyed and alert as could be. That’s Danielle (my daughter, aka “the Spud”) in the blue Tweety hoodie. My nephew Brian (Alexander’s father) in the hat, and Emily (Alexander’s mother/ Brian’s fiance) in that picture with Alexander and Brian. Does she look like someone who’d given birth a mere 10 days earlier? I think not. Horrifying, is what that is. No one should look that good so soon after having a baby!
I bet y’all didn’t know I like human babies as well as kittens, did you? I can hold the heck out of a newborn, and can usually sing them to sleep (Shpadoinkle Day is my song of choice), but Alexander was wise to my shenanigans and wouldn’t drop off, thus ruining my reputation as someone so boring soothing that babies can’t stay awake when I’m holding them.
And that was my trip to Maine! I was in Lisbon Falls, where my parents live (and where I grew up from 6th grade on) – about 40ish minutes North of Portland, and across the bridge from Durham, where Stephen King grew up. Speaking of Stephen King, we went to the same high school, though he was many years ahead of me. And if you read 11/22/63, Lisbon Falls is where the story starts out (and returns to repeatedly), and it’s a real place. So are the Kennebec Fruit Company, and Frank Anicetti Jr., for that matter. Me and Stephen King, we’re like THIS. (Lisbon Falls is also home to the Moxie Festival. I do not recommend Moxie; it tastes like Coke that’s gone very very bad.)
After I said yesterday that it’d only be a matter of time before all the Noms were snoozing on the bed with me after Fred left for work in the morning, not a single Nom was seen upstairs yesterday morning. Of course, Fred leaves for work really early (4:30), so maybe instead of running around like the wild monkeys they are, maybe they went back to sleep like I did!
“I like this Tommy fella.”
Morning sun in the kitchen = kittens in the kitchen. That’s Corbie’s box they’re occupying.
“HALP! HALLLLLLP!” Newbery is such a bratty big brother.
“Who, me? I just thought she needed to be bitten!”
Logie in the sun. Where’d your stripes go, little girl?
This is either Darwin or Razzie. They both have the same shaped eyes, and if I can’t see their tail (or lack of), then I don’t know who I’m looking at.)
It’s a Suggie in a Ham-mick!
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Previously
2011: “HI MAMA!”
2010: Apparently Corbett WANTED to get down, but Stinkerbelle was sitting there glaring at him, and he was too skeered.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: “I CAN BE A GIRL!” I said.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Congrats on the grand-nephew!!!! It seems like you had a nice trip! 🙂
Funny, I always thought the spud belonged to you and Fred and that you and Fred had been married since the beginning of time.
Tommy is such a sweet boy!
It looks like you had a good vacation and got to inhale plenty of that new baby smell to boot! I’m just confused by the guy dressed like a pirate on the beach. Was he one of the pagan motorcyclists?
And I just have to say that I LOVE Moxie, but I was also raised on sassafras root tea, so it may just be me.
Finally, the Noms are littel hellions, aren’t they? And are those stripes I see on Tommy? Was he also a striped kitten like Logie?
Yeah, he was with that whole group. 🙂
Tommy does have some very subtle stripes that you usually can’t see. He wasn’t as light as Logie was, if I recall correctly.
Wonderful pics, wonderful new baby, wonderful vacation and KITTIES! What more could ya ask for?
I was back in my size 0 jeans a week after having a baby. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that.
I’ll probably be back in my size 0 jeans any day now… 😀
ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a co-worker like that who loved to brag about how she went home from the hospital in her pre pregnancy jeans. Yeah we wanted to kick her ass. Size 9 is as small as my hips will ever go!
oh, yeah, me too… and i haven’t even had a baby so…alright, i’m just tragic. Happy now?!
Oh Popham Beah, I haven’t been there in ages. I worked for Bowdoin Summer Music Festival one summer and the international students wanted to go to the beach all the time. So we would take them to Popham. The water was so cold, even in July and August. They loved it.
Such great pictures of Maine and your family and vacation. I head up that way to RI in 4 days and I am so excited. Hopefully the kitties don’t trash the place while I’m gone.
The noms are so cute! And I would adopt Logie in a heartbeat if I didn’t already have 2.
Serious jealousy going on here over that food! Congrats to you and your family on little Alexander.
I’m wondering if your parents might be interested in adopting another child. Slightly used, 46, but can fend for self and keep self clean. All I’d need is that little room, the back yard, and MAINE.
boy am I jealous!! wonderful pictures!
Great vacation pics, Robyn. I was completely unaware there were marauding pirates on the beaches of Maine! (You learn something new every day!)
I don’t look that good 10 YEARS after popping out the last kid. Perhaps I should get to work on that…
How can supposedly smart someone who gives a kitten an absolutely awesome name like Aristophanes turn around and do something so dumb? One might think about giving some consideration to whether or not you are a cat person before making a commitment for the next decade or so. Sheesh, I’ve kept cereal I don’t like longer than that. On the plus side for Aristophanes, he is no longer sentenced to a lifetime with someone who doesn’t love him. Let’s get this baby a home!!
Oh, and if I haven’t said this before… I am loving the links back to previous years’ posts. Today I was introduced to Creepy Cousin Spanky (and I still love him!!)
Creepy Cousin Spanky! I had forgotten about that. He doesn’t seem to hate Joe Bob as much these days, so there’s been no creepin’ lately. Not that he and JB are best friends or anything, but at least they’re at the live-and-let-live stage. 🙂
Pirates on the beach, Romans walking down the streets, http://www.flickr.com/photos/johncacciato/4004049348/
Maine is just as wacky as Stephen King makes it out to be 🙂
Hey Robin –
I’m fairly new to your blog and just love it!! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read about your Maine adventures and trip to Newicks. Having grown up in Hampton, NH and camping all around the great state of Maine, my family and I are oh so very familiar with the seafood haven that is Newicks.
We’re now spread across the country from DC to AZ. Oh how I would LOVE to take a trip up to ME just for a sit down with the family at Newicks.
Thanks for bringing back the great memories!!!!
Poor Aristophanes. He deserves a home with someone who loves him, regardless if they’re a cat/dog/whatever person. Looks very cuddlesome.
oh my goodness Robyn!! How on earth could you have gone RIGHT THROUGH my town and not told me and stopped by??? (well unless you flew, but then we were like two towns apart and I’m in Portland all the time) well maybe cause you didn’t know that you were doing that. So right here and now I’m officially inviting you to stop by for tea and kittens the next time you are in Maine.. and if you don’t, well then I’ll be all sad and stuff.. (of course I’m all sad and stuff now, but I’ll get over it)
and just so you know I make way better whoopie pies then you could ever buy.. and I don’t eat lobster so you can have it all 🙂
How on earth did I NOT know that you’re in Maine, let alone the Portland area???
Tea and kittens and whoopie pies AND I don’t have to share my lobster? I’m in! 🙂
Thanks for the great photos. I think Maine is such a romantic looking place. I would love it, and I can cope with the cool a lot better than extreme heat.
Love the pic of Sun in the kitchen=kittens in the kitchen… The baby looks just like Emmy. 🙂 I am impressed you can eat lobstah! I hope I am as lucky after my surgery!!
Pirates and Romans and Pagans, oh my! (Does anyone have the number of that pirate or those Romans…? I’m just… asking for a friend. Ahem.)
Looking at your photos makes me think about moving to Maine one of these years. Funny how much I hate beaches and hyperventilate at the sight of deep water, but am utterly enchanted by the idea of living near the ocean.
I know this is one of the unanswerable questions like “How would you describe the color yellow to a blind person,” but — what does lobster taste like? Other than lobster.
Here’s why I ask: I am NOT a seafood aficionado – I can eat the very very mild flavors of fish (I think it’s mostly cod or haddock, whatever it is they usually use in beer-battered fish-n-chips type stuff) as long as I have some lemon and/or tartar sauce for it, and I love fried clams as long as I have lemon and they’re not too huge/chewy. My parents are both nutso for crabs (my mom grew up on the Eastern Seaboard), but the smell makes me a bit queasy. I’ve tried catfish (wild and farm-raised) and nearly vomited; I managed to choke down a piece of salmon with the help of a big swig of water, and I know I’ve tried and/or been exposed to multiple other forms of seafood, having relatives who live in seafood-heavy areas and who like to fish. I like tunafish sandwiches, but the smell of warm tuna (as in casseroles or steaks) makes me retch.
But lobster… the *idea* of lobster has always fascinated me, and I feel like maybe I’m missing out on a wondrous gastronomic delight, but I have never been able to justify the expense of ordering some so I can try it, and never been around anyone from whom I could swipe a bite. And of course it’s not the sort of thing you can easily find samples of.
Given the seafoods that I do/do not like (as mentioned above), do y’all think lobster would be up my alley, or no? (It may just be the butter I’m tempted by… lol)
I am a fellow seafood hater. Tuna mixed with mayo sandwiches or breaded fish sticks with lemon and tartar sauce is as seafood as I can go. My husband on the other hand LOVES seafood. I have to say seeing the red lobster commercials with all the butter always looked good to me. But after sitting next to my hubby as he’s eaten crab and lobster, I have no desire to try it. I just can’t get past the smell. I ate at a restaurant once that served chicken with melted butter to dip it in. I’m sad to say there was nothing spectacular about doing so.
I’m like you only more so. I’ll eat tuna but that’s about it. That said, I have tried lobster and it was bland, almost tasteless. The only seafood, other than tuna, that I’ve tried (and I’ve tried lots) and found edible was swordfish of all things.
I do like seafood but am selective. I wouldn’t touch Sushi or Raw Clams or Oysters with a ten foot pole. My husband likes it all, he eats Squid and Octopus too-Hell No on those for me! I don’t feel as though lobster is Very fishy in taste. The melted butter does make it. I’ve never had a lobster roll. I don’t know if I’d like it cold. I don’t care for crab cold at all. I’ll eat it in soup or a casserole but won’t sit and pick at crabs like the true crab lovers do. I am always willing to give a taste of my lobster to a dining companion who has never had it because it is so expensive to order. I let my nephews try my Australian lobster tail when my Dad took us all out to our favorite seafood place The Crab Trap in Somers Point, NJ. Both boys liked it even the younger one who is quite a picky eater. I do like Salmon and Catfish which I consider mild-the Catfish. Salmon is a stronger fish. You really need someone to let you try it. Sometimes they have appetizers with lobster in them-maybe that could be a more economical way to try it?
Love all the Maine pics, Robyn. My favorite of my husband’s cousins lives in Portland. He and I are internet pals. I think a visit is needed!
mmmm. Newick’s–that’s where we had the BEST fried clams we’ve ever had!
cute pics. Nice to see the Spud again! She’s all grown up!