Resolutions: 14 Years to Fruition

When my husband and I left the West Coast for the East Coast, we promised ourselves we'd see the sites, visit the cities we'd never or rarely visited and take advantage of the close proximity of everything "eastern",  so opposite the wide open spaces of what we considered "western".  

Fourteen years, two sons, three dogs, one cat, one MIL, 3 homes and several jobs later, we are finally fulfilling our resolutions.  

For the first time in my career, I have 4 weeks vacation.  My husband is pursuing his passion, fine art photography and no longer has the 2 1/2 hour commute to work along with the 4 nights sleeping elsewhere, that accompanied his last high-stress job.  Our sons are independent (even if they have moved home for the time being) and they take care of the 2 remaining dogs when we're away.  The MIL is still independent so we're not yet at the point of assistance to her needs (fingers crossed).

Our last trip of 2011 was a quick overnight to Boston.  We thought it would be fun to celebrate the night before New Years Eve.  And it was!  

Boston Public Library  next to our hotel

Copley Square  & Trinity Church, Prudential Bldg to right in background

Close up Trinity Church with Prudential Bldg to right rear

Entrance to JFK Library on Columbus Point @ UMass Boston campus

Interior shot of bay from I.M. Pei designed JFK Library

(photos by yours truly)

Vacation Aaaahs



One month ago, we left on vacation, flying to Florida for a nine day stay, visiting old friends, our favorite island and our younger son.  After a cold winter of record snow in many parts of our great Northeast, we were oh so happy to escape to the sun, sand and aquamarine sea of Anna Maria Island.

The two photos below, side by side, are of the Anna Maria Pier at different times of the day.  The first is early dawn, a fisherman in silhouette, heading to the end of the pier to throw a line.  The right photo is dusk when lights go on and day is done.  It's the loveliest little pier.

 

 



The next two photos were taken at a gorgeous dinner arranged for us by the kids at the Turtle Club on Vanderbilt Beach, Naples.  My son and his GF spent time with us on AMI before returning to their apt on Vanderbilt Island.  She works at the Turtle Club which is lovely, right on the beach, awesome food and very chic.  We dressed up beach style and had a blast, evidenced by the happy faces. 



Sunset from our ringside table looks like this...

  



Just a snap but I love the look on my son's face here.

Now for a typical day at the beach.  The water is Caribbean blue; clear, clean, gorgeous.   

 


Beach equipment.  Where's the umbrella?



My favorite beach



 

Shark Watch





Yes, a baby hammerhead, swimming along the shore line.  Yikes!




    



 

  

 

A friend of mine is on his way down to AMI today.  He has ten days of this.  It is so awesome.  I cannnot ask for more.  

 

East Buried in a Blizzard

Northern New England's first big Winter storm and I'm already thinkin' about the beach.

Caribbean Time by Laura Trevey

 

Good bye for Now

Son #1 jumping the wake & doing a "grab"

Our eldest son left last night to go out West to the college town where he lives.  My husband and I drove him to the airport.  We had packed early yesterday morning, the end of our vacation on the lake.  The end of vacation and our son's leaving made it a doubly difficult day.  To spend a carefree time with the people you most love in the world, well, there's nothing to replace it. 

As a family, we discussed all that and how lucky we are to have our health, to have a ski boat, to be able to rent a lake cottage, to bring our family together.  We had wonderful weather, only one day of rain, and we took that day to go to the movies together and see "Inception" on the big screen.  I don't recommend it.  "Matrix" is better.  But I digress.

While there is much bickering amongst the four of us, there is much camaraderie as well.  I had a talk with son #1 and he reminded me he's been out of the house five years now.  He was 18 when he left for college and he hasn't moved back.  I'm proud of him.  I'm also proud he tries very hard not to rely on us for money when he's low. He's making his way as a man now and he reminded me to treat him as such.  Hard task when Mamma has her boys together and falls back into the old patterns.  I can't deny it. 

  Son #2  doing a 360  on a wakeboard

#2 son leaves in a month for a beach city in Florida.  We'll miss him very much.  However a peaceful time is coming for us, sans children.  We are ready for the separation.  He is too and I think he'll be most happy by the sea. 

Gone Fishin'

"Gone Fishin" a popular title for print articles, signs and email, is code for "I'm on vacation"...which I am.

Fishing on the Lake  Summer 2010

We are, for a very short time, not empty nesters.  Our chicks are home to roost as we pursue a favorite summer activity, a home on the water, this time a lake.  We are in Maine in a waterfront cottage with a dock for our ski boat, a basement room for our dogs, a fire pit, a comfy house with lots of windows overlooking the lake.  We brought very little for the week as everything has been provided except the food and liquor.  Bathing suits, shorts, tees, sunscreen, lots of food, beer, soda and dog food.  My husband brought his hammock and cameras.  I, obviously, brought my computer although this is the first time I've opened it since Friday.  It is Monday.  I'm through one of three books I bought:  "That Old Cape Magic", Richard Russo's latest, then "The Girl Who Played With Fire" Steig Larsen's # 2 in his series; and John Irving's latest, "Last Night in Twisted River" which the bookseller assures me is akin to his older style of writing, i.e. "Garp", "Cider House Rules", "Owen Meany".  We'll see.

Oh, and by the way, the glasses are dirty, there are crumbs everywhere, the food is eaten as soon as I buy it and there's no running around naked except for the boys who think they are God's gift in the physique dept.  Oi.  What was I musing about in my last post???????

Ta ta for now.  Off to the boat to get in some quality time with the menfolk while they wakeboard and waterski. 

 

More from Ogunquit

Ogunquit Rocks by Cole Scott 

This is the beach we clambered down to when the tide was out.  It's below Marginal Way, pictured in this post. My husband submitted this and a few others to a gallery in the town for jurying.  If they like them, he'll get a showing!

Trip to Maine Part 2

The first night of our recent trip, we drove to the beautiful city of Portsmouth, N.H. staying at a restored 19th century hotel, Wentworth by the Sea.  As with all great hotels, it has substantial history.   In 1905, the Hotel Wentworth as it was then called, housed the delegations from Russia and Japan to conclude an end to the Russo-Japanese War known as the Treaty of Portsmouth.   Before and after that, it was a summer retreat for the well-to-do.

  

Advertisement Scribner's Magazine 1915

The hotel closed in 1982, fell into disrepair, was rescued from demolition in 1997, renovated and reopened in 2003. It is so lovely, even in Winter, you have a sense of what it must have been like in days gone by. It's also one of the grand old wooden ladies, i.e. wood structures, from the Gilded Age. There are three in New Hampshire, the Wentworth in New Castle, the Mt. Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods and the Mountain View Grand in Whitefield.

 1906 post card of the Hotel Wentworth

We had a lovely room with a view of the lagoon.  The hotel sits on a spit of land, up on a hill, with a view of the ocean to one side and an inlet lagoon on the other.   There is a marina on the bay side, still tying up boats after more than a hundred years.  The golf course too is vintage, opened in 1897 and enlarged by Donald Ross in 1921.                                                                                 

                                                                           Wentworth by the Sea 2010

After the Wentworth, we made our way up the Maine coast into Camden.  One of the first sites we stopped for was a beautiful point out on the water, overlooking Penobscot Bay.

 

On a point between Camden and Rockland overlooking Penobscot Bay

Trip to Maine Part I

My husband and I took a trip to the coast of Maine last week. It was Winter Break in Massachusetts and we wanted to get out of here because the White Mountains are filled with wall-to-wall skiiers, snowboarders and tourists. Normally, a trip to Maine in February is probably not a great choice but we discovered we could stay in some very nice places at reasonable rates and receive perks in the way of gourmet meals, spa treatments, etc.  We went on a photography excursion almost every day and I'll post them as he completes his work.

These are three versions of one image, Camden Harbor:

 

 

Theme Thursday Suitcase

Vintage Suitcase from dreamstime.com










Packing is an art. It requires foresight and hard decisions. What suitcase(s) do I take? Does my airline charge for more than one bag? What are the dimensions of the carry on for the airline I'm flying? As I discovered too late on this last trip, Jet Blue apparently has a more generous carry on size than United.

The only anxiety-provoking aspect of my recent vacation was packing. I did not want to take a large suitcase because my back is no longer very strong and I dreaded dragging one around. Also, how many clothes was I going to need on a beach vacation to Florida anyway? As it turns out, way less than I took and I thought I took very few! What amounted to five pair of shoes, two pair of shorts, two tees, two skirts, three cute tops and three bathings suits (plus underwear, makeup, curling iron, toiletries) SHOULD have been four tees, three pair of shorts, no skirts, two bathing suits and three pair of various colored flip flops. I coulda taken a duffel bag!

I forgot a hair dryer and decided to go without after we arrived. Guess what? Thanks to the salty air and relative humidity, my hair was wavy and piece-y and tousled and I loved it. I didn't need much makeup because a good tan conceals alot of blemishes. Yes, I know all about the sun, skin cancer, etc. But I figure once a year I'm going to get a tan. So, I could have taken half the make up I packed. Still my suitcase was reliable and easy to pick out on the baggage conveyer. It's a Kenneth Cole Reaction piece, part of a set I bought four years ago when my husband took me on a cruise for our 30th. I love it!

Vacation Time

"What's In The Net" by colescottphotos.com

I've been on vacation since 5/08 and it has done me a world of good. I left burned out and fried to a crisp. I had circles under my eyes and bags on my bags and was cranky beyond belief. I needed a rest. My husband and I found we were due for a nice tax return (surprise!) and we booked a trip to Florida and left 3 weeks later and returned yesterday and we are now tanned and rested and happy. We walked on the beach, rode bikes every day, ate excellent meals at our condo rental (which was exceptional I must say) swam in the ocean, swam in the pool, slept whenever we felt like it. Our sons met us and had an equally wonderful time. At 20 & 21 they no longer need to be entertained. They could venture out unchaperoned, stay out late, look for girls, bars, etc., go bike riding wherever they wanted, play tennis, go shopping, wrestle, hit the beach, hit the waves and leave Mom & Dad to themselves. The most interesting aspect of this was how much they did choose to be with us, enjoying family time. It was my desire to make this a family vacation away from the distractions of friends, relatives and obligations. We achieved it and everyone is the better for it. We feel this is the best vacation we have ever had and that is saying a lot!