Unfortunately a dreary day for sightseeing.
So let’s go candy shopping! Yummy caramels, toffee, and treats for the kids!
And let’s have lobster for lunch.
Day 3: lobster #3 — lobster BLT
Then it was off to visit the marina where mom and David left from on their honeymoon—they’re pointing to it!
Aaaand lobster rolls again for dinner. Mom makes them SOOOOO good we didn’t want anything else.
Day 3: lobster #4
I woke up to this on the table. (Yes, it was my 45th birthday!) It was tempting to eat right then but I refrained.
The view from the back deck did not suck.
Then it was off to start sightseeing. Or first stop was the prison show room (gift shop) why lots of hand made things.
Then it was off to Pemaquid Point, mom’s favorite spot in Maine. It was really quite cool and fun to walk around on the rocks.
All the girls!
Then we went up in the lighthouse.
(That big boulder toward the upper left? That’s the one I climbed on top of in the earlier pic!)
And then as we were headed out we saw some Monarchs in the garden.
Then it was off to find lunch. We ended up at Shaw’s Seafood…where everything sounded good so good so how do you decide?! I actually opted for a scallop roll because I love scallops. It wasn’t what I expected but it was tasty.
These came home with us for dinner.
We also stopped at a family market and had to try some fresh strawberry shortcake! Mmmm.
We stopped at a grocery store to get celebratory birthday drinks and got these new drinks for a birthday flight for us all to share.
Look at this delicious dinner…
Day 2: lobster #2 — fresh mom-made lobster roll
Overall a great birthday…
I’ve always wanted to experience Maine (and lobsters!) with my mom, so when she and David rented a cottage (in South Thomaston) for two weeks to celebrate their 20th anniversary and invited us to join them, I decided THIS was FINALLY going to be the year to do so. We lucked out in that my stepsisters Kathryn and Beth were also able to join us!!
This was dinner our first night!
Day 1: lobster #1 — fresh lobster dinner
After being in the far reaches of the U.P. with pretty much no cell service and intermittent home WiFi sure to unknown issues…this is heaven. 🙂
We usually eat fast food on road trips because we are trying to save time or we can’t leave the dog in the car…but today we found a place that had a patio so we could actually stop for a decent road trip meal (she’s under Tom’s chair).
Someone was being grumpy and didn’t want their picture taken.
But this one let me.
Papa has a slingshot to scare the geese away. The kids found out and both had a blast with it.
Katie was all gung go about fishing… until nothing was biting and it was boring.
This is how she ended up “fishing.”
The only thing Tom caught!
While Katie was fishing, Owen went out in a kayak with Grannie!
He did really really well and had a blast!
Then of course Katie wanted to go. We told her next year she could go by herself but this year she had to sit with Grannie.
We stopped at Eagle Harbor to hit the art fair and see where the kids have been spending their time. They took us to the beach to show us “their spot” and then we all looked for beach glass (Grannie got them hooked).
The water was a bit chilly!
So let me backtrack a bit and say that back in July I saw a news article come across my Facebook feed about the most unique margarita in Michigan. Of course I clicked the link…and was happily surprised to see that it was a thimbleberry margarita in a restaurant in Calumet—exactly where we’d be headed later in the summer to pick the kids up after grandparent’s camp. What are the odds?
I tried to figure out when we could stop, hoping it would work on the way through as it would be about an hour from where we were staying (and since we’d only be there two days, we didn’t have much time to be traveling two hours for a margarita…even if I REALLY really wanted to). We planned to be passing through about 9pm which was perfect…except we left later than anticipated plus ran into construction and rush hour traffic so by the time we were driving by it was after midnight and they were long closed. 🙁 And then I kind of forgot about it since we were busy with family.
But then we went on our date night—which was about 20 minutes from the house—and actually put us about halfway to the margarita. Tom suggested we go and I thought about it for a minute, thinking I’d love to but that would mean a 45-minute ride home afterwards and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. And he looked at me and said “REALLY?! Let’s go. We won’t be this close for at least another year.” #vacationbucketlist
I love this man.
So off we went. We walked in to the restaurant and headed to the bar. An older gentleman sitting at the bar welcomed us (which seemed slightly odd, but whatever) so we thanked him then ordered the margarita. It. Was. Delicious. Here’s me enjoying my first one.
I asked who came up with it and the bartender pointed and said “The owner—and she’s right there!” So we started chatting with them. They were a husband and wife (which, had I reread the article, I would have seen their photo) and they were really great and super nice.
So as we were talking, I jokingly asked if they would let me drink from the dispenser (because who hasn’t wanted to do that with a drink or ice cream at some point in their life?!) and the owner said yes! WAIT, WHAT?! I was kidding. But they said it was a first and no one had ever asked! Ha! Free margaritas? I’m totally in. She said I’d have to let them take pictures to post on their Facebook page and I said that was no problem!
So I did it.
My first thought was it’s harder than you’d think to line your mouth up under it—the dispenser shoot is pretty close to the machine itself which doesn’t lend itself well to putting your mouth directly under it. Plus I had to hold my hair out of the way so it didn’t get in the machine, get covered in margarita, or get in the way of the pics being taken. Plus you couldn’t just crank it open full force or you’d choke—and it obviously have you brain freeze! So it was a delicate balance…but I handled myself like a pro. 🙂
Tom, the owner, and the bartender were snapping pics the whole time. Unfortunately noone took a video.
And from the bartender’s view:
It might have been dripping out of my mouth.
What a total riot! I mean seriously. I never would have guessed this is how my night would end. I told her I’m sure people would PAY to do that (I would!) and she joked that maybe that would be her new business model.
I took a pic with the owner and we exchanged pics and I posted them right then and there.
We even joked about me doing it again because we didn’t get a video and she said I could but then it didn’t go any farther. She said she’d let Tom do it if he wanted but he’s not a margarita guy. She then offered him the beer tap of his choice but as Marine Officer he declined. But, she did give me my second margarita on the house! Oh, and we also had a piece of delicious chocolate cake that the owner made!
We will definitely go back there…and I highly recommend the thimbleberry margarita.
We head back to reality Sunday so this was our very last date night…a very popular BBQ place right on Lake Superior called Fitzgerald’s. Not a crappy view… 😄
Our view from the table was gorgeous, too!
Dinner was a hard decision since everything looked delicious, so I ended up getting three appetizers.
Tom had a rack of ribs (in reality he ate two and took the rest home). 🙂
My mom always makes these in Maine and I love them so had to try one today when Tom and I went out for dinner and I saw all the perfect stones (and we were early for our reservation). It wasn’t the best placement for a photo but not bad for my first one. It was harder than I thought it would be—the rocks have to be just right.
Papa had cut out pieces for birdhouses so Tom helped get them all put together.
And then there was the painting.
Photos of the fully finished projects to come…Katie left hers out and it rained so she has to repaint it. And I didn’t get a pic of Owen’s.
Still wish it wasn’t 8 hours away.
Maggie was READY to go. Once she got outside while I was loading the car, she did NOT want to go back in and she just stood there waiting.
Unfortunately Tom didn’t get out of work as early as he’d hoped so we didn’t get on the road until 4…and with an 8-hour drive (well, 7 actual hours but 8 with the time change) plus construction and rush hour traffic…we didn’t pull in until almost 1:30am. Yuck.
But, because we could, we picked an awesome-sounding BBQ place on Yelp as we drove down the highway, called in an order, and picked it up within 15 minutes…eating in the car as we continued down the highway. Easy peasy. And then we took about seven minutes and stopped for ice cream along the way as well. We even got Maggie a dog ice cream which she wanted no part of. Kids! 🙂
Another week of grandparent camp for the kids and another week of respite for mom and dad! Everyone is having a blast!!
Since we live so close to family now…and the kids are getting older and more self-sufficient, we thought it was time to let them stay for a long visit with the grandparents! As scheduling happened to work out, we went to Michigan for our family Christmas and then left the kids there…and then Gramma Jean and Grandpa David would drive up to meet Papa and Grannie Lin to hand off the kids…and then we’d eventually drive up to the UP to pick them up. They would be gone a total of 19 days, 12 of which they were completely without us. Needless to say we were all looking forward to it…the grandparents were excited about having the kids, the kids were excited about fun with the grandparents, and we were excited to have some alone time and general peace and quiet.
Here are the pics from some of the adventures they had with Gramma Jean and Grandpa David!
Lake Margarethe – of course they made fast friends with other kids who where there!
When we were packing up to leave I found the bathroom cups grandpa drew for the kids.
So you remember that Gramma Jean had a rope swing. Well she got a new swing this year and Tom rigged it up again with a new rope and Katie was really enjoying it. But I wanted to swing too because it’s damn fun. So long story short I ruined the first rope (it was supposed to stretch and rebound but it was too old so when I sat on it it stretched but didn’t rebound). So Tom eventually rigged up a second rope which he tested to make sure it was suitable.
It wasn’t.
He wasn’t hurt, though he was a bit sore.
Needless to say we gave up on the adults using the swing. 🙁
I love being home with family…and celebrating Christmas in the summer is amazing! (And what’s Christmas with family without a few adult bevvies?)
He bought me a new margarita drink.
It was cute and I was excited.
Unfortunately…it was horrible. I dumped it out.
With my favorite guy…
Tom and I might have gone a little overboard at the fireworks store…but in our defense the kids love them and all the fun ones are illegal in Illinois. So tonight we did a frog princess and some huge sparklers. (The frog princess was really quite cool but I didn’t get pics because I didn’t think it would last that long… But it kept going and going! I’ll get pics the next time!)
Remember last year when Gramma took Katie out on a birthday adventure? Well, she loved it so much they decided to do it again! But this year, Katie was really nice and invited her brother along, too, since she knew he’d have fun, too. Awwwww, what a sweet Katie bug.
They went to the city park and had a picnic lunch, skipped stones, and played in the river; then went mini golfing and to another playground; and finished off with ice cream from Dairy Queen and a quick treat from Dollar General! They had a great day!
At our dinner last night, a friend of the family (and my high school Spanish and yearbook teacher) told me a friend of mine was in town and they were having breakfast if I wanted to join them. It was early, but they are both worth it. And it was great to see her face when I walked in! It was just like a yearbook staff meeting!
