Hello my friends, thanks for hanging in there all the way to the end. I don’t imagine there are too many of you, but if you’re here, you are just a few minutes from the finish line.
Just looking to share a few highlights as we hung around in Maine for a few days before we began our journey back to Virginia.
We stayed at Diane and Dave’s in Southport Sunday night and Monday night. Sunday afternoon was spent looking at the wedding pictures from their son’s wedding in April. Diane and I decided to work on getting our mom a small book of some key photos of the day. Diane prepared a wonderful dinner for all of us (Lemon Shrimp Risotto) and it was a great way to relax and just take in the change of pace. Later that evening, we also taught them the 10-dice game.
Monday’s weather was cloudy and rainy. We were originally supposed to head to Monhegan with our new friends Leeli and Jim, but the weather didn’t cooperate. Oh well, may next time we make a journey to Maine we’ll be able to head out there. Today I spent some time on the blog and just relaxing. We did bring back with us some crab and made some more Crabmeat on English muffins with the Kraft Old English cheese. We all dove in and cleaned the plate in minutes!
They showed us some of the improvements they just completed on the property this year. Some new stairs from the house to the dock as well as new granite blocks along the water’s edge. Looks wonderful and will surely last a long, long time. We closed out the evening with more 10-dice as we were all having fun, laughing and enjoying the unplanned time.
Tuesday morning, we got up and ate some breakfast before we headed out. We headed back to Bath as I had an appointment with Shawn at Old Bones Tattoo and Steve was headed to the Subaru dealership for an oil change before we make our long trip home. I made out better than Steve though as when they went to rotate the tires, a couple of the tires were down to the layer just above the belt! We have our tires/oil change done at the dealership religiously at 6K miles and sometimes before if we were headed on a long trip. We were not happy with having to purchase 4 new tires with only 27k on the ones that came on the car!!! There will be a few phone calls when we get home.
Moving on to my tattoo. I have a couple of pictures here to share and then a picture after all the redness from the “shading” healed. I’m very happy with it as the house / tower actually have a touch of whimsy, a little Dr. Seuss-u-lar, which I love! It’s a little busy with all the freckles 🙂
Also interestingly enough, our good friends Ray and Theresa made a last-minute trip to Oregon to be part of the surprise of their daughter Cara getting engaged! They had a blast and were very grateful to be part of that special day. In addition, they stayed in an Airbnb and there on the wall was a navigational chart. Guess of where? You guessed it, Damariscotta, Sheepscot and Kennebec Rivers!!! The exact same chart we had in our dining room on Seguin! That’s crazy!
We had made a reservation for Tuesday night for ourselves in Phippsburg at an Airbnb. Our hosts were Emma and Andrew of Paper Tides. Do their names sound familiar? They visited Seguin one evening with friends for their dinner! They have a business here and live in the Dromore Grange building on Rte. 209. Next to their house is a cute little space they have to rent. It was perfect, they were perfect!
We drove to their place to bring in our stuff and our plans were to meet Cal & Katrina for pizza at Bruno’s Wood Fire Pizza. We met them around 6:00 and spent a couple of hours learning more about their stories and what brought them to this point in time. Fun, genuine and sincere people. Katrina painted a rock with a picture of Seguin on it and a lovely inscription on the back. This has been one of the highlights of the summer getting to know these two amazing people. Please recommend their boat charter company to all your friends! www.fiveislandsboattours.com Back to the Grange and tomorrow we begin the journey home.
Wednesday, the 7th we left Maine heading to South Hadley, MA (near Springfield, MA) to meet up with Steve’s high school friends Tom and Jane. Every time we come to MA or head up this way, we try to stop in and see them. Above is the journey for today and to the right is crossing into New Hampshire.
I worked on the computer trying to continue writing the blog. It was a little difficult due to the reflections and the brightness of the day. It was a challenge for sure but I am determined to finish it sooner vs later.
Before we actually landed at their house, we stopped in at Nicks Nest. Steve worked here when he was in High School. It’s a little corner hot dog restaurant. It’s still there and when you walk in, it’s definitely a step back in time. Here is Steve ordering his hot dog followed by a picture of him and the new owner (he’s been the owner now for about 8 years). It was fun listening to him share why he purchased the place and his efforts to maintain some of the original charm and equipment! When you left, there was a chain / door pull the person behind the counter would use to open the door because the customer usually had handfuls of hotdogs!!!
On to Tom & Janes. We hung with Tom for a few hours before Jane came home from work just chatting about our adventure. Jane joined us on the screened porch continuing the catch-up conversation about them, their lives and updates on their two daughters. We headed out for a bite to eat – one more opportunity to not eat well and we went all in, but boy was it yummy. No pictures as I don’t want to be reminded of what I ate!!!!
Thursday, we left MA, next stop, West Chester, PA at Steve’s cousin Cathy and her husband, Mike. Again, we were supposed to stop here on the way up, but Steve’s Covid a few days before we left prevented that stop. Well, here we are in the country side about 30 mins west of Philly. Beautiful area. We again went out a for a nice dinner so no one would have to be a chef tonight! But I did take a picture at the restaurant.
Got up the next morning and had some breakfast. We always sleep well when visiting Cathy & Mike! Before we left, Cathy had a present for Steve. It was a canvas print of the last painting Marie did earlier this year. Marie is Cathy’s mom and she was an integral part of Steve’s childhood. She also had a gift for our kitchen. I wooden spoon that has a heart with “MM” (her initials) burned into the wood. Marie always said when she died, she wanted to come back as a wooden spoon in a chefs kitchen. Many people who knew her well received a wooden spoon. As you may recall, Marie was the person who painted a version of Seguin for us which we shared at the fund raiser. Again, we were supposed to visit her on the way up to Seguin, and we couldn’t so we just figured we’d see her on the way home. Unfortunately, she passed away August 1st, may she rest in peace.
The last travel day, we’re heading to Glen Allen, VA today! No picture of today’s route as we kept changing it due to traffic, etc. We took all sorts of back roads as we’ll drive way around just to avoid 95 and the DC area so it took a little longer than expected. Here are a couple of pictures though as we drove through rural PA and parts of Amish country. We arrived home about 5:00.
We unloaded the car, brought everything in and began the process of unpacking, going through mail and putting everything away. Probably took us about 2 days before we didn’t have a pile of something that needed to be addressed. Once you return from living in a smaller space, at least for me, I was feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff we have in the house! We have already downsized once, but it has become apparent to me that downsizing needs to be an ongoing process!
Well, that’s it for the journey home. I could keep writing, but it’s time to close this chapter. Again, thanks to all of you who read the blog, it helped me to make sure I captured everything about Seguin so I could share with you and create a lifelong memory as I plan to turn the blog into a book! And to all of you with whom our journeys crossed over the summer, may our friendships stand the test of time. You all were a highlight of our adventure. The memory of this summer will be with us for a lifetime.
I found two quotes and they both spoke to me, so I share both!!!
May your Anchor be tight, your Cork be loose, your Rum be spiced and your Compass be true.
May the dreams you hold dearest, be those which come true. And the kindness you spread, keep returning to you.
Carol and Steve Pietryk (scpietryk@gmail.com)
