Bar Harbor, ME

One big thing I regret about my time in Colorado is that I was always so busy with the mundane everyday obligations of school and work and studying and blahhh that I never really got to explore as much of Colorado as I should have. I mean seriously people, I never even went skiing the entire time I was there! Sheesh. So, I am putting in an effort to make sure I am taking in all that Maine has to offer, which is really quite a lot!

A few weeks ago JP and I went up to Bar Harbor for a weekend in a cabin with Joe and Emma.  We had never been up there, and really wanted to take in some of Acadia National Park.  What a trove of natural beauty and wilderness!

We went on a gloriously foggy hike on the coast, taking in the beach and a little mountainous parts as well. We climbed down on the rocks and skipped stones, created obstacles for each other, and had contests to knock down rock structures we built specifically for knocking down purposes. It was a little chilly, but absolutely beautiful, and we ran into only a few other people during the whole hike. Oboe climbed like a champ!

The next day was sunny and hot, we found a few more trails to explore and Joe supplied us with facts and interesting tid bits about places around the area as he built trails up there when he was in Americorps.

As with any family trip, the food often takes center stage, and this trip was no different. We made a glorious pile of lobster nachos that we almost couldn't even finish the first night.  And then we found the perfect local restaurant with a huge gluten free menu and we warmed ourselves up with individualized mac and cheese's and blueberry margaritas.  We found a bar with a shuffle board and spent quite a long time there in competition, ending with a few rousing rounds of air hockey to end it all.

 It was so nice to escape from Portland for a little while, get some much needed relaxation and perspective.  It's always good for me to remind myself of the world around me.  I have a tendency to tunnel vision my focus over time and I need a shake up every once in awhile.

Don't these pictures make you want to come to Maine?!

crawfish for the birthday boy!

JP recently had a birthday, and by recently I mean almost a month ago, and this is how up to date I am on blogging...shhhh I haven't written since February.  Well, that's not technically true, as I have like five unfinished posts sitting as drafts, but I've been in a writing and creativity rut lately and I can't seem to get anything out there!  But, I really love to write, so I am going to work on that in the next few months.

So, to get back into the swing of things, I am just going to do it by doing it.

For JP's 29th birthday he sweetly requested no surprise parties. Last year after work I had a crew of friends and family waiting for him at one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate with delicious cocktails.  While he did love this, I sometimes forget that he is really much more introverted and is more then content to spend his birthday at home with just me and the pups. Which is exactly what we did for his actual birthday this year. We slept in, went out for brunch, walked the dogs, went to a bookstore and made delicious food together, completely relaxed and laid back.

BUT, of course that's not all we did, because this year for his present I wanted to bring him a taste from his Louisiana home, I know he misses all the southern food from there, but most particularly he misses crawfish.  So I arranged for 20lbs of live crawfish to be delivered to our house that Saturday, and we had a really small gathering the following afternoon.  JP and his childhood friend Nick were happily up to the task of keeping them alive in the interim, and they faithfully took the package outside every few hours and hosed them down in the yard. 

 Success! Almost every one survived!

We borrowed a turkey fryer from Dr C and fired it up with corn and potatoes before whipping up two batches of crawfish.  It was so much fun to bring a little piece of Louisiana up to Maine.  I think everyone enjoyed them, at least they enjoyed the novelty of it all! We rounded the occasion off with Abita beer, zapp's potato chips and bread flown in from Louisiana too.  And of course lots of dirt cake, JP's favorite.

So there you have it. Another year come and gone, but I think he's gonna like 29!