On A Weekend Visit

(Lettuce that we didn't sell at the plant sale-for me for FREE!)

As many of you may know, dearest Elise thought it would be nice to stop off in Camden on her way from Rhode Island and on her way TO New York. Wasn't that nice of her?

I'm not only glad she came because I got to see her and watch both Tron movies, I am glad because having her there gave me more of an excuse to explore places I have not yet been (i.e. THE TOWN I LIVE IN...). I like to explore and discover things, so you would think that I could have ventured out INTO Camden by now and seen what there was to see. You would think that I would have gone up Mt. Battie like everyone else and their grandmother.

Well, here is a little truth about me. I don't really like exploring alone. It took me YEARS to finally start going to see movies by myself. I STILL prefer seeing them with a friend. But for the most part, I won't go out to eat unless I have someone to share it with. And for the most part I keep telling myself "yeah, sure I'll see Camden. I'll walk around it. Why wouldn't I? It's RIGHT THERE." But because it's RIGHT THERE, I end up putting it off and before you know it I have missed out on EVERYTHING.

So, having Elise here gave me the chance to REALLY explore downtown Camden and see all the cool shops and restaurants they have. It encouraged me to drive up to Mt. Battie. I finally went places I had been meaning to go since I got here!

But first, we had a visit with friends.

Do you remember Sue (those of you who visited New Hampshire)? She's the one in the middle. She spent Friday night and Saturday morning with Eliza (On the left. remember her from two posts ago?) at Peacemeal Farm and went to the Camden Farmers Market with her.

So Elise and I braved the pouring rain (and thunder and lightening!) and walked down the road to see them! This is after they closed everything down and the rain had stopped. From the left-Elise, Sue, Eliza, Sarah, and Mike (Sarah and Mike are from Peacemeal also). Sarah brought Starwberry Shortcake!

Elise, Sue, Eliza and I got lunch at the Bagel Cafe and then parted ways. Things actually cleared up after that.

Elise and I explored Downtown Camden. Here she is a the entrance to the amphitheater behind the Camden Public Library. Just look at those wonderful weeping elms on either side!

Here is the amphitheater. There were alpine strawberries growing all along the steps!

We then walked through the short trails of the Camden Village Green and saw the Harbor.

Here are the falls of the Megunticook river feeding directly into the ocean. I need to remember to eat at the Deli up there with a harbor view.

Here are two ships in the harbor. The one on the right is the Mary Day. I can't remember what the one on the left was called.

This is looking up the harbor into Camden.

As we explored more, I discovered that even though it seems everyone raves about "soft-serve" places, there aren't really any soft-serve places here. They all serve REAL ice-cream. That encouraged me. Though I don't know about "The Camden Cone". Elise is right, that "topping" on the cone looks an awful lot like blood.

I do like the Ice Cream Cone trash can.

We DID get ice cream, but from a different place. And the lived up to my standards of "good" ice cream. They also seem to take on the same theory as New Hampshire that a "small" is equal to two large scoops. A bit of advice from me-if you have been limiting the amount of dairy in your diet (have some cheese here and there and using almond milk like I have) you should NOT have two large scoops of ice cream in one sitting. It was SO good, but it did NOT agree with me.

A view of Mt. Battie from the harbor.

So after the exploration of Downtown, we drove to the breakwater light house. Remember the last time I went there? It was cold, windy, and the waves got us soaked. And it seemed to take FOREVER to get there. And once we did, everything was boarded up. Well, not THIS time.

Look at how much better this shot is from a nearby dock! Much better than my earlier photos. And we got there in good time. AND it wasn't too cold and windy.

We got to go INSIDE. Here is a view from one of the windows. As we were there, I remembered that at one time I thought it would be cool to be a lighthouse keeper. I still think it could be a peaceful and lovely profession.

We even got to go UP into the lighthouse! Elise poses for the camera. This kind of made me want to sing "I'll be your candle on the water...". Don't judge. I LOVED that movie as a kid.

Looking down.

Here's a view just as we were coming off the Jetty on the way back.

The next two are from the restaurant we went to. "Old World Potato Company". They have potatoes, among other things, if you can believe it.

This is me taking a picture of Elise taking a picture of her drink.

And this is Elise hiding behind the drink menu. I tell you what, these two photos make up look like we are drinking alcohol. If you look closely you can see that those are Stewart's brand diet root beers. I PROMISE.

That was our Saturday.

Sunday's weather was not TOO bad. It was a little cloudy. So after church and my program at Merryspring, we decided to drive up Mt. Battie and see what we could see.

Here is what greeted us.

FOG. This is the tower at the top of the mountain.

And here is what I could see from the far end of the top of that tower. A grey curtain of nothing. You are supposed to be able to see Camden and the harbor from here as well as a good portion of the Atlantic. Nope.

Here is a distant shot.

Elise walking through the fog.

Reindeer and British Soldier lichen on the mountain.

Don't know what this is, but it's pretty!

That was the end of our Sunday. We went home and made a dinner of chicken fingers (with Bob Evans honey mustard that I have been hoarding. You know they discontinued it? Scandalous!), whole wheat cheddar biscuits, Waldorf salad, rosemary and Parmesan potatoes, and I had a green salad (from the salad I showed you at the top!). It was G-E-W-D GEWD!

Elise did laundry this morning and then we went to The Market Basket (a dangerous place. They have home baked pastries, breads, sandwiches, soups, etc that all look to DIE for. I need to never go back there), and then ate our food HERE.

This is Glen Cove. The cove I used to drive by every day on my way to work from Owls Head. The "rest stop" area (picnic tables, parking, and grills for tourists) is finally open and offers a peaceful view of the cove and a wonderful smell of roses blended with the tang of the ocean.

The roses have started to burst into bloom and I am LOVING it. This is what I remember from my summer by the sea in Rhode Island. The smell of the sea, the blooming roses, and sound of waves, the sparkling water. THIS I could live with.

One last view of Glen Cove.

It was a good weekend. Rainy, cloudy, and (on my end) physically painful (ask if you REALLY want to know). But I got to spend time with someone who got all my nerdy and silly references. Someone who I could laugh with and be the old ME with. The me I have in some ways forgotten how to be.

Eliza laughed at us, at one point, saying that seeing Elise and I together was like a two heads on the same body. We fed off each other in the nerdiest ways and poor Eliza and Sue were completely lost. That's what I love about our family.

And now it is Monday. It's sunny, over 80, and I am going to work in the garden for the rest of the day. THIS, I can do. It's the wet, foggy, 60 degree days at THE END OF JUNE I am having a hard time with.

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!