Athens, GA Outside In

So I went to Portland with my friends J (female, of the J & J dinner parties fame) and A- new roommate, she of the soon-to-be-had dinner parties, as she is now J(female)'s roommate, since J(male) went home to Sweden.

Yikes, that was ugly. I am clearly out of practice.

I left on Saturday morning for New Hampshire, where J's parents have a cottage. J and A had gone down on Friday night, but I had to work late so I drank myself to sleep early and then drove by myself the next day. I had the BH's iPhone, because the town is tiny and the cabin in a difficult-to-find place, and I thought the GPS would be helpful. It was, up to the very last part of the drive when I, convinced that I had gone too far and missed a turn, turned around twice and covered the same ten mile patch of two lane highway in utter confusion and out of cell range. I was never worried at being lost, because there were plenty of friendly-looking people and it was a lovely day, but it was an enormous pain in the ass and I knew they were waiting for me so i felt rather stupid. As it turned out, the directions I had gotten from J were from her GPS system, and distances were of the "As the crow flies" type rather than the "Actual mileage read on the odometer" type, so it was slightly confusing.

When I arrived, I immediately changed into my bathing suit and we all drove over to the lake. J's parents had five kayaks strapped to their large pickup truck, and we followed in J's Mini Cooper. I have not been kayaking for years and years. The only time I had gone previously was in college, when some friends and I went down a river somewhere in rural Indiana. Not a lot of work kayaking on a river, except for the whole "steer away from rocks, logs, and the shore" part. Kayaking on a lake was loads of fun, and J's parents are hilarious. I felt comfortable and at home right away. I also decided that if the BH and I are going to stay in Vermont for awhile, I would really like to get a kayak of my own.

We kayaked and swam for a couple of hours, and then we went back to the cottage and cleaned up before heading out to Portland, Maine for dinner. I had no idea that this was part of the plan, but I was happy to oblige and relieved that the BH and I have considerable padding in the bank account.

J found a great looking restaurant online, all farm-to-table and fresh seafood and the things we all like. That's where the pic in the previous post came from. The restaurant was called Fore Street. It was an exquisite meal and a fabulous experience. We got a seat right next to the open kitchen, which might not seem ideal to the average restaurant goer, but it was perfect for us. J and A are both Culinary School grads (actually A is still in class for the moment, but you get the idea), and as a self-proclaimed food nerd, I appreciate that proximity to the kitchen in the same way that I enjoy standing against the stage at a rock show. The picture in the last post was taken from my seat at the table. I took several, and will try to remember to post more when I am through writing, but you never know.

The waitress seemed bemused as we ordered round after round of food and drinks. We were taking from one another's plates and passing wines back and forth to compare pairings. I assume it isn't often that three people put away as much as we did. When we left, we decided that it would be best if we walked around some before driving back. Portland is on the coast, and it was Saturday night and the weather was amazing, so the streets were teeming with people. Stores were still open, bars were overflowing. It was wonderful. I sometimes (often? almost always?) miss that kind of night life. We walked for an hour or two and then finally went back to New Hampshire.

J is a former (and future) military gal, and she knew some of the people that had been in the helicopter that was shot down in Afghanistan the night before. I had hoped when I woke to that news in the morning that she was not going to find out until the weekend was over; hoped that somehow the cottage was remote enough that maybe there would be no computer or cell phone reception, that word would not have reached her yet so she could just have a good time, but that was not the case. We had some sobering discussions about it, the most painful of which occurred when I woke up and found her at the kitchen table reading remembrances on facebook. I was sorry that she had found out, but glad that we were with her when she did. I am going to have a very difficult time when she leaves. There is a very real possibility that she will be flying a helicopter like that by this time next year. Yikes.

We took our time driving back on Sunday, stopping at antique shops and food stands and generally effing off. I got home late and went straight to bed.

If the "W" and "o" were not missing from this sign, I would have to call them liars. This place had bad onion rings. How do you fuck up an onion ring?