"The Way Life Should Be"

Mouth watering lobster, the calming ocean, and relaxation...these are the reasons we visited Ogunquit, Maine over Labor Day weekend.

Fragrant flowers were found all over the town. I wish I could use some in our wedding bouquets! My favorite were the black-eyed susans.

The Marginal Way is a popular ocean walk in Ogunquit that links Perkins Cove to the village center. People can be found sitting in benches listening to the crashing waves or sunbathing on the seacliffs. Jay and I enjoyed this picturesque path with many stops to climb on the jutting rocks.

Ogunquit Beach is in the background, where we watched fireworks the night before.

Perkins Cove is a scenic harbor known for their ocean views, art galleries, and award-winning lobster. We enjoyed ocean dining at Barnicle Billy's with some clam chowder and a lobster roll, while watching the boats come in and out of the harbor.

Out of Perkins Cove we took a Lobstering Cruise with a true lobsterman. We learned it is very difficult to become a lobsterman in Maine these days. For every five lobsterman that retire, only one lobsterman is certified.

We watched the Captain pull up his traps and measure the lobsters. A legal lobster has to be between 3 1/4 inches and 5 inches from eye socket to the beginning of the tail. On average, there is only one "keeper" in each lobster trap and the small ones are thrown back in the ocean. One of the traps we pulled up had 7 keepers!

Of course, we had to hold some of the keepers!

This is what you can find outside the Ogunquit Lobster Pound...a huge tank of these guys crawling around (death row). The Lobster Pound is known for their award-winning lobsters boiled in seawater.

You have to go to the lobster tank and pick out the ones you want for dinner. These are the two we chose...mine was 2 1/2 pounds, Jay's was 3 1/4 pounds.

Here they are right before they went into the pot of boiling seawater. You can't get much fresher than that!

They crack them a little for you so it's easier to eat. Delicious!

As part of our trip, we drove to Kennebunkport, a nearby town with lots of shops and more to explore. We saw Walker's Point, aka the Bush compound, home of former President George H. W. Bush. The strip of land juts out into the Atlantic Ocean and is absolutely breathtaking. We saw some people walking around the compound but couldn't quite make out who they were. Maybe W was visiting.

Maine was beautiful, peaceful and we had a great time. It's "the way life should be".

Upstate NY

The Farm

In a little town called Argyle, NY, right outside of Satatoga Springs, we visited "the farm". First thing in the morning we woke up and went to get eggs from Farmer Bob for breakfast...delicious. Other highlights from the trip were shopping at the Lake George outlets, playing mini-golf, seeing a movie at the drive-in, and our hilarious game of Loaded Questions. Thank you Ben and Ilana for letting us visit.

Being on 180 acres of land, we decided to hike for a little while.

If you look closely at my forehead, you can see the mosquites had a picnic on my face. Apparently bugs are part of upstate New York's "charm".

Playing a little mini-golf at Pirate's Cove.

Ithaca College

From the Farm, we drove four hours west to Ithaca College where we helped move Allison into her college dorm. Good luck Alli!

Pictures with her new roommates.

After dropping Alli off, we decided to take advantage of the finger lakes wine country and do some tastings on the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail. Unfortunately, none of us really like New York wines...too sweet!

My father takes wine tasting one step further.

We visited Americana Vineyard, Lucus Vineyard, and the Ithaca Beer Company.