roadtripping north

We took a rather last minute road trip last month to hang out with friends up north. Normally this time of year finds us pointing our wheels west, towards Michigan and Chicago to see my family. But the kids had never been to New England and we were long overdue for visits with friends up that way, so away we went.

First stop was Connecticut, where we crashed in with our friends Rich and Liia and their sweet daughter Aili. They gave us the royal treatment complete with wine and sushi and hot showers and lots of laughs. And they welcomes Choo Choo into their home too. That was extra generous.

Then we journeyed further north to Belfast, Maine to see our friends Tig and Serena. We first met them when they were cruising south and they stopped in Annapolis for a bit. We all clicked and we've tried to make a point to see each other when we can, the last time was in Chincoteague for the pony run this spring. They are land based now in Maine, and were kind enough to let us invade, even with the dog.

I haven't been to Maine in a long time, since I was working for HGTV way back when. It was still as magical as I remember. Serena and I walked all over Belfast one evening, just us mamas all alone. I was telling her that the town seemed so adorable, and so clean, and so wholesome that I felt like I was on a movie set.

The kids were impressed by the huge tidal range up there. On the Chesapeake we have tiny (a few inches) of lunar tide, and mostly a wind driven tidal flow. So to start out the morning playing on a small rocky strip of beach, and throughout the afternoon watch the water slink back and reveal more and more rocks and treasures was a trip for Zach and Naia. There were boat rides and cook outs and crabs and friends who are like family.

n the way back south again, we dropped in on some old cruising friends who live in Kittery Point, Maine right near the New Hampshire border. We met David Virtue and his fabulous wife Shara while cruising down the east coast in 2001. Here's the longer story behind that meeting...

Doug and I were married in Bali, Indonesia in May 2001. We ordered our wedding rings online from David Virtue, not knowing who he was but just loving his beautiful work.  It turns out I am allergic to gold, so later that year when we were sitting in the Florida Keys on our first boat I started emailing David asking if there was anything we could do to the ring to lessen my skin reaction to it. He was emailing back with all kinds of suggestions, but the truth was he wasn't at his studio in Maine. He was anchored with Shara just a few boats down from us. We ended up meeting and realizing who each other was, and struck up a life long friendship from there, buddy boating throughout the Bahamas.

We had such a beautiful day with them, boating from their home dock in Kittery to Portsmouth, NH for lunch. Then Shara took Naia and Doug and Choo Choo and I to the local beach while David was kind enough to take Zach to his studio for a little working tour. Zach was in complete awe. Not only is David one of the nicest guys ever, I think the two artsy introverts had a connection that Zach will remember for a long time. He came back regaling us with information about lost wax and gold engraving and gems. And he was even gifted some precious stones to bring home, which immediately inspired a jewelry making spree.

The list of girls he was making for was long, mom was somewhere around #5 on the list.  ;)

We will definitely be returning up that was someday soon, hopefully under sail next time.