Back from vacation !!!! (and with plenty of commentary)

note: to properly read and enjoy this posting you must chant in a sing-songy voice "under-rated" or "over-rated" leading with the phrase that immediately precedes it as Uncle David taught Emma to do on our trip.

For example: "Early Bed Times: Over-rated " Or: "Lo-ong long car rides: Over-rated"

"Letting your bloggers read the blog their own way: Under-rated!"

Stage 1: Killam's Point - Under-rated (but not by those who have been there before)

These two pictures capture the place where my cousins (Kaitlin and Lauren) grew up in Connecticut. It's a truly spectacular little spot, and the obvious choice for my cousin Lauren's wedding location. It's the inspiration of a new life goal: living in view of water.


The house - they lived on the ground floor.

The view from the house.

Stage 2: Cape Cod - Over-rated!

We had plenty of fun times and good family visits, and there were some beautiful spots, but seeing Cape Cod once is definitely enough for me.

Looking back at First Encounter Beach, from a sandbar as tide rose, in Eastham, on the Cape at Scott and Emma making "sand soup" - definitely under-rated! She made sand soup at every beach we went to, but this bay-side beach definitely had the best sand soup of all.

Provincetown - Emma thought it was a carnival, but it was really a fes-thival (are there any other David Letterman fans out there?) Actually, it wasn't the gay-ness of it that we minded, just the risque-ness of it which applied to all lifestyles.

Bed and Breakfasts just for families with kids: They're the best!!!!! And reason enough to come back to Cape Cod, even if the geography didn't thrill me as much as I was expecting.

We stayed at "Inn At the Oaks" in Eastham for a few days. It had an amazing play yard, instant playmates, and a purple bedroom just for Emma. It had a king size bed in a historic house with yummy breakfasts and really nice grown ups to talk to for Mommy & Daddy. Check it out at: http://www.innattheoaks.com/

Stage 3: Maine - Lives up to its reputation! I loved it and truly didn't want to leave.

Pictures taken by toddlers - UNDER-RATED! Didn't Emma do a great job!!!! Acadia National Park in the background. (It's my new favorite National Park.)

Part of the charm was The Graycote Inn. http://www.graycoteinn.com/ Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures there (we ran out of memory), and I really don't think the website does it justice. The Samuels are lovely people, and their food and service was spectacular. If you're ever in Bar Harbor, I highly recommend it. My favorite breakfast: the lightly glazed peaches, halved, with a tiny scoop of raspberry sorbet, since I was allergic to the mellon and blueberry dish they served that morning, followed by blueberry buckwheat pancakes. It's a good thing we did the cereal, pack your own lunches, sleep in a cabin during the first week of the trip in Cape Cod, because that would have been a tough act to follow.