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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

More Apartment Pics!

I did take a few more pictures after we got some things put away. The place needs a lot more work, but we're getting there!

Will gets extra points for putting this bad boy together...it took forever, but he's awesome :).


Lovely new bookcase! 


 Our new couch!


 the dog and cat beds...which they sometimes use?


 I miss my red walls :(. 








 my favorite thing in the apartment...





More pictures to come soon!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Will's First Visit!

So as some of you know, Will is finishing up getting his teaching degree, and isn't going to be able to move out here until after Christmas (don't worry, I've got his flat screen TV, and I know where he lives...he's not getting out of this one). Because he misses me SO much, he already came out to visit once about three weeks ago. He was here from a Friday night to a Sunday night, and we had a pretty amazing time! Here are some highlights of what we did:

Friday night: Pizza and beer, then bed because it was kind of late.

Saturday: We woke up, and went and had brunch with our neighbors Kelcie and Mike. They are awesome, and they took us to the tastiest restaurant.  Will and I each enjoyed an apple cider mimosa, definitely a fall treat, and had some delicious food. We'll be taking guests there for sure.  After brunch we came home and watched some of the State game. We wanted to play tourist, but there were so many places to go, so we just picked a place that sounded fun! Our first stop was to the desert of Maine!



I'll let Will explain the science part if you're interested, but basically, due to poor farming techniques, what was once 300 acres of forest, turned into 300 acres of legit desert. In Maine. They brought in camels, and there are crazy dunes. It used to be a really big attraction, but the last two owners have wanted to let the land do what it's supposed to do - so they're letting it return to forest. There's only about 50 acres of desert left, but it's still pretty awesome. We went out on a tour ride:


And checked out the dunes:

 And totally random, but they even had a butterfly house. I love those.


So basically we had a great time! After this we were pretty hungry, so we headed off to an adorable little town called Brunswick. We'll be taking our visitors there for sure! Will has some facts about the college of that town that he can share with you on the drive...... We ate at a very tasty Japanese restaurant that had awesome sushi, and then we had to stop and get dessert at the gelato shop next door. Yum! To top off an awesome day, we went to the movies and saw The Town - AWESOME. We both liked it a lot!

Sunday- Will didn't have to be to the airport until 5, so we had all day to play again! We got up slowly, and decided we needed a lobster roll in our lives. I can't speak for Will, but my favorite place to go for these, is the Lobster Shack:



I think I like the taste of the Portland Lobster Company's rolls better than this place, but wait until you see the view:



And the line:


This place was recently featured on Man Vs. Food, and it's also a local favorite. Even though it's not the regular summer tourist season, we get a lot of people driving up and down the coast in the fall. Basically everyone wants a lobster roll from the lobster shack! We've had them before, so we decided to try a different restaraunt.

It was a good decision, because we ended up finding a new place to try, also in Cape Elizabeth. We had a delicious brunch, with a mimosa again (I could get used to that), and Will got this adorable cup:



After brunch we still had time, so we went to a local access beach we hadn't been to yet, and played by the water for a bit.







Fast forward through the tearful goodbye, and the last couple weeks, and Will is going to be here again soon! On October 28 he'll be back in Portland, for 5 days! We'll have lots of adventures to blog about after that!



Check back often, and plan your visits accordingly :). 

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Bailey Island, ME

What's fun to do in Maine?  Well, lots actually.  But, because of the crazy awesome beautifulness, just hopping in your car and picking a direction to drive can yield some amazing results.  The week following Maureen's move in we decided to do just that.  

We headed up the coast on Route 1.  We were going to turn around once we got to Bath, ME but... we never made it.  Instead we took a right turn and wandered our way down into one of the fingers of Maine's "rockbound coast."  We drove until we reached Land's End, Bailey Island, Maine, and could drive no more.  

Mackerel Cove

One of the most photographed locations on the East Coast.

Lobster boats.  Lots and lots of lobster boats.

The end of the road.

Literally.

Ooooh!

Ahhhhhh!

Oooooh and ahhhh!

Statue dedicated to lobstermen who have lost their lives through the years.   And if you have ever had lobster then you know this is well deserved.

Oh, and there was a gift shop.



We were due for some dinner after all this so we stopped at a little restaurant we had passed on the way down.  A tiny shack of a place called Giant Stairs Seafood Grille.  They served up some tasty shrimp scampi, an amazing fried clam sandwich and the best haddock chowder I have ever had.  (I've only had 5 bowls in my life but still... it was really good.)  We licked our lips and headed back to Portland.  

Apartment Found!

On that first trip it wasn't until 7:00 p.m. on our last day in Maine that we found an apartment! Whew!  But lucky for us it is really cute, just a few hundred feet from UNE, Maureen's school, and we have a great landlord.  By great, I mean he pronounces "lobstah", "chowdah" and all his other words with an awesomely thick Maine accent, and he loves Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Could it get any better???


Ta da!  Our apartment is the top floor of the front.


Our cute porch.  It is a 4 unit building but ours is the only one that uses this entrance.


Our own driveway.  Nice.  


Our next door neighbors, St. Joseph's on the left and St. Brigid School on the right.  


Stoop!


Why, come right in!


Try and get a couch up that.  Seriously.  I dare you.


Freshly moved into living room


Office/extra bedroom



Eat in kitchen.  It's pretty huge.


See.


Kitchen


Bathroom.  Obviously.






Couch. Try it.

Our First Post!

Way back in July, Maureen and I traveled to Portland, Maine to search for apartments and meet with her advisors at The University of New England.  
Check out the trip that started this adventure!