Enjoy The Journey: Maine Lobster

Last week Jeff, myself, and my sister (Kristen) went to Maine. We stayed in a beach house that belongs to Jeff's second cousins, John and Malea. Let me tell you this place was picture book perfect.

We flew in on a Thursday night. Had dinner with John, Malea (she makes a mean blueberry pie), son-in-law Jonas and his daughter, Addison. Then we drove to the beach house. It was pouring rain and pitch black when we finally arrived. The next morning I woke up to Jeff saying, "If you thought this place was amazing last night, wait til you see it in the morning!" Sure enough the house was right next to the ocean (we had had no idea how close we were), the fog was lifting and we could see seals resting on the rocks, and the quaint New England style homes extending down the coast.

Jeff surprised me by arranging for some of our good friends, Jeff and Meredith, to come in. They moved away nearly 2 years ago and hadn't seen them since but have kept in regular contact via email and phone calls. So Friday morning I am sitting on the beach and a woman comes up and asks if she can borrow a chair. I look at her and although I recognize the face it takes a moment to register that it is Meredith! They are the kind of friends where you pick up right where you left off.

Being removed from all distractions for a few days (we came home Monday night) was relaxing. I did get my Lobster dinner I've always wanted. The Lobster Pound was a 2 minute walk away. Here you pre-order and they steam and crack the lobsters. We picked them up later on along with some clams and butter sauce and took them back to the house for dinner.

Welcome to Maine! Thank you John and Malea for your hospitality.

Many things to love about the beach house. One feature in particular was all throughout they had bookshelves loaded with every type of literature. I liked this detail of how they built shelves into a seating area.

Back from the Lobster Pound and ready-or-not for dinner. Meredith, Kristen, Janae.

Whenever Jeff or I ask each other, "So if you could go anywhere, where would you go?", nearly every time it involves a beach.

Jeff doing his "Uncle Rico" pose from Napoleon Dynamite. I can think of just about a million reasons to marry this guy and the fact he makes me laugh is right at the top. Nice tan lines babe! Mine weren't too far behind.

I am so glad it worked out for Kristen to join us. Since Jeff and I have good relationships with our siblings it is always good to be with them. At one point Jeff told Kristen that if she could catch a seagull he would buy her a pair of shoes. She said, "any shoes?" Jeff replied, "yep." Kristen is a good distance runner but I have never seen her sprint so fast as visions of "Jimmy Choos" and "Manolo Blahnik's" danced in her head. Fortunately for our checkbook she didn't catch anything.