A Nice Getaway...

As most of you know, our wedding anniversary was this past week (July 30th). Last year, Nathan and I started a new tradition for our anniversary. It started when I surprised him on our anniversary and took the two of us to The Brunswick Inn for a nice evening to start off our summer vacation. We decided at that time that we would take turns finding new and fun places to stay in Maine for our anniversary. Well, it was Nathan's turn this year and we decided we would celebrate it this weekend. He kept the plan secret all the way until just before we left.

I had to work on Saturday, but luckily got home around noon. I had made sure my day at work was not overloaded because Nathan made me promise that I would be finished by 1:30p at the latest... we had a schedule to keep! I spent days trying to figure out what that meant. Anyway, I got home from work to find a stack of papers on the kitchen stove, neatly printed and stapled together. The first page read... "Where are we going? How about here?" I flipped the page and there was a picture of the most magnificent old building with a sprawling lawn that rolled down to the ocean. The next page read... "Great! How do we get there?" I flipped the page to see a picture of a big ferry boat. The next page read... "So that's why we have a schedule, now where is the boat taking us?" I flipped the page to see a map of Chebeague Island, one of the islands off the coast of Portland in Casco Bay and a brochure for the Chebeague Island Inn. I was so taken by his presentation and the idea of getting away from life for even 24 hours that I broke down crying. I think I scared him a bit, but he was reassured when I told him they were tears of joy.

An hour or so later, we were on our way. It was the MOST beautiful day of the Summer so far. Not a cloud in the sky, 85 degrees, cool ocean breeze. We drove downtown and jumped on the Casco Bay Lines and enjoyed a 90 minute ferry ride out to Chebeague Island, stopping at four of the surrounding islands on our way out there. We sat in the sun and really started to unwind to enjoy the rest of our mini-vacation. We arrived at Chebeague around 4p and were picked up by the Inn staff who drove us to the opposite end of the island to the Inn. I could not believe my eyes when we arrived at our destination. I am talking, jaw-dropping beauty. A huge Inn on a hill, with amazing gardens and cascading green lawns down to the ocean below, covered in Adirondack chairs and benches. A wrap-around porch with comfy chairs and the same priceless view. I thought I had seen it all...then we saw our room. It was like a burst of sunlight. It was so pristine with big fluffy bedding and the same gorgeous ocean view out of the big window. I lay down and didn't want to leave. Without a doubt, this was going to be the best night away from home EVER.

After getting settled, we put on our suits and road the complimentary bikes down to the beach where we set up a little wine and cheese picnic and spent an hour or so taking it all in. It's amazing how much we can talk about our life in Maine and how much we love it and how we can't wait to bring the triplets into it, and it never gets old. :) We eventually headed back to the Inn, where we showered and got dressed for dinner. I think my favorite part of the evening was then sitting in two Adirondack chairs, watching the sun slowly approach the horizon, chatting, and people watching.

We eventually made it into the dining room around 8p. I won't go into it, but we had to do a little table shuffling due to an incredibly horrible lounge singer that was poisoning the atmosphere in the main dining room. Thank goodness we spotted a table on the porch that we requested just before our food came and the dining experience was saved. You know? He was the type of entertainer that was so bad that you couldn't carry on any other form of conversation because all you could think about was how you were going cut electricity to the synthesizer he was playing. Once that was over with, we were able to enjoy our meals, which were VERY good I should add.

Sufficiently stuffed, we headed to bed around 9:30p. Yup. No joke. We figure we should be getting as much sleep as possible these days because sleep is not going to come easy in a few months. We tucked ourselves in and ended the night going through the alphabet thinking of baby names that we really liked. A great way to end an amazing day.

I woke up this morning around 6:30a, got dressed and headed downstairs for a cup of decaf, the Sunday paper, and a seat on the porch to watch the fog burn off the ocean. Sadly, the fog never burned off. Nathan eventually made his way downstairs and we had a lovely breakfast. We decided that since it was going to be cold and foggy all day, we would take the 12:00p boat home, knowing it would take another 90 minutes to get back to Portland. We managed to fit in another bike ride down to "the hook" where we wandered the beach a bit and got back just in time to catch a ride to the ferry. The ride home in pea-soup fog was not quite as luxurious as the way out there, but we didn't mind. I think if/when we go again, we will drive up to Falmouth and take the 20 minute ferry directed to the Inn.

Anyway, I am sorry for that really long entry. It probably bored you all to tears, but I just started typing and it all came out. Like I warned you from the beginning, there may be some journal type entries in here, but this is my way to chart our lives during this time since I fear that years from now I won't remember a thing about it!

If ANYONE is looking for a quiet getaway weekend in Maine, may I suggest the Chebeague Island Inn. It was the best experience ever. If we could afford it, we would go all the time! It may have made enough of an impression that we might just make it our new every year anniversary getaway, but that's still undecided. We know there are lots of other cool, hole-in-the-wall places around here that we should check out.

So, 14 weeks is closing in fast and our next ultrasound is only 5 days away! Blog with you soon!!!

Nellie