Vineyard Weekend

Noe and I just got back from another weekend adventure (I know, September's been a bit obnoxious, hasn't it?) - this time, we were out on Martha's Vineyard for our second annual Vineyard Weekend with our Connecticut friends. I blogged about our last Vineyard Weekend in August 2008 - this one was pretty different, but equally great.

John, Noe, Sarah and Chad on the 8:00 Island Queen-

better late than never, right?

We were missing Kevin Lester this year, since he is in the midst of a two-year stint in England. Doyle wasn't able to make it, either. But we had out new friend, Jason, and he fit in just fine with me, Noe, John, Katie, Amanda, Mini Deal, Chad, and Sarah.


We didn't have as much time this year - a bunch of us had to put in time at our jobs on Friday - so our first group got out around 5:00 and the rest of us followed on the 8:00 boat. It was a more laid-back trip: more porch sitting, no beach time (it was pretty cold); more casual drinks in the living room, no dance parties. Laid-back does not mean lacking, however - I think the relaxing weekend was exactly what most of us needed.

The boys play home run derby - with a wiffle ball.

Hillrest (Katie's house) was just as fantastic as it was when I first saw it. We are all so lucky to have a friend like Katie who is willing to share something so wonderful with us. Thanks are in order for Katie's parents - Fred and Julia - as well: they encourage her to share the house and have no problems with the idea of 8-10 of their daughter's friends taking over their house for a weekend (plus, they let us see piglets when we park the car at their house in North Stonington!)


In short, I am just as in love with the Vineyard as I was when I first saw it. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Noe and I at dinner at the Lookout Tavern

Trifecta drinking rose on the porch

Tivoli Day street sale

Mocha Mott's coffee: it really IS good coffee

Superfecta reunited! The weekend was too short.

A Year in Review

That's right friends - I have now officially lived in CT for an entire year. A lot has changed since we pulled up in Mark Rauckhorst's driveway at 1:00 AM a year ago. For one thing, we were able to close on/move into our own house (luckily within about three days - I am not good at living in other people's houses and my kitties did not like living in the laundry room).

Some highlights of our year:

Finding/Moving In To Our House
We almost didn't get this house and if we hadn't, I honestly don't know that I could have moved here. We had a terrible experience with our realtor - she didn't want to show us anything in New London and we hated everything in our price range in Groton, Gales Ferry, Mystic, and all the other "desirable" places she showed us. I found our house online, had to fight with her to see it, had to fight with her more to get her to write up the offer, and then we almost lost it due to her stalling. A battle hard fought with a great reward.

Noe in front of our new house shortly after we closed

New York Trips
I'll never love NYC the way I love Chicago, but I'll also never complain about having it a (shorter) train ride away. The unexpected perk of moving out here was discovering that Noe's work badge got us into the major museums for free. So far we've hit the American Museum of Natural History (impressive but overwhelming), the Museum of Modern Art (adored it), and my personal favorite, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The great thing about getting in free and being so close is we can leave before we get burned out because we can always come back...although I can hardly imagine getting burned out on the Met.

Van Goh at the MOMA

Egyptian Awesomeness at the Met

Skiing in Vermont
Yes, we only went twice and yes, one of those days was completely warm and awful, but I can not possibly ignore the fact that in the same time it would take to drive to Boyne or Nub's Nob from Ypsi you can get to real mountains from New London. Noe and I were even able to take a bus from a local ski shop and get discounted tickets. Sure, it's no Colorado but I wouldn't know because I've never been out west anyway. Hopefully this year I can make Noe like skiing a little more and we can go more often.

I was trying to show Noe how to "snowplow."
He was more interested in taking pictures.

Making Awesome Friends
It was rough going here for a little while. Once the rush of moving and getting the unpacked was over, Noe and I suddenly found ourselves in a strange town with no friends, no hobbies, and it was more or less the dead of winter. Luckily, around this time we met and started hanging out with the people who would form our core group of friends here. Even better for me, my new friends got just as excited about wine, food, and books as I did. Now I had people to go to restaurants and wine tastings with and who told me where the fabulous Book Barn was located. The nights were suddenly filled with darts playing, rugby games and dinner/theme parties. Like getting the house, hooking up with this group was a real turning point.

Classing it up for the Gatsby Party (best party of the summer)

The Trifecta/Manfecta dinner party

Martha's Vineyard
This is pretty much directly related to the last item, because if we hadn't made friends with the awesome John and Katie, I am not sure that Noe and I ever would have made it out to Martha's Vineyard. But we jumped at the chance to go when Katie invited us (along with Amanda, Kevin, Mini, Doyle, Chad and Sarah) to spend a weekend at her family's house with her and John. I was absolutely enchanted by Martha's Vineyard and I only saw one small portion of it. I can't wait to go back. And although the setting (funky old house, beautiful beaches) was amazing, it was the company that really made the trip. It was our first vacation with our Connecticut friends and hopefully not the last.

The group at Katie's Vineyard house

Of course, there were many other good things about this year in addition to the ones above - great shows and movies at the Garde, for example; seeing concerts at the Dodge Music Center and the MGM Grand (yay Killers!); and volunteering at the aquarium. These are just some of the major highlights and the ones that stick out in my mind as definitive "maybe I don't hate it here" points. I'm still getting used to life on the East Coast, but I have to tell you that September 12, 2008 is gearing up to be a much better day than September 12, 2007.

Better than fiction

A few years ago, I read Judy Blume's (author of the teenage girl class Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret) adult novel, Summer Sisters. It was a pretty decent book about two girls and their friendship spanning about 20 years.

A huge chunk of the book takes place on Martha's Vineyard, in Oak Bluffs to be exact. To us Midwesterners, Martha's Vineyard is sort of like a fictional place. When we go on vacation in Michigan, we go "up north." We definitely don't head out east.

So imagine my delight when one of my new good friends and her husband invited Noe and I (along with eight other people) to her parents' house on Martha's Vineyard - in Oak Bluffs, no less.

Seriously, I was so excited I re-read Summer Sisters in one sitting to prepare.

We drove to Falmouth, Mass. and boarded the 10:30 Island Queen last Friday. After about 30 minutes, we were docking and I was getting my first views of the Vineyard.

Pulling into the docks at Oak Bluffs.

From the moment we stepped off the ferry, I was in love. There were beautiful beaches, old houses, and amazing boats (I am talking about serious yachts here). John took the bags up to the house while we went to get a table at the Lookout Tavern and start the trip off with some cold beer and delicious sushi.

If I had thought I was in love with the ferry docks, it only got better as we walked through downtown and past the Methodist Campground's gingerbread houses. Then we walked up hill arrived at the Launer's house. It was old, it had funky floral wallpaper, and it had one of the most fantastic porches I have ever seen. In short, amazing.

We spent most of Friday afternoon lounging on the porch with some beer and wine, playing wiffleball in the lot kitty-corner to the house, and then meandered down to the beach to swim and watch the ferry bring the other half of our friends.

In the water in our retro bathing suits,
which I love so much I may devote an entire blog to them.

The Island Queen arriving with our friends.

Friday night was spent enjoying good wine on the porch and doing some midnight swimming down at the beach. (Yes, we have all seen Jaws but we went anyway.)

Saturday was spent walking down to Mocha Mott's for some excellent coffee and checking out some of the stores downtown. (I am pleased to inform you that Amanda and I found new authentic vintage dresses at Aequinox - pictures to follow soon.) However, the highlight of the day for the girls was the arrival via DHL of Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in the Twilight series, which we were all so desperate to read the day it came out that we had four copies shipped to the Vineyard. As you might guess, the rest of the day was spent on the porch/beach reading.

I wish I could do this every day.

We followed up our day of reading with more beach time, some pizzas, and a dance party in the living room. Sunday went pretty much as Friday and Saturday had: trip downtown, walk around the Methodist Camp, read on the porch, go to the beach. As the trip wound down, I can safely say that we were all sorry to leave.

Gingerbread houses in the Methodist Campground

The girls downtown at Sharky's Cantina,
drinking mojitos and waiting for our delicious - but filling - burritos.

Martha's Vineyard was even better than Judy Blume made it sound. Of course, we stayed in one small area of the island - I can't wait to go back and explore more. If I had to pick the best thing about New england that we've discovered so far, I would have to say Martha's Vineyard.

One last group shot in front of the house before leaving.

My (not exactly) triumphant return

I haven't updated the blog in awhile but I have a good excuse: vacation. In the past 10 days, I have flown to Indianapolis, Indiana; driven to South Haven, Michigan; driven back to Indianapolis, flown back to Providence, Rhode Island; spent all of one day at my home in New London, Connecticut; driven to Hackettstown, New Jersey; and finally came back to New London this afternoon - via a stop in New Haven to visit IKEA and a massive grocery shopping trip.

Whew. Needless to say, I am slightly exhausted and not really feeling the creative energy necessary to blog tonight.

However, starting tomorrow I will be back on a regular basis with all your favorite topics: restaurant reviews, wine recommendations, garden updates, sports analysis, book/movie reviews, and of course the random mix tape or Saved By the Bell post.

Until then, a few random photos from the whirlwind week for you to ponder. Check back tomorrow!

Two awesome things: girl cousins and giant sunglasses

Beat that Lake Michigan sunset, Atlantic Ocean.

OK, so he's not exactly Nadal, but you'll never hear me complain about seeing James Blake

I always have to check out the zoo/aquarium