Classic North

Wait a minute! It’s June already!? I know I’ve been away from Frail Deeds for a while but it seems a bit on the inconceivable side that we’re already into June. I’ve crammed a lot of activity into the past few days and will do an entirely inadequate job of capturing the events in my poor excuse of prose but here goes. It all began last Saturday when we hit the road north to join my Favorite Son’s family for Sunday’s celebration of BR3’s second birthday. That took place a couple weeks ago but they decided to celebrate on the long Memorial Day weekend so there would be adequate recovery time. My son is an engineer after all so planning is important. This will probably be the last time they can get away with that though as BR3 becomes more self-aware and just plain smart with each passing day.

Well At Least the Grandparents Were Happy

We arrived Saturday ahead of some vigorous rain and settled into granddaughter appreciation activities which involved a lot of hugs, games of hide and seek, and serial peek a boo. The BRS is yet another jigsaw puzzle aficionado within the family and I was soon volunteered to help her work out the latest unicorn masterpiece. BR3 had just woken up from her nap and had her usual post-nap shyness where all she wanted was dad hugs but she soon was up and buzzing around the room. Her latest, and possibly most endearing, trick is pointing at you and saying, very emphatically, I love YOU!!! I didn’t think it was possible for her to get more lovable but she accomplished it with ease.

BRS and Abuela Accessorizing Together

The Result

Abuela with her Assistants

The best part of the two evenings we spent at the house were the times I got to spend with my son. Our movie and TV tastes are almost identical and we employed that to great effect. He inveigled me to watch the first complete NBA game I’ve watched in many years as we took in the Celtics exciting game seven win over Miami. I voiced my usual complaints about the depths the game has sunk but it was still the highlight of my weekend, sharing it with my son.

Ready to Party

Thanks for the Blippi Doll Grandpa

Cleanup Crew Getting Ready for the Party

Blippi Balloons!

Blippi Cake

The theme for the Sunday party was Blippi. He’s taken the title of Most Annoying Children’s Character from Barney the Purple Dinosaur (who still haunts my dreams). Both the BRS and BR3 are huge fans of Blippi and I inevitably end up seeing part of his videos whenever I’m at my son’s house. Both granddaughters take an FBR-like glee in waking me up when I doze off during Blippi’s prancing. We were all given orange Blippi glasses to wear, there were innumerable blue and orange balloons, and an abuela created Blippi cake to top things off.

Birthday Girl and Blippified Parents

Getting Ready for Pinata

Hard Working Mom and Dad

Cake Time!

"I Love You!!!"

Wake up Grandpa, Blippi's On!

The ABFA’s parents and a cousin’s family completed the party goers and we were off on a fantastic New England spring day. The men were soon gathered around a prefabbed sand box the ABFA parents gifted to the granddaughters. We were charged with assembling and then filling it. It was a lot of cooks in a single kitchen but it was assembled and filled in short order and BR3 was soon throwing sand at the ABFA’s dad in celebration. We brought a piñata which the BRS was especially interested in. BR3 seemed a little mystified and couldn’t understand why she was called upon to strike the glittering number 2.

BR3 Tentative about the Pinata

BRS Giving it a Whack

Swimming Lessons Earlier on Saturday

BR3 with Dad

The piñata resisted all child efforts to break and my son stepped in as the designated executioner and the back yard was soon littered with a lot of candy. My Favorite Panamanian took a personal role in teaching BR3 how to dive into the post- piñata mosh pit to secure candy. The BRS has bred true to the ABFA’s fascination with all things chocolate and was stop in mid search to down the latest Hershey bar she acquired. It was too funny to watch. I’d forgotten to bring Bonecrusher so BR3 was reduced to cutting her cake with a mundane cake knife but other than that it was a very fun day with two very tired young ladies at bed time.

Abuela Time

Sandbox Construction

We hung around for a bit Monday morning for abuela provided hojaldras and granddaughter immersion therapy. We continued our trek north around mid-day to visit the Maine Musquetera. It was good to be driving north into Maine at the end of a three-day weekend versus the poor souls we passed trying to drive south. I-95 leaving Maine was a fifteen mile parking lot as we sped north, loving the 70 MPH speed limits. We arrived in the late afternoon to the usual round of hugs and were introduced to the Maine Musquetera’s niece, a surgeon from Venezuela who been staying with them for while.

Acadia Park Beach

I was soon forgotten as the two Musqueteras and the niece were gathered around a table discussing what color a renovated bathroom would be painted. I was thankfully omitted from that conversation and parked in from of a tv to watch the Red Sox while simultaneously continuing to read the latest book in my foray through the Travis McGee series by the incomparable John D. MacDonald. Trav did better than the Sox.

Tuesday was adventure day as we continued even further north. I’d never visited Acadia National Park or Bar Harbor although my wife had in her years of visiting the Maine Musquetera. We decided last week that I had to fill that void and I’m certainly glad I did. We set out from the Waterville home of the Maine Musquetera with the visiting niece along for the ride. There was a steady rain falling that stopped shortly before the end of our two hour drive. We pulled into the visitor’s center, mainly to use the rest rooms, and learned there was a $30 per car entry fee to some parts of the park. I dutifully stood in line and when it was my turn to purchase the ticket the lady noticed my retired army hat and said I qualified for a free ticket. She checked my retired ID card and issued me a pass which was good not only for entry to the park but to all national parks in the country for the next year. Pretty cool.

Our first stop was supposed to be the top of Cadillac Mountain but we learned reservations were needed from the gate guard. We continued around the loop road and were treated to some truly fantastic views. We stopped in several places and walked out onto either cliffs or down to the rock strewn beaches. It was all very Maine. I’m hoping the photos I’ve included do a better job of capturing the stunning beauty of the place versus my poor effort here. At one of our stops, I noticed I finally had a cell phone signal and was able to make a reservation for the mountain climb where we headed next. It was a fitting climatic spot for our Acadia visit as it offered truly memorable views of the surrounding coast and verdant Maine countryside.

We then set out for a very late lunch in nearby Bar Harbor. I parallel parked for the first time in years (the rust showed) right on Main Street. We grabbed a quick lunch in a downtown brewery and the two ladies deserted me to explore shopping opportunities. Left to my devices (always a dangerous proposition) I started wandering. I ended up down at the water line and noticed a path along the shore. It’s called (very unconventionally) the Shore Path. I set out along that, since I knew I had substantial time to waste given the shopping opportunities the ladies were immersed in. The path wound along the coast with some great views of the neighboring islands and busy port. There were a couple mansions and I found the man-made breakwater that had caused a couple questions when viewed from the top of Cadillac.

On Top of Cadillac

Looking Down on Bar Harbor

With my Partner in Crime

I reached the end of the trail and made my way through the back streets back to the center of town. I decided the place had to have a bakery and set out in search of cookies. I traversed every single downtown street in my futile search and ended up sitting on a bench imagining the chocolate chip cookie I had my heart set on. I’m told we were lucky as Bar Harbor is usually awash with tourists during the summer but that wasn’t an issue at all. The Tuesday after Memorial Day is a good time to visit.

Bar Harbor Walkabout

The ladies eventually located me forlornly people watching, cookie-less, on my bench and bundled me back into the car for the drive back to Waterville. We had just about reached our destination when I received a text from a high school classmate (and stalwart pub crawler) who learned I was in Bar Harbor from Facebook. He invited us to stop by his place on our drive back as he lives close by but we were already two hours past his place. I know this isn’t the last time I’ll visit that magical spot so there’ll be another future opportunity. We ended the day at a local restaurant enjoying even more time with our fantastic hosts.

On The Shore Path

Yesterday we headed home with the intention of stopping by my Favorite Son’s home for dinner. We were going to spend the afternoon in Portsmouth. My wife was going to, wait for it, shop, while I did whatever I usually do when she shops, which varies. Unfortunately (sigh) the rain started falling just before the Piscataqua Rive and my Favorite Panamanian does not shop in the rain so yet another bakery search was foiled (maybe the cosmos is trying to tell me something?). We decided to press on to Worcester and were treated to some really bad traffic. What is it about a little rain that causes almost requisite traffic jams. Even that maddening situation couldn’t put a damper on a truly fabulous northern trip.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                        

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course