Thompson Lake, Maine Rocks (Get The Pun)

Fort William Light House, Cape Elizabeth, ME

Thompson Lake At 6:58

It's a great morning when you can wake up on Thompson Lake in Oxford, Maine.  It's about 7:00 and I can see some of the lake between the pine trees.  Maine has a law you  cannot cut down anything within 100 feet of the lake, how sensible.  It's an overcast morning, with some fog, so all the colors are muted.  It's now 8:00 and Vickie and I have been talking about our prep school lives for a good hour.  Evie's just come up so I will get back to my blog.

Artisan Bakery

Relaxing In Front Of Scratch Bakery

We spent the morning in Portland, after leaving Cris's home in Cape Elizabeth around 10:00.  She recommended we stop at Scratch Bakery in South Portland, then go to Fort Williams, where the picturesque Lighthouse sits.  The bakery was amazing, all kinds of goodies but were out of everything bagels, the only kind they make and our favorite.  We got coffee and an amazing raspberry muffin, then drove three miles to the coast and toured the Ft. William area.  It's an obvious 'go to' spot in Maine, lots of buses and tourists, but it is a beautiful point, rugged Maine coast, grassy knolls, overlooking the Lighthouse on the point.  We settled down with our coffee and muffin, enjoyed the view, went for a short hike, then headed into Portland,  again quite close, about a 15 minute drive to the downtown Portland area of Commercial Street.

Portland is a great city to walk, so we parked down along one of the piers, and then just walked for a couple of hours, up the various streets, packed with shops, restaurants, an occasional hotel, and lots of locals as well as tourists.  We found lots of things we would have loved to buy but resisted except for a few things in an exceptional kitchen shop.  Our favorite shop was Abacus, also Ron and Vickie's favorite as well.  We went to J's Oyster for lunch, at Cris Lane's recommendation.  It's a tiny place with a few outside tables at this time of year.  We ended up sitting at the bar, the first available seats, and enjoyed just sitting there, watching the people.  We had a couple of beers and split a lobster roll and I also had a bowl of clam chowder.  This was our first lobster in years and we hope it will be the first of many over the next week.  We then walked for another hour until we got tired of shopping and sightseeing, so we decided we had enough and headed to Armontrout's on Thompson Lake, around forty five minutes from Portland.

Lobster Roll at J's Oyster in Portland, Maine

We hit the Trout's home around 4:15, just as Ron was finishing up his work, and we were greeted most enthusiastically by their two black labs, Emmie and Hypatia when Vickie returned from her walk.  It was a lovely afternoon, the sun glistening on the lake, starting to get dark as the afternoon waned.  Their house is really amazing, open floor plan of course, great view of the lake, warm and friendly, and Ron did much of the work himself.  In fact, back in the day, he helped me roof and shingle our house on Chautauqua Lake.  After walking outside to the lake, seeing the yard, we relaxed in their living room with wine, cheese, and a great blueberry spread with a kick.  For dinner, Vickie made Ina Garten's chicken with a mustard herb sauce which was delicious, moist with a great breading.  We also had kale, baked and crispy, with salt and really good.  We devoured it along with a creamy and flavorful grits.  I guess this was Jeffrey's, Ina's husband's anniversary dinner. Yum!

Ron and Vickie's Dining Room

Vickie and Ron On Their Porch

The Guests

We sat around till about 10:30, talking about our grandchildren, of course, and reminisced about our good old days teaching together at Western Reserve Academy back in the 1980's.

It's now almost 9:00 and we have been sitting around drinking coffee, planning our day, so it's time to publish my blog.  We cannot wait till their daughter Christine, her husband Ben, and their children arrive late morning. Evie's traveling Treasure Chest is ready!