June 12-15                                       Southwest Harbor, Maine

We rejoiced in being back in “our happy place,” a term Kennedy has applied to SW Harbor, and quickly became acclimated.  Dinner was on the Hardberger’s beautiful Fleming 56’motoryacht.  Linda made a delicious beef stew and served blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert.  They were thrilled their good friend had been elected mayor of San Antonio (a position held for two terms by Phil only a few years ago) on Saturday and the conversation dealt mainly with politics.

Rental cars in Maine are expensive and can be in short supply.  We were pleased to secure one from the Bar Harbor Airport for a discounted rate (due to help from Jane in the marina office).  They delivered it and we were able to see more of this lovely area.  The car is almost the same bright blue as was my first car after we married.  We had bought a used Plymouth and David painted it "Chevrolet Truck Blue.”  One could always find it in the parking lot and this car will be the same.

 A trip to Ellsworth, eight miles away replenished supplies for our weekend guests.  On our return to SW Harbor, traffic in both directions suddenly halted on the two-way road.  A mother duck and her ducklings were nonchalantly crossing to the other side.  Everyone waited patiently until they were safely in the grass before continuing.  It was a scene right out of Make Way for Ducklings!

Sitting on the aft deck at lunch, we spotted something dark moving through the water near the boat.  It was a small seal, one of many in the area but rarely seen in the marina.  We hope to see more when we take our dinghy into Somes Sound, a secluded and scenic place near us.

Miller appeared early Thursday morning and began giving the boat the cleaning and scrubbing needed to remove all the salt from our journey.  He worked all day and the boat shone from bow to stern with glistening windows and shiny decks.

Pretzel is delighted to run madly around the deck and peek into the galley windows to watch me at work.  We are pleased to report she is being “boat-trained” but is forever forbidden to be on the new salon carpet.  A new 18-inch gate keeps her on the aft deck but provides a view to us in the salon. 

Micah and Miller cooked dinner for us and several other fortunate guests on Thursday evening.  Miller’s specialty is succulent, thick, juicy pork ribs and Micah made a delicious baked halibut.  I contributed a corn casserole and another guest brought crab and lobster stuffed manicotti with a light tomato sauce.  Dining in the pavilion on the dock, we enjoyed meeting some of the other marina guests and staff while watching a lingering sunset.