Summers here to stay,
and that sweet summer breeze
will blow forever
Go down to the shore,
kick off your shoes,
dive in the empty ocean
//Dave Matthews
A Couple of weeks ago we were able to go to the Ray Lamontagne concert after I was able to get free tickets from my employer. We had greats seats and the show was awesome, really relaxed vibe and good music. The opener, Jason Isbell, we had both never heard before but he was really good as well. We were hoping Ray would play our Favorites, either "skinny dippin" or "you are the best thing"... sadly he played neither, but he did an acoustic set of old stuff for about 30 minutes which was great.
Over the weekend I had to head up to South Shore of Mass for a wedding and a beach day with my girls. Every time I get up there the first thing I do is get a Marylou's iced coffee. A true Mass staple, you need to make it a point to stop if you are ever near one- I think they are up to about 20 locations in Mass and now have a few in Rhode Island. I am waiting for the day they make it to CT! I got an Iced Almond Cookie this time, and it was divine. Other faves include cinnamon hazelnut, girl scout cookie, blueberry cinnamon crumble, twix and snickerdoodle.
Before work I took the morning to drive around the SS to my favorite spots and just relax before the wedding chaos ensued. It is really great to start the day fresh and with a clear head, and there's no better way to do that than staring out into the ocean! I had my Marylou's and my everything bagel from the secret spot and headed to Peggoty/Second Cliff for a great panoramic view of the ocean and beach. A few surfers were out in the water and it was really nice to just sit on the rocks and watch in peace and quiet.
These bagels are the BOMB! They come from Atlantic Bagel in Cohasset, but they sell them at a secret spot in Scituate that I love to hit up in the mornings. The everything's are a hot commodity, but I was able to score the last one.
Love my Hawaiian print TOMS!
After Peggoty, I had to hit up Maria's subs to grab some lunch for Pam and I to eat before the wedding. These are one of my favorite subs I have ever had. And don't you dare ask for lettuce when you go! The only toppings they offer are meat, cheese, and then diced tomato's, onions and pickles. The only other option is to add "hots". I got a ham and cheese with the works and oil/salt/pepper. My mouth is watering just from typing right now... good thing I will be up there again this weekend! They open at 11 so I try to get there right at the start or else the line quickly forms out the door. Such a townie classic spot that's been in business forever, if you are ever in the area definitely go for lunch!
And then, the wedding craziness ensued for the next 10 hours of the day. We headed down to the Wychmere in Harwich on Cape Cod- it is a beautiful spot, and we do weddings here quite often... usually 3-4 per year. The bride was absolutely gorgeous, I will be sure to add in the link to their slideshow as soon as it is ready.
The reception area is literally right on the water- if you step out the door you'll be in the drink. It is cool to see boats pass by and wave as you are eating and dancing the night away.
There is no better way to recover from a wedding day than a beach day with your gals! We headed down to Lea's beach in the morning, and planted our bottoms on the sand. it was the most gorgeous day- and the first official beach day of the summer.
After the beach we headed to the Venus where Lea's Mom works, and she treated us to some fancy adult bevy's. I went with the strawberry daiquiri. Sneaky lil Lea.
Before I headed back to CT I stopped back in Scituate to soak in the scene one last time and to take some night time shots at my favorite spot, Minot. I love the Minot Lighthouse, it flashes in a 1-4-3 pattern to represent "I love you"... it could be a coincidence but it's an old wives tale that the sailors' wife's set it up like that so they could see it from their boats. That's the story I like to stick with! It is such a beautiful spot, Lea and I have been coming here since we were about 16. Every Sunday morning we would wake up and drive to Scituate with our Marylou's and sit on the sea wall or walk to the beach at Minot and talk about the night before or what's going on in our lives. We still do it to this day as often as we can, just not as often as we'd like!
Sunday I was back in CT and we had plans with a group of 8 of us to head down to PB for the day. It was another AMAMZING beach day- even better than the day before- and it was my first time at PB for the year. It is a small private beach that requires you to be a member, my family has badges dating back to the early 1960's! They don't start checking until the first day of summer so we were able to have everyone on the beach without any hassle.
The boys played a rousing game of foozeball.
It was a great day at the beach with great friends- can't wait to get back!
Instead of just driving home after the beach, we headed out at about 4pm and decided to drive a few towns over to Stonington to hit up the Dogwatch Café. This is one of the places on my Summer Bucket List and I hadn't been since last year so it was really fun to get back. They have a huge deck out back in front of the bay/marina and there is an outdoor bar with lots of tables and seating. They also have corn hole sets on the deck, so we got to play a couple games of that too while we waited for our table. This place fills up FAST- we were there very early and still had to wait 45 minutes for our table. I've gone before where the wait was 2+ hours- sometimes they just flat out tell you that they can't serve you! (PS I think my phone was feeling the effects of two days at the beach because these photos are awful!)
Cornhole on the deck!
I love my seahorse romper- it is from ASOS
It is a really beautiful spot right on the marina- lots of sailboats to look at. We took a walk onto the docks to check out the boats more closely and to read the boat names. I love all of the nautical puns people use!
We all ordered some apps- and you can't NOT get raw oysters! So yummy.
Group shots!
The classic "Gourmet" pose. More on Gourmet at a later date...
Talk about door-to-door service! Thanks Dan!
It was such a great day- so unexpected and fun with a great group of people! Can't wait to do it again. I love sucking every drop out of these summer weekends!
The next day I had a Paint Nite scheduled with a group of ladies at Agave in Hartford. This was my 7th paint nite and I absolutely love doing them. I am a painter by no means, but it is so nice to relax and paint/be creative with a group of people. You get to drink and listen to good music- it's never a bad time. We did a barn scene and it was one of my favorites so far. It was also Maragrita Monday with $4 margaritas- so I am lucky it turned out this good!
My painting about mid-way through- and then my finished product..
My Mom and I sat across from each other and never saw each other's painting- they came out so similar! We are definitely related.
A great night with a great group!
And then... this happened. RIP Denty. I broke down on the way to shooting an engagement session-talk about stress! Luckily it was for one of my good friends so they were able to rescue me and still do the photos. I have had this car since 2008 and have put 175,000 miles on it since owning it- that's averaging 30,000 miles a year! It takes a lot of driving to be a Nautical Nomad! I never had any issues with the car- it was great to me, so I really can't complain. It was a 2001 model with 245,000 miles on it at the time of death, so I definitely got my money's worth out of it. It is a pain in the butt being car-less right now but hopefully I'll find something new soon!
One benefit of being without a car is that I got to ride to work with this sweet hunny gem the other day- look at that face!! I love my Elle- she is the sweetest.
Thanks for tuning in! I'll be back later this week with my DC trip from this past weekend!
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