maine, part 4

We're almost there folks. After leaving Acadia, we had planned to drive down onto the blue hill peninsula in hopes of finding some neat art galleries. However, on the way there, we realized that we didn't quite have our finances in order for the house we are trying to buy and that it was urgent so we literally parked on the side of the road in this tiny little town and made phone calls for a few hours. By the time we got everything figured out, the shops were closed so we changed our plans. We actually stumbled upon a cute roadside motel in Searsport. . .the Bait's Motel, to be exact. Haha! It had an attached restaurant where we ate Susan Ada's birthday dinner. She tried fried clams for the first time, and they were quite good!

Friday we started our day of shopping with bagels in Camden. Delicious! Then we strolled around the town and wandered in a few shops. Our destination for the day was Freeport, perhaps most widely known as the LL Bean headquarters. There are lots of outlets there in addition to LL Bean so that kept us busy for quite a while. We celebrated the completion of our shopping with Ben & Jerry's. Dinner and hotel that night were uneventful.

Saturday we continued driving down the coast. For lunch, we drove out to the fabulous little spot in Georgetown. You walk in, tell them what type of lobster you would like, they bring the live boogers out and weigh them for you, then you go sit at a picnic table and wait for lunch. It was a beautiful view, great weather, Susan Ada was feeling much better. . .one of our more memorable spots. Here ya go:

We continued on to Portland for the afternoon. Honestly, a hoppin metro on the water. Really enjoyed our time there. The rest of our trip pretty much consisted of driving home. Yippy. One thing we drove by really caught our attention:

Apparently, it's the only one. . .and that is a crime! Sadly, we had just eaten breakfast and couldn't make any excuses for eating so we didn't get to try it, but the menu was ridiculous and everything looked superb! If you ever go, just don't tell us how great it was, and if you work at Stonyfield we've got some great real estate options for you in downtown Lynchburg.

And that's it. We're home! Well, we were home. One of us just left this afternoon for SC for the next month. It is NOT the other one's favorite thing. However, we just might meet up later this week to share some exciting news. . .

maine, part 3

On Wednesday morning we woke up in a quaint bed and breakfast in Eastport, ME. It's just about as north as you can get on the Maine coast. After a ridiculously delicious breakfast, we drove around Cobscook Bay and over a big bridge to Campobello Island. . .which is in Canada! It was Curt's first visit and he was stoked to say the least. We started with a quick tour of the Roosevelt summer "cottage" and then drove to the northern tip of the island to see the East Quoddy Lighthouse. In case you're not familiar, the water levels in the Bay of Fundy can vary up to 60 ft between high tide and low tide. Pretty crazy. Because it was low tide we were able to scramble up and down multiple ladders to get out to the lighthouse. A few hours later and the paths would be covered in 20-30 ft of water. Once again, crazy. It was wicked windy, but the views were stunning. . .and we were in Canada! A few shots of the pretty.

That afternoon we drove down the coast to Acadia National Park. Wouldn't ya know a cold front was blowing in from the north?? It was unbelievably windy and the expected low was 30 degrees, but these snugglebirds roughed it out and camped in Acadia anyway. Perhaps not our best decision. Susan Ada pretty much hacked her lungs out all night and was begging for a doctor by Thursday morning. So on the morning of Susan Ada's 30th birthday sweet Curt put her in the car, packed up camp all by himself, drove to the nearest doctor, and begged them to examine her. Thankfully, they obliged. She walked right in and was diagnosed with an ear infection and general yuckiness. Z-pack in hand she was out the door with hopes of improving quickly. We spent a little time in Bar Harbor looking in the shops and ate a yummy breakfast. Then we returned to Acadia to drive the Park Loop Road. It was gorgeous!! That wind had blown all the clouds away, the sun was shining, water sparkling, and the crowds weren't so bad. Here's some of our favorite shots:

The top of Cadillac Mountain on Susan Ada's 30th birthday!

the north, part 2

After staying at the B&B in Southern Vermont we took a swing up through Burlington. One of the differences between Vermont and home is that there are little road signs everywhere listing nearby attractions and other businesses everywhere. Well, as we were driving into Burlington we noticed a sign for Magic Hat Brewery and decided to just run in and see what could be had.

There was, in fact, a magic hat outside. They weren't offering tours that day but they had a neat balcony overviewing their bottling operation. The only thing we didn't see at Ommegang was their bottling operation running and it was awesome, loud and just all around fun to watch the high volume bottling going. We're suckers for a good factory.

. . . Like the Ben and Jerry's factory that we also went to just on the other side of Burlington. Their tour was pretty neat but it was a lot fancier than the low budget brewery tours that we'd seen before. It did come with a tasty sample at the end though. Curt might have neglected to take the camera on the tour with him so there aren't any good photos; although, we do have this photo of the big tanks out back.

So we'd been through the White Mountains in Vermont, through Burlington in the northwest of Vermont so we then headed over to New Hampshire and the Green Mountains where we camped for the night. We found a nice campsite in the woods. There was a campground host trailer there but we never actually saw any other people in the whole campground. We particularly liked the loud creek running near the tent.

The drive through the Green Mountains was particularly beautiful.

As you can see we were a bit ahead of peak leaf season. Honestly though, the trip was scheduled around the half-marathon so the fact that we saw much of fall at all was great.

We were planning to camp in Baxter State Park toward the upper part of Maine that night. As you can see though things were quite cloudy and the rain was coming. By the time we were getting into Maine it was clear that if we went camping it would be camping in the cold, pounding rain. Both set up and tear down. That, combined with the fact it was kind of out of the way and that Susan was getting sick meant we decided to find somewhere to stay for the night. Eliminating Baxter put us a day ahead of schedule and we went ahead and aimed for the Maine coast/Canadian border.

The beginnings of our trip down the Maine coast will be coming soon.

to maine and back

Secret's out. Susan Ada turned 30 last week. It was time. Unavoidable, really. To celebrate, Curt trained for a half marathon with her and then embarked on a trip down Maine's coast in the fall. Really can't think of a better way to usher in this decade. It will probably take a few posts, but we are actually going to attempt to document one of our trips! (and within 48 hrs of arriving home - Meg Robinson be proud!) We started with a drive to Corning, NY on Thursday, Sept 29. Some of our closest friends in Lynchburg are from there and invited us to join them for the Wine Glass (half) Marathon. We arrived on Friday morning so we had time to drive up to the Finger Lakes for the afternoon. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed lunch, wine tasting at Red Newt, shopping, and starting our vacation. Here we are with Lake Seneca:

Here is Susan Ada's impression of the Finger Lakes. Look at a map, and it will make more sense. . .

Then, we went to Watkin's Glen. There is a beautiful walk up a gorge that we enjoyed very much. The sounds of the water rushing/crashing through the rock walls were probably our favorite part. Hard to capture in photos, but here is our attempt:

Saturday, we spent the day in Corning. Had a lazy morning with our friends, then went to the Corning Museum of Glass. It was very interesting. Curt and I signed up to blow our own glass pumpkins. Here is Curt in action!

The two small ones are ours!

Sunday was the big day. The race didn't start until 8am so we honestly didn't have to get up too early. However, it was about 40 degrees and raining so that definitely hurt Team Hamilton morale. You can see our previous post about how all that went. Ironically, we have no pictures from this occasion. None. You're just going to have to trust us. We were so cold when we crossed the finish line that we couldn't get in a hot shower fast enough. It's all about priorities people, and we choose to keep all of our toes. That afternoon we said goodbye to our friends and were off to see New England. We made a quick stop in Cooperstown, NY to visit the Ommegang Brewery.

After our tour, we ventured into town because it happens to hold THE Baseball Hall of Fame. We looked at it, but we had to eat dinner and keep on driving. We spent the night at the Buckmaster Inn in Shrewsbury, VT. Once again, too tired to take a picture of our room (it was lovely!), but we grabbed a shot the next morning before we left.

More to follow. . .we promise!

half marathon anyone?

A quick on the road update: Susan Ada and Curt just completed the First Annual Wineglass Half-Marathon in Corning, NY!! It's the 30th anniversary of the marathon and it seems to be a pretty big deal in these parts of the woods. We didn't exactly have ideal weather conditions - 45 degrees and rainy the whole time. We literally dumped water out of our shoes when we completed the race. Susan Ada definitely enjoyed it, but Curt's still making up his mind (he never really finished getting better from being sick before the race) but odds are good he'll be happy about it soon. Now we're off to our next adventure.

yay for autumn!

The crisp air this weekend convinced us that fall is well on its way. We took our new Africa basket to the market Saturday morning and filled it to the brim with autumn yumminess! Here is our spread:

Then some friends from Raleigh came to visit for the day and we had the best time showing them around town. It was so refreshing to just know folks and not feel like we were trying to "get to know" another new family. Don't get us wrong, we are enjoying building relationships in Lynchburg, it was just nice to have a little break. Sunday, we went to see the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra's opening concert for the season. It was based on music from the Civil War and we really enjoyed it. Susan Ada tried a new do to try to change up the shortness haircut. . .notsomuch.

We had to laugh when we looked in our dishwasher Sunday evening. Curt has been sick all week and apparently all Susan Ada knows to feed a sick kid is soup. This might just be every bowl we own. . .

Now we are off on our next adventure. We are really excited to tell you all about it when we return!!

one year!

On a very soggy mountain afternoon, exactly one year ago today, this Hamilton family was born. It sure has been a year full of joy! We have traveled to 6 states, wandered all over Virginia, enjoyed countless weekends at Evergreen, and even more just relaxing and getting to know Lynchburg. Curt has excelled in his new career and Susan Ada loves staying home to support and care for him. We have shared innumerable bouts of laughter. . .as well as our fair share of tears. And at the end of a year we stand as two individuals whose souls are knit together looking forward to years to come as we grow closer to each other and closer to Jesus.

one week : two worlds

Talk about a whirlwind week. Last Friday, Curt called Susan Ada from work and said, "Hey, let's take a vacation in Shenandoah next week while I have a quick break at work." And, 2 days later we were at Whole Foods in Charlottesville loading up on gourmet yumminess to take on our camping trip. We had a vacation planned for the week of July 4, but Curt ended up in SC working 87 hours instead. So, a few days in the woods was just what we needed. Sunday we arrived, set up camp, and cooked a delicious dinner. Monday we slept in and then drove the northern half of the Skyline Drive. We had driven the southern half on our honeymoon last year and had been curious to finish the task. It was much longer than we realized, but beautiful nonetheless. That afternoon we hiked a beautiful trail that followed a creek as it cascaded down the mountain. . .and passed a few waterfalls. Then back to the campsite for the evening. Tuesday we had another lazy morning then took a very short hike to a spot with gorgeous vistas of the Shenandoah Valley. We had a picnic lunch and read out loud for a long time as we were trying to finish a very exciting novel.

Then we found a flat trail in the woods so we could get a run in. . .still trying to get healthy and increase our distance. It was quite difficult, but we choose to blame it on the altitude. This was our last night to camp so we were determined to have a campfire. Turns out, Curt is ridiculously organized when it comes to sorting firewood:

Susan Ada just cooked dinner and enjoyed the show:

Wednesday morning we packed up our campsite and came back to Lynchburg. We stopped in Harrisonburg for lunch and then had some errands and dinner plans so we didn't actually get home until bedtime. We were excited to be back home in our comfy (although, HOT) bed. Thursday morning Curt went to work and Susan Ada geared up for the laundry marathon as we were planning to go to Evergreen that evening to work for the weekend. Susan Ada had just poured her cup of coffee when Curt called to let her know that he would be leaving for Japan on Saturday morning instead. Talk about a change of plans. If you didn't know, Curt has been working on a project aiding the Fukushima Nuclear Plant since early June so this didn't come out of nowhere. . .just left field. . .and certainly sooner than we had expected. The last 2 days have pretty much consisted of Curt running around crazy trying to get everything in order with Susan Ada following behind him looking pitiful and talking about how much she is going to miss him. That said, she is so proud that he has the opportunity to work on such a monumental project.

So, as I write this, my sweetie is on a direct flight from Chicago to Tokyo and there's no telling when I'll see him next. I sure hope it's within a few weeks as I already miss him terribly. God speed, my love.

transformations

If we don't watch it, folks are going to start calling us the 'Hefty Hamiltons.' Let's just say we've both enjoyed our first year of marriage. . .and all the yummy food that comes with it. However, we have turned a new leaf and are back to eating healthy and exercising regularly. There may even be some distance running in our future. . .

Meanwhile, Curt ran an impromptu 5k last Saturday morning. We were eating dinner with our neighbors when they suggested he join them the following morning. . .and Curt agreed. It wasn't too early of a start so all parties were pretty peppy. Susan Ada is not a fast runner so she didn't see the need to waste anybody's money on registration fees, but happily went along as team Hamilton cheerleader/photographer. Here's our champ before:

During:

And, after:

It was a very hilly course so Susan Ada was especially proud of Curt's accomplishment. We'll keep you posted as we progress.

In other exciting news for the weekend, Curt decided to shave his beard. No comment on how long this new 'do' will last, but it's here for now. The transformation:

poplar duck

Curt and Susan Ada have been quite busy about Lynchburg recently. Susan Ada surprised Curt the other day with a trip to a local garden. Randolph Macon college has a few interns living in tents out at their organic garden and Susan Ada's friend suggested we all go take a look at the place. They had ducks.

And some chickens.

Funny looking chickens to be exact. Curt tried to catch some of the cuter young chickens but didn't meet with any success. That afternoon we went out with our realtor to take a look at some houses. We did see one that is potentially interesting; however, we've got to decide how much work we want to commit to.

Later on that day Curt surprised Susan Ada by pretending to be a japanese hibachi chef. Well, there were no onion volcanos or flying shrimp pieces but he did make a tasty dinner. The "shrimp" sauce wasn't the best though. Don't use assertive canola oil based mayonnaise when you should be using the cheap bland stuff.

We might also like to look out our windows at what's going on in downtown Lynchburg; that night it was Friday night music down by the river. Apparently this guy didn't want to lay out the $5.

The next day we decided to head out to Poplar Forest just outside of Lynchburg.

It was Thomas Jefferson's rural retreat from Monticello and only in the last couple decades have attempts at preserving and restoring it begun. It was pretty interesting to tour a historically important place in the midst of repairs. It was built as a perfect octagon with, apparently, little regard for how liveable the space would be. But Jefferson didn't spend a whole lot of time out there so apparently it wasn't a big deal.

There were some trees.

Betcha can't guess what kind they were.

We'd picked up a Groupon to head out to Poplar Forest in the first place -- $20 for a year long family membership whereas just showing up would have cost us almost $30 to see it once. They've already marked out some of the locations of original plantings outside and we're looking forward to going back as the restoration progresses.

In other news, we might have had some professional photos taken for our almost one year anniversary. This is the one preview shot we've gotten.

memorial day weekend

Curt had the Friday before Memorial Day off, so to celebrate, he took a half day of vacation on Thursday! We have been wanting to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway from Lynchburg to Evergreen (the Sheek family's new mountain house) ever since we moved here so we were excited to finally have the opportunity. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the relaxing drive through the green hills covered in blooming mountain laurel. Curt had never been to Mabry Mill so we made a quick stop:

Friday, we set to work bright and early. Susan Ada finished painting our new bathroom and Curt installed light fixtures:

Saturday Steve, Curt, and Susan Ada attacked the task of laying hardwood floors in the bonus room. We all worked very hard and had 450 square feet of pretty floors to show for it at the end of the day.

However, Saturday wasn't all gruelling labor. . .Curt took some time out to fry a turkey breast. He had wanted to try for a long time so when he discovered that Steve had a turkey fryer in his basement, Curt just had to break it in. Safety first. . .no hot oil ruining this handsome face:

It might have been delicious!

Sunday we drove to Shatley Springs for some yummy country cooking then all pitched in to mow and rake the yard and part of the orchard. We had a great time and enjoyed working hard on the new house.