Downeast

Jack and I traveled Downeast this past weekend for the memorial service for my uncle.
We left the farm at noon and traveled across NH and up the coast of ME to Bucksport and then down into Deer Isle. We arrived at the Pilgrim's Inn (backview of the inn), a beautiful oasis on the island and in the wee village of Deer Isle in time to get settled before dinner. It's an old inn, still showcasing the internal beauty of colonial days but updated in every respect. Happily there were no TVs or telephones in the rooms, only in one sitting room, so relaxing was the main course.

There is a beautiful pond off the backyard and the ocean is just across the street.

Coming in the front door, a warm and welcome view!

Saturday, June 13th, was Worldwide Knit In Public Day! These gals were great fun to talk with and had I had more time before the memorial service I would have sat and knit with them for while.

Love the colors of this scene...

We arrived at my cousin Burt's house at 12...my uncle and aunt bought this slice of heaven in the 1960's and since passed it on to Burt and his wife Pat.

Friends came with guitars and fiddles to play on the front porch all afternoon.

A view to the sea from the garden....

Burt is a lobsterman and keeps his boat in Burnt Cove. After lunch, family and friends boarded the boat to take the ashes over to the reach off shore from the house where my uncle had always wanted to be laid to rest.

It was a beautiful afternoon, couldn't have asked a for better weather. The girl on the far left was the wild card for me. In chatting we learned we had grown up in the same town and had known each other although it had been some 45 years since we had seen each other. It was so great to reconnect with that part of my life!

Here's Burt at the helm. He has a GPS now so although he has fished these waters for more than 25 years he feels more confident as to the locations of the barriers and reefs beneath the sea's surface.

Burt and Pat's dog, Lilly, enjoys the sea spray.

Those who didn't take the boat ride came down to shore to watch the spreading of the ashes....Burt blew the boat horn three times, twice. It was beautifully sad.

This is me with cousin Burt and cousin Eric. My mom, Burt's mom and Eric's mom were all sisters and have since departed us.

We left Deer Isle around 6PM, headed for Portland, ME for the overnight. We were offered a family member's condo, empty for the weekend, in Portland right on the harbor for the night. It was a treat! A beautiful sight at night when we arrived at 10PM and come morning , although a rainy day, the sight was still lovely. This was the view from our bedroom.

So another chapter's closed, but the family bond continues and that's the part that matters most.