Vacation - Moving to the Main Inn

I have plans today to see Kathleen for lunch, and Rick is meeting his Mom in Manchester for lunch. We are moving from the Annex to the Main Inn, so we have to pack everything up, and get it in the car before Rick leaves. It is raining like a banchee outside, and I don't really have a place to hang since we don't have a room, so I'm in the lobby for a while. After a half hour or so, I even got a seat :) The hotel was able to get our room ready by 11:30 which was a pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, Kathleen had a production problem at work, so had to cancel our lunch. I made my way to the pub (yes, it's still raining) and had some steamers - they were sweet and delicious. Rick got back from lunch, and we moved all the bags from the car to the new room.
We love staying in certain oceanfront rooms in the main inn as they have balconies facing the water with a roof from the balcony above. If it rains, we can sit out and enjoy the ocean even in weather not conducive to beach going. In torrential downpours, however, everyone is out of luck :)

Vacation - York Beach Tuesday

Last night and this morning we were seranaded by the young brothers next door - maybe 2 and 3 years old or so. Usually we go to the beach around Rick's birthday and my birthday, and I wondered if this time of year was going to be a little louder than times when families have other things to do. Turns out the Annex is not as well insulated as the main inn.

I met Bethany this morning for breakfast - we went to the Bluff restaurant. I had a cheese and onion omlette, but I'm not ashamed to say I eyed Bethany's veggie scramble. It was great to see her, and we got to catch up with all the stuff going on with her family, job and activities. Unfortunately she had to head to work - I guess we can't all be on vacation :)

Later I took a drive to the Stonewall Kitchen Cafe to meet Ann for lunch - we had a hankering for a lobster roll, and we figured this place would meet it nicely. They had a couple of lobster dishes, but we were there for one thing :) The lobster was freshly cooked, mixed with just enough mayo - not too little and not too much - and a little bit of minced celery - a very nice salad filling. It was loaded into a grilled hot dog roll - my favorite approach. Other rolls ruin the lobster to bread ratio. Either that or mom just always made them that way :)

Ann and I shopped through the Stonewall Kitchen store - trying jams and jellies, smelling lotions, and looking at tchochkes. I think my new favorite jam is the Mimosa Jam from the brunch line. I didn't actually try the Belini Jam or the Kir Royale Jam - there is only so much Jam one can eat after lunch - but I feel pretty confident in my choice. The test kitchen was making blueberry waffles with blueberry syrup and we got there just as they were putting out the samples. Now that was an amazing dessert!

Although today was supposed to be the best day weather wise for the week, it was totally overcast and we never saw the sun. I'm still just excited to be in NH and Maine, and I'm not minding the weather.

Vacation - Portsmouth to the Beach

I woke up early today, and since we were on the "Club Floor" and all figured I'd get me some free coffee. It was supposed to be set up from 6:30 - 9:00, but at 6:45 the setup was continuing. I poked around the little club room - it has a great view of the harbor, and the Sunday papers were still there from the previous day - even the NY Post (which I've decided is the most fun of all the NY Sunday papers) including the page 6 insert (with all the lifestyle articles). I was pumped since Rick was still sleeping. I brought a couple cups of coffee back (in case Rick woke up) and proceeded to drink them both myself. By the time I was ready to get more, Rick was ready for his own cup :)

We decided to go to the Friendly Toast for breakfast and have one of those most amazing Breakfast Burritos. These burritos are made with scrambled eggs, black beans, salsa, guacamole and cilantro paste, and are wrapped up in yummy tortillas that are grilled. They come with homefries, and ours were perfect - they must have been sitting on the griddle since 4 am - crunchy and caramelized - just perfect. We went back to the Sheraton (it's all walking distance) and chilled for a few moments before starting to repack our suit cases for the next stop.




We got everything packed and into the car, and made our way to do a few errands (the storage area, bank, etc) and went back to downtown for lunch at the Ferry Landing. I had a Jimmy Juice and a fried clam appetizer (tons of the good stuff - fried clams - and none of the fill - the fries) and Rick had one of the specials - a rib eye sandwich with fries. He found it tough to eat as the steak wasn't cut well, and he decided that next time he will stick with the Ferry Burger.
We took the scenic route to York via the Kittery outlets - I had a couple of returns to make at Eddie Bauer - and made a stop at the grocery store for the appropriate vacation beach junk food.




We are at the Union Bluff now - tonight and tomorrow we are in the annex and then on Wednesday we get to move to the main inn. The main inn is so much nicer - especially with the decks and the deck chairs available for reading the afternoon away.
Tomorrow is supposed to be gorgeous weather! Looking forward to it!

Vacation - Portsmouth

When we got to the Sheraton in Portsmouth, we found out we had been upgrade to the club level (woo!) but that our room wasn't yet ready. We hiked it over to the local K-Mart to get some drugstore items and a few things I wanted to bring back to Manhattan (see previous scone story). We went back and got checked in and the room was very nice. We had stayed at this Sheraton on our wedding night back in 2004 and had stayed in one of the older rooms. Those were very worn. I was coming back because the location of the hotel is really fabulous and I thought maybe we'd get out and about in Portsmouth that night.

As it turned out, my parents were only going to be around for Sunday evening, so we drove out to my favorite seafood shack to meet them for dinner in Rye. Petey's Summertime Seafood is easily the best around - but that gosh darn parking will get you everytime. We arrived with the sun and a space saved for us. My parents got a nice one too. And to top it all off, we got to sit on the deck upstairs, which is the best place of all to have some yummy yummies. Twin soft shells were $19.99 and twin hard shells were $29.99. Mom and I got the soft shells - they come into season around the end of July. My father had the broiled haddock dinner (yum yum) and Rick had his absolute favorite - the fried chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayo. He ordered an onion ring appetizer (there is only one size) and it was quite a huge pile of crispy rings! We all had some and were concerned that we may have ruined our dinner. Never fear, though, the Kings are good eaters and we didn't need to bring anything home :)

After dinner we went back to the hotel and stopped in the bar for a night cap. I had a choco razzatini - it had won the Portsmouth Cocktail Competion for 2008. I can see why - it was amazing. Stoli Raz, Creme de Cocoa, Chambord and cream with a cocoa rim. I may very well have to try to replicate this too. The person who created the recipe for the cocoa razzatini was our bartender, and he told us about how they ended up making hundreds of them the night of the competition and was way too shy about the success of his recipe.

Vacation - BBQ at the Mudges

We made it all the way to NH last night! Rick was able to get out and home before 3, but when I called the car people they said they couldn't get us a car until 4. Bummer. Would have loved to get a jump on the traffic. I went over at 3:40 figuring it would take some time to get the paperwork done etc, etc. By 4 I was in front of our buiding, loading in all the stuff we took with us. It was stop and go during the section of 95 - but over all not too bad.

We got to Manchester around 10:15 or so, and only had 2 stops. We called the Sheraton Four Points in Manchester and got a room for the night. We had made a reservation there for Saturday night, so it was nice that we didn't have to move. The hotel was pretty nice - looked like it had been renovated recently.

We were thinking we'd have a late dinner at the restaurant in the hotel - the front desk guy said that it would be open for 15 more minutes or so - but when we got there it had closed at 10. We had a couple of beers and some chicken fingers while watching the Red Sox beat Oakland in the 13th inning, and listening to a guy who used to live in the Upper East Side and now lives in Boston.

In the morning I went over to Panera to get coffee and scones. It was kind of funny because I ordered the 2 scones and the 2 large coffees - remember this is before being properly caffinated - and the chick behind the counter says $6.68. I said "No - I need TWO scones and TWO large coffees" thinking that must have only been for 1. Nope it was for 2 - I've just been brain washed while living in Manhattan where, when Ann was visiting and I picked up 4 baked items (and no coffee) it was $15 at the local bakery.

We got to Rick's parents house early and I spent some time prepping some veggies and dip, as well as some grilled shrimp. It was nice to be a part of the pre-party party :) People started showing up at noon, and we got to see Laura and Bill along with their daughters, the boyfriends and grand kids; Kim and Bill along with Lizzy; Deanna and Danielle, my parents came along with Jim and Lynn and Jillian, and Ann and Mike came with Matt and Dan - Ann arrived via the Pathfinder, and Mike arrived via the sailboat. Everyone ate a lot!

Rick's parents invited us to come back on Sunday where they were going to be doing it all over again for the Danville Baptist Church. I wonder if they got any sleep that weekend... We declined and made our way to Portsmouth.

Vacation - The Drive Up

We are renting a car from Budget to drive up to NH tonight. If we aren't able to leave until late, then I have a flyer with hotel locations in it. We'll make our way to Manchester, NH for a party at Rick's mom's house tomorrow. It'll be great to see them, and Rick's sisters and their families. Also my parents are planning to come, and Ann will be coming on the sail boat with her family. Should be a very nice time!
Kinda funny that the weekend getaway on Samantha Brown's travel show was Seacoast New Hampshire on TiVo :) She went to Flo's Hot Dog's, the Friendly Toast, the Portsmouth Brewery and Jumpin Jay's. It was good to see all the haunts since I was packing for our own trip to seacoast NH!

Suzee's Grilled Shrimp Appetizers

I miss my grill a lot - I'm looking forward to making these on vacation.

2 lb bag raw large E-Z peel shrimp
1/2 C Newman's Triple Cheese Balsamic Vinegrette

Peel the raw shrimp, including tails, and discard shells and tails.
Put the shrimp in a zip loc bag with the dressing for 10 or 15 minutes (no longer).
Toss on a very hot grill - 2 minutes on each side or until the shrimp are opaque. Don't over cook!
Pile 'em on a pretty platter and watch them disappear!