Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Downeast Maine part 1


Hi everyone! I have a new iPhoto thanks to my daughter's patience. It took two days for the new app to fully upload.  I am back with my camera after months of neglect. Unfortunately a new operating system, OS X Mountain Lion, was necessary as well so I am immersed in another technology learning curve right now. 

We had a nice visit with our daughter over the weekend in Manhattan. Much of my time was spent thoroughly cleaning the apartment and painting her vanity table but we did get to see all of Central Park's best scenery on a perfect fall day on Saturday. I stupidly left the camera and my phone back at the apartment!


Husband and I are now enjoying Downeast Maine. 


It lives up to its reputation! 


 I took the shots above in Cape Neddick, ME. 


We have spent the last two nights in Portland, a great artsy, foodie city. We are staying at the Pomegranate Inn, a nice B & B in Portland's West End neighborhood, with a fantastic eclectic art collection displayed throughout the house. Their taxis shrubs are enormous!


This is our room with irises (my shot taken at night was too blurry so found this one online). The red bench and pillows are sadly no longer in the room but the room is still quite stylish and comfortable.


Breakfast area of Pomegranate Inn.  Caiola's is down the street and is excellent. 


Their window boxes are perfectly arranged for fall...


Also a nice food and wine shop next door, Aurora Provisions, 


with takeout and bakery and beautiful products for sale. I bought some nice Swedish Ekelund tea towels there.


 I toured the Portland Arts District yesterday wile husband worked back at the inn. The Portland Museum of Art has a very nice collection. They own Winslow Homer's Studio, many of his paintings and hundreds of his illustrations. The studio tour was booked yesterday. It sells out months in advance and is only open for a few months of the year. It is in beautiful Prouts Neck, Maine, 15 minutes from Portland.  NYT wrote this about it a few years ago. 


This perfect little famous painting is titled Artists Sketching in the White Mountains.

We headed south to Ogunquit for some lobster rolls and a beautiful stroll along the ocean on the Marginal Walk.








The path ends or starts in pretty but touristy Perkins Cove. This is a great time to visit Maine, the leaves are perfect and it is not crowded. Just enough tourists to make it feel lively. Many places here will shut down for the winter in a few weeks.



We headed to Kennebunk and Kennebunkport and stopped off at the charming Snug Harbor Farm.....





On to more exploring today and relocating to a little cottage on the water in Brooklin, Maine. The big disappointment is the ridiculous government shutdown, which means a closed Acadia National Park!

I am trying to use my Instagram more often, if you want to follow along... http://instagram.com/clsachdeva


Thanks for visiting!
Cindy


6 comments:

  1. So many of my favorites! I can't wait to hear about your cottage in Brooklin. Cindy, there is really good restaurant in Blue Hill: 66 steak and seafood. Sorry to hear about Acadia....so ridiculous what is going on.
    Cheers,
    Loi
    PS - Love your Instagram pics!!

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  2. So glad to see the post Cindy! Your pictures, and the weather in general, are so crisp and clear: only in Maine, right? You just don't ever get that clear color down here... Yes, Portland is a really nice city. I spent many many summers in the mountains of Maine, passing through Portland and now wish we had spent more time there! I thought of you last week as we were on the beach here in N.C. My husband even wanted to go to Beaufort S.C. but it was just too far! Enjoy your vacation...

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  3. Gorgeous photos, Cindy. I can't wait to visit Maine one day!
    Claudia

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  4. Gorgeous photos! I am so happy to see you blogging!

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  5. So nice to revisit Portland! This Midwesterner was through Maine a number of years back...lovely! We went for an old house tour (the name of the house escapes me)....but it had been decorated by the Herter Bros......very rare.
    Thanks for this post!

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  6. Hi Cindy,
    Loi Thai referred me to your blog. I just went to Maine also and did a post about the trip, but your photos are so much better, and wish we had had time to visit Snug Harbor. Have heard a lot about that nursery from Loi's posts and friends - next visit for sure. Anyway, I loved your post, then checked out your pinterest boards and decided we are kindred spirits. I too love to garden, love to cook, and Ina is my hero. Even drove to Cleveland to hear her speak in the spring.

    I will continue to check your posts and am expecting to be captivated.
    Billie (kitchensihaveloved.blogspot.com)

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