SMAK First Annual Girl Trip - To Nantucket and Back

I never believed that July 28th would ever arrive.  I could hardly sleep on Wednesday night.  Finally 2:00 pm CST arrived and Frank and I pulled out of the driveway and headed down to pick up Greg and Tabitha and head for the Atlanta Airport.  When we finally got there....it was a kick me out and keep going kind of good bye.  There really is nothing they can do past the first few feet of the entrance...and rediculous to pay to park for that.  I stood on the corner and watched the HHR pull away and cried.  I can't remember when I have ever felt so alone.  I finally composed myself...and headed inside.  Susan would be arriving first and I wanted to be there when she got there.  I had checked in over the computer before leaving the house and was not checking any baggage....so I headed on to security.  For the first time in I can't remember when I made it through security in less than five minutes.  At 4:45 EDT I was finally waiting in terminal B gate 31 for the other two.  I texted them both and told them where we would be.  Susan came back and said her flight was 45 minutes late due to a delay.  I read my book and enjoyed people watching.  I am one of those weird people who was raised going out to the West Palm Beach International Airport....and watching the planes land, depart, load....and dreaming about going all the places those other people were going.  Finally Sue arrived and we waited on Amanda.  We were starving....Amanda got there shortly after Susan and we went to grab a bite at Checkers.  It was then that we discovered out gate had changed to A6.  So down to the tram...over to the new concourse...and to the new gate....we waited there about 30 minutes...and we were the ONLY ones there....lo and behold...another change had been made....and we were now back at B14.  Back to the tram...back to B....and in the nick of time.  Our plane was just beginning to board.  Susan and I sat together and caught up on stuff during the 2.5 hour flight to Providence.  When we landed...Missi was waiting on us....and took our photos as we came through the door....the trip had officially begun.

The three of us waited with the baggage while Amanda went to get the car.  We loaded our stuff up and headed to Cathy's apartment.  We arrived sometime around 12:30...visited a bit and headed to bed.  The next morning Missi and I woke up early(5), made coffee and went outside to watch the sun rise.  It was glorious.

We ate breakfast at a Portuguese Bakery called Lydias and then began our first adventure to the lovely seaport town of Newport, RI

We drove around the New Bedford area first and lucked up upon the USCG Eagle coming into the harbor.  We were delighted and spent a good bit of time following it down the bay.

Police boats and a fire boat predeeded the entrance of the majestic Eagle.  The sky was overcast today and the high was only 77.  I actually wore a sweater during the day and it felt good.  On our way to Newport we saw a wind mill and of course could not pass up the opportunity to snap it.

We saw a cargo shop going out to sea.

We passed several Gothic style (and scary looking) churches along the way.  This one was surrounded by stone angels. It was most intimidating and not terribly inviting.

My favorite thing of the day.  Several weeks ago I watched a special on the House on the Rock.  We stopped at an Inn to take a picture of a lighthouse....and guess what was there.....yep....the House on the Rock.  I was thrilled!

 This is the Inn we stopped at to see the lighthouse.  There was a wedding going on on the other side so we could not view the lovely gardens up close.

 Here is my lighthouse.  It reminds me of Haceta Head in Oregon.

 One of the many mansions we saw across the bay.

Melissa and Amanda (Sisters)

A sailboat in the bay.

A tree in the yard of the Breakers.  The Breakers in Newport was the home of the Vanderbilts.

The Breakers

The Breakers entrance gate. 

A side view of the mansion.  It was huge! 

SMAK's adirondack chairs on the lawn of the white house.  Not the real one...but a huge white house that had a massive private beach and lovely manicured lawns.

This is where we had supper at the end of Day One.  If you are ever in the New Bedford area...you must eat here.  The food is fabulous.  Day two was an early day because we did the Island Hopper to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.  We had to be at the docks at 8 am in Hyannis Port.

First stop Martha's Vineyard.  We decided to do the Martha's Vineyard Transit here.  Our bus stop was across from this Friends Church.  We waited about 15 minutes for the number 13 bus.

I loved the colorful houses.

Every where you looked you could find vintage cars.  This one reminds me of my HHR.

A lighthouse on Martha's Vineyard

A gorgeous flower.  We had several mini botany lessons about plants while we were there.

We all love General stores.  While we were here Susan bought us all a tiny rubber chicken to go with our trip joke.  Ok, I will tell it to you.....James Bond met a chicken...and being the polite spy he is...he offered his hand and said, "Bond, James Bond, " to which the chicken offered his wing and replied, "Ken, Chic Ken!"  Between that and the YEAUP that you hear the bidders say on the show Storage Wars...we spent a lot of time laughing like school girls over silly things.

Another gorgeous house and gazebo.

Some more colorful ladies.  The neat thing was how well kept these houses were.

Another Martha's Vineyard lighthouse.  When it came time for us to head back to the ferry for our next leg we had all decided that public transportation was not for us.  It was too hot!  Whatever it took we were going to have air conditioning on Nantucket.  And air conditioning we had.  Coming into the harbor at Nantucket we saw some amazing yachts.  I can't believe that any one person could own something so large.

We had an errand at the Waumosett Inn and when we got their....in our rented Cruze...we saw this grand old taxi.  They don't use it anymore....and that is a shame.  I would love to own this old wagon myself.

The garden entrance way to the Inn was lovely and blessed with tons of beautiful plants like these glorious daylillies.

...and these huge hydrangeas.  I have never seen one with individual flowers as large as this one had.  I am hoping my friend Chet knows what kind of hydrangea this is.

We discovered a non-white lighthouse must outside of Waumosett.  It was so pretty standing there with its light shining.  This is still a working lighthouse.  In fact all the lighthouses on Martha's Vineyard AND Nantucket are working ones.

Nantucket harbor light number one.  There are actually three in this location. 

This lighthouse is number two and reminds me of the lighthouse at Sanibel Island in Florida.

The flower of the rosa ragosa plant.  They take the tomato looking things and make jams out of them.  Let me tell you....this is one very thorny bush.

An osprey nest.

We went shelling and this little guys was very interested in what we were doing.  He watched and followed us up and down the beach.

Day is done and the sun is sinking low on the harbor.  Our ferry goes back to Hyannis Port at 8:20.  We will arrive at 10:10.

I have always wanted a night picture of a lighthouse and Susan took this one from the bow of the boat.  You can barely see the lighthouse....but the light is ever present.  Our last full day here and we went back to the apartment and began preparing to leave.....tomorrow we would meet up with Chuck and hand off Susan and the remaining three of us would head to the airport to catch our flights home. 

We met Chuckles in Mystic Seaport at this restaurant where we had a wonderful lunch with a harbor view.  It was lovely.  After lunch we walked a bit and then all piled in our rental car and toured the town.  The heat was unbearable....and it was only 88. 

Street signs in Mystic.

Mystic seaport Maritime museum from across the harbor.

Loved this tag.

Tug boat at the entrance of the Mystic Seaport Maritime Museaum.  The door on the top is actually the kind of door you would find in a house.

I wish I could say this was our rental car....but alas...it wasn't.  It was parked outside one of the shops we visited and we could not pass up the opportunity to get a quick photo op.

Chuck too our only shot together for the whole trip....we are standing on the pier/docks at Mystic Seaport waiting for the drawbridge to go down.  It divides the town in half and really stops up things when it is in use.

One of the strange little stores in Mystic.  We said our good byes to Chuck and Sue and headed back to the airport.  The trip was wonderful.  We all laughed....and really enjoyed time spent together.  We are already planning next years trip.  I have great family and dear friends.  I am truly a blessed woman....but most of all I have a wonderful husband who allowed me this opportunity to go and be goofy for a few days.  Thank you darling for giving me the chance to spread my wings and soar.  Until next year....this is Ken....Chic Ken...signing off.....Yeaup!

Picture slideshow customized with Smilebox Nantucket on Dwellable

Hey, It's Okay Tuesday!

I got this idea from Glamour magazine. They have a section called Hey, It’s Okay and will list a bunch of things to be okay about. You're welcome to join in and do something like this on your diary. Doesn't have to be on a Tuesday either.

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To think it’s funny how people find it appalling that I’ve changed my kids on a bathroom floor. On a changing mat. Sometimes the line for the changing table is long and you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.



To be sad that so many post offices are slated to close. I hope they don’t close the one on base. That would stink.



To have discovered I like FRESH guacamole. Not the stuff already made in a container. But FRESH. I went to One The Border and they made fresh guacamole in front of the table and it was amazing. I want more.



To not like online abbreviations. A lot of people use DS or DD for Dear Son and Dear Daughter online. I type out son and daughter. Much easier.



To always check the site retailmenot.com before I buy online. They have tons of coupon codes there.



To want to try the new lemonade Wendys is serving. I love lemonade but I’m too lazy to make it myself.



To like my first real adult cereal. Special K with Red Berries. I still love Lucky Charms though. But that Kashi crap is still years away for going in my bowl.



To be thankful for all the helpful notes I received in the previous entry on how to do a bun.



To hope Natalie makes it into PreK. She was on a waiting list and I find out today if she’s in or not. Please. For the love of chocolate, please. Momma needs a few hours of quiet.



To be looking forward to the new American Pie movie. And no, it’s not a straight to DVD one. It’s called American Reunion and it’s about the high school 10 year reunion. All the original characters are back. (Stifler!)

Wanted: Bun Lady

I have a secret.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit it.

Okay. Here it goes.




I can’t do little girl hair.

There.

I said it.

Hell, I can barely do my own hair.

So when I came across this:




I panicked.

I signed Natalie up for ballet and didn’t think about the fact that I’d PROBABLY HAVE TO PUT HER HAIR INTO A BUN.

I don’t know how to do buns.

She usually leaves her hair down or I put it in two braids or pigtails. And let me tell you, when I do this, they are never perfectly center. One braid is usually higher than the other. One pigtail is usually way down low while the other is on top of her head.

Basically, I suck.

I checked Google and there was a site that explained how to do a bun. I tried it on Natalie. But…but…I did something wrong. Somehow I made a big knot in the back of her head that took me ten minutes to brush out.

“You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?” Natalie said matter-of-factly as I struggled to make her hair normal again.

Nope.

I don’t know what I’m doing.

I can only hope there is a Bun Lady at ballet. Someone who will happily do buns for the hair challenged mother. Hopefully for free. Or, if she insists on something, I can pay her in chocolate.

You put my daughter’s hair up, I give you a Twix.

Project 365 - Week 31

I am running late this week.  I had every intention of coming home last night and posting before I went to bed.  I got home somewhere around 10:30 and was wiped out.  So here I am this morning posting my pictures for the week.  I tried really hard to limit it to no more than two per day....even though the Cape Cod Days had so many to choose from.  I hope you enjoy my offerings and if you want to see some even better ones...slip over to Sarah's blog  ....Make Music From Your Heart... and check them out.  Or join us and post your pictures.  It has been really fun so far.

Sunday, July 24th

Yummmy!  We got vine rippened tomatoes today from two families at church.  I made a BLT for lunch and it was so good. 

Monday, July 25th

I had a conference in Auburn today at the Marriott Grand National Hotel.  It was very hazy on my way home but I managed to pull over long enough to catch a couple of shots.  The first one is a little community on Hwy 431...between LaFayette and Roanoke.  There is also a barn with the word Buffalo painted on it's roof....with an arrow pointing down.  Now...where did this name come from?  The second picture is the Welcome to Roanoke one.  It as starting to rain when I got here....but we are the home of the indestructible Ella Smith Doll.

Tuesday, July 26th

 What is this?  Tuesday evening we went outside to water the plants in the flower beds Frank has worked so hard on all summer to find this....actually....there are two of them....Some Rogue Plant is in the Flower Bed!  It has a bloom down close to the base...it is a yellow bloom....so I am thinking....cucumbers, squash....who knows...and we will see when it starts producing....I just want to know what it is?????  ....and where it came from?????

Wednesday, July 27th

Hwy 431 shots again.  We went to Opelika to be with a family from the church having surgery.  The horses posed so pretty...and here is my summer picture of the Moorefield trees.  I love this spot in the road.

Thursday, July 28th

Today was spent primarily traveling.  Amanda, Susan, and I all met up in Atlanta and flew to Providence together.  Missi flew in from Nashville.  Our trip had begun and none of us knew what would be instore for us.  This was the view from our loft apartment in New Bedford.  Amanada had a good friend who let us stay there while she went home.  Thank you again Cathy!  You rock.

Friday, July 29th

 God was definitely smiling on us.  It was overcast today and cool.  The weather was great to walk around in. 

 This is the USCG's Eagle.  We were riding around New Bedford sightseeing and there it was...coming into the harbor.  It was an exciting moment and we were there.

This is where we ate supper and let me tell you this place was to die for.  Their seafood was so fresh and so wonderful!  This was Amanda's recommendation and a favorite of hers from when she was living and working in this area.

Saturday, July 30th

Lighthouse as you come into Martha's Vineyard.

The painted ladies on Martha's Vineyard.  They were lovely.

The limo at the Waumoset Inn on the tip end of Nantucket.  David and Suzanna (Amanda's son and his wife) stayed here on their honeymoon.  Now for the biggie....cost?  900.00 per night!  Ouch....that is a bit steep....but the view is wonderful.  It was one of the most romantice places I have ever seen.

The daylillies at the entrance to the Inn.  The landscaping at this place was unreal. There were some of the prettiest plants I had ever seen.

Just up the road from the Inn we found this lighthouse.  It was just sitting there all by itself at the dunes.  We fly home tomorrow....but before we do we are going to check out Mystic Seaport.  At 8:20 we left Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard behind us and they became a wonderful memory of the First Annual SMAK Girl Trip.  I can't wait to see what next year brings to the table!  YEPPPPP!