‘dirt’ now on both coasts!
I am very excited to share the news that ‘dirt&sunshine’ is now available on the East Coast (other than via Amazon.com, of course). If you visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, you will find it in the gift shop! This botanical garden is one of the nicest we’ve ever seen; in my opinion, it’s better than the one in San Francisco. Even though the growing season is short, the gardens showcase Maine’s abundant native species in spectacular style. The photos below are a short sampling of what can be found there. I was particularly taken with the not-yet-opened children’s garden and the multi-faceted sensory garden (the boys had fun collecting a variety of mint leaves from the hanging ‘taste’ gardens and made tea later that day).
We visited Maine, New York and Connecticut in June for Tate’s ‘Golden Birthday’ trip. In our family, we make a special celebration out of your birthdate and age being the same (last year, Dane turned 12 on the 12th and was able to choose our vacation destination – Greece). We decided to celebrate Tate’s birthday trip early for several reasons: 1) his actual Golden Birthday will also be his 30th – we figure he will have a blowout birthday bash with his friends instead, 2) Paul had very limited vacation days (the downside of taking a new job at a start-up) and 3) Tate’s biggest wish was to go to Maine and eat lobster twice a day (what can I say?).
Since domestic trips are easier time-wise, we opted for an East Coast vacation this year (look for posts on our culinary adventures in NYC in the next few days). After a whirlwind tour of our favorite New York restaurants, we visited friends in Ridgefield, CT, for a few days then drove to the coast of Maine. If you haven’t been to Boothbay Harbor, I highly encourage you to consider it. Beautiful, unspoiled forests, miles of rugged coastline, delicious Maine lobster and lazy days sailing, antiquing or sightseeing all await.
We stayed at the best place in town, Topside Inn (www.topsideinn.com), owned and operated by our good friends, Brian and Ed. Perched high on a hill, the inn is a former sea captain’s home and dates back to the 16th or 17th century. B&E have lovingly restored the entire property and it is the perfect place to relax, not to mention eat. Ed’s breakfasts are legendary and the local restaurant scene recently got a big boost with the addition of The Bistro, a tapas-style culinary hodgepodge of all that is delicious (seriously, we did not have a plate that was less than excellent the three consecutive days we went there). If you want more information about the area, the Inn or the Coastal Gardens, please email me (kathy@dirtandsunshine.com).
