Mr Asaro Comes To Dublin

Steve, my best friend, took time from his beautiful wife, Jen, and child, Allison, to come up and see where we've laid down roots. As you can tell, we had him go to Kimballs' for ice cream like my brother; however, he figured out the big ice cream trick and opted for a child size which he still couldn't finish. I also took him over to Fat Frank's to sample one of their fine dogs. I love the woman in the back. It's almost as if she's describing the size of the links. We had a hard time finishing our lunch after I also took him to the Peterboro Diner for pancakes. I know it sounds like we torture our guests by forcing one meal on them after another, but we really do more than eat. I swear.

Steve had never been to New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine, so we too day trips across two borders so he could check them off on his state quarters binder. :) This is a shot of us standing at a Revolutionary War era fort in Portsmouth Harbor and on the Maine side of the Piscataqua.

Eating a lobster in Maine was on my summer to-do list and Steve was more than happy to help me mark it off. We headed up the coast until we found this little resort town with a general store that sells lobster, steamers, and clams to tourists. The reason we picked this spot was an incredibly strong Noreaster blew in while we were driving on the coast with dual lightning strikes at time and we thought, "Um, maybe we should stop." I think we overpaid, but looking at the pictures, do you think it mattered? I think that was the 3rd lobster I've ever eaten out of the shell, and I do love; however, it's not something you want to do at lunchtime since your hands, your face, your breath and everything smells like the sea afterward. I've also found that a glass of wine helps drop my standards of how picky I am in looking for meat. One glass of wine and I'll bite the head open.
How can two of the biggest fans of our 41st president go to Maine and not visit Kennebunkport? Well, we did. This is the town that Soviet leader Putin ate lobsters with George W. for a week or so earlier this summer. We didn't run into Poppa Bush while we were driving through, but can you imagine the excitement if we did? He was my Commander-in-Chief in the Persian Gulf War! I'd pop a smart salute.
Steve used to sail in college at UF, so I took him out sailing on one of our 420s at the Dublin Lake Club. We switched off at the helm and had a fine tour of the lake. Steve mentioned that he was impressed by my summer office. Two salty sailors like ourselves were able to bring the boat out and back like pros and it really was quite a dream to go sailing together. I never would have imagined that as a possibility living in Tampa. Now I'm a sailing instructor and he's a dad. Life is good. This is a shot of Steve standing on our dining hall balcony at Dublin School. He was quite impressed with the local views and the abundance of nature, and said he can't wait to bring his wife and daughter up to see the sights. We can't wait to have them. It was a fantastic trip and so much fun to have Steve up here to visit and see our new life.