Honeymoon photos, video

Is this our last post here? It very well could be. We're running out of things to tell you about! I guess we might have more pictures from other people we could link to. Anyway, a little bit of housekeeping, we got a couple lost and found items from the wedding that might be yours: a little blue umbrella with chipmunks on it, a pair of Anne Klein sunglasses, and a phone charger. If any of these are yours, let us know!

We're posting up photos and a video from our trip to Turkey for anyone that's interested. (We also took some pictures the week before the wedding you can see here.) On Sunday after the wedding, we never made it in to Southwest Harbor because we realized we had too much cleaning up to do, so we did that, caught the ferry to Northeast Harbor that afternoon, and drove to Amy's Dad's house in York Beach. Then the next day, Sarah dropped us off in Boston where we caught a flight to Istanbul via JFK.

The vacation was broken up into three parts. The first part was in Istanbul, in Sultanahmet, the old city. We stayed at the Four Seasons, which is in a beautiful building (a former prison!), and steps away from the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia, and the Topkapi Palace. So we spent a few days relaxing and visiting those places.

The second part, we flew down to Fethiye on the Mediterranean coast, and then sailed around for five days, five nights on a 35-foot sailboat. We sailed with a skipper, Esther, a very cool Dutch woman who did all the hard work, but we had to learn a lot about sailing to keep the boat afloat. It was a lot of fun. Many highlights, but probably the neatest thing that happened was on our last full day of sailing, some dolphins who swam along with us for awhile. I can't describe how amazing that was. We actually have a little video of it!

The third part found us back in Istanbul in the new part of the city. This was only a couple nights and one full day, but we ate nice dinners and did some good shopping. And then we came home!

Here are some pictures from the first part:



Here are some pictures from the second part:



Here are some pictures from the third part:



Finally, when we spotted the dolphins Amy had the camera out so she took a short video of it. Here it is:



(We took more videos but they're mostly pointless. But you can find them here if you're really interested.)

Thanks for letting us share these with you. And until next time, au revoir!

Time to share wedding pictures!

Amy and I got back from our honeymoon last night! What a three weeks we've had, I think we're going to spend the next three weeks (months? decades?) trying to catch up with what happened.

The first step is to start sharing wedding pictures around. First up are the official photographs from Carl Walsh. There are 604 of them! And we love them all! You can go to this website just to browse through them. Or even buy them a la carte if you really feel like it.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS.

As good as those are, it's so often the case that the best or at least most beloved photographs come from unpredictable sources. Darin's photographs, of course, which you've already seen, are totally great. But we've started to get some others in that we really love. My mom sent some nice photos in, CLICK HERE, and Jimmie sent us just a few that are really good, CLICK HERE.

If you have some photographs you don't mind sharing, either with the whole group or just with us, please add a comment or send them to us via email. We'd love to see them!

We're really happy right now

We just arrived at Amy's Dad's house in York Beach on our way to Istanbul, and we really are still buzzing from this weekend.

Just wanted to say thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks

And also, Darin has already posted his video from Friday night plus some great shots from the pre-ceremony rehearsal and from the reception.

Video Here.

Photos Here.

Music is Love

MUSIC IS LOVE by David Crosby.

Hi there! Since we're heading off for the great North, this is the last post we can promise on this here website. We may post some updates, or bits of information, or anything, but from here until the wedding (and then after that, of course), we won't be too near computers too much. Besides, it's time to have the wedding, and stop talking about it! We'll still be around off-blog, so if any of you have questions, just email or call us and we'll try to work it out.

Amy thought of a couple more people we should thank, so I'll do that now. First Kevin Heaphy Fitness. We love them, and if you live near us and find yourself jealous of Amy's guns at the wedding, you should consider signing up! I'd like to thank our friend Oscar Udeshi for making my suit. It got here this week and, frankly, it's awesome. Any of you guys in New York or London wanting really well-made clothes should ring him. I'd also like to mention all of the people who can't come to the wedding but who have nevertheless sent the nicest messages to us. We'll miss you! I am going to single out Dr. and Mrs. Vardaman in this regard, but only because they were the only people that asked to be put on the website despite not coming. Here you are! ;)

We'd like to leave you with a song cross-posted from our music blog. Music Is Love. It's a song we've become quite fond of around here. Have a listen, have a download, and have safe travels to Maine. See you in a few days!

LISTEN.

Weather watch, pt 6

Still ticking over nicely, High 73, low 43. and today weather.com agrees. That's worrying! This will be the last graphical weather update, but do keep an eye in it, and hope for the best...

Update to our registry

As you all know, we've asked people to donate to some worthy causes (Ubuntu and the MS Society) in lieu of wedding presents. In that regard, we just agreed to go on a bike ride in October to raise funds for the MS Society. So from now on anything that people give through that link will go towards our bike ride fundraising. Check it out, and if anyone wants to sign up to ride with us, sign up!

Weather watch, pt 5

More pointless pot-watching, but at least this forecast is nice! (Weather.com still has it raining both days...)

Saturday Schedule of Events Revisited

We're going to get tired of saying "I can't believe it's only x days until the wedding" right up until the wedding is over, but still, 8 days is blowing my mind. Tomorrow Amy is driving Martin up to Maine, and unless I can contrive a work reason to stay behind, I'll be going too. I'm looking forward to the trip, but I woke up early this morning fully convinced that we won't have enough room in the car for everything. We've got a list a mile long to do between now and then.

One way or the other, we'll get there, and all of you will to. But the point of this post is to tell you a little bit more about Saturday.

On the main website, we have a schedule of events for Saturday. Look at it here.

We've already told you about taking a ferry out to the island, with driving directions and everything.

Click here for directions to the ferry.

The ceremony starts at 5, and the last ferry leaves at 4 from Southwest Harbor. That ferry will probably arrive around 4:30, giving people half an hour to loiter and wander up to the church. We know the majority of people of people will be on that ferry, but we have encouraged people to come early if they can, by telling them about places like the museum, the Islesford Pottery shop, and most importantly, the croquet tournament on the town field!

If you would like to come out early, you can come in full dress or even bring your wedding clothes with you and change on the island. There are a few houses we have access to where you can freshen up.

We're looking forward to the wedding ceremony, and don't want to talk about it too much yet, but thanks in advance especially to our parents, Mayur, Christie, Darin, and the Rivals for helping us out with it!

After the wedding ceremony is over, we'll wander more or less directly back down to the Islesford Dock Restaurant, and the food should start coming pretty quickly.

Click here to watch a short video about our friends and the restaurant proprietors, Dan and Cynthia.

A word about the reception. There will be no formal "sit-down" period at the reception. There will be food stations, and food brought out by servers, more or less continuously, but not a sit down appetizer course, entree course, etc. We thought this would be the best way to let people mingle and relax in the casual spirit of things. Just make sure you eat and don't wait!

After awhile we'll be opening up the microphone for toasts and stuff, and eventually the music will start. We've asked our friend Jason to kind of oversee all this, so he'll keep you informed of things. Jason and Stu (and to the extent they need help, Jimmie) will be DJ'ing, and I can tell you now they've got some excellent material lined up.

Around 10:30 you'll have an opportunity to bid us adieu, as the first ferry back to Southwest Harbor will be leaving around then. After that, the music will just continue until people run out of steam entirely (there will be a late snack to help keep the party going). But all good things must come to an end and there will one more ferry taking everyone else home, leaving anywhere between midnight and one (depending on how it's going).

Thanks to everyone that has been helping us put this all together (there are LOADS of you, it's really humbling), and of course thanks to everyone for dragging themselves up 200, 500, 2,000 miles to get to the thing.

Weather watch, pt 4

Today 8/18 is within the ten-day forecast window, so most weather sites will have a prediction now. If this really was the weather, I'd be happy. Not too hot, not too cool. No rain.

[Edited for incompetent spelling.]

Friday Night at the Atlantic Brewery Revisited

I am re-posting what I did a couple weeks ago about the Friday night barbecue. We're really pleased with the response to the dress up idea--it sounds like there will be some pretty fantastic styles on display. We're still looking for a judge for best outfits, but that's not a problem. We also don't know exactly where the trolleys will pick people up, but we'll have that figured out too, by the time you all get up there.

***

FRIDAY NIGHT EVENT at The Atlantic Brewing Company's Knox Road Grille

Then, at 5:30 p.m. and at 6 p.m., there will be trollies leaving from Southwest Harbor (in front of the Cafe Drydock and Inn, smack dab in the center of town, Main Street and Clark Point Road) to take wedding guests to The Atlantic Brewing Company's Knox Road Grille, 15 Knox Road, Bar Harbor, Maine. (You can also drive yourself or join up later, of course, but the grill is shutting down around 8 pm).

Please plan to come! Drinks are on the house! Also, they have great barbecue supplied by Mainely Meats, all you can eat for around $17! It will be lots of fun!

At 9 pm the trollies will take everyone back to Southwest Harbor and surely for a series of nightcaps.

THERE IS A DRESS CODE! It won't be rigidly enforced, but we encourage everyone to come in their best cowboy gear to the barbecue. Boots, hats, belt buckles. Whatever you've got. If you've misplaced your chaps and lassoes, you can also come in the colors of the great Sooner Nation: Crimson and Cream! It will be a small patch of Oklahoma in Maine.


(Driving Directions from Southwest Harbor: Extremely simple. Take Route 102, aka Main Street, straight north from Southwest Harbor back towards the direction you originally came in. Go 8.5 miles north until you hit a fork in the road, and bear right on Knox Road. The Atlantic Brewery is immediately on the right. Here's a map.)

Weather watch, pt 3

See now it's warm again. People really shouldn't pay any attention to these forecasts...

Driving Directions Re-Revisited

Leaving aside the raw amount of time it takes, getting to the wedding is pretty straightforward.

If you're driving from New York, it's almost 500 miles up I-95. Around 200 miles from the Maine border. People have asked how long it takes, and I've said anywhere between 8 and 11 hours. It depends so much on traffic. We've encouraged people to not do it all in one day if they can avoid it.

You can consult the map for a graphical illustration of the route.

...But by now most people have figured out what they are doing one way or another. (There's the issue whether people should take the coastal route or take I-95 all the way, and we lean mostly to taking the interstate, unless you have lots of time. We love the coastal route, but most people don't actually have enough time to enjoy it.)

Those of you flying are coming into Bangor or Portland, mostly. From the latter, you just follow I-95 up to Bangor then turn right, and then follow the same directions we give to people flying into Bangor:

From Route 95N toward or in Bangor, take Route 395E. Follow for a few miles and take US Route 1A E toward Bar Harbor/Ellsworth. Follow 1A for about 26 miles until it becomes Route 3S and follow for about 10 miles. Stay straight onto the island and follow Route 102S/198S for about 5 miles. Continue straight on 102S for another 5 miles. Route 102 becomes Main Street in town, and Seawall Road south of town.

In addition to the website, we've posted several items on travel to the wedding.

August Eight

Happy Birthday Dad!

Weather watch, pt 2

Yankee Jigs and country dances: Weddings on the Cranberry Isles

Hugh L. Dwelley's "A History of Little Cranberry Island, Maine," p. 119, has descriptions of the first wedding known to be held in the Cranberry Isles, plus social events on Islesford:

When British Captain William Owen visited the Isaac Bunker family on Great Cranberry in 1770, he performed a wedding and then noted that "a great time was had by all." ... Island neighbors attended []. Very likely someone played a fiddle or a banjo. Rum, cider, and a haunch of beef were consumed and Captain Owen wrote: "The evening was spent in Yankee jigs and country dances, much innocent mirth & social glee."

Weather watch

The first forecasts for the wedding weekend are starting to come in. Pretty much more than useless, because they are almost never anywhere close to accurate this far out, but I'm keeping an eye on it, so you might as well too!

Life on Islesford

When we went up to Maine in April to do some wedding planning, we had a fantastic dinner at Dan & Cynthia's house with their friends Bruce and Barb Fernald. The meal was excellent, and the company was even better. It was the first time we had seen Barb since the day after we got engaged--she was having dinner with Dan and Cynthia when we arrived at the restaurant, and so she was among the first in the world to know about our engagement (not only that, as the local society columnist, she was the first to publicly record it, in the July 27, 2006 edition of the Mount Desert Islander!)

Little did we know that Bruce and Barb were famous! I recently picked up this charming little book called "The Secret Life of Lobsters" by Trevor Corson, and it turns out Bruce and Barb are major characters in it. Here's how the book starts:

The morning sky was glowing pink in the southeast but a chill hung in the salt air. The grumble of a truck engine echoed across the harbor. Bruce Fernald's rust-encrusted Ford pickup skidded to a halt in the gravel near the fisherman's co-op on Little Cranberry Island. ...

A century earlier, three hundred Maine islands had been home to year-round communities of fishermen and seafarers. Little Cranberry Island was one of just fourteen such year-round communities that remained. A mile and a half long and shaped like a pork chop, it lay among four other small islands that together formed the Cranberry Isles. Nestled just south of the larger island of Mount Desert, the Cranberries were visible to hikers in Acadia National Park as a cluster of green slabs on the ocean.

Little Cranberry Island had been Bruce's home for most of his fifty years, and he'd spent most of his adult life trapping lobsters around the island's shores. ... Down the main street was the Protestant Church. In the other direction was the Catholic chapel, where a fisherman's net hung behind Jesus, the fisher of men. Bruce Fernald attended neither, but if the lobstering didn't improve, it was possible he'd begin attending both.

Guestbook Outtakes, Part 3

...And just a few more.

Guestbook Outtakes, Part 2

Here are some more photos. Nice looking people we got coming!

Guestbook Outtakes, Part 1

We had a great time putting pictures together of all of our friends and family that are coming up to Maine. Sometimes it was a question of finding any suitable picture to use (or getting Martin to stand in), but more often than not it was a question of picking one picture out of lots of great ones. Rather than binning all of the other photos, I thought it might be nice to post a few of them here.

Good Places to Go in Southwest Harbor

Southwest Harbor is definitely on the "Quiet Side" of Mount Desert Island, but there's still plenty to do, and plenty to eat. A few places we haven't mentioned yet.

First, and probably most essentially, for groceries, last minute cravings, and the stuff you forgot to bring, you can stop by Sawyers Market (grocery & specialty) or Sawyers Specialties (wine & cheese). Both are right on Main Street, you can't miss them.

Relatedly there's a nice little bakery known as the Little Notch (also a pizzeria just up the road), both on Main Street. The bakery is close to the Captain Bennett House and the Harbor View Motel.

For fine dining we've heard great things about a couple restaurants, both of which we hope to try while we're up there. The Red Sky is on Clark Point Road, towards the Upper Town Dock, and has gotten superb reviews.

Another interesting place is out in Manset (and therefore near the Seawall Motel), a Mexican Restaurant called XYZ. We were skeptical that there could be quality Mexican up there, but we've been assured it's excellent. Here's one review:

Named after Xalapa, Yucatán, and Zacatecas, Mexico, this south-of-the-border-style restaurant will be sure to challenge your notion of Mexican food. Owners Janet Strong and Robert Hoyt have long been committed to re-creating authentically earthy fare in this bright hideaway. They were serving dishes with chipotle chiles way before most Americans knew how to pronounce them. Enjoy their zesty mole, wonderful homemade chorizo, and robust seven-chile chili. The fresh lime margaritas help soothe the palate. Reservations are helpful. Open for dinner Memorial Day-June and Sept.-Columbus Day Fri.-Sat., July-Aug. Mon.-Sat. Entrées: $8-$21.

There are lots of other places, of course, like Beal's Lobster Pound or the Westside Grill, but you'll have to figure those out for yourself. Good luck!

Directions to the Upper Town Dock

The trick to getting to this wedding, as most of you know by now, is that it's on a little island that you'll have to take a ferry to. Since most of you are staying in Southwest Harbor, it's important all of you know where the Southwest Harbor ferry is.

Now before I go on, let me assure you that this is all easy, and you won't have any trouble. This is much, much more information than you'll ever need. But here it is anyway.

First, here's a screen grab from the "Maine Map" page from our website. The red markers are all the different places people are staying in Southwest Harbor. The black marker is the Upper Town Dock. You'll see that the vast majority of people are clustered on on near the intersection of Main Street and Clark Point Road. That's natural, because that's the center of the town. So here are the directions from Main Street and Clark Point Road:

From Main Street, go east approximately 0.43 miles on Clark Point Road. The entrance to the dock is on the right.



That's it! You pass one stop sign and a couple of unmarked intersections before you get there. (Here's some more driving directions, also with pictures. Scroll down.) One thing I'll add is that since parking space is limited at the dock, please plan to walk, if at all possible, from your hotel, or from the municipal lot back at Main Street and Clark Point Road. The other thing is that the entrance isn't particularly well-marked. There's one sign. And this is what it looks like!

Now, that should be more than enough to get you to the dock. The chartered ferry leaves at 4 p.m. If you miss that, you're out of luck. But you can also take an earlier Cranberry Cove ferry to Islesford at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. if you like. Bring your wedding stuff over and explore the island!



Finally, just to make sure this is "more information than you'll ever need," I'm going to include a video of Amy, Martin, and I trying to find our way from Main Street to the Upper Town Dock. Here's a map of the route we're following, and below that is the video itself!

August Eighteen Invitational Croquet Tournament

It's too bad we're not all up in Maine right now, because we're all missing the 31st annual Claremont Croquet Classic being held at the Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor. (We have one lonely guest staying at the Claremont for our wedding, by the way.)

But if you're really eaten up about this (as I am), you're in luck! For awhile we've been planning to have the August Eighteen Invitational Croquet Tournament on Islesford's town field before the wedding Saturday afternoon. [Late update: The "Invitational" part is very much meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Everybody's welcome to play whenever they show up!]


Now, everything about that last sentence is pretty tenuous, from the name (which I just made up), to the "planning," which basically involves bringing a croquet set and some champagne, getting permission from the mayor to have alcohol on the field, and enough people show up early to play.

Mayur has agreed to bring the croquet set, and Jimmie has agreed to secure the booze, so we're in good shape! Come out early and have a whack!

More guests in the guestbook!

Welcome to August! The last month is finally here, and we're ringing it in with news of new guests coming to the wedding! Kyle and Sarah. Sarah is Laura's sister, which makes Kyle Laura's brother-in-law and Corbett's bandmate. With Kyle, Corbett, Sinderson, and Flood all coming, we almost have the full band in attendance on Islesford. Hmm.

While I was updating the website I added a bit more info to the Schedule of Events if you're really bored. Today Amy and I bought a couple of great prizes to give to the best dressed male and female at the Friday Night barbecue. I was going to take a picture and put it up here, but Amy already wrapped everything up, so it will have to remain a surprise. Go visit Sheplers.com and get your cowpoke stuff quick!

Lobster Boat Racing

Another article to give you a sense of the area in summertime:

Off the Coast of Maine, the Time Is Right for Racing in Bulky, Plodding Boats
By MAREK FUCHS

STONINGTON, Me., July 15 — The lobstermen’s ball lasted until the early hours, and then the lobstermen mostly stumbled their way back to the shipyard, where they spent a restless night on their open boats, under a bad roll of fog.

The well-prepared managed to prop up tents on their decks, but for others bed was nothing but the hard surface of the engine covering and a blanket.

On Sunday morning, it was time to head out to sea — not in search of lobsters but for a competition that has become one of the social events along the coast here, a Kentucky Derby for the trapping set.

Lobster boats are built to be sturdy and are capable of handling pretty much anything on the open water. They are not built for speed. But several times during the summer, up and down the coast of Maine, lobstermen soup up their engines, weigh down the back of their boats and gun the vessels in races that are sanctioned by the Maine Lobster Boat Racing Association.

Jimmy Brown, a 56-year-old lobsterman from Montauk, N.Y., came up to watch the race, but he did not find it particularly practical to speed about in a lobster boat.

“You have to let the cages soak,” Mr. Brown said, “and besides, economy is more important than speed.”

Edward Shirley, 62, one of the participants in the weekend of races, thought otherwise.

“You don’t make a lot of money in this race, but it’s good people and camaraderie, and lobstermen are always in need of comrades,” said Mr. Shirley, who lives on Verona Island, Me.

This weekend’s racing took place in this fishing village on the tip of Deer Isle, an island connected to the mainland by an almost comically antiquated suspension bridge. It is populated by lobstermen and vacationers, many of them artists who came here for part of the summer long ago and never left.

The lobstermen on the island have challenging lives that include seasonal employment, early hours and grinding physical work that can shred shoulders and backs.

At stake in Sunday’s races were $4,000 to $5,000 in cash, thousands of dollars more in prizes including a bilge pump and oil, and bragging rights.

Local lobstermen had the benefit of sleeping in their own beds, which was an advantage to Andy Gove, a 77-year-old who was the heavy favorite in his race class.

Mr. Gove’s 36-foot, 900-horsepower boat is named “Uncle’s U.F.O.” — though he is not sure why.

“My wife’s brother suggested it,” Mr. Gove said, “and I didn’t have anything better, so I took it.”

Though delayed because of the fog, the races — nearly three dozen of them, divided by classes — took place on Sunday. The first was for boats 16 feet and under, with skippers 18 and younger, all the way up to a class for boats 40 feet and longer with at least 750 horsepower. There was a separate class for women. And all the classes compete in the open diesel division.

The course ran more than a mile, most of it a flat-out sprint. About 150 other vessels, from lobster boats to viewing barges, ran through man-of-war jellyfish and several seals in Stonington Harbor to watch from the best vantage point, forming a pathway for the racers.

After averaging 46.4 miles per hour against the current to win the day, Mr. Gove was crowned the overall champion. Word around the shipyard is also that Mr. Gove uses his age to lull competitors into a false sense of security, but he said after the race that his days on top might be over.

“Too old,” he said with a shrug as he was greeted with hoots, backslaps and compliments.

Bridge Is a Marvel

One thing that happens when you take Route 1 up the coast to Acadia (again, not that we necessarily recommend doing so) is that you take the brand-new Penobscot Narrows Bridge. And I mean brand-new. Last July when we passed through Bucksport, we still crossed on the old suspension bridge. It's an impressive sight: The NY Times wrote about the new bridge recently:

July 10, 2007
Sure, the Bridge Is a Marvel, but How About the View?
KATIE ZEZIMA

The most breathtaking view in Maine, some say, cannot be seen from the summit of one of the state’s majestic peaks or a bluff overlooking the ocean.

Instead, they say, the best way to see the state’s natural beauty is atop something manufactured — the 420-foot public observation tower of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory.

The observation tower, which opened in May and is the only one in the United States, provides an awe-inducing panorama of Maine’s mountains and coastline and a bird’s-eye view of the nearby village of Bucksport. The bridge opened to traffic in December.

The bridge, a 2,120-foot-long span that seems to pop up out of nowhere in this rural area about 20 miles south of Bangor, is being heralded by two very different stakeholders.

Civil engineers see it as a major innovation and a test case for cable-stayed bridges, while local tourism officials hope it will attract visitors to an area that many speed past on the way to Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor or the Canadian Maritime provinces.

...

The 13-foot-by-25-foot observation room, accessible by an elevator, offers a 360-degree view that includes the Penobscot River, islands in Penobscot Bay, mountains, hills and lots and lots of trees.

On a clear day, visibility extends 100 miles, allowing visitors to follow the curving, wide river north toward the peak of Mount Katahdin. Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park and the rolling Camden Hills can also be spotted.

The local view from the top of tower, an obelisk modeled after the Washington Monument, is just as impressive. The town of Bucksport beckons below, with boats bobbing in the harbor and gray-shingled buildings lining the streets. Fort Knox, a military installation built in 1844 to protect the Penobscot Valley, lies just below the bridge.

“It’s phenomenal,” said Sharon Dunbar, 43, who grew up in Bucksport and lives in Middlebury, Vt. “It’s amazing to see my hometown so clearly from up there and look down and see the waterfront and all the views. It’s breathtaking, just amazing.”

The $89 million bridge is one of a kind, civil engineers say. A typical cable-stayed bridge, in which cables stretch from one or more towers to support it, uses steel cables. This one is the first in the nation to test carbon composite cables, which are believed to be stronger than steel cables and more resistant to corrosion, said Tom Doe, the bridge’s project manager.

Six carbon cables, along with hundreds made of steel, are encased in stays, or the long, white tubes that make up the bridge. The cables are normally bundled together and placed in the stay, making it difficult to replace a single cable. But the Penobscot Narrows Bridge uses a cradle system where cables have an inch or so between them. This allows engineers to pull up to two strands out of each pylon to check them for structural integrity or switch from steel to carbon.

...

The Penobscot Narrows Bridge was a rush replacement for the neighboring Waldo-Hancock Bridge, a suspension bridge that deteriorated and corroded. Building a cable-stayed bridge took the least time and money, Mr. Doe said. The bridge’s concrete structure will also ensure that it lasts longer than a steel bridge, said Cheryl Maze of the Figg Engineering Group, which designed the bridge.

...

Ms. Kimball said many people had fond memories of the old bridge, which still stands. But, she said, people are excited that the new bridge has helped bring communities together.

“This has given us a chance to start working as a region,” she said. “Now everybody wants people to know their town is near the bridge.”

A night out on the town

We're getting down to the stage where every time we see someone it might be the last time before we see them before the wedding, so maybe in that respect our adventures last night are worth a short comment. First up we had dinner with Janelle and Freddie (and Windy, Katie, & Chris) at Habana Outpost in Brooklyn. I hadn't met Freddie before, so that was good. We talked music--Elvis, late-50s rock & roll, mid-90s hip hop, you know, the usual!

After dinner we went over to a birthday party for one of Amy & Janelle's colleagues, at a bar in Park Slope. We were well and truly cooked by then, which may explain why we decided it would be a good idea to make one more party--back to Manhattan we went (me and Amy and Windy) to a bar holding a karaoke night and celebrating George's birthday.

We got there after the high point of the party but still managed to revel with Philip, Deirdre, Maddox, and George, among others, and also brutalize Heart's Alone and Digital Underground's The Humpty Dance.

A great night, for which we've spent all day today recovering from!

Culture on the Maine Turnpike

For those of you driving up to the wedding, there's a very cool sight waiting for you just after you make it to Maine. In the service plaza in Kennebunk, they just recently installed a huge mural by William Wegman, "probably the world's best-known photographer of dogs." The mural, called "Mooselook," is 30 feet long and 5 feet high and features photographs of the Weimaraners. According to one report, "Mooselock" has "the light brown dogs facing the camera and lit in such a way that their ears could be antlers and their long legs as knobby as the legs of a moose." In addition, there is another mural (shown here) in the southbound plaza you can catch on your way back!

An excuse to post a photograph

The page was starting to look a little white, so here's a post. While looking around for something else, I noticed that the Harbour Cottage Inn redesigned their website. It looks very smart.

One feature they've added is an "online concierge," basically some things to do, places to eat, etc., in and around Southwest Harbor. If you're there an extra day, and need something to do, it's worth checking out.