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!