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!

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.

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.”

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!

Happy Birthday Amy!

Amy is at this moment getting into trouble at the Bellagio on her bachelorette party, so I have to use Martin and this website to get the message to her: Happy Birthday!

She's been here before: two years ago we were on the West Coast on the way to Las Vegas to meet up with George Hykal, who was on his own bachelor party, and Windy, Katie, & Martin conspired to send birthday greetings. The look on Amy's face when she saw this photo was priceless. So, Happy Birthday Amy, and have a good weekend to all the rest of you!

Friday Night at the Atlantic Brewery

I've made some changes to the website to update the plans for Friday the 17th. (First, for those people participating in the wedding ceremony, we are going to have a walk through out on the island between 2 and 3:30. That should be more than enough time to work out the kinks.)

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.)

Martin, Dog of Classic Rock

...As an addendum to our Maine trip posts, here's a little video of Martin sitting in traffic in southern Maine, reflecting on some Derek and the Dominos.

Trip to Maine, Part 4: The Return

Sunday morning and we debated whether to catch the 8:30 a.m. ferry or wait for the 11 a.m. In hindsight (and at the time to be fair) the better option was to get the earlier boat, but we couldn't be bothered. This time Amy stayed in bed and I took Martin down to the beach.

Once I got tired of the dog splashing in the water, I went back to the house, then went and fetched the car from the restaurant. (Fetching the car means walking about 6 minutes down the lane and across the town field to the restaurant, then a 40 second drive back.) We loaded up our stuff and hauled it right back to the dock.


At the restaurant we discussed the reception a little more with Dan & Cynthia (tablecloths, if you must know), then waited for our food. We waited a little bit more. Then we started checking our watches in a mild but still ridiculous anxiety that people from the mainland get when they're on the island: MUST. NOT. MISS. THE. FERRY. Dan has told us before that a surprising number of guests at the reception will take the first boat back solely because of this anxiety.

As it turns out we were more ridiculous than most. The whole time we were chatting nervously about the schedule, looking out the window, the ferry driver himself was sitting right next to me, having his breakfast. We got our check and rushed out. He strolled over about 5 minutes later.

We made it back safe and sound, of course, and exactly 12 hours after we boarded, we walked back into our apartment in New York. Yes, 12 hours, but we stopped at Amy's dad's house for more than an hour, and the traffic in Southern Maine coming back from the July 4th weekend was unusually dense. Nothing much happened except we realized we hadn't taken any photos together, so we fixed that. So concludes our planning trip to Maine! (Want more? Here are some more photos.)

Trip to Maine, Part 3

Saturday was our only full day on the island and we were determined to make the most of it. Around 7 am, Amy got up and took Martin down to the Sand Beach for a bit. At 8 am we were supposed to meet with Dan and Cynthia to go over the menu. Cynthia wasn't feeling well, unfortunately, so instead we took a walk into town. Town? That's really overstating it. There's a church, a post office, a meeting hall, a bed and breakfast, and that's about it. So we went to the church and saw it for the first time fully opened up. It looks great. Very New England. On the outside, unfortunately, they're still doing some work on the steeple, but Dan assured us the remaining scaffolding will be gone by next month.


Across the street Amy got us some coffee and bought some stamps to use for thank you cards. If you have any stamp needs this summer, it would be really nice if you bought them from the Islesford post office. Funnily enough, their stamp business is a major source of town income! At the post office we ran into Ashley Bryan, who may be the town's most famous resident. For any of you with kids, I encourage you to pick up one of Mr. Bryan's books. Say, "Ashley Bryan's African Tales, Uh-Huh."

With our coffee we sat down and addressed some postcards and dropped those off. Then Amy stopped at the bed and breakfast to check on something for her Dad.

By then it was time to go meet with Dan at the restaurant. I think the food we picked out is going to be a huge hit. One thing I'm especially looking forward to is the raw bar. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee we'll be able to get oysters the week of the wedding. This is because the restaurant only buys local. All in all a sound policy, but we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

By now we were struggling to catch the 11 am ferry, but still dropped in at Marian Baker's pottery for a minute to say hi, while Amy checked out some flower arrangement stuff. Oh, and we drove up to Karen Smallwood's house and had a five-minute consultation on our wedding cake!

Up to Northeast Harbor, over to Southwest Harbor we went. We barely caught Gail the florist to drop off a vase and then over to the Marine store to pick up a new GPS antenna for Dan. And with that, our hard work was basically done. We drove the long way around the quiet side of the island to visit Bass Harbor (a town neither of us had been to), then we made our way to the Knox Road Grille at the Atlantic Brewery.


For those of you reading our invitation closely, you'll know this is where we're meeting Friday night for drinks. And bbq, should you so desire. For $17, they had all-you-can-eat barbecue (pork ribs, chicken, pulled pork, sausage, listed in my order of preference). Amy reports the veggie burger is also legitimately good. The main thing, though, is if the weather holds, it will be an excellent and mellow atmosphere and a perfect place to welcome people to the wedding.

Doug, the pitmaster/proprietor, suggested we arrange transportation between Southwest Harbor and the barbecue so people can more fully enjoy the Brewery's varied and award-winning offerings. So off to Bar Harbor we went! There we stopped at an ice cream shop that's also home to Oli's Trolleys. It's not finalized yet, but we are working on getting a trolley or two for people on Friday night. While Amy was inside haggling over details, I walked Martin over to the harbor. As obsessed as she can be with the frisbee, she's more obsessed with the water, so while we were taking in the view, Martin... jumped in. Nearly bringing me in with her since we were attached by leash. Bad dog.

This report is becoming tedious, but there's still more to tell you about. Two spas, one in Trenton (across from Bar Harbor airport), one back in Northeast Harbor. Between the two Amy and I debated when she'll have time to get her pedicures--with no resolution yet.

We still had some time before the 6:00 ferry so we shopped around for some insect repellent to give to people. I'm allergic to mosquito bites, so this insect repellent thing is a major preoccupation of mine. I carry OFF around with me at all times.


When we finally made it back to Little Cranberry, our energy was understandably ebbing (well, except for Martin, who jumped back in the water below the dock), but we managed to find it in ourselves to go meet with Christina Spurling back at the church, who is going to be playing piano and/or organ at the wedding ceremony. She's very good, and we were kind of abashed because we didn't give her much guidance as to what we wanted. That explains why at this very moment I'm listening to a bunch of organ music I scrounged up from iTunes, hoping to find something we like and she can play for us.

Alright, I'm tired now just writing this, so here's the rest: emails with Darin about the sound system, dinner with Dan and Cynthia and Leslie, picking wines for the reception, back to the house, sleep!

Trip to Maine, Part 2

Friday morning after going to the beach with Martin, the first item on the agenda was to go to Portland to meet with our photographer, Carl Walsh. Actually that was the second item. First we had to go to the LL Bean outlet because we forgot what we had tried to tell all of you, namely that it gets cool in Maine even during the summer.

So we popped into the LL Bean outfit and got a couple of fleeces and I got some preppy brown jeans. Then it was to the coffee shop where we met with Carl for about an hour. He showed us a couple of albums, which if you've seen his website, you'll know were amazing. On top of that, he remembers Amy from way back in 1999 (mainly because of George the chameleon), because he was on Islesford doing a magazine shoot.

After leaving Portland we took the scenic route so we could stop at Red's Eats again. Let me tell you, the food there is incredible, and I would never say don't go there, but it's clear during the summer that it takes a LOT longer to drive up the coast on Route 1 than it does to just take the interstate all the way to Acadia. So unless you just feel like taking your time getting to the wedding, take the interstate.


When we finally made it up to Acadia, the first stop was Westside florist to discuss bouquets and such. We kept showing Gail, the florist, pictures of wildflowers that we liked while she tried to explain to us all of them grow in swamps and bogs and such. I think (hope) we came to a reasonable compromise. We'll be going for all local garden flowers, no big stuff like lilies, roses, etc. We walk a thin line of tentative preferences and total ignorance when it comes to these flowers, so we'll see...
After that we made a video on how to get to the Upper Town Dock in Southwest Harbor. That'll have to be a separate post. Finally, after all that, we caught the ferry out to Islesford.

Once over, we dropped off Martin at the house, and went down to the dock around sunset for a superb dinner with Dan and Cynthia. (We talked wedding stuff. What else?) And that's it for Friday!

Planning trip to Maine, Part 1

We got the rental car around 1 PM on Thursday and were on the road around an hour later. Traffic was okay, not too bad. First on the agenda was to stop at the IKEA in New Haven. Why IKEA? Elderflower syrup. I can't tell you why, yet, but it's wedding related.


We also got some cinnamon rolls. Amy had one. I had the other five. Second stop was in Waltham. Not Amy's house, but Costco. We had to get some supplies for the gift bags we'll be leaving with the hotels. Water, snacks, that sort of thing. Amy went inside and did the shopping, Martin and I stayed outside and played frisbee (I also tried pushing her around in a shopping cart, which she was less enthusiastic about).

We made it up to York at a decently early hour. In fact, we beat Amy's dad John up there, so we just hung around and watched the USA network and drank Bud Lights until he got there. John got there and we chatted about the wedding, and soon Donna made it back from playing Bingo!


The next morning I got up and Martin and I joined John and Maggie (t'other labradoodle) to the beach for about an hour while Amy slept. There was a heavy sea mist which was pretty. There were a lot of dogs around but Martin was mostly interested in the frisbee and barking at me when I wouldn't throw it.

We got back, got Amy up, and set off for parts north...

Hey man, back again

We made it back late last night from our weekend jaunt up to Islesford. Full update, plus pictures, coming soon!

Two for the Book

This morning we got word that Teddy and his fiancée Anna Michelle booked their flight up to Maine. Go visit them right down here!

PS. I'm told they got a good deal on Jet Blue flying into Portland. It's a bit farther to drive from there, but might be worth considering!