One month to go!

It's true! On the agenda lately, telling as many people as possible that don't read this blog about the cowboy dress code, finding hotels in Portsmouth, making ferry tickets, tracking down a couple more guest book pictures, tracking down a real guest book, writing vows, looking at our lobster bibs, picking music, finding a p.a. system, and all the stuff we should be doing but have forgot about.

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.)

It was one year ago today...

...that Amy and I got engaged. It was such a long-running joke (sometimes warm, sometimes awkward) that Amy and I were "married" already, that I'm surprising no one by saying I feel like there's nothing more Amy could do to feel like a spouse post-August 18 than she does already, but I suppose that's we signed up to find out!

In my life this year I've had my fair share of highs (Katie's wedding especially!) and lows (the lowest, of course, being losing my Grandma back in May), and not only can I say Amy's been a rock for me with all of that, but she fully shared all of it with me. They were her highs and lows too, and I find that amazing.

***
Given the amount of material we've generated for this wedding blog, there hasn't been all that much about how we got here, so here's a little story.

July 2006. We had been planning to go up to Maine for awhile, but I had to work a little longer, so Amy took Martin and drive up ahead to York Beach to stay with her Dad. The next day (?), I left work early and got on a bus to go to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I probably should have just taken a plane, because I ended up getting stranded in Boston and having to rent a car to drive up the last hour north, but being on the bus gave me a chance to write a letter to Amy about getting engaged.

That night we stayed in York Beach, and the next morning, I took Martin to the beach (While watching the dog run around I sent John Southard a text saying "I'm in Maine," btw). Then we packed up and drove up the coastal highway, stopping at Red's Eats, then taking the late ferry out to Islesford (just like we did last week!)


Sunday the 16th, we got up on Islesford and took the ferry into Acadia National Park, where we spent the day climbing over rocks, having fun, taking pictures with our digital camera (many of which are dotted all over our website today) (more here), and getting ready for camping at Blackwoods Campground.

Campsite #110. We had all the gear but we (I) wasn't the most competent camper. So I let Amy set up the tent and everything else, and I documented her efforts on the digital camera. Then I suggested that, instead of trying to cook over a fire, we drive into Bar Harbor and try a restaurant Corbett and Laura had suggested.

The West Street Cafe. Amy got the Early Bird lobster special, which entailed donning a lobster bib. I began teasing her about the bib.

Amy said, "Fine, I'll take it off!"

I said, "No, keep it on, and if you wear it the rest of the night, I'll think of a reward."

Amy said, "Deal, but the reward better be good!"


I smiled to myself at that! So we finished dinner, and drove back to the campsite. On the way we picked up some firewood, and Sunday NY Times to use as kindling (you wouldn't think I would need an entire Sunday Times to start a fire, but let me remind you I'm an incompetent camper!)

Back at the campsite. Everything is set up, and Amy is tired of wearing her silly lobster bib.

Amy said, "Can I take this off now? You owe me a reward!"

I said, "Okay, but let me take a few photos of you in the bib for posterity's sake."

So I did--they capture the last thirty seconds of Amy's life as a non-engaged person. So I finished taking the shots, and went to put the camera away.

Amy said, "Wait! Let me see how the pictures turned out!"

Here's where I had done something clever (don't call it a gimmick!) Back when Amy was setting up the tent, I had snuck off and taken a picture of myself holding a sign proposing marriage to her. (We still have that photo, of course, but as far as I know Amy's never let anyone else see it.) So when Amy started scrolling back through the photos, she eventually, climatically, came across this one.

Amy, stunned, crying, said, "Is this for me?" (!)

I said, "Well, will you?"


She said yes! And that's how we got engaged. The next day we thought we'd go to the top of Cadillac Mountain to see if we could call our families with the news. No luck (Please note, wedding guests: Acadia has very poor reception for everyone except AT&T/Cingular customers. This is how I justified buying an iPhone!)

Because we couldn't tell anybody, we spent the whole day with our special secret to ourselves. That night we went back to Islesford and told Dan and Cynthia and all of the patrons of the Islesford Dock Restaurant--the same place, of course, where we are having the reception. It was only the next morning, towards Bangor, that we got enough reception to contact our families and friends, i.e., all of you, and we spent the rest of our trip back celebrating and thinking about coming back to Maine for the wedding.

The Islesford Historical Museum

From Lisa Gollin Evans's "An Outdoor Family Guide to Acadia National Park," p. 45: "Islesford Historical Museum quaintly illustrates the lives of early settlers of the Cranberry Isles and their seafaring culture through annotated displays of historical artifacts. Free admission."

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.

Meet the Flynns

We have new guests to tell you about, and important guests they are! Matt and Jeanne have been great friends and role models to Amy forever. We always knew they were coming, but the logistics of getting three kids together and up to Maine takes time, naturally enough. We're psyched they're booked up though. Go see them here (scroll down).

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!

New guests added!

Okay, one last thing before we leave for Maine. Step forward Dave Chu, Ben Eastman, Lily McCabe, John and Nancy McGrath, and Dave Seto! You're all the latest additions to the guestbook. What a great group!

Bike trip to City Island, Trip to Maine, Wedding guests

As our friend and wedding guest John Southard reported yesterday, Amy and I spent our 4th of July on a bike to City Island up in the Bronx. Then as a bonus, John and Jowita Walkup (and the baby, aka, Jowita Jane, aka, Mimi, aka, the Monkey) joined us for lunch at Johnny's Reef.



...And then back again. 50 miles on the bike! We're rather incapacitated today. Yet we're going to push on and drive up to Maine this afternoon to do some vital wedding planning this weekend. We may not be able to update much between now and Monday, but we'll have lots when we get back!

...Finally, we've had a few more wedding guests we need to add to the guestbook, and then the crew should be just about set, barring any last minute changes. We'll let you know!

Off-Season at the Islesford Dock Restaurant

Some of you may recall that we went up to Maine in April (right after a freak snowstorm!) to do some wedding planning. Back then we posted a video of different places to stay in Southwest Harbor. Now that all of you have booked rooms you might get something out of watching that again (or maybe not).

Another video we took was out at the Islesford Dock Restaurant with the proprietors (and our friends) Dan & Cynthia Lief. The Islesford Dock is not only where we're having the reception it's really the spiritual home of the wedding.

So in the video, Dan & Cynthia talk a little about the restaurant and the time when Amy stayed up with them in 1999. Back then, right before Amy went to Investcorp (and mere months before she met me!), Amy hung out at the bar (with her pet chameleon George) every day for weeks, went on lobster boats, and had in general had a great time with Dan (her old boss at Goldman Sachs) and Cynthia.

The quality isn't too great (it was taken on our digital camera), but it's okay to watch.

We're going up to Maine again this weekend and hopefully we'll get some good footage of what it looks like in-season!

Spacesuits and Southwest Harbor

A few days ago I read an interesting article about a guy that lives in Southwest Harbor who won a contest to design a new astronaut glove for NASA. It was an open contest--anyone could submit a design, and he won. Even though he's (currently) a bus driver! So maybe he'll give you a ride when you're up at the wedding...

Pretty neat. Here's the article. He also got featured in a long piece in today's NY Times Magazine.