Light & Dark

September 2025: Mainestay

Eight years after our first trip to Castine in 2017, CR & I returned to experience the land MS & GG purchased in 2020 & where they created an abode to abide in. To say it modestly, it was the most incredible place we've ever stayed. Perfect weather, outstanding homemade pescatarian cuisine w/estate-grown vegetables + favorite drinks, a downstairs library, screened-in porch & bathtub to die for, an orchard, a garden, a guest house above the garage, frolicking deer, a private beach on placid salt water & a spacious home with an interior made for two kings (+ prince Alistair).

Bravo Marc & Grant for dreaming what became, nailing all the details, staying in your lanes & sharing your remarkable successes + talents with us! We feel so fortunate to know your generosity, humor, advice & beauty.

(One of three puzzles completed)

(Looking down from driveway through orchard to main house)

(Looking up to orchard from rear of house + garden)

(Private beach at low tide)

(Le Fat Bastard & Ultraviole(n)t Gasser)

(Carrier's Mainely Lobster, Bucksport)

(Chase's Daily, Belfast)

(Belfast)

(LDL Lobster Dock & Dine, Little Deer Isle)

(Harriman Point Preserve, Brooklin)

(Sunset near house, Castine)

May 2025: Changing Gears

CR & I spent a Tuesday through Friday in Gearhart & Seaside, OR. Driving a sand yellow Mitsubishi Mirage on Highway 101, we ate Dairy Queen burgers + fries, a mini Oreo Blizzard, McDonald's soft serve, pizza + Caesar salad, Thai, ramen, one banh mi & lastly a sub-par burrito & bowl. We walked the beaches, the Seaside promenade as well as the 'Ridge Path' through Gearhart backyards. We enjoyed an N/A beer tasting, entered numerous thrift stores, one puzzle/games store, an Eddie Bauer outlet & watched a few good things on the in-room TV (unusual for a McMenamins hotel) like 'Dr. Pimple Popper,' 'Stand By Me' & a documentary about Tyrus Wong. I burned my last palo santo sticks at the fogata (fire pit) & explored the town of Gearhart with a one-speed bike loaned from the hotel.

Sunshine, breeze & salty air rejuvenate!

(Gearhart)

(Seaside)

(Ridge Path, Gearhart)

(Seaside)

(Golf Course at McMenamins Gearhart Hotel)

(Gearhart)

March/April 2024: Front Seat

This was SK's third trip to Houston to visit JFK & PT in their brand new East End place (a gem). Events included visiting botanical gardens, roaming lazy country roads aligned with 💙💛🧡💖 wildflowers, holding baby goats in a beer garden, touring the Museum of Fine Arts (thoroughly enjoyed 'Multiplicity') & seeing behind the scenes of the Works on Paper department, artist studio tours, visiting a spacious ceramics classroom with friendly students + a generous teacher, playing lotería at Cochinita & Co., laps/steam/sauna at the Y, wholesome dinners on the back porch with one chiminea fire, sounds on the turntable & singing bowl, fewer mosquitos but numerous birds, beautiful sunny weather, two easygoing indoor house cats, long, dreamy talks, avoiding trains & an evening walk to the tracks.

Thank you so very much Jess & Patrick for your expert navigating (+ giving me the front seat), cooking, explaining, your openness, candor & love! Although I'm still lost in Houston, I so enjoy being in the spaces you inhabit.

(Front of house on Leeland St.)

(JFK's briefly blooming cactus flower)

(Beetle)

(Couscous)

(Houston Botanic Garden)

(Blue Heron Farm, near Brenham)

(Wildflowers, Brenham)

(The Beer Can House)

(Houston Community College)

(Smither Park)

December 2023: Turn Up the Volume (& the Heat), Turn On the Lights

Spending time together this December 25th-30th meant daily walks around the flat loop at Tom Cully Park (Tiff came once), lunch at Chin's with Jim & Alison, five episodes of 'The Crown,' Otto's pizza, Peter's clam chowder, lemon/chicken/orzo/dill soup, popcorn & cheese fondue, a Yuka tutorial, walking along Sacramento St. in drizzly rain, one Burgerville stop, two puzzles (wooden one completed), two thrift store visits, heavy sweaters & fleece-lined sweatpants, bright hats, loads of conversation, cold, wet, windy weather (Minnesota-like), Cribbage + Farkle (CR won all 👑) & a sweet electric BMW i3.

Mom: thanks for making the trip, being easy-going + bearing the cold & dark!