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Friday, September 21, 2012

Linderhof East



Where to begin?
Last Fall, Martha of Lines from Linderhof,
who lives in Kansas, traveled with her husband Jim
to Connecticut, which is not so very far from New Jersey.

We met for lunch.
And had our portraits painted.
We discovered we are indeed kindred spirits,
as in separated at birth kindred spirits.
Our internet friendship easily slipped into a real in-person attachment.
We thought the Connecticut rendezvous would be the
one and only time we'd get a chance to hug.
After all, Martha lives in Kansas.  And I don't.

But we wuz wrong.
***********************
The lure of New England in the early Fall pulled Martha and Jim
back East at Labor Day this year, for a vacation on Cape Cod.
Cape Cod is in Massachusetts, but if you head west to
Connecticut you can hop a big ferry and cross beautiful
Long Island Sound, to the North Fork.  Where our beach house is.
Photo from Cross Sound Ferry website
That's just what Martha and Jim did last Saturday, while Howard and I raced them to the beach house from New Jersey,
which is 125 miles away, in the opposite direction.
They won.
In our defense, they caught an earlier ferry, and we
caught traffic from an accident, road construction, and a car fire.
A typical day on New York roads.

*********************
I think one of my favorite moments of our weekend at the
beach house with Martha and Jim was when we first entered.

Martha stopped in her tracks.
"Oh my!," she said.  "It looks just like on the blog!"

Our hubbies bonded over single malt Scotch and cigars out on the deck,
and Martha and I didn't have to bond; we were born bonded.

Saturday passed in a blur of words.  And food.
Then came Sunday, with its breakfast of champions: pastries,
bread, and strong coffee on the beach house deck. 

Sunday lunch?  Greenport, on the dock at Claudio's.
Crabby Jerry's, where Howard and I had:
and Martha and Jim had clam strips.  Harborside, outdoor seats.
 We strolled the streets of Greenport, in and out of the shops,
and then decided to do some sampling of Long Island wines.

 First stop:  Croteaux Winery in Southold,
just 'round the corner from the beach house.
Such a beautiful place!

Next, The Old Field Vineyard, also in Southold.
Rustic setting, an old farm, a really neat guard goose.
If you click on their link, make sure to read the History page; this farm goes back a long, long way!

The sun was well over the yardarm by now, so we picked up
some heirloom Black Cherry Tomatoes at a farmstand (if wine were tomatoes,
this is what they would be), and headed to Catapano Goat Farm
in Peconic, just west of Southold.  For the cute goats.
And some chevre.

Back at the ranch, I cut up a small crusty French baguette from
The Blue Duck, brushed on some olive oil, and topped it with the
fresh goat cheese, and thin tomato slices.
Into the oven to crisp the bread and soften the cheese . . .
and out onto the deck for drinks and wine and more chat.
**************************
Monday morning found us packing up and heading to New Jersey.
I wrote out directions for Martha and Jim,
that would keep them off the most congested roads,
explaining that their Garmin GPS would snake them through 
Manhattan if they followed its instructions.

A tractor at a farm stand, in Jamesport.

I think Kansans may be as stubborn as New Jerseyans, as they
decided to follow the GPS instead of the native-born human,
and this time . . .
we beat them home.  To That Old House.  By a lot.
More on that tomorrow.  Or maybe Monday, come to think of it.
Have a great Friday!  -- Cass













8 comments:

  1. it looks like you had FRIED OYSTERS! I am jealous :)

    - daughter Alida

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Anonymous Daughter Alida, we had FRIED OYSTERS because we knew it would make you jealous. And they were delicious. Beyond delicious. They were AMBROSIAL.
      And the North Fork was GORGEOUS.
      Best time of year out there.
      Love -- Mom
      PS Say Hi to Josh!

      Delete
  2. Looks and sounds like you all had an enjoyable time together. Thanks for sharing it with us.
    Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I barely dared to hope that your mysterious visitor was Martha. I remember how much fun you two had when you got together the first time ... I figured that the excitement in your words could only come from another visit with her. How wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a cute post!!! We had a great visit but we're home now -- sigh!!!! Should it be "tag -- it's your turn next?"

    And we really did follow your directions but we used "Miranda" as back up -- and we got there between Cass, "Miranda" and Martha navigation! (And Jim driving!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OK, but I totally kicked "Miranda's" butt on getting you through the city. She would have taken you through the Midtown Tunnel on 495 and into MANHATTAN in the middle of a workday. As Lindsay Lohan proved a few days ago, NO ONE should drive in Manhattan. :-)

      You did 3 of the 5 New York Boroughs -- Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan (which was under you as you drove the first part of the George Washington Bridge). Not bad for beginners!

      When are you coming back? You never did get into the city -- Mr. Obama was there and gumming up the works.

      Glad you are home safe and sound in Fort Scott.
      Wow -- what a trip!
      Cass

      Delete
  5. The thought that the mystery guests were the Linderhofs actually DID cross my mind when I saw the blue and white dishes in your clues, but alas and alak I didn't send a comment to that effect so you may or may not believe me.

    What I really need to know is, did you introduce them to your hungry ghosts?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I knew it! Sounds like just the most wonderful of times!

    Carol

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting That Old House; it's always exciting to find new comments -- they are treasured! Because of increasing spam, I have reluctantly eliminated "Anonymous" commenting. Legitimate anonymous commenters, please forgive me! You might try using "Open ID" instead. Blogger's spam software worked for a good long time, but, sadly, no longer.