Hoisting the Main Sail

Oops, I led with the wrong picture...

...Susan, hoisting the main sail!

Susan typically comes up once a year and we always find new things to do each time. Her trip this past August was no exception. On her final evening we sailed on the Ninth Wave catamaran out of Newburyport. The weather earlier in the day was very stormy, but fortunately the skies completely cleared, as did the seas.
The earlier storm had the unexpected benefit of keeping the larger crowds at bay.

The boat provided the beverages, so we packed a small cooler of cheeses, meats and homemade bread made by Roger.With, or without Susan or other visting guests, we'll definitely make this trip again. That's the beauty of living here - for Roger and I, this is just a typical weekend!But, like I said, this was Susan's final evening and we did plenty before that. Her first day out we had breakfast at Fish Tales, a small diner located directly on the waterfront of Salisbury, looking across the Merrimac River to Newburyport.
From there we took drove up Route 1A, where along the way the fog and mist set in, which led to some stunning scenery.

We stopped at Odiorne State park where we came across this lady enjoying a book by the sea.

From there, we went into Portsmouth for a drink, or two , (maybe it was three?) at Poco's Cantina on the edge of the Portsmouth Harbor where the tug boats dock.
The next day we slept in, then headed once again for the New Hampshire shoreline, but this time for a lobster lunch at Saunders in Rye Harbor.
Sadly, the restaurant, though literally yards away from the lobster boats, was still charging 2007 lobster prices. So instead we settled for casserole and salad, after I promised Susan we'd do our own lobster boil . Twice the fun, half the price.

Before heading home, we stopped at Cider Hill Farm. I'll share more about this place in a later post, but as you can see it was absolutely beautiful on this day.
We made one more stop at Jewell Towne Vinyards, one of several local wineries in our area, then headed for the fish market for dinner!

Susan and I almost spent all four days together without wanting to strangle each other!