Les Flâneurs

Family Rendezvous in Portland and one last time on the East Bay Bike Path

Every few months we get together with Susan’s sister Joyce, usually somewhere up in Maine. Dick and Dorothy would drive up from Massachusetts and Joyce would come down from Bangor (OK, Hampden) and we would all rendezvous somewhere in the greater Portland area, usually for lunch. Since these infrequent but very important family outings will soon come to an an end, at least for us -- Michigan’s a bit far for a day trip to Downeast Maine -- we thought let’s make this last get-together a special one.

And so we did.

The five of us met up this past Saturday at the Inn at Park Spring in Portland’s cool west end for an overnight. It was a gorgeous day as Susie and I made our way north up I-95. Traffic was surprisingly light, even as we passed through Boston on I-93 before hooking back up with I-95 for the last push north.

Soon after we passed into Maine we stopped at the Kennebunk rest area and I found myself face-to-face with a bus carrying the Johnson & Wales men’s lacrosse team. They were out in the parking lot practicing their drills, presumably getting ready for a match that afternoon.

Rest area, in case you needed to know

my own personal navigatrix like father, like daughter

We were the first to arrive at the inn and so after we parked and checked in, the two of us strolled downtown catching sight of some of the smaller gems, like a a lawyer's unique take on self-promotion and a wedding.

living room at the Inn; "felt like home," we thought

Inn at Park Spring

We had no sooner returned to the inn than Dick and Dorothy pulled in soon followed by Joyce.

The afternoon sped by as we chatted over glasses of sparkling wine. That evening we ate at a small but tasty little place on the east side of town, the Blue Spoon Cafe. The service was friendly and entertaining but not annoying, and the food delicious.

Joybell showing off photos of Adeline

block fire drill

dinner at the Blue Spoon

After we returned to the inn the five of us walked a few blocks to the Westin Hotel, where we caught the elevator to their 15th floor bar for a nighttime view of the city over an after-dinner drink. It was then time for a leisurely stroll back to the Inn and bed.

The next morning we were joined in the lovely dining room by two other couples also staying at the inn. The breakfast started off with fruit, followed by Eggs Benedict and all the coffee and juice you could drink.

Susie and I had a grand time and sensed that everyone else did as well.

Joybell Dick and Susie

After lots of hugs and goodbyes we packed up and headed back south to Providence. The good news is, we’ll get to see Joyce again in June but in Michigan; Dick and Dorothy will also head out to the wilds of western Michigan, probably not until August. We hope to have a new home before then but in the meantime we will be living with Susan’s mom. Her condo has plenty of room and will serve as the perfect base of operations as we continue our search for our next home.

After we returned to Providence we changed into our walking clothes and headed out to the nearby East Bay Bike Path one last time. It was a gorgeous day; windy but sunny and we didn't want to waste a minute of it.

a little excitement on the bike path: police recapturing a couple of kids who escaped form a nearby children's psychiatric center

We leave Providence with our first load of goods a week from today, staying overnight in Canada, arriving in Grand Rapids on Monday.And then the fun begins!

There’s plenty more to come, so stay tuned!

Moving back to Michigan

Nearly ten years ago Susan and I put our house in Vermont on the market, our stuff in storage, dropped our car off with Dick and Dorothy in Massachusetts and headed off to Italy. We had no particular goal in mind in the fall of 2005, although as it happened Susie decided she wanted to go to pastry school. So we moved to Florence then to Paris and the rest, as they say, is history.

Well, we're about to do something very much like that again.

I have given notice at work -- my last day in the office will be April 24 and then we're off to Michigan. Our next steps are vague with little form to them yet but we hope our future will take a more definitive shape as we slide into the spring and summer.

Now some will want to argue that winters are much more serious if not downright brutal in Michigan, particularly western Michigan given the wonders of lake-effect snow. True enough as we can see right here:

photo by Tom Gill for the Huffington Post

Still, this winter has been among the worst we've experienced since living in Providence -- the city lacks the wherewithal, both financial as well and motivational to remove the snow or even to plow it correctly so most of the streets have been clogged to the point of rendering many thoroughfares effectively one-way.

And the inability or unwillingness to maintain the infrastructure has result in monumental holes in the pavement as well as sinkholes around many manhole covers. I could go on but you get the point. It's not so great here in the winter either.

We'll certainly keep everyone posted. . .

Paris in the past - panorama of the SevenBridges

Winter Dinner at Barnes Street

Andrea's delicious "lazy chicken", a one-skillet dish, with everything thrown into a cast-iron skillet and put in to the oven on high heat. Delicious.

A wonderful meal with warm conversation and gracious company finished off with a galette de roi, compliments of the French Tarte. Andrea got the feve (it was only right after all).