Retirement

I never truly believed my husband would retire, but at the end of June he is done.

It shouldn't be a surprise that his frugal ways have enabled us to retire with a fairly large nest egg. He's Scottish and the Scott's hang on their money quite tightly.  I grew up thinking I was Irish but I did my family tree and found out I'm Scottish as well. So much for my spending ways; I have to be frugal now too!

He's been wondering what he will do with his time once he is retired, especially on rainy days. We have already decided that we will winter in Florida and summer in Maine, so he'll see a lot of time on the links. I suggested to him that he rediscover his passion for photography which he had before he found his passion for moi thirty five years ago. Of course, he had no new equipment so he sold his old camera and lens, a canoe and a rifle to come up with the money for new stuff.  The whole kit and kaboodle came the other day and I am so happy to see him as excited as a little boy as he learns what the new camera and lenses will do.

Next month, one of our daughters is remarrying on beautiful Moosehead Lake, about an hour north of us. My favorite times are those when all of my grandchildren are together so that camera is going to get a lot of use. We found out last week that we have another grandchild on the way, which will make an even ten.  We have four grown children, one of which is unable to have children, so I'd say the other three children have figured out where babies come from!

Four of our grandchildren live in Miami, so we don't see them as often as we'd like, but starting this winter that will change.  I can hardly wait!

A Double Whammy

My brother thought that taking us to dinner on Father's Day at Bay Haven Lobsterpound in Cornish, Maine would be a great thing. This, from the brother who eats friend Spam.

It was crowded at 4pm so we took seats at the bar and waited with an adult beverage. The buzzer they had given us was in the shape of a Maine lobster and we sat it in the front of our table in the bar. So far, so good. Lots of bikers in there, liquoring up for whatever their destination was, so we sat and chatted and enjoyed our drinks.  If the evening had led no further, I probably would have given the bar good marks--we had a great time there, even though the server had allowed my drink to be empty for quite awhile.

Anyway, the lobster lit up red and buzzed, scarring all of us into action.  We led it to the head server who led us to our table in the first dining room.  We were right beside the waitress's station which included the non-alcoholic beverage service as well the computer that all servers had to use to keep their orders inputted.

The first thing I noticed was the air conditioner blowing right on us, so my dear brothers went to the car to get our wraps, The second thing was the flies in motion around every light/fan combination. They were off-duty, not bothering us, but I pity the poor diner when their fancy flightwork was done.

The menu was well-done, making it easy for all four of us to choose our dinners. I had a combo plate of fried scallops and shrimp, fries and a side salad. Lori had the prime rib with scallops; Bernie had the combo platter with haddock and clams and Ken had clams and scallops. Bernie was the only one who ate the entire plate of food, and believe me when I say it was a BIG plate of food.  I hardly made a dent in mine; the scallops were cooked perfectly with just enough batter and cooked just right. The Shrimp were the same frozen shrimp you get anywhere in a restaurant except for maybe in January or February. The fries were the same; they took them out of a bag and put them in oil until crispy. Nothing new there.  Ken said the clams were about a minute undercooked. Lori loved the primerib and she had a twice-baked potato that we should have gone with.

Service was average, decor was tacky and loud, and it seemed to me that the cooks hadn't done anything beyond using fresh seafood and obviously changed their frying oil frequently to make meals special.

I can't give Bay Haven Lobsterpound very good marks.  The scallops, twice baked potato, primerib and fried fish were one small mark about average. Everything else - service, cleanliness, ambiance, and food were below average.

Sorry, Bay View Lobsterpound--poor ambiance and poor food are a double whammy.