Sunrise on Frenchman Bay
17 July 2026
I forgot to mention that, on June 1, Dave S invited me to join some of the Premeds on next year's Italy bike trip. I'd been wavering; I told him as much in person every time he suggested I'd have fun there. Now he was making plans for real. This time, I told him yes. Jack and I were talking about it over lunch at Blaze. "I'd like to come along," he said. It's the sort of trip where non-riders can find plenty to do. Plus, me going to Italy while Jack stays home? There's wine to be sampled and history to be explored, after all. So the two of us are going to be part of the Dory crew next year. Why the change of heart? I was no longer feeling stress from my day job. That's the only thing that changed.
Now it was sunrise on June 2, my first official day of retirement. Once again, I woke up before the alarm.
The breakwater repair is going to take a couple of years.
The lobster boat's wake:
This boat was the Madi-Gail. I'd seen it docked in the harbor when I was taking sunset pictures.
Tired of the hotel's breakfast, I suggested we go to Jeannie's Great Maine Breakfast on Cottage Street instead. I wanted pancakes. Jeannie's is one of two breakfast spots that are as close to a diner as one could get. Jack said, "Every town needs a place like this."
I poked my head into one last souvenir shop because moose.
And I took a handful of last pictures of Frenchman Bay and the Porcupine Islands.
I didn't feel as sad as I usually do when we leave. We'll be back at the end of August with a passel of Hill Slugs to celebrate a couple of our 60th birthdays.
We reached Portland at lunchtime, so we ate at the food truck permanently stationed outside of Allagash Brewery, where I loaded up on a few of their recent sour beers. Coolship Red is back! Happy happy happy!
We stayed at the Cambria Hotel again. It's not the cheapest thing, but it's centrally located yet not in the heart of the tourist area. Jack had arranged dinner plans with a friend we see when we're in Portland. We had some time to kill, so we wandered around Old Port and ended up at Old Port Wine and Cigars. The owner recognizes Jack every time we come in.
There was a tasting from Ravines, a winery in the Finger Lakes. We talked to the owner about all sorts of things, including her thoughts of doing a charity bike ride from her winery. Having set one up before, I clued her in on some details, like insurance, that hadn't occurred to her. I gave her my email address and that of the Princeton Free Wheelers. She probably won't need to contact us.
Our hotel room window faced Casco Bay, with a southeastern exposure. When the moon came up, I was ready. But the double-paned glass made focusing next to impossible. Oh well. More blurry art.
The red dot in the center is the moon:
As the moon rose higher, I was able to focus a little better.
With my phone, the window glass gave me two moons.
The moon started to go behind some wispy clouds.
Four moons, phone?
Day one of retirement went pretty well.
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