WE DON'T EAT THE EYES, DEAR.

Today we visited Rockland, Maine, where my husband lived as a child/adolescent and where he lived with his sons for a time. We also visited Sprucehead Island, where his friend, Jim, owns an island off the coast, because let's face it, it's tough to own an island that's not off the coast. If the island is located within a mall in a field, who's going to believe you?

The little house on the island that Peter's dad built when Pete was just a boy. That's the ocean in the front yard. I know!!!
Peter's father's grave. He thought it would be appropriate to lay an apple on it from the orchard.
Rockland, Maine harbor.

This is Jim's boat. And Jim's dog riding on the front of it. We loved this dog. It looked exactly like our Snoopy, except smaller. Even the markings were eerily similar. Great dog....and sailor.
This is the ladder one has to climb to get off the boat and up to the pier in order to get to the house on the island. Yea. When I was coming down, Jim said to Peter, "I think we gawt us ahn island girl heah". High praise, indeed.

Here's the four of us after dinner. We were stuffed but having so much fun together. It's me, Peter, Jim and his adorable wife Pam. Pam was Eli's "mommy" while he was in Maine. She took care of him in the morning before school, after school, and fed him all the time. She adored him. She had a lot of fun with him this trip.
Here's the motley two. They grew up together. Trouble.
Here was the FIRST platter of lobster that Jim fixed. He caught them himself. That's his profession. Aren't they pretty?

This was how it was served to me. For real. I just looked at it. Peter smiled. "Deb's never hahd a real Maine lobstah", he said. I heard those soft "R"s. So I just watched everyone and did what they were doing. Pam offered to tell me about the meat in the legs, but first you DO have to pull them off. Some people eat the green stuff inside, called "tamale"...seriously. It's not bad. I had to try it. I met another one of Pete's friends later in the evening and I said, "I wasn't prepared to see the eyes of the lobster" and she said, rather frantically, "Oh dear! we never eat the eyes"!
This is Pam, waving good-bye from the pier of her island as we left on the lobster boat. I love this picture of her. Good-bye Pam. We'll be back!