What A Trip!

We're back from Stratham
after an absolutely fabulous visit with our friends, the Rowe's. We met Kevin and Sandy at the bar at Sapphire Beach in February and were then introduced to Kevin's parents, Joyce and Chris. We've kept in touch and were able to visit with them in New Hampshire this past weekend. That's John on the left posing with Chris, Sandy and Kevin.


What a great time! Joyce and Chris welcomed us into their lovely home and made us feel most welcome. They have a knack for putting people at ease and making a visit very pleasurable. After a tour of their beautiful home (which was Joyce's parents home) and their abundant garden, we were treated to a trip to the Lindt candy factory in town. Can't go wrong with Lindt chocolate! Interestingly, the Lindt site in NH serves all of the Eastern part of the country.

After sampling some chocolates, we returned home to begin happy hour. Of course, it's always happy hour with the Rowe's-that's why we like them so much and get along so well! Kevin and Sandy joined us for dinner after returning home from work and we all enjoyed Joyce's royal feast. We were treated to steak with mushroom sauce, green beans, red potatoes, corn on the cob and tomatoes. Everything except the beef came from Chris & Joyce's garden! It was fantastic. Joyce didn't think we'd had enough to eat so she set out her pumpkin pie and apple pie. John and I needed to be rolled away from the table.

After a trip to Kevin and Sandy's house to see their new kitchen, we met their son , Shane. What a nice young man and, lucky for us, he'll be coming to St. Thomas next year. We're really looking forward to introducing him to the island!

We watched the Bosox beat up on the Yanks then headed to bed for a great night's sleep in Joyce's fabulous guest room. We threw open the windows and slept in the clean country air. I haven't slept that soundly in years.

The next morning, Joyce served up a breakfast casserole that was out of this world. Bread pieces, eggs, cheese and sausage-a real stick to your ribs meal. That gave us the sustenance needed to tackle a day of shopping and bar hopping in Portsmouth, a quaint little town north of Stratham. We took a scenic route up the coast and stopped at a few of New Hamphire's beautiful beaches on our way to town. Portsmouth is the kind of place I love...people sitting outside little cafes with their dogs, specialty boutiques and little restaurants all along brick topped sidewalks. Very picturesque. I was able to find two wonderful paintings: one is of waterfront Portsmouth and the other of the little pub, The Rusty Hammer, where we stopped to snack before heading to the Brewery to watch the game.

We really tied one on at the SmuttyNose Brewery and watched as the Yanks took the lead over the Bosox. A win and the Yanks would clinch the AL East. After a few too many drinks, Chris and Joyce got us all home safely to see the end of the game and sit down to yet another fantastic meal. This time we were treated to lobster and Joyce's homemade coleslaw. We had a lot of fun getting the meal together, especially with cooking the lobsters. Live flames are not a good thing when you've been drinking. Luckily we were able to put out the fire on the lawn (Chris being a fireman and all) and save ourselves from ourselves. John and I toasted and Yankee win and well, toasted just about everything else.

Sandy didn't have enough partying for the day, so she called her friend, Paul, to drive us into Portsmouth to The Gas Light. Great little place with an outdoor courtyard, lit by torches (we were having a fire theme day). We enjoyed a band, enjoyed more drinks and then staggered into this little place called Gilleys for some midnight munchies. Gilley's is a little trailer type of thing that is about 6 feet wide and 15 feet long (and that includes the kitchen...if you can call it a kitchen). Gilley's is definitely the place to soak up the alcohol and get righted before going home. We chowed on some dogs, burgers, and fries then found our way home to fall into bed.

Sunday morning was a little rough. Surprisingly, Kevin and Sandy made it over for Joyce's French toast breakfast and then John and I had to pack the truck and say our goodbyes. We're so very fortunate to have the Rowe's in our lives. They are all such wonderful people-John and I just adore them.