Rain, rain, go away . . .

Much excitement these last two days - mostly related to weather - some related to Patrick getting lost. He may add his own version of the "lost" story, but I'll try to preview it here. Suffice it to say, it has been raining. A lot. And windy. I decided to spend our last day in Nantucket cruising town and hanging out at "The Bean," my new found local coffee spot. Just bought Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking" and I am enjoying it immensely. Patrick biked off with the group, spirits undampened to ride to 'Sconset where we spent our first beautiful night on the island. I relaxed, read, drank coffee and went to a yoga class before dinner. Arriving at dinner at American Seasons (a fantastic restaurant), I noticed the absence of my husband. No worries, he was on the second van (wimps took a van to dinner after riding all day in the rain. I walked in the rain.)

Upon arrival I learned that Patrick had been lost - for a while - on the island. After dropping some of the group at The Bean, he headed back to the White Elephant to rest before dinner and ice his torn calf muscle (we brought that with us). Somehow he ended up on the wrong street, going the wrong direction and found himself a ways out of town without a clue where to turn. Being a guy, he waited a while to look for assistance, but finally at 5:30pm, he reached into his bike bag for his cell phone to call the leaders. Oops. IPhone sitting in a pool of water. Apparently those gale force winds with water blowing into the bike went right through the bike bag. IPhones do not like water and his was no exception. Looking around he found an immigrant worker who didn't speak English, but did have a phone. Somehow Pat talked this kind-hearted soul into letting him make a call on his phone. Got our leader Joel's message machine, so continued down the road. Except - now he has a flat tire on his bike. Meanwhile it is getting colder, darker, wetter, and no one is around. Fortunately the fire marshal came by about then in his fancy red truck and asked Patrick if he was all right. Fortunately, Pat said that actually he was not all right (good job not manning out on this one), and fetched a ride back to the hotel, giving the trip leaders a heart attack when they saw the emergency vehicle approaching with their charge inside.

A bath, some ice on his leg, a van to dinner, and a glass of wine later - it's a great story that turned out just fine. Lucky. I did have a twinge of conscience when I realized I was ohming my way through a restorative yoga class while Patrick was lost in the woods, literally. Glad it all worked out. Oh, along with drowning his phone, our camera also got soaked on this venture, so pictures for now are limited and all taken on my iPhone (which has managed to stay dry--mostly because I am a wimp and stay off the road when the weather is particularly wet).

Yesterday we took a boat to Martha's Vineyard and I actually did bike from where we docked in (name of town) to our B&B in Edgartown. Our first impression of Martha's Vineyard was something like seeing Eureka, CA in the rain. Why is it that all places in driving rain tend to take on the same characteristics? The scenery became much more beautiful on the ride to Edgartown and I felt very virtuous riding in what really was a drizzle. Once here, we set out again to find the best coffee shop. In Edgartown, it's called Espresso Love (quite a good name for a coffee hangout I think). Dinner was at a little place called Detente in the village. It took quite a sense of detente to get us to make the decision to go there. Bruce and Suzie and I scoped it out, then decided and told the rest of our group. Food was terrific and interesting.

Today we woke to more driving rain, still the hearty took off on their bikes this morning and many of our group rode for 34 miles total! Patrick and I rode in the van - first to a gallery, which was fun, then to see some cliffs, which we didn't see because of the rain. But we were able to greet the warriors as they slid into base.

Joyce and Guy, soaked

Timmy T and Steve - winners!

                     

Nantucket - First Day on the Bikes!

It's been a good day. We biked 10 miles to Cisco Beach (pretty much flat and straight). No rain. No injuries. I'd call it a good day. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain. We'll see how that sorts us out.

Out of the corner of my eye today I saw an old graveyard with headstones dating from the late 1700's and early 1800's. Made me want to go back and explore. Unexpected was a stop at Cisco Brewery. Great beer. Lot of locals hanging out and listening to a fantastic band (who happened to be from Seattle). The band came out for a wedding a couple of weeks ago. Now they are playing the gigs they've picked up. We could have stayed there all afternoon. Found joy in the same place and in riding a bike along country roads on this beautiful friendly island, feeling the wind at my back on the way out and pushing through it the way back.

Great session of friends at a little coffee shop in town called appropriately enough, "The Bean." Fantastic lobster, conversation and Meursault over dinner at Le Languedoc. Tomorrow starts at 9am.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

We're back! Yes, I know, we spent 5 weeks in Europe this summer, which would have been a great time to blog. No good excuses (except I can't figure out how to blog on my iPad). Now Patrick and I are on an East Coast driving trip to see the leaves (and other things). We're starting in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard where we are meeting up with the Fun Club (Pat's law school buddies) for a Backroads bike trip. Bike trips are fun, although we didn't train at all for this one and Patrick tore his calf muscle a couple of weeks ago, so is walking like Chester and spending a lot of time on ice.

The flight in yesterday was far from uneventful. Made it to Boston without complication, arrived to learn our Cape Air flight to Nantucket had been cancelled because of rain. It was pouring -- a lot. Our options? Stay in Boston and try again tomorrow, or take a bus to Hyannis and catch the ferry to Nantucket. That's what we did. Total time for this phase of the trip - 6 hours. Arriving at the Summer House Inn at the beach in Sconset at 10:15pm, we were delighted to have welcoming innkeepers and a working bartender. They had dinner for us (oysters, tuna tartar, chowder, carpaccio with arugula and William Hill chardonnay). Our spirits lifted once fed and we dried out in no time.

Today brought a beautiful sunny day in Nantucket - which looks the way we both always imagined it would look. The houses are grey clapboard with white trim and shake roofs. The beaches are gorgeous - white, long, uncrowded except for the birds, and bordered with gorgeous grasses. We spent the morning on this beach. I walked with the birds, while Patrick sat on the shore and nursed his ankle.

On to the town of Nantucket for a walking tour of the town, including the Second Unitarian Church with a trompe l'oeil ceiling, the Episcopal Church with Tiffany windows, the First Unitarian Church with bell tower and Brotherhood of Thieves, the perfect place for a break and a beer. Tonight we went to a restaurant called "Figs," the brainchild of Todd English (chef at Summer House). Fantastic food for a really reasonable price.

 

Observations out of the corner of my eye: seabirds eating fish on the shore, flying away with lunch hanging out of their beaks. For Patrick - a group of groomsmen at the First Unitarian Church, all dressed Nantucket style - blue blazers, white pants, blue and white check shirts - young, handsome, and all colors. Wonderful. Today we found joy doing the crossword puzzle on the veranda of the Summer House and taking the bus from Scanset downtown. Unexpected to find fans in a basket in the Episcopal Church beneath the stained glass window, and ducks flipping their bottoms up looking for food underwater in the bay. 

Tomorrow we meet up with the Fun Club and the Backroads folks. That's where the rubber meets the road.

25th ANNIVERSARY!

Yep, it's happened. 5 May 2009 - 25 years of marriage. I'm impressed! We had a fantastic day in London. First at the National Gallery Picasso exhibit. Very cool exhibit showing Pablo's ever present connection and playfulness with his artistic predecessors. Then I got to spend the evening with three of my favorite guys - Sir Ian and two Patricks - my favorite - and also Mr. Stewart. It was a performance of "Waiting for Godot" not to be forgotten. For my classmates - Sir Ian viewpointed the crap out of this show. He was nothing short of brilliant. As, I must confess, was Mr. Beckett. Patrick Seaver left the theatre wanting to read the play. This is a first! We had a magnificent dinner at the oyster bar at J. Sheeker in the theatre district (and were secretly informed Dame Judi Dench was in the restaurant next door). Didn't see her, but then we're spending Thursday night with her. Dinner was fantastic. Also feted with fine champagne from the Joneses and fine burgundy from the Derys. Life is good!  

Today (as in May 6), we went to Highgate Cemetary and saw Karl Marx (well, his tomb anyway), along with George Eliot and a bunch of other folk, and a cool cat who wanted nothing to do with me. 

Back to the Duke's Hotel for some more of that burgundy before dinner with the lovely Justine Jones, who is living in London for the time being as an assistant the director/writer of a new Colin Farrill/Keira Knightley movie called "London Avenue" (or something like that). We took her to a new "hot" Asian fusion place and Patrick left his iPhone in the taxi (oops).

Then more martinis and bellinis in the Duke's Hotel bar. Does it get any better? 

WEDDING DAY !

It happened! It was fabulous! It was fun! We partied and danced all night (almost). Josefine and Andrej are
 married. The weather was sunny and beautiful. Josefine was sunny and beautiful. Noah even came for a while. Pictures say it best - I'll try to post a bunch!

SWEDEN!

May 2 ! Josefine's wedding to Andrej! Friday we helped everybody set up the venue - a lovely little boathouse by the ocean next to where the wedding will be and by an island where we are going to lunch. Jos has lots of moms - something like four - and we were all there in full force - this doesn't even count Andrej's mom, who will now make it like five moms. Patrick and I came back to our charming little Hotel Vanilj (which is really better than plain vanilla by a long shot), a charming little place in the middle of old town Goteborg, where Jo used to work. Pat and I had dinner at an amazing fish restaurant a walk from the hotel, Fiskekroger. Not sure what that means, but it was great. Now we're going to bed to work on our jet lag before tomorrow's big day!

Final posting about CA Road Trip!

Okay - this will be quick and dirty - because I'm actually in Sweden and want to start a new chapter in our blog called - "Going to Sweden to Josefine's wedding!" which is later today (it being after midnight.

Back to CA. We left Eureka, drove south on the Avenue of the Redwoods in the rain (as previously reported) and spent the night in Healdsburg - quite lovely - had dinner wi

th Tom Higgins in his apartment above his amazingly cool art gallery - now that's retirement! Met a really interesting kid doing all sorts of fascinating goodwill work in South

east Asia - I'll add his website later.

Stopped off in Sonoma - for 3 days - with the Tituses and saw our godsons, Nic and Bo, 

15 1/2 year old twin boys, who used to be toddlers the last time I sawthem (swear). Now they are over 6 feet tall, handsome and funny as all get out. Jim and Margie are wonderful parents and still have a beautiful home in Sonoma. Wait til you see the photos. 

The big celeb sighting was lunch and a hike with Michael Pollan and his wife, Judith, and son, Isaac. Turns out Isaac is in school with the twins at Marin Academy (called MA by those who don't think that sounds like some terminal disease). Po

llan and Judith are charming, interesting, fascinating and delightful. They are going to a place in Italy for a week this summer to host a cooking, foraging, talking, thing in a fantastic villa outside Sienna. I so want to go! When will this recession retreat????

After three days chez Titus, we made the long journey to Sausalito to hang with Morgan and Ronna in their new apartment digs overlooking the SF Bay. Sheesh! How did our friends manage to land such gorgeous cribs in such beautiful surroundings? Once again a good

time was had by all, much wine was drunk, good food eaten, and all the hiking and exercise of the previous week went by the wayside. Great fun! Great massages at Cavallo Point.

I took the plane home to LB to rehearse for Emperor of Atlantis - the staged reading (just happened on Sunday, April 26). An LB Opera co-production and a success (says the director).

I declare this the end of my blogging about CA. Patrick has more, but he'll have to add it. I have Sweden to contend with.