Red Hook, Brooklyn, Sunday November 15, 2009

These pictures were taken on a sunny Sunday in November in the Brooklyn neighborhood known as Red Hook. On weekends a free ferry service sponsored by Ikea takes people from the boat terminal at Wall Street, in downtown Manhattan, to Red Hook, Brooklyn. The ferry ride is less than 15 minutes. Some folks bring their bicycle. Most of the riders are on shopping trips to Ikea.

Vlada and I discovered this quiet Brooklyn neighborhood in September this year after I was tipped about it by a friend at work. We liked it so much that we have been coming back to it several times since then, sometimes only the two of us, other times with friends or family. The waterfront is beautiful and peaceful with full-frontal views of the Statue of Liberty. We have yet to buy plants at the local nursery but have tried both Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies and limeade. They are both very good.

The High Line - November 8, 2009

These pictures were taken during a late morning walk on the high line on sunday November 8, 2009.

Mount Desert Island (3/3)

These photos were taken over the course of two days (August 24-25). Some were taken during our hike on Flying Mountain trail, during which we ran into two couples of Canadians from Quebec. Others were taken the evening of that same day at Ship Harbor Nature trail and on the road to Southwest Harbor. The rest was taken the following day, our last on the island, on a beautiful hike up Acadia Mountain.

Mount Desert Island (2/3)

These photos were taken on Sunday, August 23rd. In the morning we drove to Sand Beach, watched from the beach big waves crashing on the rocks. We then went on a hike on the Great Head trail. When we came back from the hike, the water had come all the way to the pond at the back of the beach and the beach was mostly under water. A lifeguard came to walk us back to the Parking Lot and closed the beach for the rest of the day. In the afternoon, we walked on the carriage road around Echo Lake. In the evening, we drove to Southwest Harbor, where we were going to stay for two nights in a cabin at the wonderful Acadia Cottages.

Mount Desert Island (1/3)

These photos were taken on Mount Desert Island, during a morning hike on Penobscot Mountain trail and in the early evening on the Bar Harbor sand bar, on Saturday August 22nd.

Vinalhaven Island, Maine

On Thursday August 20th, we took a ferry from Rockland to Vinalhaven Island. We arrived at Vinalhaven mid-morning, bought sandwiches to go and started exploring the Island on foot (we had left the rental car in Rockland). Since this was an extremely hot day, unusually hot for coastal Maine according to the locals, the highlights of the day were the two abandonned quarries on the island which are now swimming holes (See picture of Booth's quarry above).

Auburn, Maine, August 2009

These pictures were taken during our first stay in Auburn, Maine, August 15-19, with Katarina and Predrag. In addition to spending time with them, I did a fair amount of yard work while at the Latkovich house, while Vlada was either swimming in the pool or in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes.
During our stay, in addition to swimming and walking the dogs, I moved quite a few stones, broke a handle of the wheelbarrow, put in a small stone path which unfortunately I forgot to document, planted a small mediterranean garden with sage, Russian sage and lavender, removed a great deal of weeds and a few dead shrubs, picked all the ripe blueberries, and discovered a compost bin hidden on the far side of the house, next to discarded planters.
(Next posts: our car trip on the Maine coast and Mount Desert Island).