Property Search

[Innkeeper]

We are just back from a long weekend down in New Hampshire looking at property and visiting old friends and, of course, family. We stayed with our friends who have a great camp on a lake in Meredith. We looked at one property that did not work for us, but set up a system to find property as quickly as it comes available.

On Saturday night we took the friends to Giuseppe’s in the Mill Mall in Meredith after going on our daughters’ annual climb of Red Hill in Center Harbor. The four of us had great but different meals, washed down with a Le Conte Negroamaro that was wonderful even with a little barnyard on the nose. Three of us had leftover pasta that we brought home. Sunday night we mixed them all together, jazzed them up and enjoyed them back at camp with grilled hot Italian chicken sausages and salad. We washed all that down with a Sicilian white that was a blend of Catarratto (70%) and Chardonnay (30%), and a nice red Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Sorry, don’t have any details on the wines except that they were wonderful with a wonderful leftover meal.

Will keep you posted on the property search.

[Drew]

Am I confused??? Didn't you just buy a piece of property somewhere and are in the process of building?

Drew

[Innkeeper]

That piece didn't work out. Sigh!

[Innkeeper]

We have made an offer on a five acre piece of property in Middleton, NH. Try to find it on a map! It is 160 driving miles from here, but a whole different world. Will keep you posted.

[californiagirl]

Good Luck IK!!!

Buying a house or property is no fun!! Hope you get the one you want. Don't settle for second best. Not worth it. Not much to say about my buying experience that's lady-like. We will get our keys tomorrow, thankfully. (Of course that is providing that doc's get recorded as scheduled!)

[Innkeeper]

Well, we just got back again from NH. We went down on Tuesday PM, and found that we will be 38 minutes from our nearest daughter, and one hour fifteen minutes from Portland, ME. That is 45 minutes closer to Portland than we are now. For those of you who haven't been there, it is a great principal city to be near.

That night we had fried chicken with a bottle of Terre Rouge Vin Gris d'Amador. Very nice. On Wednesday we went over to Goffstown (just west of Manchester) and met with our builder. We are now down to two possible modular designs, and this fellow is working up a price comparison for us. Then we met with our realator in Rochester and signed the papers accepting the sellors price of $5K less than the asking price. We will close prior to October 15, as soon as we are positive the land is "buildable." Then we went up to the property and met with the engineer that is going to do the plan for our house location, well location, and septic system design. It all looks great at this point. On the way back to our daughter's we went to a super market that was a mear 12.5 miles from our place, and picked up some loin steaks for dinner. We grilled and enjoyed them with an '01 TJ Legend Cab. Fantastic.

Today we came home making a couple of stops in Portland. We picked up two wonderful thick boneless lamb sirloin steaks in the Portland Market, and after getting home marinated them in our lemon, mint, OO mayonnaise. Grillpanned them and washed them down with another '01 TJ Rock-n-Roll Syrah. Even better than fantastic.

Monday, we leave for our anniversay on Grand Manan. We will bringing at least on bottle of the Glenora Bubbly with us.

[Kcwhippet]

We'll lift a bottle of the Glenora bubbly to you and Bev. Have a happy. It appears ours isn't far behind yours.

[winoweenie]

Have fun guys and count me in on slurping one of CBs' Bubblies. Great news about the house. Now I know why I no could get'chu on the telly sat or sun. WW

[wondersofwine]

I popped the cork on my one and only Glenora bubbly at a wine tasting in Potomac, MD but in the spirit of IK and CB, I will open my Tobin James Ballistic Zinfandel tonight (2001 I believe). I purchased it at Vintage Wines in San Diego and had already picked it out for opening tonight before seeing IK's notes about other TJ wines. Maybe I'm psychic (that will be $10 for a reading).

[Thomas]

No thanks WOW, I'll take my $10, plus a few more, and get one of those Glenora sparklers with which to toast, or to get toasted...

[winoweenie]

Hi WOW and glad you've found the wonderful wine operation my friend John has in San Diego. He normally has ennythin' from Calif that's on the market. WW

[Innkeeper]

Well, we had a great time up at Grand Manan. It was there as it was elsewhere on the East Coast of North America, the first beautiful week of the summer. We arrived late Monday afternoon after missing the ferry we were shooting for, and having to wait two hours for the next one. Our inn (The Compass Rose) did not serve dinner on Monday night, so after recovering in our room, during which time we killed at bottle of Terre Rouge Vin Gris d’Amador; we went to the only place on the island you could call a “gin mill” for dinner. Bev had a mixed seafood dish with ice tea, and I had a hot lobstah sandwich washed down with a couple of glasses of Jackson Triggs (Canada’s answer to Gallo Bros.) Chardonnay. The sandwich was creamy enough to kill the oak.

The next day, our anniversary, we started out with a hearty breakfast at the inn, and made several customary stops around the island. We picked up two lobstah rolls to go for lunch. We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the Anchorage Provincial Park at a table facing the ocean with a fresh water lake at our backs. After a few more scenic and commercial stops, we arrived back at The Compass Rose for dinner. Bev had Bombay Chicken and I had Coquilles St Jacques. We accompanied dinner with a bottle of Innskillen Riesling. All very, very nice. After dinner we drove up to the cliffs and watched the sun set on the coast of Maine. When we got back to the inn we popped the bottle of Glenora Sparkling Brut (the one with my name on it) and shared it with our hosts. Great anniversary!

On Wednesday after breakfast we visited a part of the island we had never been to before called Ox Head (no lie). It was beautiful, as was everything we visited due to the great weather. We grabbed two subs out of a questionable cooler for lunch, and enjoyed a picnic lunch at one of our favorite sites, South Head Beach, overlooking the beach in our traveling lawn chairs. That evening we went on a sunset kayak tour which was fantastic, including harbor seals, grey seals, porpoises, and a wide variety of birds. Knowing that we would get back to the inn after the dinning room closed, our host had arranged for us to pick up lobstah salads by knocking on the kitchen door. We were handed two dinner plates full of Romaine salad with vine ripe tomatoes, mushrooms, other veggies, and a heap of cold cooked lobstah meat. The salad dressing on the side was a tarragon, mayonnaise, mustard creation that resembled Béarnaise. She also provided hot bread and butter. We brought it all up to our room and enjoyed it with another cool bottle of T.R. Vin Gris.

This morning we had another great breakfast, said goodbye to our host, and made reservations for next year. The first night next year will be the anniversary so we have plenty of time to get back from Washington. We picked some very nice croissant ham and lettuce sandwiches to eat on the ferry, and returned to mainland North America. On the way home we stopped at the Union River Lobster Pot in Ellsworth for dinner. We both had lobstah pies. They were accompanied with a bottle of Chappellet Old Vine Cuvee. It was a little oaky but the creamy sauce in the pie overcame it. Nice wine otherwise.

During the trip I read “The Secret Life of Lobsters” by Trevor Corson. It is currently on the NYT non-fiction list, and is a highly recommended read. Too bad I couldn’t eat them suckers more than once a day for the last four days.

[hotwine]

Mighty nice, IK. Congrats to you both, and many more.

[winoweenie]

Sounds like Bev kept yopu on a very short and secure leash. Boy do them crustaceons sound heavenly. Glad all was well. Good to have you back as the inmates almost took over the asylum. WW [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

[wondersofwine]

Nice report. I could fancy some lobster myself.

[wondersofwine]

IK, I heard recently about some celebrity visiting Grand Manan or buying a home there and immediately thought of you since I had never heard of the island until seeing your reports. It's bugging me that I can't remember who the celebrity was (Brad Pitt maybe?)

[Innkeeper]

Unfortuately there is a building boom there; both large and small. How good places get spoiled.

[lizardbrains]

IK, congrats on the new property! That's great that you'll be closer to your daughter! And happy anniversary!!

So... what do lobsters do in their spare time? Or is it a secret?

-Elizabeth :-)