Bucket

My parents own a timeshare unit at The Samoset Resort up in Rockland, Maine. We've gone there just about every year for the past, oh, 20 years or so. My aunt and uncle also own a timeshare unit for the same week as my parents' so it's become an annual family event for all of us, seeped in traditions.

For instance, on the three-hour drive there, we always stop for breakfast somewhere in Portland, then at L.L. Bean, the flea market, the Maine State Prison Gift Shop (I shit you not, it RULES) and the world famous Moody's Diner, where they have the best pie EVER. :) During the week, we attend Marcel's Sunday brunch, go shopping in Camden and eat at Cappy's, walk the jette, and play numerous games of Uno. We've done all of this for 20 years.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to stay the whole week for quite a few years now due to job-related issues (of course), but the one thing I absolutely CANNOT miss is the Sunday brunch at the restaurant there, Marcel's. And despite Randy's hatred of long car rides, he has been forced to come with me, which I'm sure pains him immensely, you know, having to eat all that prime rib, lasagna, bacon, sausage, eggs, pineapple, oreo mousse, chocolate truffles and cake. I'm such a mean girlfriend to him. :D

This year was our first year there with our laptop, which made Randy very happy since he was able to play Final Fantasy in the hotel lobby. Unfortunately, there was no WiFi in our timeshare unit, but c'est la vie. See if you can find Randy in the photo above! :)

Here are all of us at the brunch (Randy, Dad, Mom, and Grammy). Marcel's gives you complimentary orange juice or mimosa's, and though I had no interest at drinking at noon, I was ordered by my grandmother to get a mimosa anyway so she could drink it. :D Grammy rules.

My cousin Michelle brought her boyfriend, Jeff, this year. We love him. He's hilarious. And we bonded over our love of Super Mario Brothers. :)

In this photo: Aunt Claire, Michelle, Jeff, and Uncle Eddie.

These things were PHENOMENAL. I think I ate four of them. But all of the food was fabulous, which was great because the past two years have been not as good. Nothing will compare to the first couple of years at the brunch though, it has sadly declined in size since then. I was proud of myself though, I only ate a bite or two of each thing (with some exceptions, of course) and did not overstuff myself. :)

Dad took this photo of Randy and I, I thought it came out nice.

They used to have butter sculptures too, which are pretty awesome, but this seahorce ice sculpture was beautiful. Behind it you can see the piles of prime rib and pork. Mmm... prime rib... :)

I took this of Randy and I. I love the look on his face, it's so him. :D

After the brunch, Randy got a quick Final Fantasy fix in the lobby while my parents visited the gift shop, and we returned to the room. The view there is gorgeous—you can see the jette and all of the sailboats floating by. And on such a gorgeous day, we could not resist walking the jette! :)

Another tradition is finding the ONE rock that stretches across the whole width of the jette. Dad cheats when he finds it though, he just looks for the rock next to it with a big red blotch of spraypaint. Cheater!

It's a mile walk to the lighthouse, and it would have been VERY hot if not for the beautiful breeze. The lighthouse has been closed for the past few years and we had a pleasant surprise when we got there to find that it was open and we were able to climb to the top.

I got some really nice photos from the top of the lighthouse; I LOVE this one of a boat going by...

...and this one of a beautiful sailboat.

Here's the view of the Samoset from the lighthouse. Dad and I were trying to find Grammy, who was sleeping on the deck of the timeshare unit, with the binoculars. No luck. :D It's really hard with the trees in front of the building!

I love this shot too, of the very end of the jette. And some random people who wouldn't move. :D

I thought this sailboat was gorgeous, I've never seen sails that color before! :)

We had a very relaxing time at the Samoset (apart from me taking a wrong turn on the way home :D ) and I REALLY hope I can go for the whole week next year!

Lastly, I leave you with a quote from an entry I made in the journal book for our timeshare unit. There is a book for each year that the building has been open, and people can write things in it, usually about restaurants or sites they visited. Here's what I wrote for the weekend of July 24–25, 1999:

"Saturday, July 24, 1999
After nearly finishing my 3-year prison sentence for jaywalking, I was being reintegrated into the real world by working as a cashier at the Maine State Prison Gift Shop. As the 40th person today asked me, "so what're you in for?" I jumped across the counter, grabbed his turkey sandwich, looked him in the eye, and just ate the sandwich. Just stared at him, and chewed. Vicious I tell you. I leapt onto a nearby shelf, screaming, "Rise up, whaleman! Rise up and follow! The time has come for clams!" I raced here, where I am hiding in the sprinkler system. Richard Gere is here with me, with his horde of 17 hamsters. We've made friends with the goblins in the air conditioners. Those tappings are morse code, not a coincidence, you infidels! Yams?

Sunday, July 25, 1999
Everyone who was at the brunch today is a 10-foot black centipede. Their leader is the showtune man with his communist origami dollars. We escaped his clutches only to find the so-called "food" he had given us actually littered with eggs for his army of minions. At exactly 17:04:26 EST the creatures clawed their way out of our bellies screaming songs from "Cabaret". Then they ate four of Richard Gere's hamsters until he calmly chewed on a lamp, the sound of which sent the minions into a lemming-like dance of rage across the golf course, and into the sea, where they chewed on rocks of the jette. The showtune man jumped up and down in a most pathetic fashion, saying something about a peanut butter sandwich."

I had a rude awakening when I returned to work on Tuesday, on the way there I got into a little fender bender at an intersection not 30 seconds from my workplace. I was waiting at the light to go straight, and when the light turned green, I went, and as I did, a girl who was going right (onto the same street as me) ran the light and hit my car. It sucked. But she was very nice and admitted fault right away (and to the police officer who came to the scene). But it's been a pain in the ass trying to get my car fixed right now thanks to the hailstorm that wrecked entire dealership's worth of cars about a month ago. Good times.

Next post: Mike's Dysfunctional Barbecue! Woohoo! :)

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