Linderhof East

Where to begin?

Last Fall, Martha of Lines from Linderhof,

who lives in Kansas, traveled with her husband Jim
to Connecticut, which is not so very far from New Jersey.

We met for lunch.

And had our portraits painted.

We discovered we are indeed kindred spirits,

as in separated at birth kindred spirits.

Our internet friendship easily slipped into a real in-person attachment.

We thought the Connecticut rendezvous would be the

one and only time we'd get a chance to hug.

After all, Martha lives in Kansas.  And I don't.

But we wuz wrong.

***********************

The lure of New England in the early Fall pulled Martha and Jim

back East at Labor Day this year, for a vacation on Cape Cod.

Cape Cod is in Massachusetts, but if you head west to

Connecticut you can hop a big ferry and cross beautiful

Long Island Sound, to the North Fork.  Where our beach house is.

Photo from Cross Sound Ferry website

That's just what Martha and Jim did last Saturday, while Howard and I raced them to the beach house from New Jersey,

which is 125 miles away, in the opposite direction.

They won.

In our defense, they caught an earlier ferry, and we

caught traffic from an accident, road construction, and a car fire.

A typical day on New York roads.

*********************

I think one of my favorite moments of our weekend at the

beach house with Martha and Jim was when we first entered.

Martha stopped in her tracks.

"Oh my!," she said.  "It looks just like on the blog!"

Our hubbies bonded over single malt Scotch and cigars out on the deck,

and Martha and I didn't have to bond; we were born bonded.

Saturday passed in a blur of words.  And food.

Then came Sunday, with its breakfast of champions: pastries,

bread, and strong coffee on the beach house deck. 

See yesterday's post.

Sunday lunch?  Greenport, on the dock at Claudio's.

Crabby Jerry's, where Howard and I had:

and Martha and Jim had clam strips.  Harborside, outdoor seats.

 We strolled the streets of Greenport, in and out of the shops,

and then decided to do some sampling of Long Island wines.

 First stop:  Croteaux Winery in Southold,

just 'round the corner from the beach house.

Such a beautiful place!

Next, The Old Field Vineyard, also in Southold.

Rustic setting, an old farm, a really neat guard goose.

If you click on their link, make sure to read the History page; this farm goes back a long, long way!

The sun was well over the yardarm by now, so we picked up

some heirloom Black Cherry Tomatoes at a farmstand (if wine were tomatoes,

this is what they would be), and headed to Catapano Goat Farm

in Peconic, just west of Southold.  For the cute goats.

And some chevre.

Back at the ranch, I cut up a small crusty French baguette from

The Blue Duck, brushed on some olive oil, and topped it with the

fresh goat cheese, and thin tomato slices.

Into the oven to crisp the bread and soften the cheese . . .

and out onto the deck for drinks and wine and more chat.

**************************

Monday morning found us packing up and heading to New Jersey.

I wrote out directions for Martha and Jim,
that would keep them off the most congested roads,

explaining that their Garmin GPS would snake them through 

Manhattan if they followed its instructions.

A tractor at a farm stand, in Jamesport.

I think Kansans may be as stubborn as New Jerseyans, as they

decided to follow the GPS instead of the native-born human,

and this time . . .

we beat them home.  To That Old House.  By a lot.

More on that tomorrow.  Or maybe Monday, come to think of it.

Have a great Friday!  -- Cass