Last Summer Getaway

I finally got back to Tanglewood last weekend. It's still as beautiful as it was when I went for the first time in 2011-even better with Taison, a car, and no hurricanes. (Hurricane Irene ran us out of town a day early in 2011.) 

We were there for the annual performance of Beethoven's 9th symphony. It's a great piece, and performing it this year was even more special than the first time around. The text is called "Ode to Joy". I better appreciate moments of joy now that I know what despair feels like. So, I sat onstage on a perfect late summer afternoon gazing over the orchestra and out on the crowd, enjoying a beautiful piece of music led by an excellent conductor. The chorus doesn't sing until the fourth movement, and I thought of my boys as I listened to the first three movements. The little one in my belly, who listened quietly sometimes and danced around at others. Taison, who I couldn't quite see but I knew was out on the lawn being the proud spouse ("Oh yes, my wife's in the chorus.") And Julian, who's spirit is always with us. I feel closest to him in quiet moments when I'm enjoying nature or music, even if it's just a pretty afternoon sky on my walk home from work.

Beach Eats

We ate well last week...

 Taison enjoyed some oysters on my behalf (no raw seafood for me for another few months). I'm happy to say that he has learned to enjoy them almost as much as I do.

Fabulously delicious pasta and seafood dish at The Port Hunter in Edgartown. Extra bread was required to sop up the buttery-seafoody broth.

Best pancakes ever (pecan with rum raisins) at Artcliff diner. Worth the hour-plus wait for brunch. This place has been in Vineyard Haven for 70 years, but this was our first time going. We realized we had never gone out for brunch on the Vineyard because we've always stayed at a bed and breakfast!

 Breakfast sandwich and potatoes at Artcliff.

Monday was a rainy day, so we checked out the shops in Vineyard Haven with my parents, including a knitting store for Momma Scott (of course) and a bookstore. I didn't realize Michael Pollan has a new book out-must read soon. 

Chicken and waffles from the The Red Cat Kitchen in Oak Bluffs. The waiter recommended this dish because Gayle King seemed to enjoy it when she ate there the night before we did. I asked her about it when we ran into her on the beach the next day-she confirmed.

 We stopped at Morning Glory farm on our way to the beach when the weather cleared on Wednesday. They grow and sell the most delicious corn-it's so sweet.

When Alex and Liz got into town on Thursday, we took them (along with my parents) to our favorite lunch spot, Slice of Life cafe in Oak Bluffs. I always get the fried green tomato BLT, but this bacon and strawberry pizza that Liz tried was surprisingly good. They also have great (and huge) chocolate chip cookies-maybe the best I've ever had.

Ok, so I haven't discussed Back Door Donuts yet. I'll let the Yelp reviews speak for themselves. I'll just say that Taison and I went three times over the course of the week (once by ourselves, and of course we had to be good hosts and take my parents and then Alex and Liz). There are no pictures of the donuts because they don't last long once they are in your possession.

Waiting in line at the back door

Remember this picture from my last post? There are hot honey-glazed donuts in those bags.

The bakery also sells apple fritters. They are huge and delicious and one fritter should must be shared by at least two people. We had them for breakfast (a few times). 

Fried clams on the beach-perfect. These were from Nancy's-the Obamas ate there last week, too. 

 Lobster roll from the church ladies. A Vineyard Haven church sells them on Friday afternoons as a fundraiser. We grabbed some to go and ate them on our blanket in Ocean Park while we waited for the fireworks to start.

Remember the pancakes from Artcliff? We went again on Saturday morning before Alex and Liz left. And I got the pancakes again. This time we waited for close to two hours to be seated (it was worth it). We passed the time playing Catchphrase on Liz's phone and taking slightly awkward pictures:

And last but not least, fudge:

Mmmm...fudge. I always get some from Murdick's at the end of our visit to the island.

Vineyard 2013

We had a wonderful time on Martha's Vineyard last week. This was our fourth year going, but this year was different because 1) we rented a house instead of staying at a B&B, 2) we had visitors!, and 3) we went during the peak week of the summer season.

First, the house:
It's owned by a chef and a landscaper, so it's beautiful with a great kitchen (perfect for me). It's a couple of miles away from Oak Bluffs, the town we usually stay in. It was nice to have our own space away from the hustle and bustle of a busy week on the island.

The patio-good place for a nap, but we also ate a few meals out there and grilled a couple of times.

 The house had access to a pond, where we kayaked, swam, and watched turtles and hawks.

Our visitors:
My parents joined us on Monday and stayed for a few nights, then Alex and Liz came for the last two nights of the week. It was so much fun to catch up with them and introduce them to our favorite vacation spot.

Dinner with the Scott parents

Coco doesn't like water-it took her a while to look this comfortable on the dock at the pond.

We visited Chappaquiddick for the first time-very pretty, and very sparsely populated.

Alex and Liz joined us on Thursday-we have to get Taylor and Ana there next year!

Peak season:
There is always a lot going on on the Vineyard at this time of year. We had a few celebrity sightings: a glimpse of the Obamas leaving dinner on Sunday night, a film screening followed by a Q&A with Harry Belafonte, a handshake with Angela Davis, eating dinner a few feet away from Jim Belushi, waving to Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as he rode by on his trike, and chatting with Gayle King on the beach.

On our way to the Harry Belafonte event

We went to the Grand Illumination for the first time:

The lanterns were pretty, but it was way too crowded-we didn't stay long.

The fireworks on Friday night were the best we (Taison, Alex, Liz and I) had ever seen. Maybe because the Obamas were there? (I tried to get a Secret Service guy to confirm what people were saying on Twitter, but he wouldn't tell me...he did let us pet his dog, though.)

Setting up for fireworks-they set them off from both the beach and the barge you can see in the distance.

The crowd getting settled to watch fireworks in Ocean Park. Rumor was that the Obamas were watching from one of the houses that ring the park.

Of course, we still had a few days where we just sat on the beach. My favorite beach moment was when Taison dug a belly-sized hole in the sand under our blanket so I could lay down on my stomach-I haven't been able to do that in weeks!

My other favorite moment was when this guy dressed as a highlighter came down to the beach.

Taison lounging on Oak Bluffs town beach

So, that's a little bit of this year's Vineyard vacation. I'll have to post about the food later, but here's a preview:

Hmm...what's in the bags?

Some Good Things

Work has been a little frustrating (and much busier than usual) lately. I had a particularly tough evening today. I try to stay positive and keep things in perspective, though. Some things that help:

1. Baby kicks! Baby's 22 weeks old now, the length of a spaghetti squash, and kicks a LOT. (Here's a tasty spaghetti squash recipe, by the way.)

2. Singing-I haven't actually sang or looked at any music since the 4th of July, but I'm singing Beethoven's 9th later this month. It will be my first time back at Tanglewood since summer 2011. Speaking of Beethoven's 9th, this video made me smile the other night-a lot.

Practice room at Tanglewood

Tanglewood grounds

3. The Vineyard-We're going for a whole week starting this Saturday! And some of the Scott's are joining us!!

Weekend Abroad

We had a great first visit to Montreal last month (baby's first international trip : )). After sitting in traffic on 93, stopping for a surprisingly good dinner at this place, trying to decipher a very mumbly border patrol man, and driving uncertainly through several misty/drizzly miles of very dark farmland just over the border, we finally arrived at our hotel around 10pm.

This was not our hotel, but we stayed right around the corner from this cathedral in the Old Montreal neighborhood-lots of cobblestones and people speaking French. 

On Saturday morning, we ate at a delicious pastry-filled cafe just a few blocks from our hotel. Our breakfast was so hearty that we ended up going back to our room to sit quietly and digest for an hour or two while we plotted the rest of our day.

Taison on a street near the hotel (maybe there weren't as many cobblestones as I remember)

We decided to use the city's bikeshare to do some exploring. It worked out really well to grab bikes, set off in an interesting-looking direction, and then drop them off somewhere else when we wanted to stop and explore on foot. Montreal is pretty bike-friendly, much more so than Boston or Cambridge.

Grabbing a bike

Montreal street scene. The weather cleared up nicely by the time we set out on the bikes.

We spent most of the day exploring a neighborhood called Le Plateau. It worked out well that it was uphill from our hotel-made for an easy downhill ride after lots of biking, walking, and a big meal.

 Taking a break in La Fontaine Park

We had dinner at a place called Au Pied de Cochon. It's known for its foie gras dishes, but neither of us could stomach the idea of eating foie gras after we refreshed our memories on how it's made. Luckily, everything on their menu is delicious, and we had plenty of other things to choose from...

...like this giant mount of duck, mushrooms and potatoes...

...or this cute little lemon meringue pie.

 We had seats at the bar, which was actually a great view of one section of the kitchen.

 

Pretty sunset over Old Montreal

After dinner we headed back to Old Montreal and walked around some more. We headed back home the next morning, but not before stopping for some of Montreal's tasty and unique bagels. (No picture because we ate them in the car, quickly.)

It was fun to be able to go to a different country for just a weekend, especially somewhere that actually felt different from home. We would definitely go again, but maybe for a long weekend since it is a bit of a drive.