Off to the Beach!

Sisterknits said I'd better do a blog post before I take off, so here it is. Time that might have been spent blogging lately has been taken up with the previously-mentioned photo scanning project, with hanging out with Sonshinein, who arrived Wednesday, and preparing for a family party we had on Sunday so lots of the relatives could renew acquaintance with him.
Since a great many of our relatives are vegetarians, our menu for the party was vegetarian (it's just simpler that way). I got out the old St. Martin's Table cookbook and made 7 sandwich spreads from it to spread on little breads and pieces of baguette. Each one was delicious and, as I of course made too much food, we were still enjoying them today. In fact, Onkel Hankie Pants and Sonshinein will probably not have to cook tomorrow either unless they want to. We had a great time with the family, and there was a special project done which may end up photographed on OHP's blog.
Today was spent getting clothes ready and packing for the beach!
At about 2 am we will drive to the bus station in City by the Sea so I can take the bus to Boston and make a 6 am flight to Savannah. There I'll meet up with 3 of my oldest friends and we'll drive to An Undisclosed Location in South Carolina for a week of beach walks, maybe some swimming (tides and weather cooperating), shrimp eating, wine bibbing, and catching up. We'll also hang out with our Honorary Oldest Friend who lives there fulltime and has a dog almost as beautiful (and much better behaved) than mine. If we feel very energetic we may do one touristy thing. We'll probably go to the bookstore. Otherwise, being together is entertainment enough.
I have been very blessed to have these women in my life for (shockingly!) well over 40 years now. When I moved to their hometown in 8th grade I had the good fortune to be seated at a lab table in science class next to The Decorator. The CEO was in my English class and The Accountant in Social Studies (as was our friend The Boss who, once again, has some pitiful excuse for why she's not coming). Having now shepherded two daughters through the junior high years, I can appreciate even more fully how wonderful it was that these girls, who had been friends in some cases since preschool, opened their circle to me. How great to find kindred spirits and how many good memories there are of those three years (I moved again after sophomore year in high school). Their fruitless attempts to teach me to ride a bicycle...our "15 mile hike" when President Kennedy was pushing 50 mile hikes...walking to school with The Boss trying to get us all to harmonize on "Mary Hamilton"...sharing 25 cents worth of French fries at Cindy's, the local hangout...getting to school early to watch Sunrise Semester with our social studies teacher.... And then the letters back and forth during my stay in Germany. After my return to Maine and graduation, going to Connecticut to attend their graduation and ending up getting a job and staying all summer -- with jobs and the ability for some of us to use the family car, a whole new level of enjoyment! After college, marriage, cross-country and international moves, we didn't see each other very often for many years. A few years ago events conspired to allow us the first of the beach getaways and now they are an annual event. I am so grateful that our lives have -- not slowed down -- but changed in ways that allow us to make this time together.
Above and below, sights I'll be looking at this coming week, taken a year or two ago with my film camera and only developed last week!