We left the Goslings before work and made the short hop back to Chebeague, where we treated ourselves to dinner on the porch at the Chebeague Island Inn. We had a beautiful sunset view over the bay, and I couldn’t help thinking how much my grandmother would have loved it.
Our waitress was from South Africa, and we spent much of the evening chatting with her about studying in the U.S. and life aboard Windara. The food was excellent, but the strawberry shortcake completely stole the show — quite possibly the best I’ve ever had.
Our friends on County Girl are homeported at Portland Yacht Club, and they invited us to grab a mooring at the club so we could catch up. We took an hour off in the middle of the day on Thursday to make the short hop over, and we had a front row seat for their evening race. Afterward, there was live music at the clubhouse, so we headed ashore to join everyone.
Saturday morning was devoted to chores. I made blueberry muffins, then we took advantage of the club’s free laundry to get all our clothes done — a rare find while we’re cruising.
While we waited for the laundry to finish, we walked over to the nearby Falmouth Nature Preserve. Hints of fall color are starting to appear here and there, a subtle reminder that the season is beginning to shift whether we’re ready or not.
After Bill finished his shift running the club launch, we all headed to Pat’s Pizza for dinner and a long-overdue catch-up. The pizza was surprisingly good — though we’re still hopelessly spoiled after our years in New York — and it was great to spend time with Bill and Annette again.
We first met them at Marker 8 Marina in St. Augustine during our last full cruising season, and we kept bumping into each other unexpectedly after that. It’s funny how much of our community we met that way – repeated encounters in random places – and it’s nice that it’s still true here in Maine.
