Stewart and Stuart

 

Stewart and Stuart 2024

Every time we go out East for vacation we meet up with my old friend Stewart.  Stuart is actually named after old friend Stewart - but back in the day Stewart suggested we use the alternate spelling for simplicity.  He told us that that is how everybody spells it anyway. 

On every visit it has become a tradition to take a photo of Stewart and Stuart next to each other.  Just now I looked through old blog posts and it is very cool to watch Stuart and Stewart getting progressively older.  Once upon a time Stewart towered over Stuart while these days Stuart may even be a little taller.  I posted some pictures from the old blog posts below, but there is also a couple of links below to blog posts that feature 'Stewart'

Click here (pre 2017) and here (post 2017) for old blogposts featuring Stewart and Stuart.

Anyway, on this trip out East our visit with Stewart mostly coincided with foggy weather.  Stewart took us on a boat ride out to Great Spruce Island (where I found an old archaeological midden), we went for a bike ride out Crabtree Point in the fog, ate lobsters on the deck, and spent a lot of time on the deck just hanging out.

Patrick

Stewart and Stuart 2017

Stuart and Stewart 2012

Barred Island Picnic

 

Yesterday the kids and I went on a picnic with Stewart. This is a yearly summer tradition. We took Stewart's boat to the Barred Islands, and this is not the first time we've picnic'ed there (click here for past posts featuring the Barred Islands). Stewart's family is based out of Pulpit Harbor on the North side of the island.  And this side of the island is closer to all the cool little islands. Hence picnics with Stewart tend to be more exotic than the ones we do on the south side of the island.

The Barred Islands are spectacular. Big clouds on the horizon, white shell on the beaches, blooming pink roses with bright green leaves.  It's a deserted island straight out of a pirate story. We ate lunch, did some exploring and went for a swim.

Near the end of the picnic we took the annual Stuart and Stewart picture. Stuart is named after Stewart so every year we try and take a photo of the two of them together.  (Click here for a few blog posts that feature Stuart and Stewart from years past). Every year Stuart has gotten taller and taller, and I think he is now taller than Stewart!

Patrick

Annual Stuart and Stewart photo

Stuart and Stewart

Stuart (a. k. a. 'Stuey') is named after Stewart.  But at the time he cautioned us to spell it 'Stuart' rather than 'Stewart' because 'everybody spells it that way anyway'.  And so Stuey is a Stuart.

Every time we go to North Haven we generally see Stewart and it is a tradition to take a picture of the 2 of them together.  I may have to do a blog post where you see all these pictures and the 2 of them growing up over the years.

Stuey had a good time in Maine - I think his favorite part of the trip was swimming.  That or hanging out with the older cousins.
Patrick

Stuey achieves karma

Butter Island Picnic

 

The Butter Island picnic was the first time I got off of the sofa after my hamstring injury.  Stewart invited us along with his daughter Anna, and I was skeptical I'd even be able to get in the car for the trip to Pulpit Harbor.  And then there was getting on and off of the boat.  But I went for it and it turned out REALLY well.  

At the picnic there just happened to be a physical therapist, and she worked on my leg and gave me some exercises.  It was a miracle - by the end of the picnic I could walk and swim!

Remote island picnics are so 'Maine Vacation', and us folks living on the Thoroughfare side of the island generally do not go to the remote islands on the north side of the island.  That's more something Stewart the rest of his crowd who live out by Pulpit Harbor do.  From Pulpit Harbor it is a much shorter boat ride to the remote islands on the north side of the island.

It was a gorgeous day and a spectacular setting for a picnic.

Patrick

Picnics and time on the water

 

One of the highlights of the trip so far was a picnic with Stewart and Sarah on Mouse Island.  Low tide was in the middle of the day and this generally precludes good picnics.  At low tide the beaches are generally terrible and the boat access is poor.  But on Mouse island even at low tide there is a clam shell beach.  Also Stuey, Sarah and Stewart were able to park the motorboat at a nearby dock and walk out to the island on a spit only exposed at low tide.  Nora and I paddle boarded all the way to the island from the house.

We lit a fire below the high tide line, cooked hotdogs and ate chips.  Pretty simple and absolutely perfect.  After we ate the kids and I took the paddle boards up Perry's Creek and went swimming.  The sun had warmed the shallow water and it was almost as warm as a heated pool.

And then when the tide started to come in and flood the spit connecting the island to the shore it was time to go home.

Once the spit started to get flooded it was time to go home!

Nora trying her hand at waterskiing - soon after this I tried to do it too with disastrous results!

Massachusetts

Puzzles with Granny Coco

The kids and I had a GREAT trip out east to visit family for Thanksgiving.  More and more I am realizing that such trips are really important.  They act as a touchstone to remind us of who we are.  The kids got to meet my old childhood friends as well as their own relatives.  They got to drink New England apple cider (good cider can not be found on the west coast), and see Boston.  Walk through a deciduous forest in late Fall.  They got to see my old haunts.

Here in Alaska I work at a Native run museum and a big part of our mission is helping the Alutiiq people understand their roots.  My job as an archaeologist is researching how Alutiiq people have lived through time.  What's ironic is that I am realizing that it is also incredibly important for me and my family to understand where we came from.  It is something that can not be assumed, it must be 'touched' and 'visited' so to speak.  My kids and I live in Alaska now, but understanding our New England roots is incredibly important. It is a vital part of who we are.   Patrick

Macintosh apples (the carbon based variety) - can you even buy these out west?

Stuey, Nora and I with Stewart's daughter Anna

Stuart and Stewart

Reading on the couch with Granny Coco

Family Dinner at the Sherborn Inn

Is Stuey sad because we are leaving for Alaska?