Monday, June 24, 2013

Playing Tour Guide



Mom and sister-in-law have been visiting for a few days and I'm the tour guide.
Thought I'd share some of my favorite photos from the weekend.

You may remember this scene from my Rockport post last year. It looks different
every time you see it.  I think this one of my favorite photos in a long time.



Rockport tends to be a little bit of a ticky-tacky tourist trap but it's improving and
there are several nice shops and art galleries.  Lula's Pantry is great new shop that I love.
It has a lot of great gourmet pantry items from sauces,
spices, salted caramels and cookies to nautical themed kitchen items.

We saw these monkey or sailor's know doorstops/paperwights in a few different stores.
I love then here mixed with the wood and white.



This was a driftwood sculpture in the same shop.


This show how tightly some of the houses are packed in together
along the water. These two houses lock together like puzzle pieces.



I love the old lobster sign on Bearskin Neck.



The kayak rental place on Tuna Wharf.



This jester-like lantern was unexpected on this old Bearskin Neck cottage.



When I heard the amazing potter Frances Palmer was going to be showing her
work at Snug Harbor Farm on Saturday, I planned a trip to Maine so I could show 
my family around the farm and meet Frances at the same time.  Todd from Snug Harbor Farm
set up an amazing spread of food in the barn and it seems like a good crowd turned out.
I also got to meet blogging icon Katy Elliot in person.



Any trip to Snug Harbor has to include a tour of the greenhouses.



We drove up through charming Kennebunkport past the Bush compound.



On the way back down Route 1, we stopped at the Johnson Hall Museum in Wells which was one
of the wackiest places I've ever been.  We first thought it was an antique shop but as you get
closer, you learn that only things on the porch are for sale.  You can't enter the building
without paying $5 and nothing is for sale.  I looked around the porch--nothing is priced--and
when I asked the price of a few things, they weren't for sale.  I wanted to walk around
Mr. Johnson's collection of buildings on the property and was directed back to the "museum"
where we had to pay $5 (each) for the pleasure of walking around and taking photographs.



Since we paid the $5 to walk around he wanted to give us a tour of the "museum" for free.
We relented and the tour was charming--Johnson is quite a character--but it was when
he asked us to sit down to hear the player piano, I ran.  I suspected we might never get
to leave if let him go on.  

His buildings and collections of objects adorning them is purely charming.



Back at home, I unwrapped my Frances Palmer souvenir vase
and we plucked a few things from the garden to give it road test.

Dreamweaver roses,  yarrow 'Cherise', white geranium,
crown vetch (that is making a good attempt at overrunning my garden),
heuchera and a few hosta leaves.  Perfect to take to Janes for Flowers in the House.

I've got to run.   I have a tour this morning.

32 comments:

  1. Your photos are fabulous.

    I felt like I was browsing through Travel And Leisure on line.

    And your flowers are heavenly. As is your new vase.

    I love using geranium as a cut flower. It totally smells like summer to me.

    Have a fun tour.

    xo Jane

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  2. You are my favorite New England tour guide and you've outdone yourself with this post. Great photos!

    I love the Frances Palmer vases--they remind me of dotted swiss. Your arrangement is truly charming.

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  3. Amazing pictures. You've captured a small slice of Americana in pictures that are Gallery ready. Thank you for sharing the "tour".

    Enjoy your day.

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  4. Great photos. I have the same picture of the red boat house and harbor, just at a different angle. Such an iconic photo for Rockport. Anyone whose been there will recognize it immediately. Thanks you for the tour.

    Curious about how the bathroom is coming along?

    Donna

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  5. The photo of the "kayak rental place" is fabulous. I love your tours of the area. The posy looks lovely in that vase.

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  6. I agree, absolutely amazing photos.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Have fun on your tour!

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  7. A great slice of America in these photos.

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  8. Ahhh...summer in New England...love the kayak photo...great colors...thank you

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  9. I can smell the sea breeze from here :)

    The kayak pix is also my fave-the colors, the serpentine shape they take as one,the unobstructed background-perfection. Would make an awesome painting!

    Any bathroom progress? Hard to do when tour-guiding, LOL, but hope all is well on that front.

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  10. You visited some of my favorite spots! I love Frances Palmer's pottery. Thanks for the introduction!

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  11. always admired your photography steve but this tops all......so many could be turned into paintings. how i wish i lived on the east coast

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  12. I'm sure you are the best of tour guides. This posting is a perfect start of summer — the images of the kayaks and the front of Johnson's are both gorgeous in their own way.

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  13. Don't know what it is about that first photo but it is my favorite. So classic. You need to print and frame for sure :)

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  14. Another really lovely post that makes me miss the drive from Mass to Maine (or the reverse)! Thanks for the beautiful photos.

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  15. That kayak photo is an award winner, gorgeous. Lucky ladies to get such a tour.

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  16. Your photos always make me gasp, in a good way ;-) I especially love the one of the kayaks. I bet @abbyminteriors would love to use that in a lake house she is currently doing. Just sayin. I'm sure you were the host with the most. And that vase is killing me. I'm in love with it.

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  17. The photos are just beautiful.

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  18. Steve, your photos are so inspiring. The pottery is just lovely... Jen nailed the description... Dotted Swiss! Your choice of flowers were perfect. The kayaks... Words fail me!

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  19. Fabulous photos! And love the floers in your new vase. Abby

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  20. That looks like a fun tour to lead. I get to drag my Mother in-law and sister in-law around this week but nowhere so charming.

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  21. Dang Steve....maybe a new career as a photographer....a coffee table book perhaps?

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  22. It looks like my idea of a true summer over here. So pretty. A little different than the typical San Francisco summer.

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  23. And I am heading to Rockport tomorrow. Looking forward to sitting on the deck of Helmut's Strudel shop with a hot apple strudel and an ice coffee. Can't wait!

    You are a great tour guide!

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  24. Great tour, great photos. You're really making me want to visit New England. I recognized Frances Palmer's pottery before I scrolled down and read the text ... her style is very unique. I love it. Your pretty bouquet looks perfect in her vase.
    Claudia

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  25. I love those vivid kayaks on the diagonal. Do you know this site?
    http://www.benpentreath.com/inspiration/
    I think you'd like it.

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  26. Oh marvelous pictures! Thanks so much for sharing. I'm off to check out the pottery! N.G.

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  27. Steve, I'm late coming to the show this week. The tour looks amazing as does your photographs. So glad you picked up a souvenir. Thank you for all your help on bloglovin. I'm still playing. We will see if this posts today. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  28. Beautiful photos. Bet you're a great tour guide. I think I'll make a pot of succulents now. Inspiring!

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  29. Steve...it's my first time visiting (from Acquired Objects) and I'm completely smitten with your blog!

    Happy Summer!

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  30. I love your house! It is so cute, and matches your style completely.

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