Belfast, Maine Bucket List

A lot of the movie Peyton Place was filmed in Belfast, I heard.

Too tired to write much. Bad night's sleep last night, worrying. But today H., Fig and I packed up our CR-V and left for Belfast, with our nephew Kyle, 10, along for the ride, too. We'll be here at H.'s brother John's lovely house until we leave midday Friday.

Belfast so pretty, set on a hill above the Penobscot Bay. Today I:

1. Went to the Belfast Co-op for lunch with Figgy and Kyle. It's my absolute favorite place for brownies by Let Them Eat Cake, iced coffee and lunch specials made with fresh local veggies and dairy products. And today, I met Lindsay [sp?] from Let Them Eat Cake, who was there restocking the shelves with her treats, including lavender shortbread. I've admired her espresso brownie for years.
2. Took a two-hour afternoon family hike in Belfast around water, crossing bridges of every kind--fashioned from logs, rocks and planks. At the top of one rise, it smelled like balsam, like the inside of the wood Bar Harbor box my Mom brought back from her honeymoon stop in Maine. At the top of another, H.'s brother Mike found a tiny dark snake. In a biggish puddle, Kyle spotted a tiny frog. H.'s brother John and I saw a beautiful plant called a blue something, and it had little blue beadlike jewels on it. Sug kept up with us all, leaping mightily from ridge to bridge.
3. Went back to the Co-op with John, to get ingredients for dinner. We cooked spaghetti, local pesto sausage, sweet corn. John was out of butter, so H. walked back for a pound of salted butter from Great Hopes Jersey cows, made by the Dickson Family in Brooks, Me. [207-234-2305]. It's wrapped in waxed paper tied with a string of forest-green yarn. It was gold-priced [about $8, I think], but I have to say it is delicious. [You can tell our checks came in.] We all ate at John's farmhouse table--fourth brother, Pat, drove up on his motorcycle, and fifth brother, Dave, came after delivering newspapers. All five brothers were there.
4. We all walked over to The Cool Spot, serving ice cream from local Stone Fox Farm Creamery in Monroe.
5. Realize I must go to sleep. Head must hit pillow. Tired.

Good night.