I Love Saybrook in the Summer When It Sizzles

In black and white...

...and the same view in color.

 

 

With my apologies to both Cole Porter and to the beautiful and non-sizzling weather in Old Saybrook, CT today, I love this view in every season. It's the marina view of the Saybrook Point Inn. My friend Lonni's daughter was married here a year ago and Lonni and I enjoyed the time spent here so much we have returned in every season. Sometimes -- like today -- the marina is complete with boats and other times -- as in the photograph below -- the boats are waiting out the winter elsewhere.

 



 

Each visit brings changes and this visit brought the new wood carvings throughout the property.

 

 

With each visit Saybrook captures another tiny piece of my heart. I spent many summer days at nearby beaches when I was growing up and the visits bring up memories of childhood summers with family. So many of those loved ones I shared those days with are long gone, but their memories are vivid in shores and shadows of Long Island Sound. 

 

 When I was replaying "I Love Paris" before writing this post I thought the words weren't quite right for my experiences along the Connecticut shore. There was no romance and no romantic memories, so the phrase "because my love is there" just wasn't appropriate for this post. But love takes on many meanings and my love is definitely there with family and the dearest of friends. I love Saybrook every season because my love is there.   

 

Yes, this dessert was as delicious as it looks.  

 

There are memories, there is the view and the water and there is also the food. One of the highpoints of our visits are long, leisurely, delicious lunches. Today I discovered Gelato Giuliana, made in New Haven. I had vanilla and salted caramel. Both were delicious, but my favorite was the salted caramel. I'm on the lookout for finding this fabulous gelato in New York. If I'm unsuccessful I will just have to make more visits to Connecticut. I'm especially eager to try the signature flavor, La Giuliana, which is espresso, mascarpone and chocolate swirl. 

Tomorrow I resume my regularly scheduled life: yoga, Weight Watchers -- the scale may not be a friend -- and grocery shopping. How are you spending August?

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care.

Saybrook by the Sea Pink Saturday

One of my goals for this year was to visit the beautiful Saybrook Point Inn in Old Saybrook, Connecticut in all four seasons. I was there yesterday for my winter visit. I haven't fully gone through all of my photographs, but I think winter may be my favorite time to take pictures there. My original plan was to visit there on Thursday, but it was a stormy day. Yesterday turned out to be a perfect day and the light could not have been more conducive to photographs. The boats are gone in December, but the beauty of the setting remains.

This is a close-up of the same scene, but the details of the little lighthouse guesthouse are clearer.

Because I am totally in love with the Waterlogue application I had to try it on every picture I took. I loved this "watercolor" of the lighthouse guesthouse.

The Christmas decorations were very simple and so pretty. Here are the wreaths in the dining room as captured by Waterlogue. I'm still getting used to the app, but I am enjoying it so much.

My best wishes to all of Buttercupland -- and to my Pink Saturday friends, too -- for good health, happiness and peace in our world. A special thanks to Beverly, who so ably posts Pink Saturday every week, for choosing to feature last week's photograph of a tired Santa Claus on her post this week.

As ever, thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year's!

 

Wedding Wednesday (on Thursday)

When sweet Margaret and Joe were married in Old Saybrook, CT last summer, her mother, my friend of very long standing, Lonni, and I decided we wanted to visit the Saybrook Point Inn in every season. We'd made a visit in the spring to make some plans for the wedding and spent a fabulous long wedding weekend in July. Our autumn trip to Saybrook took place two weekends ago. Sadly, the leaves hadn't turned at the time, but it was still beautiful.   
 

As we sat and enjoyed the view of the marina we had the good fortune to be a tiny part of the wedding that took place that day, and I captured a few photographs for this week's Wedding Wednesday. 



Beach chair, marina in the background and beautiful bride and handsome groom.

Happy is the bride and groom the sun shines on!

The marina was as lovely in the autumn as in the summer. Some of the boat slips were empty, perhaps the boats were already on their way south for the winter. But we sat in this loveliest of places, extending the bonds of friendship for another season. This trip included our dear friend, Joni, who also went to high school with us.
 

A trip to the Saybrook Point Inn would not be complete without at least one meal. I splurged with both the homemade potato chips -- with just a splash of malt powder -- and dessert. And what a dessert! I had apple bread pudding with caramel sauce and cinnamon gelato. Each element was the perfect complement for the others, so delicious and so perfect for fall.  Definitely photo worthy.

From year to year I forget how busy the fall becomes, especially after the slow days of August. I've been out every night this week -- not my norm -- and it's a lot more running around than I'm used to. It's put me way behind where I'd like to be in my blogging life. I had every intention of posting Wedding Wednesday on Wednesday, but traffic, a long train trip home and staying until the very end of a fun retirement party with my former colleagues kept me out until almost my bedtime. 

I have a very fun event coming up -- and I promise to post about it on Sunday. The hint to my event is in the first paragraph of this post. Happy guessing!

As ever, thanks for visiting and have a fabulous Friday.

Sunrise, Sunset Pink Saturday

 

For this Pink Saturday we're returning to Old Saybrook. I'm definitely back to life in New York City, but from time to time the thought comes to me, "This time last week..." and I'm transported back to Saybrook. I've chosen a few of my favorite photographs of the marina to share with you. We'll go from sunrise to sunset.

This first photograph -- sunrise -- was taken the morning after the wedding. I couldn't sleep and slipped out for a walk. I was one of the few people outside before six a.m. and my reward was this view of the sun coming up.  It was well worth the few less hours of sleep.

 

This is the marina in the full afternoon sun. It was hot, but there was a breeze coming off the ocean.

This is the sunset. My favorite photograph of the scenery is still sunrise, but I love the serenity at this hour, too. I enjoyed the mountains of Peru and I love the scenery in Sedona, but I'm always partial to the ocean.

This is the panorama of the marina. Happily, my friends, Lori and Bill are on the far right. 

By tomorrow I will have been back from Connecticut a full week. It will be time for yoga tomorrow morning and there's a trip to the library in the afternoon. Tuesday holds a dentist appointment. There's grocery shopping and bills to pay. But happily, thankfully, the memories linger on. 

As ever, thanks for visiting. Take good care and keep cool!

(Almost) Back to Real Life Thursday

While my body is back in New York and my mind is here most of the time, there are moments when my heart drifts back to Saybrook. I know I promised a scenic post for later in the week, but couldn't resist adding one picture of morning on Long Island Sound to this post.  I love the shimmer of sunlight on the water in this picture.

I have any number of blog post ideas running through my mind, but nothing quite made one post today. Instead I'm sharing several things for kind of a random three Thursday. The food was wonderful over the weekend and I indulged. My particular indulgence were the homemade potato chips. I'm a potato chip fan and these were among the best I've ever had. One of the wait staff told me that the secret to their goodness was a sprinkling of malt powder. 
 

I spent time yesterday avoiding the heat with a visit to Williams Sonoma. I haven't been thinking about the fall, but came face to face with one of my fall favorites, pumpkin goodies. I've never seen caramel pumpkin butter, but I'm putting it on my list for a fall treat. Any other pumpkin fans here? 

 

We're just about at the midpoint of the summer and if your town has been experiencing the heat New York has, you're looking for programs for kiddos and grandkiddos that are indoors. Happily our friends at Fathom are offering a very fun event on Saturday, a screening of Barbie Star Light Adventure. It's a special one-day event, shown in theaters all over the country, perfect for Barbie fans and fans of space adventures. Just click the link for tickets and more information.

Those are the things floating through my mind -- Saybrook seascape, potato chips, pumpkin and Barbie. Yes, it's all light and fun, but call it a vacation in the midst of real life.

As ever, thanks so much visiting. Take care and keep cool!

Wedding Weekend in Connecticut

I could title this post "You can take the girl out of New England, but you can't take New England out of the girl." But in the interest of not having the longest blog post title ever I am going with something a little simpler.

This has been -- despite the heat -- the loveliest, sweetest weekend celebrating the wedding of my dear friend's daughter. The fetes are a delight -- rehearsal dinner, "girls' brunch, cocktail hour -- and the company is a treat. Yes, I'm here for a wedding celebration, but I'm so enjoying my vacation at the beach in Connecticut.

We're in Old Saybrook, and both land and seascapes are beautiful. There will be more pictures and posts to come, including a Wedding Wednesday bridal post.

As ever, thanks for visiting. Keep cool and enjoy the weekend.