trip to southwest

Saturday morning, bright and early, Ed, Camille and I packed up and headed to Southwest Harbor for a bittersweet reunion. I love Southwest Harbor, and it has been one of my most favorite places in the world. Not just because it is absolutely beautiful, but we have many dear friends there. And as you read in the previous blog, one of those friends being Shirley and his family. But this trip was not a "vacation" so to speak, but a time to say farewell to our dear friend.








The reception was held at the fire station. Which was an excellent idea because with all the friends that Shirley had, it would be hard to find a space that would hold them all. The trucks were parked outside and the bays had plenty of room for everyone.














Alberta was there to greet everyone. I was so happy to spend some time with her, and she is doing fairly well since Shirley's passing. At one time she had a sewing shop and could do any project that required sewing or tailoring. So, she in herself is well known around the island.













Shirley's two favorite trucks were parked in the firetruck bay. The old truck had belonged to his father, and Shirley and his boys restored it. Alberta told us that Shirley's Dad had sold the truck because he wasn't so sure that it was reliable as it got up there in age. But this wonderful old truck has never let them down, starts on a dime and runs perfectly.. it was a bit of a joke at how reliable it remained.









All afternoon, the crowd of people remained steady. What a great tribute to any one's life when you see so many people that want to come and say their goodbyes.














Nice picture of Ed and our friend Sam... who was the one that "brought" us to Southwest Harbor so many years ago.
















After the reception (and before we went to dinner).. we had a few hours. So, Ed and I (along with MaryEllen) took a quick trip to Acadia National Park and to the horse stable. This is where our Duke horse lived and work for six years. I had never seen the stables (in all the years that we have been going to the island) so it was fun for me to go there.

It's very pretty spot and we got to talk with the folks that now do the carriage rides. No one knew our Duke (there's a whole new staff there).. but they were all very nice and were quite interested to know that we have one of their former horses.

There are stables that people can reserve and then go trail riding around the park. The carriage and trail roads were done by the Rockerfeller family. And since it was also the Rockerfeller family that took on the project of Colonial Williamsburg, Ed and I were pleased to see how many things look so familiar to us with regards to both places. The staff told us that for the horses, many of the Rockerfeller private estates will allow riding on their properties. You have to make reservations quite a bit in advance.. and you can be sure to know that Ed and I have this idea on our 'to do" list. We would like to bring Duke back and see what he remembers of his days there.


The carriages were quite busy. With the beautiful fall colors, and the warm afternoon, plenty of folks were up for taking a ride. I would have liked to do the same, but we were short of time on this trip.

Then it was back to Southwest, twenty five of us (which also included my Mom and Dad) met up again for a nice dinner and a chat. It was such a fun time, and much of our dinner conversation was spent in telling old stories of the firemen's musters and time spent together doing other things. I am sure that Shirley would have been so pleased to see us all together and recalling wonderful and fun memories.