A Trip to Connecticut! Part Two.

If you read yesterday's post, you already know that I snuck out for a mini-vacation to Connecticut over the weekend to visit my friends Terry and Glenn. We crammed so much goodness into two days, it didn't fit into one blog post!

Here's what we did on Sunday:

We started off by driving about 2 1/2 hours to get to the MYSTIC AQUARIUM. I haven't been to an aquarium since I was a kid, and I was seriously "four-year-old-jumping-up-and-down" excited. The Mystic Aquarium didn't disappoint, either. We saw a great sea lion show, beluga whales, penguins, and more. I had a blast. (I even dragged Terry into one of those old-fashioned photo booths, because we're that kind of friends.)

At the Aquarium!

The sea lion show was amazing.

Whale ho!

The penguins were so cute!

Silly friends being silly

Then we went into Mystic proper (I'd never been there) and we had an amazing lunch at the Treehouse restaurant outside on the top of The Oyster Club. Yes, those are oysters topped with cream and bacon :-) And onion rings. Hey--I was on vacation!

Hey, we shared!

These were one of the best things I ever ate in my life!

If you're in Mystic, don't miss this place.

 Then we wandered around town and found all kinds of cool things in all kinds of cool shops. Between Mystic, the beach, and the museum shop from the day before, I came home with all kinds of swag. But some of it was for the cat sitters, I swear!

Mystic Dragon Tea! How could I not get it?

 It was hard to leave on Monday morning, and Terry and I have already exchanged half a dozen emails saying how much we miss each other. But this was waiting for me at home, and that made it a little easier.

Magic, keeping the bed warm.

All in all, it was a fabulous 3-day mini-vacation, and I feel so much better for having taken it. But don't worry...I'm back to work on the Llewellyn 365 Day book and getting ready to dive into all sorts of promo and giveaways for the upcoming release of DANGEROUSLY CHARMING. But man, it was a great trip, and we made memories that will last for a long time.

A Visit from a Long Lost Friend

Okay--she wasn't actually lost. We knew right where she was. But it wasn't here. My friend Kathy, who inspired the fire tower watcher in Wickedly Powerful (and did an amazing job of answering questions about how the whole thing worked, so Sam was as realistic as I could make him) lived here 8-9 years ago. She was a beloved member of Blue Moon Circle, and we all pined when she left to return to Arizona to help out her daughters and grandchildren (and spend some summers up in the fire tower in Wyoming). The last trip she took out here was five years ago, which was WAY too long a time.

Recently, she came back for a two-week visit, staying with me and hanging out with me and a bunch of other Blue Moon Circle peeps. She spent a lot of time bird watching (adding 9 new birds to her lifetime list, some of whom I STILL haven't seen), and we talking (er...ranted) politics, and watched movies, and had BBQs. We even did a Lammas ritual that got some of the gang together again. It was lovely. I couldn't have asked for a nicer house guest or a better two weeks. Even if I didn't get nearly as much work done while she was here, of course. Here are a few pictures from our time together:

Meet Kathy!

She helped out in the garden, since she missed having one, and my knee still doesn't kneel.

Chris and Kathy chatting on the back deck in the evening.

BBQ at Chris's house. She made ribs in the smoker. OMG

Bobbie, Kathy, Chris, and Robin

I have no idea what was wrong with my face in this picture! Maybe I was thinking about her leaving again, since this was her last day.

I hope she doesn't wait another five years for her next visit. The guest bedroom awaits you, Kathy!