A Place to Return.......

I had mentioned in my last post that my husband and I had celebrated our 10TH Anniversary in October. We had received a gift certificate as a Christmas gift over two years ago for a Bed & Breakfast in Maine. The way time flies around here we were not surprised that it had been over two years that this most gracious gift had sat unused. We decided now that our youngest is almost two and this year was a milestone in our marriage we would put that gift to use. It has been a long time coming for some time away for the two of us. We have a pretty busy life and it is always extremely difficult to squeeze any extra time for each other. Just a little history, my husband and I are High School sweethearts, we have pretty much been together for almost 21 years! Oh my lord, that just seems crazy to say....21 YEARS!!! Sorry, back to the history. We have five beautiful children, a small farm that consists of a little flock of laying hens and a dog; my husband works an extremely demanding full time job and two part-time jobs, I am always busy with my bakery and the farmers market. These things that consume our time are more in depth than they seem, they branch out into committees, meetings, homework, reports, projects and groups that go along with them! So you see we are sparse on time! But we decided this was the year we would MAKE the time for each other, after ten years we had earned it. We have always loved Maine, especially the coast. We spent a lot of time there before we had children. We would make the two hour trip a few times a year, usually in the fall and winter months; two of our favorite seasons. It has been calling to us and every year we talk about getting back up there, to a place we strongly think we may end up living at some point in our lives. Now back to the trip, I made the reservations in August so we would have plenty of time to plan and make arrangements for the children. We were ready when the time came to leave, we were excited and we were full of anticipation. We had never stayed at a Bed & Breakfast, what should we expect? Our first impression was WOW! It was sitting up on the hill just demanding respect. It was beautiful, the lawn looked like a carpet that had just been laid out, the porch tucked into the trees and the third floor balconies peeking out from the grandeur of the roof line. The front door was just amazing, I have never seen a larger more inviting door in my life! It welcomed you into a beautiful foyer with stairs that seemed to touch the sky. There were simple touches of the season peeking out from every corner of the entry.

Our expectations were exceeded and we were excited to see what else was in store for us here. We were met by Paul who was just so relaxed and easy-going. We talked for a few minutes, as if we had know each other for years, before he showed us to our room. We had chosen Mary's Room, as we made our way up I began to think those stairs really did reach the sky! The room was so beautiful and cozy. I could just see myself spending the entire weekend right there, was there a reason to go anywhere else? The bed looked as if it were stuffed with clouds, we had a gift of delicious homemade chocolate truffles and sherry awaiting us and a balcony all our own.

The room was full of windows, a big over-sized floral recliner had my husbands name written all over it, but the pure character and charm were the most inviting. Cozy bath robes were hung neatly on chunky wooded hangers, just waiting for us to slip them on after a nice hot shower. What else can I say; the room was perfect! We decided to look around and familiarize ourselves with the place we would call home for the weekend. It is just the nicest place full of old charm and all the right little touches.
The lounge was cozy with a fire place surrounded by two cozy arm chairs, the perfect place to sit and enjoy a hot cup of coffee with a splash of Baily's Irish Cream after dinner, Yum!! Speaking of dinner, well it is hard to find the words to describe dinner at Chapman's Cottage. We chose the Prime Rib for the first night we were there and oh my heavens I have never ever seen a piece of prime rib like that in my life, nor have I ever tasted one so perfect. I swear it had to be a full two pounds of juicy seasoned perfection served with red smashed potatoes that melted in your mouth and a side of roasted asparagus that was cooked just the way I like it, still a bit of crunch! I forgot to mention the first course of jumbo and I mean Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail and New England Clam Chowder. When we were finished with dinner you could barely tell we had even eaten any of it and we had a hard time not taking another bite. It was so darn good you just wanted to eat more even if you had no more room. The next evening was even better, if you can believe that. We had plump perfectly cooked Fillet with the most delicious Bearnaise Sauce I have ever tasted. I swear if I could have gotten away with ordering a bowl of it, I would have eaten it like soup. Dinner was beyond gourmet without feeling at all stuffy or pretentious. If you can imagine having a meal like that at Grandmas, then that is how it was. Now breakfast was just as good, so simple but so very good. Even breakfast was a three course event, fresh fruit then the best blueberry muffin baked in a custard cup so it took on the texture almost like that of a bread pudding sprinkled with sugar on top and then the finale of a layered mountain of yum, smashed red potatoes topped with country style sausage and then topped with soft fluffy scrambled eggs. I was so full but I just could not stop eating it was good. The following morning we were graced with fresh pineapple, blackberries, raspberries, a fall apple, pecan, cranberry strudel finished off with huge pancakes made with Maine blueberries topped with butter and real maple syrup. There was fresh hot coffee, a huge array of teas and orange juice available from 7a.m. all the way through breakfast.

We left the breakfast table completely satisfied until dinner, which we usually ate later in the evening to avoid the dinner crowd. The restaurant was open to the public until the end of October. The public loved it just as much as the house guests did, why wouldn't they; great food, great atmosphere and the most pleasant hosts. Donna always greeted us each morning with a smile and every evening with that same smile. Never once did we feel uncomfortable we always felt like we had know Paul and Donna for years, pleasant easy conversation was abundant. We spent the weekend absolutely in love with the place we stayed and we left counting the days until we could get back to this place. We plan to return next year for our 11Th anniversary, but hopefully we can steal a few days sooner to come and visit. I will leave you with a few of my favorite pictures of Chapman Cottage........