The Fabulous 50th Birthday Trip Begins

Yesterday at about 1:30, Luke came into my office, handed me a card, and told me to leave. Now. I opened the card, which said: It’s time to go home | You must prepare | You’re starting an adventure | But who knows where? I wasn't ready, but I rushed my way through the last couple of things and exited the premises. I still had to run a couple of errands, including getting more fish for Maya... and I hadn't even begun to pack so I wasn't sure what Kef was thinking asking Luke to kick me out. When I got home just before 2:00, Kef was standing in my kitchen, starting on dishes. Because I thought we weren't leaving until Saturday, I hadn't done any of my last-minute things yet. I still felt like I needed to do at least one more load of laundry, I hadn't done dishes, or cleaned up piles, or taken out the trash, or even begun to pack. But Kef said I had one hour to be ready before Cindy would come to take charge of Maya. And we had to be on the road by 3:30. Needless to say, it was an exhausting hour...I'm sure for Kef too as she had to do dishes and change the sheets on the bed while I packed. And when I say packed, I mean she kept telling me things I needed to have, and so my suitcase kept getting more and more packed. Now I can barely roll it, much less carry it.

Kef and I

Nonetheless, we got on the road—about 20 minutes late—and had to turn around and come back for Nauzene. Why? Because my second card said: “We’re on our way | But we must make a stop | There’s need of supplies | In case there is chop.” But I can’t find Nauzene at stores in NY, so we went back to the house for me to get some out of the stash in my bathroom.

Then we really were on our way… with a third card that said: “We won’t see the sunset | Want to know why? | It will be behind us | We’re headed to Rye.”

It turns out the Rye was Rye, New Hampshire, and a bed and breakfast right on the coastline. We spent the night looking out onto the waves, eating fish and chips and clam chowder from Petey’s down the street, watching the light from Isle of Shoals Lighthouse, and enjoying an evening of rest before our big next-day plans. I was told we had to be gone by 8:30 at the latest.


The next morning, we were a little slower than Kef expected, and it was almost 9:00 when we left, stopping for just a moment to get seaside photos. We made our way to a place called Wentworth by the Sea—a hotel that had a restaurant called Salt, serving breakfast with a lovely view. We enjoyed our pancakes (me) and avocado toast (Kef), and then she hurried us on our way. When we got back to the car, after taking a moment for photos of the hotel exterior and its beautiful peonies, Kef handed me a gift bag. Inside were a map of Maine and book entitled Lighthouses of New England, with a series of sticky notes marking pages in order. I was instructed not to peak and given this card: “You need to start counting | As we follow our path | The adventure starts now | Onward to Bath.”

And thus began my Fabulous 50th Birthday trip!



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