Sunrise at The Peaks Island House

Ferry View from the Deck of The Peaks Island House

Front of The Peaks Island House

The Peaks Island House

Back of The Peaks Island House

Deck Along the Back of The Peaks Island House

Our Room at The Peaks Island House

Sunset at The Peaks Island House

Like I said earlier, of the two inns on Peaks Island, The Peaks Island House rooms are smaller and more quaint, but you really cannot beat the views there. The rooms are cute inn rooms, not suites like at The Inn on Peaks. Dallas and I were staying in Room #1 of The Peaks Island House and Ging and Billy were in Room #3. It was cool to be so close to the water you could hear the surf when you woke up. And we could see the ferry’s coming in and out. When it got close we could leave our room and walk down just in time to get on.

Peaks Island View Towards Portland

Rob met up with us at the ferry landing and we went to check into The Inn at Peaks Island. One problem, we weren’t registered there! Not to worry, the place we were staying was The Peaks Island House and was so close that the guy working registration at The Inn walked us over The Peaks Island House. To give you an idea, The Inn has 6 rooms and The Peaks Island House has 5 and those are all of the places to stay on the entire island. The Inn seemed a bit nicer than The Peaks Island House, but latter had a way better view. Our room looked right out onto Casco Bay, whereas The Inn was across the street.

After we got checked in we walked over to Colleen and Rob’s house to check it out. Most things on Peaks Island are walkable. Cars are allowed on the island, but many people just have golf carts and bikes. Some of Rob and Colleen’s family and friends were at the house. We had a few drinks and then walked over to The Inn and had a few more. After that we called it a night. Long day!

The ferry to Peaks Island and the island itself reminded Ging and I of Orcas Island, part of the San Juan Islands out in Washington. We’d both visited, though not together. The only thing is that Orcas is much bigger and much more populated than Peaks. I heard that Peaks is only like 2 miles across and Orcas is 57 square miles. Also, Peaks population is about 800 year-round residents, swelling to 5,000 in the summer, where Orcas has about 4,500 residents, not sure how many in the summer. On Orcas there were many boutiques and shops and grocery stores, things to do, places to eat and rooms to stay. On Peaks there are the two inns with 11 rooms total, each of them had a restaurant. There was a coffee shop, a breakfast place, one general store, one souvenir shop, maybe a few other small businesses and that’s it. Most of the island is private residences and conserved land.

Portland Ferry Dock

Nice Boats & Houses

Billy

Rachelle & Dallas

Ging & Billy

Dallas & Sarah

Hawaii Boys, Dallas & Billy

Colleen & Sarah

Ferry in the Sunset

Dallas, Sarah, Ging, Colleen

Peaks Island

Peaks Island

While sitting in Portland, Maine drinking beer and eating lobster outside was nice, Billy, Ging, Dallas and I ultimately were going to Peaks Island. This is where our friends Rob and Colleen live and where we’d be staying. Killian and Liz were visiting with us, but staying on the Portland side. They also had separate plans because it was Killian’s birthday. We called ahead and ordered a pizza from Flatbread, one of Billy’s favorites. Then around 7 we grabbed our pizza, bought ferry tickets, went to the dock and took the ferry over to Peaks Island. Colleen was also catching that ferry and so was Rob’s sister, Sarah. We all enjoyed pizza and the sunset views. The ride is about 20 minutes. Every day Rob and Colleen either kayak or ferry to Portland for work. A different sort of commute, for sure.

Portland Lobster Company, Portland, ME

We just arrived back from the East Coast and are settling back in here at home in Chicago. We had a great time in Maine and so much fun seeing friends we don’t see often enough.

These photos are from Portland Lobster Company in Portland, Maine. Dallas, Killian, Liz and I flew into Boston and drove up to Portland, where we picked up Billy and Ging Ging from the airport. We wanted to sit outside somewhere and drink a beer after the long drive.. maybe eat a little seafood… lobster. Portland Lobster Company fit the bill perfectly. They had a long pier with tons of seating and pitchers of Shipyard, a locally brewed beer, on special. We split a few lobsters between us and sat in the sun. Very relaxing.

For some of the last few weddings we’ve been to I’ve taken a bunch of photos and as part of our wedding gift, I’ve made a mini photobook of the photos I took. With Flickr & Qoop it’s really easy to make these custom books. I know my photos aren’t as good as hired, professional wedding photographers, but many times I’ve been there for days and days of wedding activities that the professional photographer missed. So, this little mini album encapsulates a wedding weekend, not just a day. Also, many times the professionals take a while, whereas these books can be done very quickly. Friends have been really happy to have some photos in their hands right away.

This weekend we are going to Maine for Rob & Colleen’s wedding. (Rob and Colleen are on the left in the last photo of Killian and Liz’s wedding album.) They live on an island off the Maine coast and I’m really looking forward to the trip. I saw Rob a few weeks ago when he was visiting for the saling race to Mackinac (he does it every year). He asked if I can take photos at the wedding and I said of course I would. I’m betting I’ll have enough to make another one of these little books.