Last day and the last supper

Labor Day, and our last day at the cafe went well -- short and sweet. We opened at 9 am and by 2 in the afternoon the doors were locked and (most) of the customers gone. By 3 pm the floors had been swept and mopped, everything clean and ready for the morning. Lights were turned out, doors were locked and we were finished.

For Susan and I it was truly a closure: our summer along the rocky coast of Downeast Maine had come to an end. Susie's first baking job had for all intents and purposes been a rousing success. And to top it off we met some of the nicest people we've ever known.

Susan had a short day Monday and spent the early afternoon finishing packing and getting our household ready to move back south, eventually, we hope to Providence, RI. After we closed the cafe I met up with her at the apartment and the two of us drove out to Schoodic Point, or rather near there at Blueberry Hill parking lot.

We left the car and hiked the Anvil trail to the top of Schoodic Head so that I could show her the spectacular overlooks, particularly the one looking north toward Winter Harbor. From there we hiked down East Trail to the loop road and then back to the car. It was a gorgeous day for a hike -- I know, gorgeous is a word that has almost become standard in my descriptions of Schoodic. But if you ever get the opportunity to visit that section of Acadia National Park you will quickly see why.

Anyway, there were absolutely no bugs! Nor were there any sounds at all in the woods. As the shadows lengthened through the trees and cast themselves over the moss on the forest floor I thought how odd that with the exception of a few seconds near the end of the hike, there was deafening silence on the trail.

We zipped home and Susie showered and dressed. The plan was to meet the Gerrish crew back out at the park, at Frazer Point, which overlooks Winter Harbor, for dinner and a bonfire.

We pulled into the parking lot right behind Natalie and Rosemary and a few minutes later, Margaret, Natalie's Mom, drove up with Guzel and Jessica. We off-loaded the food, camp wood and picnic paraphenalia and of course the wine. (photo above: Jessica and Guzel.)

The wind that evening was strong and gusting from the southwest but it only added to the delicious flavors of the evening: Rosemary's grilled shrimp, shrimp creole, noodles in peanut sauce and coconut rice, all washed down with cool French whites and all topped off by champagne!

At one point during dinner, in between gale force winds, I realized that the four people sitting across from me now comprised the entire staff of Gerrish's cafe! And what a group too, I might add. If anybody can pull off holding that fort down for another month it's those four. Of course the cafe's hours are now reduced and they are now closing on Sundays; also sandwiches will be dropped from the menu as the food runs out (roast beef and turkey are not long for this world in fact).

(Natalie, Rosemary, Jessica, Margaret and susie -- where's Guzel?!)

Anyway, the night darkened, the winds remained strong and a roaring fire never felt better. But all things, as they say, must come to an end and so it was with our wonderful last supper in Winter Harbor.

We packed up the cars, cleaned up the trash, doused the fire and while the gang headed back into town Susie and I drove down to Schoodic Point one last time.

As we stood in the parking lot all alone, in near-total darkness, with the wind driving the breakers onto the rocks below us, and gazed upwards we could see a sky filled with stars. And more than that, there was the Milky Way strung out from one end of the sky to the other. I said to Susie I couldn't remember the last time I saw such a congregation of celestial bodies. And certainly not the Milky Way. Was it a "profound moment?" I have no idea. All I know is that it was absolutely, utterly

gorgeous.

Wish you had been there,

Steve