We celebrated Dot and Tommy’s fortieth wedding anniversary over the weekend, with a big blow-out up to their camp. We had lobsters and steamers, coleslaw, macaroni salad, corn on the cob, ambrosia (I brought that) and homemade biscuits. And the desserts? Oh, Mister Man! Don’t know if I was more buzzed by the sweets or the sugar-free Jell-O shots (gotta save calories where we can)!
Oh, and Junior made his famous bean hole beans. Ever had ‘em? It’s a guy thing ‘cause, you know, it involves digging a hole, filling it with old tire chains and playing around with fire for a good three hours. The woman helps out a bit, prepping the beans, getting ‘em all ready. Then the guy buries the bean pot in the fire pit, where it stays all night, cooking away. Next day, the guy digs the pot out. Man, are those beans ever tasty!
All the usual suspects were there: Celeste and Bud, Rita and Smitty, Betty and Pat, Dot and Tommy (of course), Shirley and Junior and me and Charlie. Shirley and Junior went up Friday, so they could get the beans started. The rest of us arrived the next morning. We told Dot and Tommy not to get there ‘til the afternoon. We didn’t want them lifting a finger to help.
Betty and me made a special trip to iParty in Bangor for supplies. Side note: have you ever noticed that the people who work at the party store, aren’t really the life of the party? I mean, this little glum gal greeted us when we walked in the door. “Welcome to iParty,” she says, in a monotone with zero energy. It got Betty and me to giggling, it was so ridiculous.
Anyhoo, we flirted with doing a luau theme ‘cause we liked them leis. But we weren’t up for roastin’ a pig, and it would be hard to get one of them apples in a lobster’s mouth! So we went with pink flamingos. Nothin’ says Maine like pink flamingos, right? We got pink flamingos plates and table cloth, pink and green plastic cups, balloons and streamers, little pink flamingo party favors, and a few big ones to decorate the yard. We thought we were done, then Betty notices pink flamingo temporary tattoos. Some things were just mean to be!
What a blast we had decorating that camp! We even gussied up the pontoon boat, which we call the party boat. Why? ‘Cause it is. That night, we pile in, take that thing out to the middle of the lake. There, we swapped stories about Dot and Tommy. You know, tried to get ‘em goin’. After awhile, though, we piped down and just sat there, watching the stars and listen’ to the loons. That’s about as good as it gets here in Maine.
We all stayed over. Celeste and Bud had brought up their camper, which sleeps four. Rita and Smitty pitched their tent and the rest of us bunked down inside.
The next morning, them loons didn’t sound so magical to those of us who woke with a big head. We had leftover beans and biscuits for breakfast, and Dottie fried up a whole mess o’ bacon. Along with good strong coffee, some of the guys had what they refer to as barley juice for breakfast. (Any other time of day, we call it beer.)
While the boys went fishing, us gals tidied up. We had leftovers for lunch and headed home, temporary tattoos still in place. God, what a great group of folks! I’m one lucky gal.
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flips side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Celebration up to Camp