This past weekend,
Madison and I were lucky to be invited out to the Centerboard Yacht Club (CYC) for a dual business meeting and club-wide lobster bake! Never ones to say no to L O B S T E R (or a good adventure…), we made it a point to dedicate our entire weekend to Portland. Friday night officially ignited the weekend. After getting off the schooner in Boothbay (my part time job - "a day in the life" blog coming soon) we scurried back to Round Pond to get our new line + decorations, and our display table for a booth at the Yacht Club. Luckily, with my boy scout skills, and a handful of packing suggestions from Daddio, we were able to weasel all our goodies into the Jeep. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to secure a Airbnb for the night, so decided we would leave Saturday morning instead.
Scrambled eggs, coffee, everything bagels with wild blueberry cream cheese, and we were out the door by nine o’clock. Lo and behold, Madison has never been to the flagship L.L.Bean store in Freeport (borderline sacreligious… I know), so, of course, we had to stop on our way down. It was only 9:30 ish and the crowds were already starting to pick-up ahead of the free outdoor concert L.L.Bean puts on. We decided to split it up and start with the clothing department, before heading to the home section and outdoors shop. The layout is a sight to behold. Half the time we forgot we were shopping at a store, as there was were so many history and nature displays throughout. After trying on way too many clothes for our own good, and realizing that no matter how hard we prayed, nobody was going to buy them for us, we carried on to the home side of things. We did contemplate goofing off in the little playground of cabins and bridges they built between the buildings, but overprotective parents scared us off.
Walking into the home section at L.L.Bean can really only be described as going to an adult build-a-bear workshop. Everything… and we mean everything is customizable - all the way down to playing card packs and lawn chairs. As jaw-dropping as the first floor was, we left the Earth and drifted to Heaven upon reaching the bedding section. The multitude of classic striped down-feather comforter sets paired with monogrammed pillowcases had us sold. We were smart not to stay too long, as our wallets were starting to climb their way out of our pockets! The time and the heat were enough to motivate us to skip the outdoors section and get back on the road.
The wind was with us as we entered Portland, and we glided through the brownstone downtown and across the bridge to South Portland, arriving at the Centerboard Yacht Club just after four. Like clockwork, we unloaded the car and set up our display inside. Members were starting to trickle in, giving us a wonderful opportunity to meet many of them on an individual basis and talk about who and what Paul Landry Co. is. Being our second time at the CYC, we caught up with the Commodore, as well as the head of marketing to discuss designing a new line of merchandise for them. Afterwards, we volunteered to help serve the lobster dinner.
What a wild time that was! Both of us were running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to supply enough lobster, corn, and salad for everyone. It was a very funny circus of events and we both enjoyed every second. As my dad always says, “Chef eats last, but chef eats best!” and boy, was he right. Our feast of lobster and enough sides to feed a small family was more than worth the work we put in. The open bar was equally as generous, mixing up delicious drinks and serving ice cold Shipyard Brewing Co. brews. Our night wound down about an hour and half later. Plenty of laughs were shared out on the lawn with the members, as we enjoyed the live music and great view of the harbor. We walked our two sleepy butts back to the BnB before crashing down on our beds.
The next day held a new set of adventures! (To be continued…)
L.L Bean Favorites:
Madison's: The cutest fisherman's sweater
Pat's: Leather shoes every time
Lobster Bake Beverage of Choice:
Madison's: Dark N’ Stormy
Pat's: Smashed Blueberry
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