August 14, 2010
We celebrated our fourteenth anniversary this week with an over-night getaway to Bethel, Maine's most beautiful mountain village.

If memory serves me well (Damien thinks we may have done this once though I don't recall) this is our first ever over-night trip without any children. What with no relatives living close, breastfeeding for years, a general close attachment to our children and my aversion to spending money it's been hard to make this happen before.

For our little trip I brought only my 50 mm prime lens. Although the village boasts beautiful mountain scenery (we often hike within 20 minutes of this town) and old homes I wanted my photos to focus on the intimacy of our time together. The little details that made our time together so special.

We stayed at Bethel Hill B&B, a lovely accommodation with knowledgeable and friendly hosts, a welcoming wrap around porch and beautiful perennial gardens. I recommend it if you are in the area and want a special place to stay.

We did date night type things; eating out, a movie, mutual massages, etc... (keeping this family friendly). The next day we slept in, walked Main St., enjoyed a local cafe and mostly took life at a very leisurely (no impatient children asking "what's next?") pace.

It was wonderful. We retrieved the kids, who "didn't miss us at all" - too busy swimming, eating pizza, finding bunnies, kittens and ducklings on our friend's farm. And on the way home picked blackberries from an abandoned yard.

A perfect summer sun-kissed anniversary celebration.

a summer garden thank you gift for the friends who watched our kids