Intimacies

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

Debbie on Aug. 15, 2010, 2:21 a.m.

Happy Anniversary Renee and Damien. Fourteen years married - that's awesome. xo

reply

Rana on Aug. 15, 2010, 2:55 a.m.

Congrats Renee on 14 years. What a beautiful place to spend your anniversary. My husband and I celebrate our 14 years in September. 1996 was a good year!

reply

Claudia on Aug. 15, 2010, 2 p.m.

Glad you were able to spend some time alone for such a big achievement! We're up to 16 years this fall...can't believe it. Last night Aiden had his very first sleep over, so although it wasn't us going anywhere, we did "celebrate" with a 16 km bike ride this morning (complete with raspberry picking on the side of the road)!

Lovely photos as always! :)

reply

Melanie on Aug. 15, 2010, 2:48 p.m.

Happy Anniversary to you both! 14 years is great!!!! Fantastic way to celebrate.

reply

Cindy on Aug. 15, 2010, 3:33 p.m.

Lovely! Happy Anniversary to an awesome couple! Bethel is one of my favorite places. Nice little restaurant there called "The Garden of Eatin"..... something like that... Vegan.

We pray for many, many more wonderful years for you guys!

reply
- renee on Aug. 15, 2010, 4:50 p.m.
  
  That restaurant is unfortunately long gone. And we definitely did not eat vegan and paid for it the next day.
  
  reply

nicola@which name? on Aug. 16, 2010, 4:15 a.m.

Bliss! Happy 14! Nicola

reply

Francesca on Aug. 16, 2010, 6:01 p.m.

Happy anniversary! We celebrated our 20th this year, and we still have to have that honeymoon, or even just that getaway trip - I'm so glad you made it happen!

reply

Francesca on Aug. 16, 2010, 6:04 p.m.

Sorry - it was 15th wedding anniversary, and 20 years since we first met!

reply
- renee on Aug. 16, 2010, 6:13 p.m.
  
  Isn't it wonderful? Knowing your partner for such a long time, sharing your life and memories and all those familiarities.
  
  Anyway, I'm such a sop about marriage. What I wanted to say is that there was an Italian family at the B&B we stayed at. We didn't chat too much except about the weather and such. But I thought "how interesting" since your family lives in Italy.
  
  reply

Naomi on Aug. 30, 2010, 2:37 a.m.

I think the vegan restaurant is in Norway now. We ate there a couple times last year, but I don't know if they're still open or not. We don't go out very often. Anyway, how wonderful that you had a whole night alone! And, Cafe Decocoa's... I think we went there with Nemo and Daphney after we visited the ice festival. Cool place!

reply