Wanderlust – “ a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.”  It’ s in our blood. We’ve been known to become uncomfortably involved with a class VI road because we “just want to see what’s around the corner.” Anyway, while we can’t travel as extensively as we’d like right now, we try to have fun with little road trips. We’ve had beautiful weather lately, (in the wake of about a month’s worth of rain) so it seemed like a good opportunity to do some explorin’ .  This past weekend we found ourselves in Maine. Of course, we’ve been there many times before but we found some very neat places/things and we thought we should share. Enjoy. :) –Tay

…as we made our way to Ogunquit Beach, we came across two really cool places, the first was the Old House Parts Company, a recycled building materials warehouse in Kennebunk, Maine. Tay and I (Kerry’s handling the play-by-play for this post, btw) love this sort of thing and they had a ton of great pieces, all extremely well organized. It was a great photo op (the photo on the right, below, was taken at this place as well as the 2nd to last pair of photos):

The next place we came across was the Johnson Hall Museum, a fairly strange—but interesting—privately-owned curio shop morphing into a musem of sorts (also in Kennebunk). There were lots of quasi-historic out-buildings in various stages of decay, but again, crazy photo ops. Tay was a little creeped out by this antique jail cell, but not enough to avoid posing in it for me! Most of these photos are hers, by the way, she has a great eye for this sort of photography.

As mentioned, a couple from the Old House Parts Co.

Ahhh, finally at the beach! The ocean is so reinvigorating. We always say we want to get to the ocean a lot every summer, but then don’t. In the past two weeks we’ve been there three times, yes! This was a fun series of images. We were on a boardwalk amongst the dune grass and wild roses. I wanted this shot, but had to sit on the opposite railing, hook my legs underneath and lean way back over the rose bushes to get the right angle. Let’s just say my abs weren’t quite up to the task and Tay couldn’t keep a straight face for very long! Of course, it was worth it and I’m still waiting to take a bad picture of her. Love this shot.

–Tay&K

This is our last series of photos we did this past spring for the Valley Originals, a group of independent restaurants and inns in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire. It just so happens that the Mt. Washington Valley of NH actually runs into the State of Maine as well, including the town of Fryeburg, Maine. Fryeburg is one of our favorite towns in our area because it hosts the Fryeburg Fair every October. It’s Maine’s largest fair and yet it has that classic country fair feel. There’s nothing quite like a gorgeous New England autumn day, with the blazing fall foliage and the smell of hand-cut fries and funnel cakes in the air. The Oxford House Inn is right down the street. It definitely has that main street USA feel, but the view out the back is of farm fields surrounded by the White Mountains. What a setting! This would be a great spot for a small wedding. The Oxford House is now run by Jonathan and Natalie, Jonathan an experienced chef, and Natalie keeping the Inn running smoothly. Together, they continue to add and personalize the Inn’s rich history. It’s pretty cool, ’cause apparently, The Newhart show years ago turned Jonathan’s young mind on to the idea of owning and Inn like the one on that show…for which, coincidentally, the opening sequences were filmed in Sandwich, NH, also not too far from us. Cue the pics…

Look for a post on my crazy class trip to Boothbay Harbor, coming soon!  –K&Tay

The Darby Field Inn is a great little get-away just off Rt. 112, otherwise known as The Kancamagus Highway, aka “The Kanc.” It’s in the town of Albany, New Hampshire, about 6 miles from North Conway. It’s a great New Hampshire Inn and many of the rooms have gorgeous views of the Mount Washington Valley. The place has a really cool vibe. The Inn-keeper Marc and his staff keep the Darby Field running clean and smooth, and we were especially interested to find out that they host weddings, including elopement packages (since Birch Blaze is now offering wedding photography) so you can get ‘er done! Here are some shots Tay and I took that day…

Recently we’ve begun a project with several restaurants and inns in and around the beautiful Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire, not too far from where we live. First on the list: The Bernerhof Inn in the little town of Glen, just a bit north of North Conway, NH. The Inn was actually built as an inn in the 1880′s “to accommodate travelers on their way north through Crawford Notch to the Mt. Washington Hotel.” You can feel the history as you walk through its many rooms and alcoves. George and June are super nice and have done a great job maintaining the Inn’s rich history and classic feel. We also were treated to some of the Inn’s great german cuisine…ok Taylor had chili, but it was very good! I had the sauerbraten, which was amazing. Chef Gary has it goin’ on up there at the Bernerhof! Ok, on to some pics…