Return To Maine Chapter 11
A/N: During my research, I discovered the fact that there are many breweries in the state and many places have tasting rooms and local businesses offer free tastings with 3 samples each. There may be several states that do this that I do not know of. Not being a drinker myself, I just found it interesting. As always, thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. To new reviewer, Kerry Mildon, thank you so much for reading and reviewing and I hope you stay with us on this journey.
They exited the elevator and followed the directional sign on the wall to their room for the next couple of days.
Rick slid the keycard into the slot and opened the door to a lovely room decorated in muted hues of gold, tan, and pale green. The room contained a king sized bed with small nightstands on either side, a couple of feet away was a sitting area with a loveseat next to the bed and a small coffee table in front of the loveseat.
Across the room from the entrance was a set of french doors that opened onto a small patio overlooking Frenchman Bay. Along the opposite wall from the bed, a sea foam green occasional chair sat angled into the corner behind the french doors. Directly across from the bed was a tv stand with a 55 inch flat screen tv.
The spectacular view of Frenchman's Bay through the french doors drew Kate onto the patio. Opening the doors, she stepped onto the patio and sighed at the view where the blues of the sky and sea met and converged with the lush green of the hotel grounds. Beautiful!
"Well, that's a disappointment." Rick grumbled behind her.
She turned from the majestic view in front of her to find Rick standing in a doorway behind the entrance. "What is?" she asked, striding up to him.
"This bathroom! It's too small. There is no way we can shower together in that thing!" he exclaimed.
True. The bathroom was small with a regular tub/shower combo and with Rick's size there was no way they could both get in there at the same time, but it was nothing she didn't expect.
She laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously? That's your complaint? It's a functional bathroom and as much as I love bathing and showering together, it isn't going to kill either one of us to do it separately for a couple of nights. Not everyone has the size for a bathroom large enough to house a life sized Bobba Fett and still have room for an extra large jacuzzi tub and a shower large enough for two and still be roomy."
"I know. I don't mean to be so churlish. It's been two months and I've missed you so much that I don't want to be separated from you for one second."
Cupping the side of his face in her palm, she replied, "I know, babe. This has been a rough couple of months for both of us and I missed you terribly, too. Now go stand out on the patio and take in that view and a couple of deep breaths. Okay, so the trip here was a little unplanned, but it's perfect in my eyes. You have given me a beautiful 8 months as a couple and this amazing way to celebrate it, so let's go celebrate."
"You're right. I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted. Now, while you were checking us into the hotel, I picked up some brochures from the lobby. Let's go check them out."
"Okay."
A half hour later, after browsing the brochures Kate had picked up in the lobby, Rick glanced at his watch. "It's 11:30 now. Wanna go into town and do some scouting around? Maybe find a diner for lunch?"
"Sure. Let's go."
Kate grabbed her purse from the bed and they headed out to discover downtown Bar Harbor just a mile up route 3.
Rick found a parking space in front of the bright colored facades that lined Route 3 and angled in.
Unlatching his seat belt, he came around and assisted Kate from the car.
Lacing their fingers together they began their stroll up Route 3. They passed a small museum, a hardware store, a drugstore, and a grocery store.
Across the street, Rick noticed the town's old cast iron clock next to a city park and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "What do you say that after lunch we take a walk in the park?"
She smiled that dazzling full blown smile that lit up his entire world up at him. "I'd love that."
"Good. We'll do it then."
They walked a few doors down Main Street discovered a diner. "It's noon now. Ready for a burger and fries?" Rick asked, glancing at his watch.
"Sure."
Rick pulled open the door for her and they entered the establishment. A blonde hostess welcomed them. "Table for 2?" she asked, plucking 2 menus from the podium in front of her. At Rick's nod, she escorted them to a booth in the middle of the diner. "Your waitress today is Amber and she will be with you in a moment." she informed them, plucking two menus down in front of them.
"Manhattan is home, but I love it here. Thank you, babe for giving us this trip." she said, leaning into him and brushing a sweet kiss to the side of his mouth after the hostess had left.
"You're welcome. I'm loving it here, too. It's so serene and peaceful. Not missing the hustle and bustle of the city at all. There's a sense of freedom and security that I don't get at home." he agreed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"Richard Castle, as I live and breathe!" exclaimed a tall woman in her mid 30's with fiery red hair and green eyes, pad and pencil in hand approached their table.
He felt Kate stiffen beside him as she squeezed his knee beneath the table. Oh, hell! So much for the false feeling of freedom and security.
Although, his eyes had widened and he'd had to swallow around the lump in his throat, he recovered nicely, Kate thought.
"Umm, excuse me?" he asked.
"Richard Castle, the famous author. I love your books, by the way."
"I'm sorry. You've mistaken me for someone else. My name is Alex Rodgers and this is my girlfriend, Kate."
She had to hand it to him, though. The Martha Rodgers side of him came out in him in all of it's full blown glory and he recovered from the initial surprise nicely.
"Really? You sure look like him. Exactly like him."
And maybe not.
"So sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not him. You know what they say about everyone having a twin somewhere… I guess I'm his, but I am not him, I assure you."
From the dubious expression on her face and the way she rolled her eyes, Amber didn't buy into the ruse at all, but she said nothing and played along with it.
"Anyway, My name is Amber and I'll be your waitress today. What will you be having?" she asked, poising her pencil above her pad.
"Cheese burgers and fries okay with you, honey?"
"Perfect." Kate muttered beside him.
"We'll have 2 cheese burgers without onions and 2 orders of french fries."
"Would you care to try our complimentary glasses of wine or beer today?" Amber asked as she scribbled their orders onto her pad.
"Complimentary?"
"You two aren't from Maine, are you?"
"Uh, no. We're from New York so we're new to the area." he answered, covering Kate's brutal squeeze to his knee with his hand.
"Well, we Mainers are proud of our local breweries. There isn't a place in town that doesn't offer complimentary samples. In fact, if you get a chance you should visit the Atlantic Brewing Company about ten minutes from here off of Route 3. They have free wine tastings from 2 to 4 pm. And they have a lovely gift shop as well as 2 restaurants on site."
"That's very interesting and we may do that. Thank you for the information, Amber. What flavors do you have?"
"We offer 3 samplings each and we have blueberry, strawberry, peach, cherry, and mustang grape in both wine and beer as well as the traditional brands and flavors."
"Which would you like, honey?" he asked.
"Uh, I think I'll venture on the wild side and go with the blueberry, strawberry, and cherry beers with with a Bud Light. It's a little too early for wine, yet. At least, for me it is."
"Okay. I think I'll have the mustang grape, the blueberry and the peach in the beer, too with a Bud Light." Rick told a scribbling Amber.
Amber nodded and replied, "Okay. I'll be right back with your waters and your beers."
"Thank you, Amber." Rick called as Amber sauntered away. "Well, so much for freedom and security. You know, honey, with Ryan and Espo snooping around back home, it's only a matter of time..."
"Yeah. I know. I just want this one last weekend to ourselves and we still need to pay them back for snooping yesterday."
"I know. And we will get them back for that, I promise. But we need to tell them soon and by that I mean within the next month or so. You start your vacation the 1st of July. I could set up a 4th of July celebration at my house in Southampton and we could invite the boys, Lanie, and Jenny along with your dad, my mother and Alexis."
"I don't know, babe. I'll think about it. Right now, let's just enjoy this weekend and talk about the rest after your book tour. Right now, I need to visit the ladies room, so if you'll excuse me, I won't be but a minute."
"Of course." he replied, sliding out of the booth to let her out.
He watched as she approached the hostess for directions to the ladies room.
Rick could kick himself. If this was to be their last weekend together for a while, he wanted to make it even more memorable . For all of his carefully thought out and carefully laid out plans, he should have scheduled a trip here and is really surprised that he hadn't actually thought of it. All he had actually planned had involved the surprise romantic dinner at the cabin, which had worked out great and a day trip into Acadia.
Honestly though between his book signings, late business dinners with Gina and Paula and 4 promotional book parties, he was surprised that he had even planned as much as he had.
When he had contacted the hotel, he had asked if there were any romantic restaurants in the immediate area and the clerk had informed him that The Reading Room Restaurant at the Bar Harbor Inn had tables against the windows that offered spectacular views of Frenchman Bay, with live nightly entertainment of grand piano music and the dress code was smart/ casual and the food and service was excellent.
The desk clerk had assured him that The Reading Room Restaurant and The Rose Garden were about as romantic as they got in Bar Harbor, but this being a holiday weekend, hotels and restaurants booked quickly.
He had informed him that this was a special weekend for him and his girlfriend and the clerk told him that he understood and would take care of the reservations for Rick. But upon arrival, was informed that the clerk had not been able to make their reservations for The Rose Garden as they were booked solid all weekend. So now, he was stuck with dinner reservations for tonight.
He so wanted for this to be a memorable trip for Kate. Since they had started dating, most of their dates had consisted of take outs at their apartments, or burgers at Ramey's and one movie night that they actually went out for. Most of their movie dates were of the in home variety.
He watched as Amber approached their table with their drinks and decided to ask her if she knew of any romantic restaurants in the area.
"Hey, Amber. This is a special weekend for me and my girlfriend and the dinner plans I had for tonight fell through. I thought we had dinner plans for The Rose Garden, but turns out now that we don't. I was wondering if you had any suggestions for an alternative romantic restaurant in the area."
"As a matter of fact, I do, but it would be expensive."
"How expensive?" Rick asked.
"For $250.00, I believe I can arrange a 2 hr, cruise around the islands. You see, my husband runs a small charter boat service that he takes tourists out on. Now, we don't prepare the meals on board, but catering on board can be arranged, pre cooked."
"Really? That sounds amazing! How do I contact him?"
"Let me contact him and I'll get back to you before you leave."
A/N: Going to leave this chapter as it is a little late and begin Chapter 12. More Bar Harbor coming and the chapter after that one will have them venturing into Acadia.