Memory lane, à la Meg.

After our nostalgic (and filling) evening at The Grog, it was all Miles & I could do to drag our piggy little butts home and into bed. Saturday morning, we got up bright and early, had some breakfast (and coffee) in the Garrison's dining room, and piled into the car for a drive up to New Hampshire, and back into my own adolescence.

We were on our way to meet my friends Ginelle and Rob for lunch in Portsmouth - but, first, we had a stop planned at Phillips Exeter Academy, the prep school Ginelle & I attended for four years in the fashion-unfriendly mid-90s. Miles had never seen the campus, and even though things were shut down for the annual late-summer renovation frenzy, I wanted to show him around a bit.

We took a walking tour of the campus - which has changed a bit since my time, with new-fangled buildings all over the place and far too many luxuries, in my crotchety opinion - and just generally enjoyed the ridiculously warm weather. We ran into a few faculty members enjoying their time off (we were there during the break between summer school and the fall term) and visited the Hill Bridge, off of which you must jump, if you wish to graduate. No, really.

After our walk, we hopped in the car and sped off toward Portsmouth, an adorable town on the Piscataqua River, just across the bridge from Kittery, Maine. We had some time to kill before meeting up with Rob & Ginelle, and decided to take a little drive out to Wentworth by the Sea, a big old white elephant of a resort in New Castle. New Castle is just south of Portsmouth, and is built entirely on islands - a really cool place, full of beautiful vistas and cute little coves.

On our drive, we also discovered one of the most beautiful wedding venues on earth - really. A tiny, gorgeous little chapel is hidden in the woods leading down to the coast, and about half a mile past it is the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, a rambling yellow house on a gentle slope, smack next to the water. Absolutely stunning. I wish we'd gotten to poke around a bit more, but since there was an actual wedding in progress, we thought it best to make ourselves scarce.

Finally, we rolled into Portsmouth, where lunch - and chocolate - awaited us.

Postcard of the Wentworth by the Sea hotel via Wikipedia.