A year ago, we celebrated the 4th of July with a weeks vacation in Key West with some of our closest friends, Kris and Rich. We had an absolute blast, and love reminiscing about the trip. On that trip, we were at the Southern-most point in the US, and now, exactly a year later, we are nearly as far North in the US as you can go. We've certainly been very lucky to have all these incredible experiences. We decided to call Kris and Rich to say "Happy 1 year Key West anniversary!" 

When Kris and Rich, avid travelers,  found out we were in Belfast and we planned to got to up the coast for fireworks, they recommended a restaurant called Geddy's in Bar Harbor. About half an hour later, Kris called back and told us to head to Geddy's; they had called the restaurant and written a blank check for our dinner! Their only requests were that we have the waitress take a photo of us, and that we order the blueberry pie. We were nearly speechless! This was such a remarkably kind, unexpected surprise. Feeling truly grateful, we hopped in the van and drove to Bar Harbor. 

When we arrived, the town was buzzing with energy and people. It was the perfect place and atmosphere to celebrate a holiday. 

There were cars everywhere; we got very fortunate, again, to find a parking spot just a few blocks away from Geddy's. 

When we saw Geddy's, we were speechless again. It was right across from the water, beside the location for the fireworks display.

Geddy's was noisy and busy and wonderful inside. We were seated right away, despite there being a wait. 

Our next surprise came with the location of our table. We got the best seat in the house, a table right by the window with an unobstructed view of the water and the crowd gathering for the fireworks. 

We have a lot of love for Kris and Rich; thank you guys for being such wonderful, generous, kindhearted friends.

For two travelers used to always sharing food at any restaurant, let alone one as nice as Geddy's, being able to order what we wanted from the menu was a liberating change from our normal penny-pinching. The food at Geddy's was superb. We got a crab cake appetizer, and Teriyaki Salmon and Seafood Alfredo for our entrees. 

And of course, we got the blueberry pie for dessert. It was mouth-watering good! 

Though we could have watched the fireworks right from our table, we had finished dinner and opted to head outside to experience the energy of watching the fireworks with so many other people. 

Bar Harbor had an excellent fireworks display. Thank you again Kris and Rich! We are so grateful for your friendship and your kindness. 

A note to our lovely readers: Beginning tomorrow, we are volunteering and participating in a meditation and garden retreat at the Morgan Bay Zendo nearby in Surry, Maine. We'll be there for 6 days, during which I plan to take a short hiatus from blogging. We've had so much to say and blog about lately, and we wanted to thank our many, many followers. Whatever country you're in, we hope everyone had a splendid 4th of July! We'll be back shortly.