Shortest Drive to See My Oldest Friend

After such a great visit with my friend Suzanne and her family the only way I could leave without crying was knowing that I was going to see my boarding school roommate Nancy. As far as planning a road trip it is not ideal to drive seven hours one day and an hour an a half another, but that is how it works since Nancy lives in Southport, Connecticut. But the layering f friends from different eras of my life is a great way to do this.
I first met Nancy when I got to Walkers. She was an “old girl” since she had come as a freshman. She knew the ropes and was happy to share them with me. We were a Mutt and Jeff twosome since she was under five feet tall and under ninety pounds. But despite our size difference we shared that same sense of humor and the ability to see the absurd in many situations.
I arrived at her house earlier than I thought, but since she is an early person too she was fine with that. She was cooking up a storm, grilling chicken and shrimp, cooking beets, and corn. I was wondering if a bunch of other people were coming over due the the large amount of food she was preparing. No, it was all for us. “I couldn’t decide what to make, so I made it all,”

Nancy told me. We are alike in that cooking large amounts issue.
We each made ourselves a lovely salad in a Tupperware bowl which we put in a cooler to take to the Southport Harbor to have a picnic. Nancy had chairs and blankets. “Just in case you want to sit on the ground or in a chair.” Talk about an accommodating hostess. It is no surprise because Nancy’s mother was the same way. When we were in high school I often would come to see her at her house since we only lived about a half hour from each other. Nancy’s Mom, who was a full time Doctor, with seven children, would meet me at the door with a plate of home made snickerdoodles and some other kind of cookie. “Just so you have a choice.” No choice was necessary because those snickerdoodles were the best cookie on earth. A doctor and a baker!

After our lunch we took a walk around the beautiful mansions on the water. Many are for sale because few people can afford to live in such huge houses and keep them up. We would try and guess how much they were on the market for and then look them up online to see who guessed the right number. We passed one particularly fabulous property and it had the most appropriate sign on the gate, “estate watch”. I always wonder who calls their own house “an estate?”  
The best part about this trip is getting to talk and talk with my friend who I have known almost my whole life. The worst part is that it is very short and at some point I need to sleep. I told Nancy that she and her husband should retire to North Carolina then I could see her more. Also the houses are much less expensive and very few of them require estate watch.