The House on Stew's Island

Our friend, Stew, has a beautiful house on an island off of Massachusetts- near the cape. Stew and his sister, Taylor, have grown up with that house in their family and have made it into a wonderful island retreat with a welcoming open-door policy. We affectionately call it Stew's Island as in "I am going to Stew's island this weekend, want to come?" He doesn't, in fact, own the island, and there are other houses there, as well, but you really don't notice them unless you start looking for them, or if some of the neighbors stroll over for a visit. The house is so large that you can have upwards of 20 people there. This weekend was a small group: there were 15 adults, 3 children, 3 dogs and 1 cat. There isn't any electricity on the island, but you hardly notice. As darkness approaches, we start lighting candles and Coleman lanterns, and usually enjoy a very large candlelit feast in the cavernous dining room, often eating clams, mussels and quohogos that we have gathered ourselves from different spots around the island. The one downfall to the lack of electricity is the middle-of-the-night outhouse run. Since there isn't a bathroom in the house (well, only young children are allowed to use it), you are virtually guaranteed to wake up in the middle of the night with an overwhelming call of nature. Down the stairs, out the door and across the lawn you go; the outhouse itself isn't a problem: it's the midnight walk on the dark, silent island that brings to mind every single horror movie you have ever watched. I usually make Lucy come with me.

The island has a lot of history for Greg and I; he gave me my engagement ring there in 2000; we were there the weekend before our wedding the summer of 2001; we announced our first pregnancy to all our friends while we were there in 2002. Juliette first visited when she was 4 month old in 2003; in 2004 we were pregnant again; and this summer we had Cosette with us. Juliette had a blast on the boat, in the water, and playing with Nathan. Also, since I brought my brother and Kelli as well as the Sherman's along, she had plenty of doting people to cater to her the entire weekend! Greg enjoyed the sun, the sea, and cooking for an appreciative crowd. I enjoyed getting away for the weekend- although it is much less relaxing now that I have 2 children to care for, it is also a lot more fun to watch them as they explore and play.

The house.