I have two regrets concerning the Chebeague Island Inn. One is that it will be closing by Columbus Day for the season and I’ll have to wait until next year to enjoy it again; and my second gripe is that I wish it had an off-season counterpart on the mainland--to enjoy the wonderful ambiance and food that I experienced at this magical island outpost several weeks ago.

The renovation of this stately old building is superb, and the dining room, which had its fits and starts last year, runs like a dream now. What struck me about the food this time was its simplicity and goodness.

The chef, Terry Foster, is a pro who’s found his niche in a place that others might think too remote to make a difference in a chef’s repertoire. I experienced his cooking often when he ran the dining room at the Pilgrim’s Inn on Deer Isle. Those dinners in the elegant barn room were superb: perfectly roasted racks of lamb and other staples of American fare were always well executed.

You haven't heard from me in a long while because my home internet access--and the ability to contribute to this space--has been lost in the netherlands of Time Warner Cable. I've been waiting nearly 30 days for a hookup to no avail.

Since selling my house and buying another the move into my new digs has been extremely painful. My exspensive state of the art wall oven is about as accurate as a space heater. The phone system that I installed works no better than two tin cans. And if you ever wanted to know what it's like for a TV addict to live wihtout TV, much less internet access, just ask. It's hell.

Packing up years and years of treasures and junk is another facet of life that I don't want to repeat any time soon. In the process the thought of eating at home was none too attractive either. In fact I've been dining out nearly every night for the last month.

I'm getting this off to you all now because I went into my office early to use my dependable high speed computer. Time Warner promises to come today. We'll see. And then I'll let you in on some of the finds and not so fine dining that I've done this past month.