Maine, September 11 – 15, 2015.

We came up to Boston earlier in the week to help with the grandchildren, and came up together to Portland.  Joe Jr and family will return to Boston on Sunday, Anne and I plan to drive up to the Boothbay Harbor region to spend a couple of extra days.

Friday September 11.  Jr got off work after lunch, and we drove up in two separate cars as the group consists of six people, and in any case we will not be going back together.

We met up at Eventide Oysters Company for a “snack”.  The food is quite good, a bit on the expensive side.  Among other dishes, we ordered 18 raw oysters, all from Darmariscotta (about an hour north).  I ate three, and Joe and Jess had the rest between the two of them; Anne is not into raw oysters.

With small children in tow, we decided to hit a “kid-friendly” restaurant early, at 5 pm.  Slab serves these 1-lb slices of pizza, we ordered one and several wedges.  It was a hearty dinner.  It was then time to say goodbye to them and we checked in at our hotel, less than 15 minutes away and at less than ½ the price.  (We used our hotels.com reward nights which covered most of the cost anyway.)

Emmie, Harrison and Joe Jr in Eventide Oyster Company, Portland.

Anne and I looking over the menu.

 The Lobster Stew has an Asian flavor to it.

A dozen oysters harvested from the Damariscotta River, we ordered another half dozen after this.  No, Emmie didn't eat any.

 Slab Restaurant serves up pound-sized slabs and other fare.

Hotel: Howard Johnson South Portland, 2 nights.

Saturday September 12.  Jr took Emmie to the Children’s Museum in the morning while Jess stayed with DN.  Anne and I caught a ferry to Peaks Island (less than 20 minutes each way).  Two cruise ships were in port (from RCL and NCL), and between the two of them there must be six thousand or so passengers and crew, so there were lots of people walking the streets along the waterfront.  The ride to Peaks Island was pleasant, and we had great weather for it.

Emmie enjoying breakfast at Hyatt Place, Portland.

Upon our return, we went to the narrow gauge railroad terminal to catch up with Jr’s family.  This was actually a working train; it was decommissioned in the 1940s and later restored as a tourist attraction.  The noise drowned out a lot of the narration, but some tidbits did get through: when the train was decommissioned, soldiers were barracked on Mackworth Island so they could not dessert, Maine sent a lot of soldiers to the civil war, and that there are even narrower gauge railways (2-ft instead of 3.)  It was an enjoyable ride, but the one who enjoyed it the most was Emmie.

Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Two large cruise ships were in port.

One reason Emmie enjoys visits to Whole Food Markets.

b.good burger sources from local farmers.

We called in a take-out order at Portland Lobster Company, a small building on the waterfront doing great business, and ate in the breakfast area of the Hyatt.  While the parents were getting the young children to nap, Anne and I walked around the area, stopping by Standard Bakery for coffee and pastry.  We also moved our cars due to the 2-hour parking limit rule.  Jr and Jess had a dinner reservation at 5 pm, so Anne and I had babysitting duty for a couple of hours.  We took them to a nearby Whole Foods so Emmie could get her dinner, DN was on his usual good behavior.  It was about 7:30 pm that we left the Hyatt.  Anne and I stopped by the b.good restaurant and had burgers made from locally sourced food.

Food turns out to be a big part of this trip.  The Standard Baking Company is a rather well-known place for bread and pastries.  A nice place for a coffee break.

 We had quite a few lobster rolls while in Maine.  These are from Bite Into Maine, a food truck at Fort Williams Park.

 This lobster roll was served up at Erica's Seafood located at the end of Harpswell.

Lobster roll in a steamed bun, Eventide Oyster Co., Portland.

 Lobster Roll from Red's Eats.  It contained the largest amount of lobster meat.  While the reviews are mixed, we enjoyed it.  We also ordered fried shrimp and fried clams.

Just for good measure, we ordered a lobster roll from D'Angelo at the Charlton Plaza on the Mass Pike on the way home.  It may not be as "meaty" as the other rolls, but hey, it is a real lobster roll.

Menu at Lobster Dock in Boothbay Harbor, we had steak and scallops and enjoyed the break from lobsters.  A tour bus brought 40 guests in just when we were about done.

Sunday September 13.  We met up with Jr and family at the Portland Head Lighthouse Park (technically called Fort Williams.)  After walking around the grounds and taking in a few pictures, we all congregated at the “Bite into Maine” truck and ordered various types of lobster rolls (Indian, Connecticut, picnic, and others) and ate at the picnic tables set up in the area.  Jr then set off to return to Boston, hoping to beat the weekend traffic, and Anne and I set out to drive further north.

Iconic image of the Portland Head Lighthouse.

Once you are told about these domestic apple trees, you realize they are all over this part of the state.  No, Emmie didn't eat this apple.

In this part of the states there are many “peninsula” (for lack of a better word) formations that run in a SW to NE direction.  We picked one of them – it’s endpoint being called “Land’s End” certainly made it interesting – driving through Brunswick (home of Bowdoin College), Harpswell, Orr’s Island, and Bailey Island.  We stopped for lunch at Morse’s Cribstone Grill, next to a cribstone bridge that is supposed to be the only one of its kind in the world.  Other places of interest included Devil’s Back, where we went on a hike and couldn’t see why it was named thus; Mackerel Cove with one of the many beautiful harbors we would encounter during our trip; Giant's Footsteps; and Land’s End, to me notable not so much for its location as for a grove of poison ivy with a sign advertising a natural remedy sold at the gift shop.

Mackerel Cove on Bailey Island, a typical hamlet along the mid-coast.

Boothbay Harbor surprises by being quite a large village, with many hotels and several cruise operators.  We got upgraded to a harbor view room, which is nice.  Our hotel is located on the eastern side of the harbor, and there is a foot-bridge (built in 1902, hopefully refurbished since) that makes it a short walk to the western side, where many restaurants are located.

We had dinner at Boathouse Bistro.  Food is good, we shared several tapas and a lobster tail, and, as we will find out throughout the trip, reasonably priced.

This house next to the footbridge over the harbor is for sale at $695,000.  The footbridge was built in 1902, and the house a couple of years after that.  While it must have been refurbished quite a few times, it's still a handyman's special.

Hotel: Boothbay Harbor Inn, 2 nights.

Monday September 14.  Anne had a phone meeting until around 10 am, so I walked to the western shore again and bought two Balmy Days cruise tickets for the morning.  This is basically a ferry run to Squirrel Island with limited narration, lasting an hour.  It was a nice morning to spend on the water, and our jackets came in handy as it was quite chilly.  After that we decided to tackle Red’s Eat, which we saw in a TV program, and is on “Maine’s Ten Best” list for lobster rolls.  The wait was just about an hour, with thirty customs ahead of us, and we got a lobster roll, some fried Maine clams, and some fried shrimps … we figured we might as well order more than we should since we waited this long.

Then it was off to Damariscotta to join their 2 pm cruise on the river.  The cruise is operated by a husband and wife team (husband a local, wife from Hungary), using a refurbished 50-foot Navy boat.  They needed six passengers to go, and there were six of us.  There are about eight oyster farms on the river, producing 13 to 14 million oysters a year, about 80% of Maine’s production.  (Note: these numbers are quite different from what I get from other sources.) The trays the oysters are raised in need to be turned over every now and then to kill the sea creatures (lice?) that grow on them.  This river is productive because of a shallow basin upstream that allows a lot of plankton to grow.  We also saw a couple of loons, a bald eagle, and a small seal.  Each passenger was offered one wild oyster from the area.  It tasted much saltier (salinier?) than those I tried in Portland (all from this river.)  It was a nice and comfortable ride.

Oyster Farm on the Damariscotta River.  The trays are turned every few days so the sun could kill the small organisms that grow on the oysters.

A baby seal sunning itself next to several cormorants.

We then drove to New Harbor where Anne made enquiries about their puffin cruises (run by Hardy Cruises, too late in the season.)  There were a couple of workers sorting the lobsters that were brought in.  We decided to order two lobsters for our afternoon snack at Shaw’s Fish and Lobster Wharf.  One would think this trip is a foodie trip given the number of meals we have eaten so far.  In any case, although the meat yield for a lobster is only about 25%, we found them quite filling.

Lobstermen sorting out the day's catch at Shaw's.

That didn’t stop us from going to Lobster Dock for a casual dinner when we got back to town, though.  Anne and I shared a steak and baked scallops; I am beginning to understand why prisoners in the old days wanted to revolt since they were fed lobsters every day!

Tuesday September 15.  After checking out at about 10 am, we made our way to Erica’s Seafood located at the tip of one of these protruding peninsulas.  We got there at about 11:15 am, and were wondering how many people would make it out to such an out of the way place.  We first ordered a lobster roll, some fried oysters, and a seafood chowder.   Prices are more reasonable but the servings are smaller.  The lobsterman showed up and we ordered two soft-shelled ones he then boiled for us.  Even after having had so many seafood meals, this was still an enjoyable meal.  Anne was talking to the lobsterman a bit, his wife owns Erica.  Erica is seasonal, but the lobster sales go on year round.  He owns six lobster boats and employs several men.  He did allow it’s a bit difficult to get out there in the winter, though.

By the time we finished our meal, there were quite a few additional parties that had shown up.  Next door to Erica’s is Dolphins, a restaurant.  We saw a helicopter land and were told it’s a tour group from New Hampshire.  Some people travel in style; we had to drive over an hour.

A cribstone bridge joining Orr's and Bailey Islands.  We had lunch at the Morse restaurant at one end of the bridge.

View from Erica's Seafood.

After lunch it was time to go back to Somerville.  Jess had prepared a huge slab of ribs, and we supplemented that with some takeout food from Yoki’s.  After seeing Emmie go off to bed, Anne and I began our drive home.  Traffic was a bit heavy but we encountered no serious jams, and got home a bit after midnight.