New England Day 3 – North Of Portland ME

While the weather was a little a cool and misty for this morning, it turned out to be a beautiful day. I wanted to spend two days (at least) on the coast – one to North of Portland and one to South. So this first day we headed east and just outside of Portland we went north over to the coast and our first drive was on South Freeport Rd, which was through a nice residential area, but we rarely saw the water. In my first post about our trip, I complained about the road condition and as it turns out, now they were repairing and delaying traffic on what seemed like every road we were on - guess they don't have much time.

We came to a road sign for the Freeport Town Wharf and headed down it to find this.

And since there was a little restaurant with what appeared to be local customers and we were both ready for lunch we gave it a try.  The interesting thing is that it was on a list of places to eat in New England given to us by Big Daddy Dave before we left home, and we just stumbled upon it.

We figured there was no way to get fresher seafood and turns out, they have there own lobstering boats. After looking at the extensive menu for fried foods, we were told the boiled food was around the corner and it included lobster.

Since I hadn’t had my daily lobster yet, around the corner we went to study this menu.

One of the requirements for this vacation was to eat a whole, fresh lobster from a little dive, on the water, where the locals eat, so this was another no brainer. We ordered a 1¾ lb lobster and they cooked it in boiling water with no added seasoning, and we added a bowl each of lobster bisque and clam chowder. Here’s the lobster and bisque and for $13.99/lb, you get only the lobster, a cup of melted butter, and a claw cracker – they’re only $6.99/lb if you take them home and cook yourself.

We didn’t care for either of the soups, which shocked me, and we shared the lobster, after I got it all over me taking it apart. I ate the tail and a claw and Bev ate a bite of tail, a claw, and the knuckles. I liked all parts, but Bev definitely prefers the claw and arm meat. Another surprise was that we left a little hungry as there is not a lot of meat in a lobster this size, especially considering the cost.

Bev has never been a lobster fan and now that I’ve eaten the best, and while I enjoyed it, I can honestly say I like other seafood better – which will help my wallet. But we still have a lobster roll as well as fried whole clams to try.

We left the restaurant and headed up coast, but couldn’t get very close to the water and when we did, it was at a marina in some back bay – we’ll change that when we go south of Portland.   I did like the location of the house on the left.

We did pass this old grist mill – wheel long gone – and the river that ran it.

One the way back we shot a couple of farm houses which nearly always have a big barn and it’s connected to the house. It makes sense to me as the livestock had to spend most of the winter in the barn and the farmer had to be able to reach the barn regardless of the weather.

I didn't take any shots but after seeing so many dandelions - whole fields full - Bev and I wondered if they were the state flower of ME. or NH, but they were not.  While I try to keep them from my lawn, the fields of yellow were very pretty and reminded me again of the God/ St. Francis conversation on the topic.

After watching the weather this week, looks like we were there the perfect week - they've had lot's of rain all week. 
All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Welcome new followers - I now have 79 more than I ever expected and I apprecite your reading.  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Cajun Seafood At Almost Heaven South

Larry