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Friday, May 20, 2011

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

9 comments:

  1. "my daily lobster" ... now that's living large. I'm surprised the soup wasn't up to par, what's up with that? I've never seen a barn attached to a house.

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  2. I'm with Bev, I'm not much of a lobster fan. I never understood the crazy because like you said, for the amount of meat and the price...I'd rather have almost any other seafood!
    Love the pictures, Larry! Thanks for taking us with you on your vacation :)

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  3. I should not admit this but, I have never eaten lobster (sigh).
    Looks like you have a couple items off your bucket list on this trip.

    Enjoy you rtime. Thanks for sharing it with us.

    Velva

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  4. Larry, Too bad about the lobster joint... Another 'Roadfood' (Jan & Michael Stern) bites the bullet! Such as life. The good news is that you saved me a wasted stop later this summer. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  5. We learned that when you go to the wharfs in Maine, you can get "mismatched" lobsters - with one smaller claw - much cheaper. We love that program.

    And, road repair season is on all over the Northeast. I like to say that we are forced to worship at the PENNDOT alter - Our Lady of Perpetual Roadwork.

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  6. HI Larry, Where's the picture of the lighthouse??? When I travel to New England and all along the coast, I take pictures of all of the lighthouses I can find... IF I didn't collect waterfalls, I would collect lighthouses... ha

    I had my first lobster when visiting a friend in Mass. many years ago. She even provided a lobster BIB... ha

    Great pictures.
    Betsy

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  7. Larry, Sounds like you and Bev are having a good time. We are gearing up for the trip to Alaska. David is hoping to post on his blog which I think you have a link to. I plan to do what I can when I can. Sorry to miss the get together at Almost Heaven. If you guys ever get to NC we would love to have you visit.

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  8. Sorry to hear your lunch was a disappointment. There are plenty of places near me that cook your lobsters for free, I'm shocked that they would charge for this. Us Yankees are "tight" with our cash! LOL!!! We like to see the moths fly out of our wallets when we open them!!!

    I'm so happy you managed to get good weather, because it's been raining here for two weeks! You lucked out!

    Also, for future trips, you can't share a lobster! They just are't big enough. I also recommend a minimum size of 2 lbs. and you want a hard shell, soft shells are much smaller.

    Check out my Bayley's link on my side bar, in case you want to ship 'em to Tennessee. This is where I go about every other day to get my fish etc.

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  9. I love, love, love the wharfs! It's always my favorite part of a coastal town. That lobster looks fabulous. :)

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