Lobster for every meal

Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island are all touching this great state of Massachusetts. I’ve decided to take it upon myself to explore as many new places as possible while I’m living in New England. Niagara Falls, Salam, Acadia National Park, Cape Cod: We’re overwhelmed with options!

A few weeks ago Frank and I went on our first out-of-Boston adventure, thanks to our good friends Lynn and Jim, who invited us to spend a few days at Lynn’s parents’ Southwest Bar Harbor home. When they invited us (mid-summer) I didn’t know where I’d be living or what I’d be doing, so I was thrilled to actually be able to join them on their trip. I’ve never been anywhere near Maine. I was excited, not only to see a new part of the country, but to spend some quality time with our friends from home. Lynn and Jim live in Chapel Hill, NC and I miss seeing them regularly. Jim is delightfully awkward and keeps me constantly laughing. He and Frank have a bromance like you couldn’t imagine. Jim brings out a side of Frank that is otherwise kept hidden deep inside.  And Lynn is so full of life. She likes wine just as much, if not more than I do! We get along really well. Another fun couple, Laura and Thomas also joined in on the ride. The best way I can think of to describe Laura and Thomas is uncommonly sweet and good natured. I love them.

Frank and I had planned on driving up after my class on Thursday night but due to a storm (and the 5 hour trip ahead of us) we decided to get a good night’s sleep and head up by lunchtime the next morning. I was okay with this decision because I LOVE observing the scenery on road trips, and this would be much easier in the daylight. Up and at’em at 6:00am. As usual, I rolled out of bed completely ready to go while Frank took a long, sweet shower and threw together a few last minute things for the weekend ahead. * I have never been able to figure out when men do in the shower for so long. Maybe it’s best that I don’t question it!

We drove into and out of New Hampshire in a matter of minutes. From 1-95 there wasn’t much to see besides liquor stores and well, more liquor stores. We even saw a liquor store with its own private exit, like a rest-stop…..

I insisted we stop while driving through an adorably tiny little town, Searsport. I was starving and I needed a snack. We got a delicious BLT from the only coffee shop/restaurant we saw.  Back on the road and about an hour later, we arrived in Somesville Maine, our home for the weekend. The house was amazing. Everything about it was warm and inviting. The living room and kitchen, where we spend most of our time, were so comfortable and homey with pictures of the family everywhere, art plastering the walls and books packed on the bookshelves.

We started off the weekend with a much anticipated lobster lunch. I had decided, and told Frank numerous times (to him chagrin) on the ride up that I was going to eat lobster for every meal. All six of us ordered some form of Lobster for lunch. It was wonderful! Then we drove into Northeast Harbor for a sailboat ride, aka, booze cruise. The boat was a reproduction of an old lobster fishin’ sailboat. It all seemed complicated to me, but that was my first time on a sailboat, so that’s the observation of a complete beginner. Loaded with a few bottles of wine, some Maker’s Mark and a 2 liter of Ginger Ale, the six of us boarded the boat in anticipation of our journey around the harbor. It was lovely. It wasn’t until we got off the boat that Laura and Jim pointed out that the “first mate” had a serious obsession with the Captain. In my opinion, Lou wasn’t much to look at, but Mia thought he was pretty scrumptious. We decided Mia was a “boat wrecker” (Lou lived on the boat with his wife). I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is a loyal husband.

After a Cuban dinner in Bar Harbor (Lynn and I split lobster Paella), we headed to the bar/dance club. Wow, what an experience that was! The season was pretty much over up there, so the patrons of this fine establishment were predominantly locals. Anyone who says the South is full of overweight white trash needs to take a little trip up to Bar Harbor, Maine. But they have the added bonus of thugs  and “wiggers” thrown into the mix! Despite the crowd, Laura, Lynn and I had a blast cuttin’ up the dance floor. Between the dance-off, the fog machine, the people watching, and the taxi ride home, the night rocked! I jokingly asked the taxi driver if the plural of moose was meese (like goose and geese). He took me for a fool and corrected me by saying that the plural of moose was moose, duh! But then he continued by saying that Moose meant “up to 4 moose.” What about 5 moose, does it then become mooses??

Besides a brief trip to Jordon Pond restaurant for lobster bisque and popovers (the best damn bread/biscuit combo I’ve ever had), the rain kept us in most of the day on Saturday. But there were no complaints about that. Fireplace, football and a homemade lobster dinner, what more could you ask for on a Saturday in the fall? The feast we made was fit for kings. Perfect day!

And theeeennn….

The trip home on Sunday was long for Frank and me. What should have been a 5 hour drive took about 9 hours because we stopped at the LL Bean store, the Cabela’s outlet and a rockin’ loud brunch spot in Portland, Maine. When we finally got home, we were stocked with winter boots and warm house slippers, preparing for the winter.. .

What a fun weekend! Thanks to Lynn and Jim for the hospitality. I wish I had a photo of the whole bunch… (Laura, Lynn: send me your pics)

-csc