a return to charming maine
A few weeks ago, my friend Fil and I drove from Brooklyn to Maine, taking an unplanned detour through New Hampshire, where we came upon this farm,
and this roadside restaurant,
which led to a tasting of grape nut ice cream,
and a bucket of native (in this area of the U.S., “native” is used for “local”) chicken and fries that really tasted like potatoes.
Shortly before our destination, we celebrated crossing into Maine with lobster rolls,
and shortly after, we hugged our friends in Camden, watching the light play off the water at a big dinner at a lake house with wonderful people we cannot see often enough.
When I am in Maine, I usually wake with the sun in Keryn and Mike’s cheery sunroom, looking up at the star lanterns and daydreaming about how long I could extend my stay.
When Fil woke we ventured to my favorite store of local products, Farmer’s Fare, and went silent sitting outside, rapt with the crunchy crust of their focaccia,
and the glorious raw milk of my favorite dairy producer in the area, Keene’s.
We made our way to the Camden harbor a bit later, napping in the sun as all good long weekends away require,
and waking, we followed Keryn and our friend Emily to Harbor Dogs,
home of the dog with apple chutney (very good),
and a solid fish taco.
Emily surprised us with an invitation to take our lunch to her family’s boat docked in the harbor,
and she skillfully maneuvered us onto the dock next to the gleaming hull,
and we had such a fun hour talking and laughing in the shiny interior.
For our afternoon adventure, Fil and I decided since everyone had told us we had to visit Beth’s, we should drive out to this expansive market full of local food, (after a brief photo shoot on the lawn with a photographer who approached us admiring Fil’s jaunty hat).
Marveling at the piles of garlic,
enchanted by the fancy cream,
delighted by the real popcorn, we threaded our way down each aisle, stopping to read the signs with personality and stocking up on bacon.
That night, we went to the new Shepherd’s Pie restaurant in Rockport,
and Keryn joined us after a first round of blueberry-rosemary gin cocktails,
and rosy oysters,
leading us around the harbor and back to the house, where we rested for another day of Maine adventures…
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I kept going back-and-forth between the chicken and fries pic and the lobster roll pic.
Emily, that’s wonderful. I’m coming for dinner just as soon as I possibly can (thanks again for showing up the boat!)
Fil, it’s clear we need to return. Shall we step through your wardrobe or mine?
Mica, my Maine friends amaze me. And you need to embrace the papery skins of garlic. Seriously, we need to talk about this—peeling it is part of the fun!
You and your friends know how to do Maine the “right way.”
I was most surprised to see the piles of garlic. I had no idea that it looked like this before it ended up in the pre-peeled clove-form that I buy at the Asian grocery store.
Ahhhhhhh. I wish you’d stayed longer.
As it would happen, we had corn from Beth’s tonight and now have a jar of that delicious cream in our fridge!
What a truly lovely week this was. I cannot return soon enough to this land of Narnia, er, Maine.