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September 27, 2009

Maine trip!




Well, it is official, I am in love with Maine.

We flew into Portland and spent one night there, in the Foodie capital of the US (as recently named by Bon Apetit Magazine). We had pub food for lunch (maple sour cream on the side of Dave's pulled pork) and grilled lobster for dinner (or is it suppah?), absolutely delicious! The room had a wonderful view of the harbor. When we were walking along the wharf we spotted a seal; looking for handouts or chum no doubt. Just after leaving there we turned a corner and ran into the line for Whale Watching tours---oh, right, prey and predator at work.

Friday we traveled to Farminton to meet up with our friends Mitra and Joann. Mitra has a booth at a farmers market on Fridays so we did a walking tour of town. It is a beautiful town with a great courthouse, Memorial park, many shops and of course the University of Maine.

We stopped by the Granary for lunch; I had clam chowder, Dave had a monstrous burger.

We met Nina, a shoppkeeper friend of Mitra's, and ran into Joann at the Better Living Store.

Mitra gave us a tour of the Farmington Fair, it was great fun, as only a county fair can be. We hung about for awhile afterward and finished the night with a microbrew together.

Saturday Mitra and Max made a wonderful breakfast of chorrizo, scrambled eggs with peppers, apple cider (local, fresh) and the best coffee ever. Helen's milk tastes wonderful, though different from Hattie's. Before going to Mitra's we took a tour down to the pier (the hotel sits on Wilton Lake), and took a drive around one side to get morning pics, it would have worked if there was not a freeze and fog!

Mitra drove us about the countryside looking at leaves, local points of interest and drooling over barns and beautiful gardens. Mitra took us to a seafood shop to have Lobster rolls for lunch-- lobster rolls consist of chunk lobster meat mixed with a smidge of mayo or butter, on a toasted hoagie bun. It was wonderful! The cook at Surrey's did not skimp on the meat at all.

We stopped by Coburn Farm to see Joann and Jasemine. Max and the girls (including Lulu the awesome lab) were already there. Joann gave us a tour of the house and garden, Max gave a tour of the barn. Joann's garden is luscious. Jasemine came to greet us in the field, well she was really greeting her person, Joann, but obliged us with a sniff and a kiss.

Mitra drove us by the lake and Marcia's camp. We saw Canadian Geese on the Lake and an American Bald Eagle circled above us floating (and hunting?) on the air currents. What a beautiful sight!! We did not get any good pictures, unfortunately. The weather was absolutely perfect, 60+ degrees, a breeze and abundant sunshine!

Dinner at Mitra's house was a wonderful affair! Mitra made chicken curry with her own farm raised chicken, saffron from Iran and wonderful Iranian rice. Janet and Carol from the forum joined us and brought an apple crisp to die for! Laura, also from the forum brought Moz cheese, Cheddar cheese and feta that was added to a beautiful and delicious salad. We enjoyed a evening full of excellent food and even better conversation!

Sunday I had milk form Janet's cow Buttermilk for breakfast, it tastes different from Hattie's and Helens, and I guees it is akin to sampling wines--they are all good and all different! :)

We headed out early with the thought we would stop in Freeport to see the LL Bean store. We missed our turn off the turnpike and so we just went to Portland early. The weather was much different--rainy and about 50 degrees. I had fish and chips for lunch, one last NE meal; Dave had a pepperjack burger. The hardest part of the trip is the long layover in Cleveland (4 hours). At least it gave me an opportunity to catch up on email and blogging!

We found our dream house in Maine, not too big or small with a nice kitchen and a milkbarn!

Be still my heart! I hope we can find something like it when we are ready to move there!Probably 1 minute after the kids graduate from high school.

1 comment:

  1. I read this post the other night but my internet service would not cooperate so that I could post a message. Now you have gone and posted all these lovely photos. Gorgeous! I have wanted to visit Maine for many years and you are just feeding my desire! ;-) I am so glad that you had such a lovely time!

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