Maine Lobster & Seafood
Day# 35: Onward to Maine! We are almost to our highway one-mile marker destination at the very tip of Maine. Only the coastline to go and we will have conquered the east coast trip!
We woke at a New Hampshire Visitor’s Center LATE in the morning. We slept in unit 9:30 a.m. (super tired from our many days of constant go-go-go) and cleaned the inside of the car. Happy car, happy chad! You must keep your road trip chauffeur happy otherwise we won’t get anywhere haha.
Now destined to have a foodie day (we can finally have lobsters!), we tried to get back on the highway to avoid tolls and started driving.
Mouth agape, Chad said, “it want’s us to get back onto the highway we were avoiding!”
That’s because there was a toll coming up! But, the liquor store parking lot didn’t have a second way out and we ended up paying the $2 toll. Lesson #756: setting GPS to avoid tolls sometimes means going through tolls. Logical, right?
The GPS stated, “welcome to Maine”. Chad replied, “we ‘Maine-d’ it!”
The trees on either side of the highway resemble the ones back home in Minnesota. It’s like we never left. Tall pine trees are back!
Lobster!!!!!
Without a real destination in mind, Chad mapped us to a little ocean town named Ogunquit. I found a little lobster place to eat at and we avoided the paid parking lots.
Parking: 3 hour free parking – Stearms Road
Walking Trail: Marginal Way
We walked around the rocky cliffs all the way to the little wharf. Barnacle Billy’s happened to also be the place where President Bush senior liked to eat lobster too. How fancy!
Food Order: 1.5 lbs of lobster ($30+) and one lobster roll sandwich ($18)
Chad and I agreed that the lobster was just like eating a VERY large version of the crayfish back in Louisiana. To be honesty, we weren’t that thrilled and didn’t understand the hype about why lobster is as big of a deal as it is. Well, lobster used to be considered poor man’s food! Check out the marking history of lobster and learn how it went from fertilizer to a delicacy.
Not that far down from the restaurant was another little place called Foot Bridge Lobster and they had a special for a free pound of lobster! If only we had walked further! I would still recommend making a little trip to the space. The best part was the nature walk around the cliff edges.
Food Hoppin’
Ready to try some more seafood, we continued driving while I caught up on typing.
Chad joked and said, “next time, I want a revenge trip. I write the blog and you drive!”
I think someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today! Hmm….maybe he would be better at it than I am! Defending my territory, I doubled my typing efforts 😊
Ken’s Place: known for their fried clams from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Location: Scarborough
Ordered: Fried clams and a side order of crab cakes (2)
Review: It was fried food. Needed their homemade tartar sauce. It was something I don’t need to eat again lol. The texture was gooey clams with fried breading. Crazy!
Gorgeous Gelato: searching for a regular ricotta cannoli
Location: Portland
Ordered: Pistachio cannoli and gelato (mango and pecan)
Review: The cannoli ricotta had a lemon flavor in it with the pistachios dabbed on the end. We’ve had better in Philly. The gelato was tasty! The Belgium staff member was wearing a Batman apron and his accent was awesome.
Portland Lobster Co.: Known for their lobster mac n’ cheese from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Location: Portland
Ordered: Lobster Mac n’ Cheese $22
Review: The mac was tasty and cheesy. How can you not like it? The lobster chunks were chunky and chewy. Again, what’s the big deal about lobster lol 😊
After a taste testing day, we decided that the shelled seafood is a little overrated and the price is a little crazy for the amount you receive. Chad want’s to head back to Minnesota and call in an order to his grandma for a massive plate of her mashed potatoes! Some home cooked meals would be wonderful.
Onward to Northern Maine
Before setting out from Portland, we found some trees blossoming and a random guy asked if he could take our picture for us. Thanks! I guess the setting was just right.
Chad dried out his socks and shoes with the heat on full blast before we left. Stinky!! I think he said there are no more clean socks left… ha ha …. Time for a scrub in a sink!
Boondocks on Highway 1
We set the GPS towards Arcadioa National Park to rest at a WalMart for the night and drove through some beautiful country. Hills tucked next to the cliffs, greenery, pine trees and water everywhere. It looks like we are driving up to the North Shore in MN. Welcome home!?
Driving for more than 3 hours, we transitioned from OLD small towns to the country side to places where we hoped the car didn’t happen to break down within (more dueling banjos).
We ended up in a little town called Ellsworth and stopped at a grocery store for a bathroom break. This also lead to trying a regular ricotta cannoli and their walnut caramel ice cream.
For sleep, we parked and camped in the Wal-Mart parking lot and the night was pretty chilly. Pillow palace and blankets galore! Night Night.
