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Part two of Mother Nature’s amazing foliage display along the Kancamagus Highway.
No narrative required.
( And if you’ve never experienced autumn in New England? What the hell are you waiting for! )
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Now tell me your blood pressure didn’t just drop.
😉
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It never ceases to amaze me how different platforms communicate these days.
And by communicate, I mean stalk your every move and gather information to be used for targeted advertising.
Case in point… I clicked on this Wal Mart ad I saw on Facebook the other day because it looked ridiculous and might be good blog fodder.
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A half hour later I checked my WordPress account and noticed a new follower.
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That can’t be a coincidence.
Of course, I Googled Bombay’s new Bramble gin last week…
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And was hit with this ad on my Apple news feed later that day.
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It really is uncanny how well they know me.
🤣
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The husband and I reluctantly stopped at a tourist-centric restaurant last week which is something we try hard to avoid. Why do we dislike the tourist places? The seafood is usually sub par, ( it was ) the decor is usually tacky ( plastic lobsters, fake fishing nets) and the menu usually contains pictures they think tourists want to see.
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This is the world’s largest lobster roll, it sells for $100 and if you finish the whole thing by yourself? You’re made a member of the clean plate club. But that picture? Just… no.
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Required photo of Lord Dudley Mountcatten watching a flock of starlings.
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Finally…. An advent calendar I can get behind. Or under as the case may be.
👍
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It poured the other night and as you can see…. the husband’s latest roof repair did not hold up. And if that wasn’t bad enough, my latest patch job turned out to be perfect for funneling water down the wall and creating liquid filled bubbles. This has been going on so long I’m tempted to just wrap the house in plastic and call it good.
🥴
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I’ve been known to have an epiphany or two while drinking, but wine that tastes God? That’s a whole other ball of wax.
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Color me surprised. I had absolutely no idea.
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His Lordship was on high alert after hearing something in the backyard stone wall.
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Not finding anything, he tried the front lawn stone wall.
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After narrowly missing a chipmunk there….
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He returned to the back lawn stone wall… and waited.
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Patience paid off. He snatched a mouse out of a rock crevice and ran with it to the back door, which was thankfully closed. Rodent death was fairly quick this time around …
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So Dudley got bored with his prize and headed back to the wall. Leaving another fresh carcass for yours truly.
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After a beer and hard cider filled morning and early afternoon…. and a less than stellar mid afternoon chowder house lunch with margaritas, I thought we were going home. But my husband realized we were driving up on a friend’s town and gave him a call.
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Enter the Bait Shed restaurant and bar in the Pine Point area of Scarborough…
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Where our friend was sitting and thoughtfully holding seats for us… complete with waiting cocktails.
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I’d never been nor even heard of this place, but a better spot to end the day would be hard to find.
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The ocean breeze was cool, the summer tourists were gone. We had good company, potent drinks, hearty laughs and fresh seafood.
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They don’t take themselves too seriously at the Bait Shed….
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Probably because their establishment really was a bait shed in a previous life.
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It’s the type of place Maine locals avoid like the plague during the season and visit frequently once the outta staters have left the state.
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It’s the type of place where you’ll get a dirty look if you order an espresso martini, but I saw a bowl of chowder go by and damned if it wasn’t the real thing.
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I wish I had a more interesting entry for this game.
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But I was texting with the husband’s young niece…. the one we bought a car for last year.
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Not that funny. But as far as tee shirt slogans go…. it’s good advice.
What does your shirt say?
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After a morning and early afternoon of drinking beer and hard cider, yours truly needed some food. We were traveling up Route 1 near Wells when I remembered there was a restaurant on the estuary…. so I hollered “Let’s go!”
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Billy’s Chowder House made a decent margarita and had a wonderful view, so things were looking up.
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And when you’re in a chowder house restaurant? You have to order chowder… which is when it started to go bad.
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We ordered clam chowder. What we got were thin, milky bowls of potatoes. Clams? I think the chef might have grated one over the top. A more tasteless bowl of gruel would be hard to find.
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The husband had mussels, which were tiny, overcooked and swimming in enough garlic to repel a platoon of Vampires.
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I ordered a shrimp roll which, while edible… was nothing to write home about about.
The bill was almost $100 and I made a mental note never to cross that threshold again.
A Maine chowder house with horrible chowder? There’s no excuse for that. This place needs to sink back into the sea and be done with it.
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We live on a river, hence my blog name.
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Apparently Maggie lives on the river as well.
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There was an outdoor wedding last weekend. If only I’d known they were taking requests.
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We have once weekly trash pick up at our house, $2.50 a bag…. But everything else has to go to the recycle barn. Decades ago when it was realized people were throwing out perfectly useable items, an idea was born.
While I don’t shop at the “Gift Store”, my husband has been known to come home with more than he went with.
😬
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This is our neighbor across the road. His fields are looking pretty spiffy…. And oh! That fresh ginger.
❤️
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There’s a small company in Rollinsford New Hampshire that produces some very tasty hard cider. I discovered them at a bar in NH two years ago and have yet been able to find it in Maine.
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Welcome to part two of the liquid Saturday tour. North Country Cider.
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Housed on the bottom floor of an old mill.
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It was actually a tiny place, not much to see… but we were there, so we drank.
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The flight was interesting. I didn’t care for the cranberry…. but the Wulf Kitty, with tart cherry, tangerine zest and ginger? Ooh la la!
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After drinking our fill we walked around the old mill and realized they must have let the flood waters course right under the first floor back in the day.
Then it was back inside the store.
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Where I bought two four packs of Squashed, their seasonal offering that I had discovered and loved two years ago. Wood fire roasted Kabocha squash cider, with ginger and a hint of nutmeg. It’s bizarre, and quite delicious.
I also picked up a four pack of this:
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I have no idea how it tastes, but with a name like that? How could I not.
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Flowers.
That’s what you get for the outrageously high property tax bills the town of Kennebunk sends out twice a year.
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But what lovely flowers they are.
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Every free space in the village is filled with them.
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It’s impressive and quite beautiful.
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Is it any wonder President Bush’s family has their summer home in Kennebunkport?
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River's world..... 