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We’d been given a gift card for the Broad Arrow Tavern which is located inside the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport.
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We’ve been many times before, some with good results, some with bad. It’s a lovely old place…
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But on this day, shortly after new corporate owners had taken over operations… we found it lacking.
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One admittedly decent cranberry margarita in, the husband decided the new menu was too small and contained nothing to satisfy his appetite so we headed down the road.
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To the oh so pricey but usually delightful Tuscan Bistro…. where we always sit at the bar because the husband likes to chat with someone other than me.
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I started with the strawberry sangria…
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And a few tasty crab cakes.
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Husband opted for Allagash White and savory meatballs.
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Passion fruit lemon drop martini was up next… which was when I noticed a strange bottle behind the bar.
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Dough ball? You know I had to ask.
The bartender said it was a cookie dough flavored whisky which sounded horrible, and after a sniff of the bottle I discovered it was just that. At this point the man sitting next to me said, “I used to be a dough ball in high school, maybe I should try it.” I laughed and as often happens at watering holes… we spent the next hour talking to him and his girlfriend. They were a lovely couple and I enjoyed the casual chatter while we ate.
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A grilled chicken risotto with asparagus for me, which looked good but wasn’t.
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And a glazed salmon with fingerling potatoes and garlic green beans for the husband, which didn’t look good but was.
I wasn’t going to order dessert… but it was shortly after we finished our meals that our new bar buddies noticed hubby’s USMC hat and the conversation turned to the military.
It was then I knew all was lost.
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I ate my Tiramisu by myself as the man sitting next to me discovered his father (who lives in Florida) had served in the same place at the same time as my husband. While my guy was Force Recon in Quang Tri and Dong Ha, his father was a 46 pilot ferrying Marines in and out of the area. This lead to a rather long telephone call between the two Vietnam vets…. with me twiddling my thumbs at the bar alone after the couple moved on to greener pastures. It also found me silently cursing the Marine Corps hat that in one way or another always leads to this scenario.
😉
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I’ll go with next time. Then you’ll have someone to talk to.
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That works.
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🙉🙊
How was the tiramisu?
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Fabulous!
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Serious question: I never take photos of food or drink when I’m out because I feel weird about it, like I’m doing something wrong. Do you just do a fast snap or take time to create a lovely visual. I like your photos but how do you do this? Do people stare at you while you do it?
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I don’t give much thought to composition, though I have been known to move stray straws and napkins. As for people staring I neither know, nor care.
😉
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I’m too self-conscious I guess. Thanks for answering my questions.
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Ally just do it. Who cares what others think. 🙃
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You’re right of course. Thanks for the encouragement.
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Same
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Were you wanting a do-over for that day? I would be.
It would defonitely not work as a Groundhog Day remake!
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It was fine until the end. 😉
It’s hard to be mad, talking with other vets is cathartic for wounds that never heal.
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Start going shopping… Just tell him you’ll meet him at the truck!
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I love conversing with strangers at bars & breweries!!
The drinks, minus dough ball, all look delicious!!
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So do I, but not phone conversations from 1,500 miles away.
🤣
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Your food reviews are always awesome, even when the food is subpar. That risotto looked great, too bad it wasn’t. My sympathies for you having to endure the USMC conversation widowhood, lol.
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He has a reunion trip coming up in October. For the first time in our married life I’m thinking of letting him go alone.
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Just do it who cares. 😀
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Ok this comment was meant for Ally Bean… Let me try again.
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That looks delicious. When my husband speaks military ese with other fascinated onlookers, I try to listen, keep quiet and maybe write down some interesting things which I might use in a novel.
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Well, we’ve been married 39 years… at this point I can tell his stories as well as he can.
😉
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I get that!
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The charred pineapple margarita sounds pretty interesting! The endless chitchat, not so much.
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I’ve had that there before and found the charred flavor overwhelming.
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It’s a fine line between that and burnt.
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And they crossed it that night…
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Spending good money on food that isn’t good is such a disappointing feeling. I think I’ve mentioned before that my husband also likes to eat at the bar; he says he wants to sit next to me, but I think it’s so he can talk to the server or people near us. You and I should meet up with them and see who can outtalk who.
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It sounds like that would be an epic battle.
😉
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