I saw something interesting advertised on Facebook the other day.
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It’s some kind of fruit filled bubble that bursts when dropped in cocktails and I thought hey… that might be fun for the man cave bar. Until I saw they were $25 per plus tax… and $24.95 shipping. Undeterred, I sought them on Amazon.
While I was a bit disappointed they didn’t have the same brand, I was tickled by the imposter bubbles’ name.
It was a bright and sunny evening at Casa River and after a full day of yard work we decided to drive along the coast of Harpswell and have dinner on the water.
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The closer we got, the thicker the fog. This restaurant is crazy crowded when the summer tourists descend so we’d hoped to beat the swarm and grab an outdoor table to enjoy the view.
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But the view was pea soup fog so we hit the bar instead. A few blueberry lemonades later..
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We ate a very disappointing meal. My $30 fried scallops were tasty but not plentiful and though I ordered a baked potato I received french fries because they had run out. And if that’s not bad enough, it was served in a paper lined wire basket more reminiscent of a lobster shack than fine dining. The husband’s scallop and lobster pasta had 3 scallops and 3 minuscule pieces of lobster for $40. While we never mind paying good money for a good meal, this longtime favorite place might be in danger of being dropped from our list.
When our local pub posted this on their Facebook page?
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I knew I would have to try it.
Samantha is a bartender at our pub and she just returned from an impromptu vacation/wedding trip to Vegas. While there she tried a cocktail with a buzz button and decided she to create one of her own for her regulars patrons.
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I’d never heard of this plant but apparently it’s trending in bars and high end kitchens right now.
“Acmella alba is a species of plant belonging to the family Asteraceae. Common names include brede mafane, Spilanthes, Tingflower,toothache plant, Electric Daisy, and buzz buttons. The flowers and leaves contain spilanthol, a local anesthetic”
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First you take a sip of the drink, then you chew the button fully… making sure to coat your tongue and the insides of your mouth. I did this and almost gagged. Holy hell it was a bitter little thing. Once masticated and swallowed your mouth starts to “buzz”. The tingle lasts about 5 minutes and your drink tastes totally different.
It was a fun experience, but the taste was so awful I doubt I’d do it again.
And I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a puzzle .
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This is the type of thing that makes the spatial reasoning challenged among us break into a cold sweat.
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Oh! The horror.
But I wanted to surprise the husband so I dove right in….
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And soon, a boozy moose appeared.
Was I disappointed in the lack of decent beer portrayed? Yes.
Busch Light and Coors Light will never pass our beer fridge’s portals.
Nope. Never. Not happening.
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I’ve determined the best place to hang him is on the big barn doors that are no longer doors. The husband’s warped antique mirror will have to be relocated…
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And his English pub ring toss game might be an issue.
Because while the booze moose is fun, it’s not what you would call solidly constructed. One errant ring toss could ruin him.
I don’t need ball wash soap or help with a bigger orgasm. I also don’t need ball hammock underwear, yet the hits just keep on coming. The latest is Halloween themed… and so very, very wrong.
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Do I need to see Frankenstein gettin’ his freak on? I most certainly do not.
But every once in a while, the algorithm hits a bit closer to the mark.
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And horrible grammatical translation aside, at least this one includes alcohol….with undertones of barn bar which we all know is near and dear to my heart.
Yes, I finally chose a beer to tap. Naturally it was the most expensive one out there at literally twice the price of my husband’s.
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But look how much more fabulous my tap handle is.
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Duchesse de Bourgogne…. a richly textured sour red Flemish ale with a chocolate top note and wild cherry undertone. Brewed in Belgium and aged in oak barrels for 18 months, it’s pure heaven!
And the husband hates it so it’s mine. All mine.
*cue the evil laugh*
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Look at this handle. I mean really, it doesn’t get much better than that.
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Except for the fact mine towers over the husband’s. That’s pretty sweet as well.
Small, rustic and not at all fancy. But the food is fresh and tasty, the drinks are strong and cheap. What more could you want?
We’re regulars and feel good supporting a local business. Our town has never had a pub before so the owners had to fight long and hard for licensing as well as acceptance. Some of the older residents of our little hamlet thought a bar would attract a bad element, but this small establishment is just as likely to be serving lunch to a troop of Girl Scouts as they are the functioning alcoholics. Lawyers and fisherman. Bankers and construction workers. Hippies and veterans. You never who will sit on the neighboring stool.
We’ve met more locals here in the past 2 years than we have living in this town for 19. And it should come as no surprise that when we introduce ourselves and explain where we live? Everyone always says… oh, the big red barn with the nice porch. Sure!
And if you’re wondering just how rural my town can be? Take a look at who pulled up the other day…
Next up in the man cave? Blinds. Which were really fun to shop for considering all the windows are different sizes and thanks to my do it yourself I’m too cheap to pay a carpenter to do the finish work husband.
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The price of custom blinds that would have fit perfectly was ridiculous.
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That window, the smallest ( not to mention crookedest ) was quoted at $310. For one blind! I bought all 6 of these light filtering cellular linen shades for $272. That’s a no brainer.
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Working his way around the room, I followed and tried my hardest to get right in his way.
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At least that’s what he’d tell you. I prefer to think of it as active assistance.
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Which is why I was banished to the other side of the room…. where I sat quietly and read a few blogs.
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But when it came to the final window behind the bar I had to speak up.
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Because after he installed this one, which had the best fit… only 3/8ths of an inch off… he plopped his big bullet back on the sill.
( I know it’s a round and not a bullet, I just say that to get a rise out of my husband. Did it aggravate you as well? Then yay for me. . )
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The problem? The blind won’t go all the way down because the bullet is too fat.
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When I told him this was unacceptable (the main reason for putting up blinds in the first place was to keep the sun from fading the bar) and suggested alternate placements for the big bullet, he forbade me to move it ( as if I could, it’s live and weighs a ton and a half ). When I stressed the need for it’s relocation due to the sun baking on the glass door of the mini fridge causing it to work harder, he told me he’d “think about it”. FFS, what is there to think about? Bullet too big, blind doesn’t close, move big bullet. It isn’t rocket science.
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 