Tag Archives: coastal Maine

A garage no more.

August 26, 2025 Rivergirl 16 Comments

Have you ever eaten in a garage?

I mean an honest to goodness previously grease stained filling station?

Thankfully the grease and transmissions are gone and a Wiscasset, Maine landmark restaurant once known as Le Garage (clever, no?) is now Water Street Kitchen and Bar.

It’s a great place to drop in for a craft cocktail…

Fresh basil limeade with Tito’s please.

A cream of asparagus soup for the spouse…

And some spicy Cajun shrimp for me to start.

Never let it be said their bartenders don’t go the extra mile for top shelf.

🤣

We were happily drinking and schmoozing so I didn’t photograph our entrees, but dessert was a delight.

Creamy limoncello cake for the win.

On the way home?

We marveled at the tourists who don’t know any better and wait on endless lines in the heat at Red’s Eats.

Their lobster is frozen and comes from Canada.

No self respecting Mainer would be caught dead there.

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Stonington, part three.

October 28, 2022 Rivergirl 23 Comments

Heading out of the harbor proper, we found some scenically beautiful spots.

For gorgeous coastline, it’s hard to top Maine.

We drove at will, no destination in mind. And sometimes cutting down side streets resulted in dead ends.

Like a marina we didn’t know was there.

Other times there were loop roads….

With extremely peaceful seating.

And if you want peace and quiet? Take a tip from that guy.

He certainly had the right idea.

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Stonington

October 26, 2022 Rivergirl 25 Comments

On a beautiful fall day in Maine, we drove up the coast to Stonington.

A picturesque village… quaint and quite pretty.

With the feeling you’ve stepped back in time.

Stonington is a fishing town and known for being the largest lobster port in the state, if not the world.

Last year they hauled in $43.26 million dollars worth of the glorious crustacean.

And though I can’t eat it anymore… cue the random sobbing noises… I was still hungry after the two and a half trip.

Enter the Harbor Cafe, one of only two restaurants in town.

It sits right across the street from the harbor and at first glance seemed like a good choice.

There were cocktails and my Pimms cup was delightful.

The clam chowder was thinner than I like, but had a wonderful flavor as well as being loaded with clams.

$23 seemed a bit steep for my crab roll but it was delicious, not the overly dressed crap that passes for crabmeat elsewhere. Husband was less than thrilled with his fried haddock as it was extremely thin and arrived in a plastic basket. Want to piss off my spouse? Charge him a high price and serve him a meal without a plate. The mashed potatoes that accompanied the fish were truly inedible. Real, but so over whipped as to be nearly liquid with an overpowering taste of margarine. Epic fail for what turned out to be a $102 bill with tip.

But back to Stonington. Tourism has tried but thankfully failed to change the flavor of the town.

And so we explored….

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Now that’s a tip.

July 23, 2022 Rivergirl 15 Comments

There’s a famous restaurant in my part of the world called The Taste of Maine.

It’s been family owned and operated for 44 years and is a staple for fresh seafood on the heavily travelled coastal Route 1. Tourists love the kitschy decor and giant outdoor lobsters.

We find it a bit overpriced but go once in a while just because it’s fun.

The pandemic hit a lot of seasonal restaurants hard up here and many went under. Right now they’re struggling to find enough wait staff. So when I saw this on FB the other day? A customer tipping the amount of the bill….

I was floored.

We’ve done that at small diners and sandwich shops. $20 – $30 bill, $20 -$30 tip.

But an $800 tip?

Holy macaroni. That’s beyond awesome.

❤️

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Porters Preserve part two.

June 18, 2022 Rivergirl 11 Comments

The whole time we were exploring this area we met two other people on the trail.

Talk about a hidden gem.

Shame the wild raspberries weren’t quite ready.

Now that’s my kind of conference room.

It always surprises me how many beautiful little places there are like this along our coast. I’ve lived in Maine since I was 15 and never knew this existed.

Another trail lead to a sweet little private beach.

Hey, it’s Maine. If there’s 3 feet of sand? We call it a beach.

Ending the hike, we took the final trail back to the parking lot.

Where there was a wonderful old cemetery. I love exploring those and had just found a headstone from 1837 when I noticed the webs.

Webs full of squirming worms that could have been the dreaded brown tail moth. No way I was rubbing up against those bad boys again.

Back in the car, there was only one thing left to do to make the day complete. A meal at our favorite Boothbay Harbor restaurant, the Boathouse Bistro.

It’s not on the water, and the decor might leave a little to be desired but it has the best food around hands down. Spicy Cajun grilled shrimp and veggies on cheesy grits for me.

And a perfectly cooked filet mignon with herbed truffle butter for the husband.

Life is good.

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Porters Preserve

June 17, 2022 Rivergirl 20 Comments

Another beautiful summer day in Maine meant another walk along the coast.

This time we headed to the Boothbay region to a little speck on Barters Island called Porters Preserve.

23 acres of prime property generously donated to the land trust by the Porter family. It’s a little known, out of the way, peaceful haven of wooded trails and rocky coastline.

The minute we hit the trail? I knew I should have doused myself in bug spray before entering. The black flies were swarming and before long I was scratching like a flea bitten dog.

We meandered through a few wooded paths…

And then found the shore.

So pretty. So quiet. Give me a good book and a glass of iced tea? I’d be happy all day.

We walked out onto a pier and a float that clearly belonged to someone …

As it was stacked with new lobster traps.

But there wasn’t a soul in sight…. which is just the way I like it.

To be continued…

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Ogunquit Cliff Walk finale.

June 16, 2022 Rivergirl 13 Comments

As much as I hated the coastal stroll to end, we neared the end of our cliff walk loop.

That’s Wells beach, one of the longest sandy stretches in Maine.

I grabbed a few more photos….

And gloried in the final few feet.

If you’re ever up this way, please visit. It really is spectacular.

The turn towards town.

One more hotel and you’re there.

Where you’ll probably have to walk another half a mile to find your car.

🤣

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If you only do one thing when you visit southern Maine…

June 3, 2022 Rivergirl 29 Comments

Make sure it’s the Ogunquit Cliff Walk. There’s no better way to leisurely experience the Maine coast and you’ll get some exercise to boot. A definite win win.

The 1.25 mile walk starts alongside a waterfront hotel with pristine fencing and gardens.

Turn the corner, and the Atlantic Ocean beckons.

Maine isn’t known for large resorts, we’re more of a bed and breakfast state, but the Anchorage By the Sea is well named.

You can’t get much closer to the ocean than that.

Most of Maine’s beaches are rocky, but Wells… the neighboring town… has plenty of sand.

The Cliff Walk is fully paved and easy to traverse…. and did I mention there are rocks?

When you marry a billy goat like my husband, rocks are never left unexplored.

I can’t say enough good things about the beauty of this place and it’s hardly a surprise Ogunquit was an artist colony at the turn of the 20th century.