The husband and I were searching for a bakery in Windham but found a wonderful new restaurant instead.
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Stumbling in at noon right after they opened, we had the place to ourselves. For a strip mall location, it was surprisingly nice inside, kind of boho rustic.
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And the cocktails were next level good.
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I felt right at home with chickens over my shoulder.
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And we discovered their menus are seasonal as well as locally sourced.
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Everything was fresh and utterly fabulous.
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My mini beef Wellington appetizer melted in my mouth.
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Husband’s garlic and white wine mussels with saffron butter, chorizo and pine nuts were huge and flavorful .
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Naturally we sat at the bar.
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And naturally my husband made a friend.
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My cast iron chicken with mushrooms, mashed potatoes and a lemon thyme gravy was amazing and after a recommendation from the owner … who claimed they had the best pork anyone had ever tasted…
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Husband had the best pork chop he’s ever tasted, bar none.
Perfectly prepared, the chop was massive. Hard to tell from the photo but it was easily 2 inches thick. Cider brined, grilled with a char but tender and juicy inside. Topped with caramelized onions and Honeycrisp apples and served with fresh green beans and butternut squash puree.
It wasn’t an inexpensive meal, but damn. It was perfect.
On our way out to lunch the other day my husband saw a yard sale sign and had to follow it for miles and miles… and honestly? Too many miles out of our way.
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Yes we passed cows, which is always nice. But the sale was a disappointing collection of junk no one would want …
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Except my husband who found a box of old wooden hangers.
Can you see my eyes rolling from there?
Hangers in hand, he turned around and headed back towards the restaurant but found a small flea market on the way and had to stop.
I swear… even though we made a nice amount of money at our yard sale this summer? The success of that weekend has rekindled the bargain shopping flame under my spouse that I spent years putting out.
Damn it!
Thankfully he didn’t buy anything worthless there and we did find a wonderful local woodworker who customized a nice multi grain board we’re going to give to our daughter of the heart’s southern husband for Christmas. He fell in love with Maine on his first visit and we constantly promote the idea of them moving here.
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From left to right the woods are:
Red oak, Purple Heart, Hard Maple, Sapelle (mahogany family) and Black Walnut.
After that it’s more of the same mixed and alternating.
When the husband was finally done shopping?
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I needed an apricot sangria.
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We split a big spinach salad with goat cheese, candied walnuts and a lemon poppyseed dressing..
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As well as a fabulous garlic white sauce mushroom and spinach pizza.
This is the oldest (175 years) and the biggest fair in Maine. How big, you ask?
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This big.
And after a late start due to my husband playing cribbage at breakfast with friends, we arrived two hours later than planned.
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On the way to parking the car? RV heaven.
Or hell as far as I’m concerned. Densely packed on flat dirt as far as the eye can see, I can’t imagine spending a week like that, but people come from all over New England and look forward to it every year.
To each their own.
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Many people go to the fair for the rides and carnival atmosphere … we’re not those people.
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We started with the race horses.
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Beautiful creatures who enjoy an occasional scratch.
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This poor fellow was trying to take a nap.
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While this one looked ready to munch a mum.
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Food trucks and vendors were everywhere but my husband hates eating lunch standing up and ducked into the one little restaurant they have on site instead.
Big mistake.
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It’s a bare bones place with a limited menu. They didn’t even have ice for our drinks. Warm Pepsi anyone?
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Husband had a watery bowl of stew with a biscuit you could use for a boat anchor while I had a dry turkey salad roll the waitress mistakenly charged me $1 for instead of the $11 it cost. A dollar was really all it was worth, but the cashier caught the error and we moved on.
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To the draft horses.
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Who were finishing the pulling show the husband usually likes to watch.
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These horses are gentle giants and I hate to see them straining …
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So I wasn’t disappointed we’d missed most of it.
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This beauty stood almost 19 hands.
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And the husband spent more than 19 minutes talking to this owner while I wandered around.
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Out back, these fellows were getting a bath.
Percherons, Belgians, and Haflingers. They never fail to impress.
Maine is a tourist state and while natives understand the economy’s need for visitor’s dollars, it doesn’t mean we enjoy all our favorite spots being too crowded to enjoy while they’re here.
Hence “shoulder season”.
That glorious month after summer but before leaf peeping when there’s not a tourist to be found.
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Case in point?
The Dockside Grill in Falmouth.
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You can’t squeeze your way in here during high season… but right now?
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A raspberry thyme Rickey and ocean view can be savored in peace.
I love a good craft show. People can be incredibly clever and creative and I like coming home with handmade treasure.
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So when I heard there was a show at Laudholm Farms on the Wells Estuary we took a drive down the coast even though it was overcast, drizzling rain and foggy.
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It was an amazing show and all the craftspeople were under cover, be it tents or barns.
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The problem?
I was expecting to find crafts and what I found was art that usually resides in galleries. There was amazing jewelry, fabulous paintings, unique pottery, intricate woodworking and stunning metalwork. Unfortunately I didn’t plan on spending $1,800 on a pair of silver earrings or $6,000 for some stained glass.
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The artists have a very strict no photography rule so these giant outdoor pieces were the only things I could sneak a shot of.
And while the items we saw were beautiful, the cost of the things I wanted reached $15,000 before we were halfway through.
Needless to say I left empty handed.
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No, I didn’t even consider pickle body lotion.
Our next stop was for a late lunch/early dinner at a local landmark, the Bull and Claw.
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This restaurant has been in operation since 1973 and to be honest I don’t think it’s been redecorated since the 1980’s.
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Plastic tablecloths, plastic duck decoys, artificial flowers … I wasn’t holding much hope.
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But my cranberry margarita was decent and cheap and the menu was large.
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Husband attacked the soup and salad bar with good results.
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And we were pleasantly surprised to find our meals flavorful, well prepared and more than amply sized. Medium rare prime rib and stuffed shrimp with baked potato and broccoli for me, turkey dinner with mashed potato, stuffing and broccoli for the husband.
Our bill was well under a hundred dollars and though the atmosphere was dated and more than a little kitschy, I honestly wouldn’t mind going back.
One of our mainstay restaurants when we drive up the coast to Damarriscotta is King Eider’s.
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A favorite of tourists and locals alike, it’s become a landmark.
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Located in an old, small brick building it’s tiny but mighty.
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Like its cocktails.
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I had the top listed selection, but are we really doing the second?
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Apparently, yes.
We are.
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I always order the crab cakes as they’re advertised… and always used to be… the best. This trip? Not so much. Hard, over cooked and over breaded. The husband’s giant mussels were the better choice.
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Husband’s broiled haddock? Huge, plentiful and perfectly prepared.
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My braised duck sandwich (when in Rome) with chopped apples, dried cranberries and melted cheddar? Dry and tasteless with barely a hint of the promised fruit.
Working up an appetite walking around the lighthouse made us more willing than usual to try an unassuming little local spot for lunch.
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Yes, it was called the Happy Clam.
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And to be honest, he did look happy … so we ducked inside.
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The raspberry frozen daiquiri? Awful.
Clearly the clam wasn’t drinking that.
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Seeing the German flag proudly displayed out front and learning that the owner’s wife hailed from there, I took a chance on the schnitzel fingers appetizer.
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And oh my…
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Was I ever glad I did. Perfectly cooked, light and flavorful with the most delicious mushroom and thyme sauce. I haven’t had any this good since my Austrian mother passed away.
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Husband went with a puréed lobster bisque which was equally as good.
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And though I felt like I should have ordered the aforementioned bivalves, I opted for a fabulous crabmeat roll instead.
Totally stuffed, we stepped out of there happy as the namesake clam.
Until my husband spotted a yard sale…
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And bought a fistful of old wooden hangers and rulers.
Still at the fair, and still admiring old farm equipment.
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Well, one of us was.
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While he was doing that I wandered over to meet some geese.
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With strict instructions not to feed or pet, I stood and photographed.
Next up was the youth calf competition.
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If you’ve never seen one of these, you really should.
Taking care and responsibility for livestock is a full time job and these youngsters were doing their best to show off their accomplishments.
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If you’re showing momma?
Better bring baby along.
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Such sweet faces!
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I do love cows.
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After the show we wandered a few barns.
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Always my favorite part of the fair.
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These are Belted Galloways, but we call them Oreo cows… for obvious reasons.
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At the end of our cattle tour, the husband stopped to talk to one of the owners and her daughter.
Husband likes to talk.
Husband was raised on a dairy farm.
Husband talked for over an hour.
Husband talked to so many people for so long we didn’t see the other half of the fair, I didn’t buy a fried dough and when he finally stopped chatting…. it was time to go.
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Back over the bridge of flowers to a small town seafood restaurant we always try to visit when we’re in the area.
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It doesn’t look like much.
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And the atmosphere is more family style diner than anything….
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But the clam chowder is to die for. Thick, rich, creamy and chock full of clams … it’s almost a meal in itself. (deckhand lemonade with Tito’s, because yes… they serve alcohol)
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The meals are always amazing, and their fresh seafood is cooked to perfection. I had a massive platter of fantail fried shrimp with baked potato and cole slaw, husband had a garlic butter broiled haddock with butternut squash and a bowl of cottage cheese. Neither of us went away hungry.
Two soups, a cocktail, a beer and two more than ample seafood dinners for $82. In our neck of the woods that amount barely gets you past appetizers.
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