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In case anyone was wondering I didn’t buy one of those pooping animal calendars I blogged about earlier, no…
I went with hedgehogs instead.
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Life is good.
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And if you’re Lord Dudley Mountcatten, it’s better in a box.
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Yes, the wicked witch of the west in the original Wizard of Oz movie, Margaret Hamilton, lived in Maine…. and now they’ve written a play about her.
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Another beautiful sunrise at Casa River.
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It almost makes waking up early worth it.
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No.
And again, no.
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If I was a dishonest person, I could get rich doing my husband’s laundry.
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He’s forever leaving things in his pockets.
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I think I need this book.
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I have long suspected my spider plant was in cahoots with my succulents. Maybe now I can prove it.
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Mr. Hawk is back.
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And currently driving His Lordship crazy.
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I’m not sure what makes this French…
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But Martha Stewart assures me it’s a good thing.
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As seen at a local convenience store.
Better than sour balls I assume.
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That sums it up quite nicely I think.
😉
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Having nothing better to do last weekend we decided to take a drive down the coast and try another Batson River drinking establishment.
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Until a snow squall moved in out of nowhere and we opted for a late lunch closer to home.
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Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro has served us well in the past, so we headed there.
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As did everyone else because my husband’s beloved bar was full, as were all the tables.
Thankfully a young couple was vacating a bar adjacent high top and offered it to us… because clearly we looked thirsty and pathetic.
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I was thrilled to see the seasonal Apple of My Eye had returned ….
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And promptly drank two.
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My crab cakes were tiny but tasty but my husband complained his meatballs were “different”.
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I blacked out their faces, but here’s a modern family of three… every one of them on their phone and oblivious to the others presence. Ah, technology… thou art a heartless bitch.
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My chicken Marsala with homemade pasta and pancetta was flavorful if a bit thin on sauce.
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But my husband … who was already upset with his meatballs… said his shrimp scampi was “different” as well. When I asked him to clarify, all I got was “different”.
Since he clearly wasn’t interested in eating his meal, I called the waitress over who then brought the manager. He was a lovely young man who immediately removed the offending shrimp, promised to delete it from the bill and offered substitutions.
After talking with the guy for over a half an hour… sigh… husband chose a bowl of haddock chowder, which I thought was an odd choice for an Italian restaurant.
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But ooh la la! It was thick, creamy heaven in a bowl. Full of fish and fresh herbs and damn near perfect.
Too full for dessert we asked for the bill… and were pleased to see good customer service is alive and well in Freeport, Maine.
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The scampi charge was removed, and the chowder was free.
That’s one way to keep repeat customers happy.
👍
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We’re poisoning our oceans.
With chemicals and plastics and oil spills… and though the waters off the coast of Maine are cleaner than most, I’m afraid even they’re showing signs of the pollution.
I live in Maine and have lobsterman friends. They often post pictures of the weird and wonderful blue and orange lobsters they haul up in their traps. The colors are rare but occur naturally as a mutation of genes.
But lately?
The pictures have taken a darker turn.
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Mutations are being found.
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And this doesn’t bode well for our oceans.
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This last one is not only disturbing , but downright creepy.
😰
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I often complain about things in the kitchen. The toaster that doesn’t toast evenly, the dirty spoons my husband leaves on the counter and more often than not … the fact that we pay more for food each day but seem to get less.
I understand prices rise, and though I never like it… I expect it. What I don’t expect is to start cooking, reach for the 16 ounce can (box or bag of whatever) only to find it’s shrunken to 14. Two ounces short of what I need forcing me to downsize my recipe or worse yet, buy another full can (box or bag of whatever) and waste most of it.
Grrr.
The insanity needs to stop… because today I discovered it’s gone one step too far.
My husband likes the old fashioned Shake and Bake barbecue chicken so every once in a while I throw him a bone and make it.
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There I was with my foil wrapped pan, my chicken leg quarters and and a box of seasoning packets. I was primed and ready to shake.
Problem was… there was no shaker bag in the box. You know the ones – they were flimsy, never closed properly and weren’t big enough for whatever you needed to shake?
Nada.
Zip.
Nothing.
Even though the side of the box clearly states you should use it.
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This is egregious marketing.
If you no longer include the shaking apparatus? You should no longer be able to call yourself Shake and Bake.
That’s just false advertising.
😡
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We visited a place I’ve driven by many times but never stopped the other day. The Newcastle Public House…
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Housed in a building dating back to 1845, you knew the minute you stepped inside it was a local spot despite its proximity to the tourist heavy Damarriscotta.
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Laid back and casual with distinctly potent portables.
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The bartender has a heavy hand so beware the Moscow Mules, they literally kick.
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Crab cake appetizer? So good I didn’t waste time taking a picture of the husband’s required French Onion soup. Which btw, he approved.
The menu was varied with a twist on New England favorites.
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While deciding … we met a colorful local resident, the kind that makes my husband beeline for the bar everywhere we go.
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He was a hoot and we enjoyed some interesting conversation before our meal.
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Which turned out to be fabulous. For me… barbecue shrimp and grits with roasted broccolini.
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For the spouse? Some very large and juicy General Tso wings.
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Add another spot to our ‘will return’ list.
👍
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Having visited the Batson River in Portland, we took the advice of a stranger and tried the other one in Biddeford.
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It’s housed in a renovated mill complex, on the bottom floor below the Lincoln Hotel.
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Old paper mills abound in the state of Maine and if one has enough money, they make wonderful homes for restaurants, shops and offices.
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Batson River Biddeford clearly had enough green backs.
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The space was large, airy and festively decorated.
As was the cocktail menu.
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As we settled in at the bar, I sampled the Santa’s mule which was fabulously gingerly.
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I read that the Portland location considered it’s vibe “upscale hunting lodge” but it was this venue that had red hatted taxidermy.
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Personally I could do without the dead creatures on the walls…
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But overall it was an attractive place.
For an appetizer I had buttermilk biscuits with herbed butter, hot honey and prosciutto.
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Odd, but it totally worked.
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Husband had the P.E.I. mussels which he said were good, but overpowered by the spicy tomato sauce they were served with.
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Drink #2 was the Angry Elf because you can never go wrong with gin and elderflower.
Needing to visit the restroom, I stumbled on the game room…
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And I have to say the decorators outdid themselves with the unisex bathrooms.
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They were quite something.
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Although I did find the snake and butterfly wallpaper a bit much in the stalls…
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And no, it wasn’t the four cocktails I’d consumed that caused the photo to blur, just low lighting and an iPhone that had a hard time focusing.
Back at the bar, we decided we weren’t hungry enough for individual meals and chose to split the pan seared scallops with roasted vegetables.
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I thought it was lovely, the husband who hates crisp veggies did not.
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We walked around a bit downstairs before leaving…
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And had to chuckle at these two oddly hooded chairs.
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Shortly after these….
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We stumbled into what I’ve since learned was The Collective… an urban underground lounge of the hotel upstairs.
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If we’d had more time I would have gone upstairs and explored this hotel as it’s just been voted one of the best boutique stays in the country.
https://lincolnhotelmaine.com/
Maybe next time…
😉
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The end of year is drawing near and that meant one last lunch at our favorite watering hole, the Royal River Grill in Yarmouth.
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This place is one of the few that truly has it all. Great atmosphere, good food and creative cocktails.
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Their clam chowder is superb… rich, creamy and packed with clams.
My first libation was the Winter Lux.
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And since I’m an equality opportunity drinker…
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Number two was the Berry and Bright margarita.
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Sadly the husband’s go to French Onion soup was not on the menu so he opted for the garlic tomato bisque and was pleased.
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Royal River has excellent fish so I chose the pan seared pinko haddock sandwich which bursted with perfectly prepared flavor.
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Husband requested his fish and chips broiled and had eaten half of it before I could grab a photo.
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Even if you’re full to bursting? You have to order dessert here because they’re always fabulous.
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Cheesecake for hubby…
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Alcohol soaked Tiramisu for me.
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So rich I didn’t even get halfway through it, but Royal River leftovers are a beautiful thing.
❤️
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No trip to the big city is complete without us trying a new libation destination. On this particular day it was Batson River Brewery and Distillery.
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I’d heard wonderful things about this place so it didn’t surprise me to see it was packed ten minutes after opening.
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They take their Christmas decorations seriously here and as I was looking around my husband grabbed the last two seats at the bar.
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Cocktails were holiday themed, so I started with the Where Are You Christmas.
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The only thing wrong with it?
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The small glass. I could happily have downed a pitcher’s worth.
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I read they consider the decor ‘upscale hunting lodge’ but to me it had a more upscale urban, industrial vibe with exposed pipes and metal vents.
The ceilings were high and the music loud. The menu? Brunch on Saturday… which we weren’t expecting and didn’t want.
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I opted for the Caesar salad, which was dry as a bone and utterly unremarkable, but I washed it down with a quite lovely Yule Tai that countered my disappointment.
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Husband had the smoked tomato soup which he said was tasty if not plentiful.
Their beer?
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Nice doggie glass withstanding, nothing to rave about.
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A very large Santa was on the second floor and we watched a few tipsy patrons climb up to have their picture taken with him.
Talking with our neighbor at the bar, we discovered there are actually four Batson Rivers scattered in southern Maine, each one with their own personality, menu and cocktails.
Intrigued, and with nothing planned for dinner… we decided to drive to Biddeford and check out another one.
To be continued ….
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It was barely 20 degrees and with the wind gusting it felt like 5… but we persevered.
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If the trolls could take it, so could we.
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It really was a beautiful way to spend an evening.
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So many places to explore, each one prettier than the last.
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If you’re wondering why I have so many pictures of the lighted sea and lighthouse, it’s because my husband found someone to talk to and I had to wait for his conversation to finish.
No surprise there.
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To be continued…
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