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.
Our trip to Portland the other day had a destination other than my husband’s face on the itinerary… and that was Edgecomb Pottery. A high end artsy gallery where my thoughtful spouse likes to shop for gifts.
And as we walked around? it was obvious just how much he enjoys shopping there.
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See that bird?
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Here’s mine.
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See that lamp?
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Yup.
Have one of those too.
Our reason for shopping that day was the return of the thoughtful (but odd, and not my taste) bracelet my husband had given me for my birthday.
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I love that he tries, but he rarely scores a win when buying me jewelry so we exchange quite often.
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This was my substitution piece. Hard to tell by the photo, but it’s gold and silver intertwined.
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.
We opted for a peaceful holiday this year, no travel no party no family, just a quiet day at home with a slow roasted turkey dinner.
And that’s where it went horribly wrong.
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Because turkey’s not supposed to be green.
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But ours was when I pulled it out of the fridge to cook this morning.
It was a fresh bird I purchased on the 20th with a sell by date of the 26th… but clearly the big storm that knocked out power last week claimed this gobbler as victim.
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Good thing I made lasagna last night because it looks like it’s leftovers for us.
The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay puts on a fantastic Christmas light show every year. We went years ago when they first started and having heard they’d grown bigger and better I decided we needed a return trip.
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Bigger and better? Yes.
More crowded? Hell yeah. Judging from the steady flow of traffic, I think the entire state’s population was there.
The tiny parking lot had multiplied into lettered tiers and the small entry building had morphed into a massive welcome center.
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It was well organized, fully staffed and with advanced ticketing required, had no lines or long waits to enter.
How much bigger was it than our previous visit?
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Enough to require a map bigger.
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In a word?
It was magical…
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I’m not going to write a lot of commentary as it pretty much speaks for itself.
Just walk along with us and enjoy…
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Did I mention there were giant wooden trolls?
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The show only runs Thursday thru Sunday nights in December and has segmented entry hours. You have to reserve your spot weeks in advance as they sell out quickly. This means the weather is a crap shoot. Since it’s been unseasonably warm we weren’t worried…. until we woke up that day to 14 degrees and 35 mph winds.
Yeah, it was frickin’ freezing and we were bundled up like Nanook of the North and walking around with cups of hot chocolate to withstand the cold.
With the closure of so many brick and mortar stores, I admit I do a lot more Amazon shopping than I used to. And as much as I dislike the idea of lining the already full to bursting pockets of Jeff Bezos, it’s hard to argue with the ease and convenience he provides.
Will I get in the car and drive an hour to the mall, fight the last minute Christmas shopping crowds and drive an hour back through mad traffic just to purchase my yearly calendar?
I will not.
I’ll just sit on the couch, cruise Amazon, push a button and have it in my mailbox in two days.
Of course, calendar shopping isn’t what it used to be.
As proof, I offer these three selections that popped up during my search.
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Uh… no thanks.
I see enough of that in person.
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That’s a definite hard pass. I don’t need twelve months of rhinoceros urination.
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Price drop?
I can’t imagine why those aren’t flying off the shelf.
So I ask again, who buys these things and why are they so preoccupied with poop?
By the time we finished the craft show and museum at the college we were famished, not to mention thirsty, and headed for a restaurant I’d heard good things about in Bangor called Timber.
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Upon entry we saw snow globe dining had made a return. This started during Covid and people liked the private option so much some places have continued the trend.
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I don’t want to eat in a plastic bubble, but to each their own.
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Timber was named to reflect the logging heritage of Northern Maine…
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So rustic woods met casual elegance in the decor.
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Being with my husband, naturally we sat at the bar.
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Which is never my first choice, but it is closer to the cocktails so I don’t complain too loudly.
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Round one? A blood orange cranberry margarita.
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Timber’s cocktail menu is multi paged and varied and I happily sampled a few.
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Round two was a Stoli blueberry fog with a fantastic elderflower foam. The only thing wrong with it was the size of the glass. Bring me a pitcher!
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Yes, there was food. Perfectly prepared crab cakes with spicy corn relish for me.
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French onion soup for the husband. He was a bit disappointed in this as it wasn’t the traditional preparation… but I thought it was wonderful.
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Round 3 for me was a Hendricks cucumber cooler. Crisp, green and herbal. Perfect.
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Loggers on the way to the rest room.
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Brick oven forest mushroom pizza with arugula and fontina cheese for me. Hand tossed and so rich I barely got through half… but it was heavenly.
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Butternut squash ravioli with cranberries, feta cheese, tomatoes and spinach for my other half. Thankfully he loved this.
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When it came to dessert I drank mine off the special menu.
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A sugar cookie martini. I don’t usually like these over sweetened concoctions but in place of pie? It works.
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Husband opted for lemon meringue cheesecake and coffee.
Heck, someone had to drive…. and it certainly wasn’t going to be me.
Thanks to modern technology that keeps us in constant touch, I don’t write letters anymore… but I do still send cards. Not for every occasion like I used to, but definitely for birthdays, graduations, new babies, and weddings. Okay, I send sympathy, thank you and retirement congratulations as well.
Maybe I do still send them for everything.
But not the lesser holidays… no more Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day cards. Those are a thing of the past.
But I do enjoy the annual Christmas card swap. For some of our old friends it’s the only time of year we correspond and I look forward to seeing what brightly colored festive greeting they’ve chosen to celebrate the season.
Though I’ve cut back my list dramatically, dropping the dead beats who haven’t sent us one in 3 years or more, I send a lot of cards…. and it takes me a few days to write personal notes and hand address the envelopes. Don’t get me started on those impersonal photo cards and computer printed labels.
I’m old school.
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Every year I buy three different types of cards. There’s a Maine themed card with a moose or lobster for my southern friends. A sweet and glittery card for friends who like those, and then a slightly funky, artistic type of card for my more creative friends.
This year, those boxes were an assortment of four designs from an artist I was unfamiliar with but will be looking for again.
I love them!
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Very cool indeed Charlie.
❤️
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 