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.
Late summer and fall are agricultural fair seasons in Maine and on a beautiful sunny day the husband and I decided to take a drive northwest to check out one we’d never visited before.
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Located in Dover Foxcroft…
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The Piscataquis Valley Fair was very small.
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But it had an impressive building filled with a large collection of fire fighting memorabilia.
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The disembodied Smokey the Bear head was a trifle disturbing..
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But these old pull along pumps were fascinating. Can you imagine putting out your burning house with that?
🥴
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The husband was checking out the patches, but all I could see was the Happy Hooker. Limitless marketing opportunities there…
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Random giant carved fish?
Check.
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Award winning art and Maine centric photography?
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Check.
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I had to laugh that even here I couldn’t escape the pickles…
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And some extremely unappetizing carrots.
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Did my husband find people to chat with? Boy howdy, did he ever.
Over 40 minutes were spent learning about invasive, non native water plants choking Maine lakes and streams.
Do we live on a Maine lake or stream? No. But we learned how to identify the evil greens all the same.
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Another half hour was spent talking to an old farmer about rusted machinery and equipment.
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I was tempted to remark on the unfortunate company name on this one, but I didn’t have the heart.
Our last Boothbay Harbor stop was the Boathouse Bistro as seen on the left.
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It’s a rustic three story restaurant with three floors that are usually packed with summer tourists as it has the best food in town.
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We always land here, on the glassed in second floor.
But along with the first, it was closed… and empty. The same disturbing trend we’d seen all day.
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Three places that are always bursting with tourists… weren’t. Tariffs and bad blood with Canada may not be affecting you… but they’re certainly hurting this area.
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Granted…. the top floor had a crowd, but the bar was empty and the bottom two levels were deserted.
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A shocking loss of prime season business.
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Saving the best for last, along with my pomegranate margarita I had blackened jumbo shrimp with fried balls of chorizo grits and smoky tomato sauce while the husband went with pan-seared scallops and crispy cornbread with an apple gastrique (apple cider, sugar, apple cider vinegar, calvados,thyme, chicken stock).
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Both tapas were excellent, and came with a view.
❤️
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 