Maine is going to the birds. If you’re an avian addict or wanna-be, check out the new Maine Birding Trail.
Thanks to being the most forested state in the union as well as having more than 5,500 miles of coastline, and being on the Eastern Flyway, Maine is a good choice for birders looking to add a species or two to their life list. The website and brochure make that easier. Rare bird alerts, puffin watches, festival links, and maps are here and plenty more. Check it out.
Just back from lunch with friends at Moody’s Diner. I tend to stay away from this Waldoboro classic in summer, when the line is often out the door, but since friend’s were headed there, we went. It’s still a steal. And it’s still the real deal, when it comes to diner fare.
We slid into well worn booths, and I had the lunch special, cup of soup (turkey with rice) and a grilled cheese sandwich, for less than $5. Thick soup with big chunks of chicken and carrots and lots of rice; sandwiched oozed cheese. Then split a slab of to-die-for walnut cream pie, warmed, and topped with a mound of thick, real whipped cream. Heaven!
If I had a listing for cheap eats in Maine, Moody’s would easily be on the list. Good food, well prepared, cheap. If you want to avoid lines, go mid morning, mid afternoon, or after 7:30 p.m. And remember, there are those vintage cabins up back that go for less than $50 per night. And a gift store.
A steel pan band is not what you’d expect to fine in Down East Maine, never mind in sedate and serene (at least on the surface) Blue Hill. But the Flash! In the Pans! community steel-drum band is one of the largest such bands in the country.
Thirty or so members, ranging from grooving young dudes to gray hairs, usually perform somewhere on the Blue Hill/Deer Isle Peninsula on Monday nights, 7:30–9 p.m., but occasionally the band makes a foray to more distant points, such as Bangor, Belfast, Southwest Harbor, or Hancock. See schedule here.
Not only is the band is excellent, but also the people-watching is superb. These aren’t sit-down concerts, they’re street dances and community events that attract all ages from all walks of life. Families picnic, folks dance, toddlers boogie, teen-agers flirt, old salts swap fish tales.
Performances usually benefit a local nonprofit organization, and admission is by donation. There’s always a suggested amount, but it’s truly give what you can, be it 50¢, $5, $50; I’ve never seen anyone turned away. If you get the opportunity (or can make it happen), go!
Two nights at the Blue Hill Inn isn’t nearly enough time to enjoy the inn, never mind the Blue Hill Peninsula and Deer Isle.
I didn’t think anyone could fill the shoes of Don and Mary, who previously owned the inn, but innkeeper Sarah Pebworth has done it. Her enthusiasm for both the inn and the area are infectious.
So far, she hasn’t made too many changes, and those have been subtle. When I asked, Sarah said she’d been advised not too make any for two years, which would give her a chance to get the feel of the place and repeat guests to get to know her. She’s closing on that marker, but I wouldn’t expect anything too earth-shattering.
The Federal-style inn, built in 1830, is located across from the George Stevens Academy, and just steps from Blue Hill’s eclectic shops and restaurants. It’s a five-minute walk to the waterfront town park, where we caught the Flash! In the Pans one night (more on that, later).
Rooms are decorated in period style done right, antiques are balanced with plush linens and contemporary amenities including air-conditioning (not that we’ve needed it this year, sigh) and Wifi. Our room even had a wood-burning fireplace that was ready to light. And at night, turn-down treats: chocolate-dipped strawberries one night, chocolates the other.
What I really like here are the downstairs common rooms. I spent a rainy late afternoon hunkered down in the living room, with another fireplace (there are quite a few in this inn), and a rainy evening in the library, which is stocked with good reads as well as a guest computer.
And the food! If you’re not staying here, it’s worth the effort and the money ($12.95 for nonguests) to come for breakfast, by candlelight, no less. The menu changes daily, but always includes a bread course, a fruit course, and a choice of entree. I still smile and sigh when I think of the Stonington crabmeat with eggs and leeks. Sweets appear every afternoon—the best chocolate chip cookies one day—and in the early evening, Sarah serves hor d’oeurvres, and guests can order wine. When the weather cooperates, you can enjoy these in the gardens, but rain prevented us from that experience. Guess we’ll have to return.
What could be better than a luscious, ripe, local strawberry? How about one hand-dipped in 70-percent dark chocolate? One week only, July 5-11, Dean’sSweets is dipping strawberries daily. Now I don’t know why anyone would want one dipped in white chocolate (there’s an oxymoron for you), but Dean’sSweets also is dipping strawberries in that. Quanities are limited, so if you can’t get there early, it’s best to call to see if there any still available on a given day.
I finally made it to The Cheese Iron, the Scarborough specialty shop that caters to cheese aficianados. Trust me, it’s worth going well out of your way for a stop. I know I’ll be returning when I’m anywhere within reasonable (and perhaps unreasonable) striking distance.
My love affair with cheese began when I worked as managing editor for a national trade tab called Gourmet News. I attended the annual artisan cheesemakers conference, a gathering of boutique cheesemakers crafting farmstead cheeses and more from all around the country. One taste of a Maytag bleu or a then rare Shelburne Farms cheddar, and I was hooked.
The Cheese Iron brought all that back and more. It’s a gorgeous shop stocked with rare, hard-to-get, boutique farmstead, and unusual cheeses from around the world. Vince Maniaci knows his products and is eager to educate his customers. Sampling is a must, as is a visit to the cheese cave, where they ripen young cheeses and store delicate ones.
I purchased two cheeses I’d never previously tasted, an extra-aged mimolette, a raw cow’s milk cheese from France, and a Beemster X.O., a cow’s milk cheese from Holland. Both are hard cheese, orange in color, and so intense, so full of flavor, that only a nibble suffices. I’m eager to return and continue sampling my way through the display case. So many cheeses I’ve yet to know.
No matter what your budget, getting good value for your buck makes a difference. In a town where $40 entrees aren’t unusual, the White Barn Inn, Maine’s only five-star dining room and Relais & Chateau property, provides better R.O.I. then most other options.
The White Barn is most definitely not a budget option, but for those who can afford to drop $95 on a meal or can eek it out for a special occasion, this five-star, five-diamond, fine-dining restaurant delivers far more than it promises for its $95 (add $48 with wine pairings, $85 with reserve wine pairings) price tag, and that equals value. No, really!
• Ambiance: OK, I hate that word as much as you do, it’s so snooty, but let me tell you, the White Barn has it. Yes it’s a barn, and it retains the structure and roughness of a barn in its siding and beams, but it’s polished with white tableclothes, silver, glass and crystal, candlelight, soft piano music, fine art on the walls, and lovely silver ornamental critters on the tables. Walk in, and your eyes are drawn immediately to the humongous back wall window. Outside, tiers of flowers blossom, an explosion of color that’s front and center.
• Dress: Gentlement must wear jackets. ‘Nuff said. That alone adds an element of class, of refinement, of subdued conversation (really!).
• Service: Waiters/waitresses and assistants in black and white move quickly, efficiently, and professionally around the room. They can answer any question thrown at them, whether about the food, the inn, the area. Water glasses are kept filled; napkins are folded when diners temporarily leave their chairs; plates are served to all diners simultaneously in a choreographed flourish. No one misses a beat. It’s spot on.
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Food: Classic fare with inspirations. Everything’s familiar, yet it’s not. It’s exciting, but not too so; intriguing, yet satisfying. Did I say delicious? Definitely that, too. Chef Jonathan Cartwright and his team change the menu weekly, but don’t get too carried away. Menu focuses on what’s fresh and seasonal, without being held hostage by local ingredients.
• Value: An amuse-bouche, a pre dessert, a post dessert, a tree of petit fours and chocolates weren’t included in the four-course meal’s description, but were included in the price. They’re daily gifts from the kitchen to diners, little extras that turn a four-course menu into a seven-course one, and a pricey splurge into one with value.
• Hint: Sure, it’s a bit like Cinderella retreating from the ball, but if you sleep across the street at the strictly functional Franciscan Monastery Guest House, you can balance the savings against the splurge.
Our plan was dinner at an upscale bistro in downtown Kittery. Foolish me, I thought: rainy, Wednesday night, no prob. Hah. That local gem was packed, with a minimum of a half hour wait for a bar stool, and only the possibility of a cancellation for a table.
Back out into the rain we went, and off to tongue-twister Loco Coco’s Tacos, the li’l takeout that keeps growing. First it added a greenhouse-like bar, and since I was last there, a full-service dining room (nothing fancy, but lots of natural light and bright colors), in addition to a take-out area with seating (again, colorful and cheery).
Locos is another happening Kittery place, with a nearly full lot that almost had us in a panic. We lucked out, in that most folks were getting take out. The lounge still had a few seats as did the dining room. We snagged a tall top and, I kid you not, within 15 minutes of sitting down had our meal.
There’s a reason this place keeps growing and is so busy, or I should say reasons. First, service is fast, friendly, and efficient. Second, the food is not the usual Maine version of Mexican fare–no cheese glopped on brown-sauced food with lackluster salsa.
Let’s face it, you can’t get much farther from Mexico than Maine and remain in the continental United States. No wonder that with only a few exceptions (The Mexican Restaurant in Hancock being another), what passes as Mex-inspired here is usually a far cry from authentic. That’s not the case here. Loco’s serves damn fine Cal-Mex. It’s gorgeous to look at and tastes even better.
“You know the usual story of the Mexican grandmother in the kitchen,” our waitress replied, when I asked her if everything was made from scratch. “Well we’ve got the grandmother, her kids, and her grandkids.” And the proof is in the flavor.
We had a chicken burrito made with marinated char-grilled chicken, rice and beans, jack and cheddar cheese, fresh salsa, lettuce, guacomole, and sour cream; and a Baja-style fish taco: beer battered boneless fish, shreddd cabbage, fresh salsa, avacado sauce, sour cream, and sauce. Our waitress said if we wanted to ramp it up, we could do so at the salsa bar, where four salsas (three medium and one hot; avacado, chipotle, habanero, and one I can’t remember), were available. And trust me, even a couple of the medium-ranked ones had quite a kick.
When you like the concept of a B&B but dislike the forced camaraderie, love Victorians but loathe clutter and frou-frou, and prefer a convenient location but despise traffic and noise, the Bass Cottage Inn B&B in Bar Harbor is the solution.
When former owners Jeff and Terri Anderholm acquired this diamond, it was no gem. One of Bar Harbor’s original cottages, it had, to put it gently, seen better years, better decades.
So, they gutted the 1885 structure and turned it into an unVictorian, honoring the architectural integrity but decorating with a light hand and adding all those little amenities that make a place sing. And air-conditioning. And in-room phones and TVs. And a DVD library. And they made the breakfast reason alone to visit. Current innkeeper Eddie Hemmingsen continues that tradition.
Location, location, locationThe inn is smack downtown, but it’s not. It’s tucked between Main Street and the Shore Path, on a li’l dirt lane called The Field. You’ll need directions to find it. So do the masses, which keeps it all relatively quiet.
The location is just steps from shops, restaurants, and the Explorer bus. And you get to avoid the hassles and expense of parking in Bar Harbor.
Red vinyl, Formica, and chrome. Super-friendly waitresses. Really good home cookin’.
Martha’s Diner delivers big time. I stopped by for lunch today, and the place was packed. No surprise, since almost everything on the menu is less than $6 (if you want that 8 oz sirloin steak with one egg, toast and home fries, it’ll cost a whopping $10), and, according to the menu: “Everything is homemade and fresh daily.”
Another plus: Breakfast is served all day (FYI: that day ends at 2 on weekdays, at 1 on weekends–and it’s closed Mondays). Plenty of classics: chipped beef on toast, corned beef hash, homemade quiche—including crab, even eggs Benie and an intriguing banana split waffle (okay, maybe not).
Not easy to find, unless you know where to look. It’s on Route 3, in the Shaw’s/Reny’s plaza, but in the strip mall that’s perpendicular to the main plaza; kind of behind the chamber of commerce building.
Good food. Cheap. No credit cards.