One is never enough

Summer is short.   Eat lobster rolls.

Young's Lobster Pound, Belfast

I love this red and white sign, looking out over Belfast Bay.

That's a lot of lobsters!

I mean, a LOT of lobsters.  These were mostly full!

Fresh, cold, not too much mayo.  Perfect, even without the hot dog bun.

Nice Bucket List!

Awesome place.

Pemaquid Fisherman's Coop, Pemaquid

Take me to your lobster.

Lobster and American flag.  Yes.

It all looks good.

And it was!

Wait just a darn tootin' minute! Wanchese, NC

Them aren't lobsters!  Them are blue crabs.  From our trip to the Outer Banks last month.

Investigative Reporting: Warren's Lobster House

How could you resist a place with a giant lobster out front?  I never can!  And the Seacoast's finest salad bar?  I mean really.  

Anja and I headed down to Ipswich Mass last weekend to check out the grand opening of my friend's 1634 Meadery, and we just had to stop in Kittery to check this place out.  I've always wanted to eat over on Badger Island (because it's in a cool spot), but the lobster place over there lost its lease.  So Warren's it was.

It was a good sign that two priests led the procession of people as we all jammed in just as they opened.  Warren's looks to be the after-church-lunch place in this town (but they let heathens like me in too).  

And yes, they did have a great salad bar.  And a great JUMBO lobster roll (with a jumbo price of $29 to go along with it . . . .)  But it was a great stop.

That's a lot of lobster!

The view from our booth.

Anja doesn't really like seafood I guess.  She had chicken.

Old time kind of place.

A good lobster roll is always worth the drive.

Just One More Moment of Summer (Holbrooks)

It's been pretty warm in Maine, even during most of October.  Still shorts weather, still sitting on the porch eating dinner weather, still walking on the beach weather.  It's spectacular -- crystal clear air, warm sunshine, and not too many tourists.  But there are hints of what's to come.  The leaves start to turn; just a little at first.  The days grow shorter, with sunset arriving earlier and earlier.  And eventually, there's a hint of frost on the leaves in the early morning.  Summer ends, fall begins, and Mainers start to think about finding the snow shovels, maybe buying a new pair of boots, and breaking out the skis and snow shoes.

An ocean lover knows winter isn't a kind season for exploring beaches and tidepools.  I still have plenty of collecting to do for this semester's marine bio class, but I know soon it'll get too cold to reach a hand into the Gulf of Maine with anything but a grimace, and eventually the trails down to the water will ice over.  So I have to make the most of every moment in the fall -- hit one more beach; drive to one more lighthouse; lie on more dock and gaze over the edge to see who's living on the piers. 

One of the things I feel driven to do in fall is stuff all the lobster rolls I can into my face sample just a few more lobster rolls before the seasonal shacks close down.  Many of the best spots for seafood in Maine are only open in the warm months, so it's important to get your fill of rolls before these shacks close for the season.  One of my favorites is pretty close to home, and luckily, it's right on the way to some of my best collecting spots.  Why not kill two birds with one stone, and stop for a lobster roll on the way to my field work?

HOLBROOKS:  I love Holbrooks.  Tucked up at the end of Cundy's Harbor, you can't get more Maine than this.  Lobster boats?  Check.  Beaten up working pickups?  Check.  Old Maine homes built too close to a twisty-turny road?  Check.  Spectacular sunsets, and foggy days, and the smell of bait?  Check.

We're lucky we still have Holbrooks.  Like so much of Maine's working waterfront, it was threatened by private development back in 2005.  What had for years been a spot devoted to commercial fishing was up for sale, and everybody feared it would turn into a private home, or worse yet -- condos.  So a group of local residents formed the Holbrook Community Foundation; raised money, bought the place, and today is devoted to keeping the coast clear for local fishermen and tourists.  Their snack bar, located on the wharf, is found at one of the prettiest spots in the country, and lobster has never tasted so good.

GETTING THERE:  From US1 in Brunswick, take Rt 24 south and go 5 1/2 miles south.  Turn left onto Cundy's Harbor Road, and go 4 1/2 miles; Holbrooks will be on the left.  BYOB, or better yet, support the local economy by getting a bottle of wine at the General Store just in front of the snack bar.

What could possibly be better than this?

Yesterday, I dragged Damon to Freeport to do a little shopping.  It couldn't be helped.  There is a wedding to attend later this month, and even an Ocean Lover wants her guy to look sharp.  So we dragged the dog along, found a parking spot in the garage under the Bean outlet (lest Dory get too hot), and fought our way through the leaf-peeping shoppers to the fitting rooms.  It all worked out just fine, as Damon found two really nice pairs of LL's pants that cost a grand total of $3.76 (yes, you read that right).  What could be better than that?

Well, maybe a waterfront lunch at Piney Point.  What could be better than that?

An exploration of the dinghies next to the restaurant.  What could be better than that?

Going barefoot -- in October.  What could be better than that?

How about a big, wide, flat beach.  What could be better than that?

A dog-friendly beach?  Is this what the big deal is all about?  Nope, it gets even better.

Everything was just a prelude to a nerd's paradise: BABY MOON SNAILS. Nothing could be better than that.  Nothing.

I've written about big mamma moon snails.  They're rather extraordinary.  But never have I seen babies, and yesterday I saw not a few -- I saw hundreds.  Old Orchard Beach was rotten with them.  And they're so stinkin' cute!  With their little con-trails they leave behind, and their tiny feet bulldozing through the soft sand, and their exquisite little shells.  I mean really, what's a girl to do?

Ain't life grand?

Tootin' My Own Horn

A few weeks ago, a former student of mine, and a Kent Islander, shot me an email -- the kind any teacher wants to get.  Charlotte Rutty, an extraordinary young writer and producer, said she had a "maybe-strange" proposal for me -- to appear on Maine Calling, the state's public affairs call in show.  She went on to say some nice things about me (blush, blush), and said the show was about Maine's "sea critters", and that I'd be a good fit for the show.

Well, who can refuse a lovely person like Charlotte, who flatters me and says I get to babble on about Maine's oceans to, well, at least a dozen listeners (not including my parents)?

So I said yes.  I spent about a week doing some quick research on what I might want to tell people about ocean organisms in Maine, and some key information about conservation concerns.  This included Mola mola (of course), basking sharks (which I'm going to do a post on very shortly, as they are nearly, but not quite, as cool as molas, whales, copepods, tidepools, and many others.  Damon the night before saying -- you'll probably get a question about blue lobsters, as one was in the news this week.  My good friend Anja took the day off to come down with me, to cheer me on and have someone to celebrate with afterwards.
     
I got a good night's sleep the night before show, headed down in the morning, and met the other guests in the lobby beforehand -- Adam Baukus of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and Joe Payne, who is the Casco Baykeeper for Friends of Casco Bay.  Both were incredibly knowledgeable and personable -- amazing people.  Jennifer Rooks hosted, and was great at asking questions and leading us through answering.  We had some great questions, and Damon gets bonus points for suggesting I do some research on blue lobsters -- someone did indeed ask a question about them!  (Hmm, sounds like a future blog post to me!)

The hour flew by, they started to play the theme music, then we were out of there!

What do you do after appearing on a talk show?  Well, eat a lobster roll, of course!  We headed downtown to Portland Lobster Company, and although we melted eating out on the deck, the lobster roll went down pretty easy!  Overall, a terrific day -- one I will remember a long time.

Now I will say, there are some things that I'd like to talk more about, or I'd like to address better than I did on the show.  I'll squirrel those away to write about in the future!  But if you're interested in listening to the show, check it out here. 

Anja grew up in East Berlin -- behind the wall -- and spotted this monument from a mile away.  This year is the 25th anniversary of the wall coming down!  Hooray!  MNP -- Mir, Peace.  A timely reminder.

Week Downeast, Day 4

There's not much I like more than a lobster roll.  Linda Bean markets hers as Linda Bean's Perfect Maine Lobster Roll (TM, I am sure).  Then sells them in downtown Freeport.  Well, I have news for Ms Bean; the perfect way to eat a lobster roll in Maine is at some little dockside shack, with a high school or college age girl taking your order and calling for you to come and get your morsel of paradise over a loudspeaker ("eighty-five, number eighty five, your order is ready").  Gulls should be looking over your shoulder as you eat; a cool breeze should be washing over you, and lobster boats should be hauling traps within view.  It should all look something like Quoddy Bay Lobster, which you can find down a little dirt road just south of downtown Eastport.  The lobster roll was sweet, the company was great, and the day was perfect.  And I do mean perfect.

(BTW, if you're craving a lobster roll in Freeport, I have nothing against Linda Bean's, but I recommend getting out of the shopping district and heading to South Freeport, to Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster.)

Two Lights, and Two Lights

One of the two lights, as photographed from the Lobster Shack.

While I was home from the island I threw the dog in the car and headed down to Cape Elizabeth for a quick evening outing.  A couple of years ago Damon and I crewed on a offshore sailboat race, a great way to recover from our summer on the island.  We had spectacular weather, and beat down along the Cape Elizabeth coast as night fell.  As we ground winches and trim sails, we tacked just offshore of Two Lights -- both the state park and the lobster shack.  In the evening light they both looked so beautiful.  Now I finally managed to make it back, with a view from land to sea this time!

Two Lights State Park seems to really confuse people, if you read Tripadvisor on a regular basis.  Everyone expects there will be two lighthouses in the park, but nary a lighthouse will be found there.  Rather, you'll find some amazing picnic spots, crashing waves on a rocky outcropping, some lovely upland trail, and old artillery ruins from WWII.  This is the place to be for sunsets, even sans lighthouses.

Crashing surf on the rocks, and someone contemplating the enormity of the ocean.  Or napping, I can't really tell.

A word to the wise:  rocks by the ocean are slippery, and waves are dangerous.  Take heed.

The beast in her natural habitat.

If a lighthouse is what you want to see, get thee to the Lobster Shack, right down the road.  You'll have a great view of one of the two lights, plus enjoy some great seafood in what must be the most spectacular setting in Maine (and that's saying a lot).  The evening I was there, a wedding party was rehearsing on the lawn, tourists from all over were enjoying dinners, and gulls were trying their best to snatch a bite or two from an unsuspecting diner.  I of course had to try a lobster roll; my usual in this situation.  It was fine -- but I have to admit, I was pretty turned off by the big, glistening dollop of mayo they put on it.  Luckily, that was easy to scrape off, so I could enjoy my lobster roll in paradise.

See what I'm saying?