Cundy's Harbor, Maine Beautiful Spot with a Sad Dining Experience

Cundy's Harbor from the Community Wharf

Taking the day off from the endless work that seems to be our house, my husband and I decided to take a ride along all the coastal areas nearby.  We drove up to Brunswick and then turned south to head on to one of the small fingers of land for which Maine is famous.  I was starving. My husband had looked for a lunch place on line at Cundy's Harbor (where another blogger happens to be on a working vacation with her employers -- sadly we did not meet).

Really, while Maine has it's share of sandy and rock strewn beaches, what we are known for our our rocky areas and our salt marshes.  There's a soft lush beauty to a salt marsh that is a pleasure to see.  Maine has many such areas.  They are tidal and so can be muddy and sometimes have a low-tide smell, but at high tide they are to be relished for the view of dark blue water and plush marsh grasses.

Situated along one of the rockier, and less muddy areas, Cundy's Harbor is part of Harpswell, Maine. We decided to eat at a lobster /seafood/ice cream place, Holbrook's Lobster Wharf and Grille, with attractive outdoor seating.  The temperature and breeze were just right. The Grille has recently been taken on by Gilmore's  Seafood out of Bath. The view (left) from our table was beautiful and the establishment had a recent renovation adding to the atmosphere and general coastal feeling.

After waiting in line about ten minutes we placed our order at the window.  I could see at least seven people working prep and orders. I did not see management.  The kitchen looked disorganized and in disarray.

The order taker recommended the fish taco as gluten free. It came with coleslaw and fries.  Fries are rarely gluten free because they are usually fried in the same oil in which breaded objects are fired.   Also, mayo can contain gluten, so unless I am making it I usually don't eat coleslaw.  I asked for a garden salad instead,  The taco was supposed to contain grilled fish, some slaw and their house made salsa.  My husband ordered the steamed combo (lobster and clams) and asked for a salad instead of slaw and fries. The substitution was $1 extra per plate.  Our combined bill, without drinks was $42.80

We selected a picnic table on the wharf in the partial shade.  My husband retrieved some water bottles we had with us and the restaurant was out of diet soda.  And, then we waited to hear my husband's name called. And waited, and waited.

About 20 minutes into our wait a young man in an apron ran down the dock in the picture here and just past my frame pulled a keeping box of lobsters out of the water and pulled about ten lobsters out.  I told my husband he 'd be eating fresh lobster! Then we waited some more.  About 35 minutes after we ordered his name was called.

Don returned with out main courses and one salad. The salad basket was ice cold and filled with lettuce and tomatoes that had been frozen and defrosted and which was now rotting.  I got up and asked them for another salad.  We ate our main courses.  My fish tacos  together contained about two-thirds of a cup  of overcooked and flavorless browned haddock.  At first I thought this was some seasoning, but no, it had just been grilled into submission.  It was covered with a a trifling amount of cabbage or lettuce and a relish of chopped onions with barely discernible cubes of tomato.  The tortillas were cold from the refrigerator, and commercial.  If there had been a reasonable amount of seasoned fish in a tortilla that had at least hit the grill on one side or been steamed,  perhaps it would have been better. I may have been able to maintain the illusion that someone cared about my meal. By this time I was getting rather hungry, so I ate it and waited for our salads.  My husband said his steamed clams were well-prepared, not at all sandy and and very fresh.  The lobster was certainly fresh, soft shelled, and cooked perfectly.  Its shell yielded a delicious, tender and sweet lobster (I had a bit of his). 

He finished his lobster and still no salad. I got up to ask. "Oh, yeah," the window guy with a long, blonde pony tail on which I did not see a net, called back, "What about those salads?" "Here's one, we're still working on the other." I was told they ran out of salad and that's why they gave me the old one at first. Apparently they had to chop up some vegetables.  WHAT! A few moments later I was handed two baskets with a salad containing nice crisp lettuce, anemic tomatoes, a pile of sharp white onions in diced form, and half an egg. It was okay and fulfilled part of my veggie quota.

The fried food I viewed longingly, as it passed our table, looked great. Especially the onion rings.  I could stop drinking wine to be able to eat onion rings again. 

All in all, this snack bar with a restaurant menu has an ideal location to offer delicious and fresh seafood. They need better trained staff and ordering knowledge to keep their supplies flowing.  Running out of diet soda or lettuce is ridiculous.  The lack of service, care and organization made for a lackluster meal that, except for the lobster and steamed clams, should shame this restaurateur.  A good view while a relaxing component did not make up for the poor meal.  Yes, it is called a snack bar by the community organization, but it offers a restaurant menu. They need to scale back or pick up the slack.

Island Girl?

Vintage postcard depicting Gem Theater, boardwalk, and the Peaks Island House hotel on Peaks Island, Maine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am possibly heading over to PEAKS ISLAND today to visit with some friends from my old book club -- the one I belonged to before I began reading "professionally." 

The islands in Casco Bay are called "The Calendar Islands" At Wikipedia they say:

It was first reported in 1700 by Colonel Wolfgang William Römer, an English military engineer, that there were "as many islands as there are days in the year." The United States Coastal Pilot lists 136 islands., leading to the bay's islands being called that Calendar Islands based on the popular myth there are 365 of them. Later, Robert M. York, the former Maine state historian said there are "little more than two hundred islands." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casco_Bay

Casco Bay (Photo credit: madmiked)

When I worked for the CITY OF PORTLAND, it was my job to go out on the Portland Fireboat and deliver the ballots to the island which, at the time, were part of the city.  This was great in the summer when it was "Wicked Hot" as once you pull pas a certain point it's as if the AC comes on.  In November, not so great for the same reason. But then, anything was preferable to being in the office about which, almost 25 years later, I still have nightmares.

There's a fly in the ointment today though because I was stung on my legs several times Sunday and the areas are itchy and painful to walk on. My friends house is a good mile from the ferry.  So I don't know if I am going to make the trek.

The Ferry Vessel Maquoit II birthed in slip four of Casco Bay Lines terminal on the Maine State Pier, Portland Maine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To Market to Market

Market in Aix-en-Provence Tuesday

today's catch (Photo credit: looseends)

Saturday mornings in the growing season here usually find Don and I at the Crystal Spring Farmers' Market in Brunswick.  As I love European Markets, it is natural that any farm market is going to rev me up.  The market today was sparsely attended by the sellers, compared to the start of May when there seemed to be more farmers.  Here we are still limited to green and thinnings.  In Europe they had fraise du bois which are indeed different than strawberries. They also bring stuff in but it was mostly from warmer areas of Europe, like Spain and Southern Italy. Cherries and apricots abounded. Here we had lettuces and baby kale.  In Italy they sell all types of things from shoes to kitchen ware, like an old fashioned tinker.

European market in San Giovanni
(Photo credit: hansbaas71)

Here in Maine we also have producers of artisan dairy products, meat, imported olive oil and eggs as well as bakers, and surprisingly, coffee roasters and spice merchants.  The spice merchants have at least five kinds of paprika: sweet, hot, roasted, roasted hot, etc.  So some are just merchants sourcing product and choosing to sell it in this way instead

A lot of love goes into food and it's nice to see the people that grow lettuce or carrots sell it as well.  It connects you more to what you eat. But, it doesn't feel quite the same as a French market, which in turn doesn't feel like an Italian market. The markets feel like the place and have that place's traditions. 

UNTIED AIRLINES

United 747 N015UA (Photo credit: Telstar Logistics)

Marseilles to Brussels on Brussels Air was very pleasant.  From there the trip has gone downhill.  Now, United has instituted secondary, randomized security with issuance of new boarding passes and new baggage claims. UNANNOUNCED.  I don't often swear online but imagine me doing so now. 

What was worst was the obvious pleasure the Brussels security took in throwing it at us. You don't have a security sticker. "Wha?" How could I be here if I hadn't gone thru your remarkably anal security. They were major asshats.

Arrival in Newark fine, passport, customs, rechecking fine.  Allow me to say that if we had rented a car on arrival we would have arrived in Maine before the scheduled departure of our original flight.  So we get up from the United lounge and discover the flight had been cancelled and they had re-booked us on the 9:59 then 10:16 now 11:30. United/Continental is rapidly losing me as a passenger.

I am so tired.  We did meet and speak with many other stranded passengers in the lounges, some who were just lovely. But I am starting to be sick with tiredness having been up over 24 hours. I really need to be home and feel hugely frustrated by my inability to have any effect on my travel.  Sorry to say this isn't that fun a post and I haven't the energy to give you more. 

Ta Ta Steph

Summer Breeze Makes Me Feel Fine

When do we get lazy, hazy days of summer? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here in Maine the summer is very important, and unless you  ski or some other winter activity, winter is an inconvenience. Back in the day, summer was when you grew your food and were able to visit. Fall was when you harvested and Spring was for livestock. Spring this year came early, backed off for a few days and now seems back. Spring is by nature, capricious.

I do not grow, harvest or slaughter my own food.  The farmers need support and food gardening in a rural area for us means a deer fence at least. But spring, summer, and even fall are still important. And busy. And the only time, really, to walk the beach. We also entertain more as it is hard to plan an elaborate event that could be cancelled for storms. Yeah summer events can be canceled but winter is a riskier proposition.

So house, yard, friends, family (my mom visits) and recreation.  Right now work, then a couple of trips then more work. I would love to get down to Pennsylvania to see my sister, or Cape Cod. When to fit the fun in and when to do my reading and writing, and just enjoy? 

What are your plans for the summer? 

Saint Patrick's Day Thoughts

image: www.catholicteacherresources.com

Happy Saint Patrick's Day from Maine

St. Patrick's Day in Dublin Image via Wikipedia

I remember the first day I even knew about Saint Patrick's Day.  I went across the street to my neighbor's to get the school bus in first or second grade.  They were a large Irish family, my best friends really.  I was not wearing green and heard about it.  But the holiday ended when they got off at the Catholic school.  I don't think we learned about holidays until later, maybe third or fourth grade.  By the time I was in college, traditions had spread more. We had green bagels on Saint Patrick's day at  SUNY Albany (a disgusting idea).

Back in the early 1960s, non-national holidays celebrated by particular ethnicities where largely still traditionally held by those ethnicities. Even when I was a teen, an Episcopalian or Presbyterian friend's family still attended Whitsunday mass.  We were Italian and Greek and therefore did not celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.  My Italian-American Mom went to an "un-Sainted" church, Christ the King, I guess it was ethnically ecumenical.

The Chicago River dyed green for Saint Patrick's Day
Image via Wikipedi

St. Patrick's Day in Boston Image via Wikipedia

Churches then were still, in cities in particular,  attended by ethnic populations and were named in French (like Sacre Coeur) or had an Irish or Italian saint's name. Saint Mary's would be Irish and Santa Maria would be Italian.  Back then in upstate New York we did not have churches with names in Spanish. To attend a Spanish mass as a cultural experience for Spanish majors in High School we had to go downtown to the cathedral.

Life then was devoid of the kind of information access we take for granted today. If you didn't know something and the people living with you didn't know it and the family did not own an encyclopaedia you waited until school or for the library to open to find out.  We didn't know much about what was happening in other cities, there were no webcams. You had the newspaper, the news (twice a day) and heaven forbid, if something terrible happened, the dreaded special report. Television only had three to five channels!

When I talk about "back then" and life being so different I remember rolling my eyes at my depression-era parents discussing their lives.  Oddly, none of my grandparents  discussed life in the old country (Turkey and Italy) where they were born.  But get my parents going on the depression and whew! My dad actually had rickets, my mother's father trapped blackbirds and burned tires for heat.  Part of the discussion was to show us how far they had come and how good we had it. Now I look back to those days in much the same way. I look at how far we've come and how good I have it. 

So, today is Saint Patrick's Day. I am making a special birthday dinner for my BFF and my husband.  And, once again, I was clueless and completely forgot it was Saint Patrick's day every March 17.  I am making an Italian Bracciole (A stuffed rolled roast cooked a long time in pomodoro), and my first from scratch gluten free birthday cake with a ganache frosting. As an adult, my best girlfriend is also Irish from a big family. I look forward to seeing if she wears green. Maybe I will!

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Returns? Always Open LL Bean's Flagship Store

Image via Wikipedia

How many gifts did you, or do you, need to return from people who don't really know you or who know you well? In other words how many gifts did you need to return?  I only had one this year and it went down the road to the only store I know is open 24/7/365.

LLBean is a remarkable place.  in 1984 when we moved here it was a large building and the wares were quite traditional.  I bought woolen mittens that are still somewhere in my house.  For years they were my only gloves.  As my wardrobe expanded so did LL Bean.  It is now at least three times the size of the old shop I knew and that's just the main store; there is also a bike and kayak and ski shop and a home store. The outlets down the hill are not open as much.

Twelve years ago I worked on the telephones for the holidays.  It was the best place I ever worked.  Employees, at least temps, were treated respectfully at all times. Ergonomic specialists were available to see that your chair and keyboard were in the right spot for you.  We had the best training ever.  Prices are fair and haven't changed much. Style at LLBean's is always an issue. It's a Maine thing that usually results in my husband and eye raising at least one eyebrow in any visit. Today it was a mass of kelly green long coats. But while I couldn't pull off the orange plaid wide leg wool pants in the new Signature line, someone else could. And to be fair, there are great things as well. Their men's oxford shirts are fantastic.

In any event what is remarkable about the flagship store, aside from the amazing guarantee and employees who actually want to help you and know the merchandise, is how the 24/7/365 is backed up.  If you ever visit check the doors.  There are no locks. If they had to lock up for some reason, it would require chains.

Freeport is not so much a town now as it is a huge outdoor mall with free parking throughout.  There are outlets and boutiques, hotels and restaurants. A bit past the shopping areas there are still neighborhoods, but most of the houses that existed between Route 1 and the highway are gone.  There have been many changes since 1984. But the guarantee and great service have not.

It wasn't too busy today when I returned the sweater (lovely color and material, not my style). It wasn't too busy, but it was there and it was open.

The Simple Truth About Rodents

Image via Wikipedia

About a week ago a young man commented on my blog and so I looked at his.  A fellow Mainer, although about three hours away, he was experiencing rodent issues in his home.  

Our old house in a different area of Maine had been built in 1974.  We moved in 1984.  No one told us it was a stop on the rodent underground railway.  The builders hadn't bothered with important things like insulation, or making sure a wall joined up to the chimney stack next to it.  Contractor-special defined virtually every item in the place.

The first sign of activity was scratching in the wall, which I first heard while my husband was on his first business trip. I did not sleep for three days.  After that our cats enjoyed a cornucopia of rodents ever flowing through cracks and voids.  Some of our cats were not so interested—I once walked upstairs to see one of our girls sleeping with a chipmunk on her tail. Oh that was a fun afternoon. 

Whe we remodeled our kitchen our first need after removing the old cabinets to the garage was demolishing the interior walls.  We discovered two things: there was no sheet rock separating the soffit from the cabinets and the top of our cabinets had amounted to a lover's leap for mice. When we removed the wall which had adjoined that space we discovered skeletal mice layered at least to my knee. 

As we discovered there was no sheet rock above that cabinet space we had to choose removing the entire ceiling or patching in around the edge.  We opted for the former and when pulling down an area around  a junction box discovered that the mice had considred that area their toilet; no doubt before jumping off that cliff to their deaths they decided on one last potty stop. But as we pulled  down the ceiling, a bushel-worth of mouse crap fell onto my poor husband's head and then scattered through the open space like ball bearings.

We never got rid of the mice, instead we just got more cats. 

In the new house, flying squirrels somehow got into our attic. Of course, this was discovered while my husband was on a business trip.  It is really dangerous as they seem to believe electrical wires are food or they have a serious need to floss. We ended up having a squirrel-removing guy come and humanely trap them and then sealing our roof line with mesh. Knock on or, touch, wood, we haven't had any since.  We keep all birdseed in our garage freezer and not out on the garage floor and are also careful in keeping any food stuffs where they might be found by rodents.  The deal is, that even on the edge of the town we are in the wild.  There are fox, turkey, mice, squirrels (red and gray), chipmunks, fisher cats and coyotes all over the place.  We have had those and groundhogs, porcupines deer, and I once saw a mink! 

Having the nature around us means we have to take steps to keep it out of the house. It is the simple truth about rodents.

New Releases and Release Events!

In the Forests of the Night, a new volume of my favorite YA series, The Goblin Wars by Kersten Hamilton has been chosen as a CRITICS NEW RELEASE PICK for this week by Kirkus Reviews. The first book in the series Tyger, Tyger (Review) is a big favorite of mine.
 In The Forests of the Night (click title for review) beautifully continues the story.

And Lauren Oliver's Middle Grade book, Liesl and Po with illustrations by Kei Acedera has been chosen as a Notable Release for October in Kirkus!

A wonderfully imaginative, startlingly moving and at times wickedly funny fantasy.

 Oliver wrote the critically acclaimed and successful Delirium released early this year.  I was impressed by Lauren's research on the Portland, Maine area. Everything was spot on. She also penned Before I Fall.