Monday, August 3, 2009






Onyx Hotel, Boston

Asha loved it and the kids had a great time. This contemporary designed hotel was decorated in bright, whimsical colors and patterns and our two rooms were nicely secluded in their own alcove so that we weren’t bothering other people (much). One room had a King and the other two doubles. The kids shared a room which had its own issues (like sleeping or not). Afternoons they had popsicles for the kids and the Wii but it was at a very inconvenient time, 2pm. Who is hanging around the hotel in the middle of the afternoon?
During our stay, there was major construction happening outside the hotel which made loading and unloading the cars a pain, but other than that it wasn’t a big deal. The hotel’s location is very central but it’s on this one block street that isn’t particularly nice (not unsafe though). We were able to walk almost everywhere we wanted to.
The hotel lounge had breakfast in the morning (but we never ate there). Instead we walked around the corner to a coffee shop. It also had a free wine hour in the evening, or you could have cocktails at the bar.

Driving to Poughkeepsie


Driving to Poughkeepsie
It was raining. Boston to Poughkeepsie is about 4 hours across Massachusetts on 84 into NY. Coming out of Boston, the number of cops was incredible. They must be waiting for people to speed through the tolls. On the toll road there are lots of fast food stops and gas stops so you don’t have to get off the toll (the rest areas have food courts with Mexican, sandwiches, pizza, ice cream, etc). Of course, you miss any good food places that require exiting the toll road (such a different approach to travel then Canada’s don’t miss our small towns approach).

Friday, July 31, 2009

Blue Hill Stone Barns, NY






Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Well this should have been our quintessential farm to table restaurant experience. Blue Hill is on its own farm where they have an enormous garden, cattle graze, chicken run around and I’m sure there were lamb off somewhere as well, but I didn’t see them. The farm is beautiful and I do wish we’d come much earlier and spent some time exploring the farm, sitting in the café, and perusing the food market. By the time we arrived for our 7:30 reservation, we only had a half hour to wander and the café and market were already closed.
The restaurant is set in one of the several stone buildings that make up the central area. These are gorgeous stone buildings with decorative brick work that feel almost like a fortress. Inside the restaurant there is a fairly large bar area and then the restaurant itself with dark wood, white tablecloths and formally dressed wait staff (and lots of them). Because we were early, we waited in the bar area but in the 15 minutes we were waiting, no one ever got around to taking our order. When our whole party had arrived (David, Donna, Marci, Jeff and Lisa, dave and Terri and I), we were seated at a round (inconvenient) booth.
We were given a menu. On the left side is a list of the current products in use. There are tons of them (much more than the website shows) including veggies, meats, cheeses, fish, etc. all of which are from the farm or the local area. On the right side it indicates the two types of menus: the farm prix fix, $135 which includes 6 savory courses and 2 desserts; and the regular tasting menu for $105, 4 savory and 1 dessert). The whole table has to select one choice. Meanwhile, David was ordering our wine, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. After much hemming and hawing we did decide on the 8 course. The waitress indicated that the actual amount of food is the same, but that you get to taste more things, obviously, in the 8 course. Upon reflection, I do wish we’d had the five. From my perspective, it was too many flavors that had no thematic or cohesive sense and was kind of too much for my senses (plus, most desserts, from my perspective are not very good).
After we selected the menu we wanted, the waitress asked if there were any allergies, did any of us not want raw fish? No meat eaters? Cheese? And from our responses to these questions, the menu is designed.
It started with a “deconstructed” salad (at least that’s what I called it) with slender baby carrots in a light dressing impaled on nails on a piece of wood with one carrot for each person. Next to each carrot, was one piece of lightly dressed Romaine. Each person got one impaled cherry tomato on another piece of wood and a piece of summer squash coated in sesame seeds and prosciutto (so the rumor goes, but I didn’t taste that). Each slab of wood is brought out separately, but fairly quickly (in fact, throughout the meal, I didn’t have time to finish many of my dishes before they cleared but maybe I was eating too slowly). We still did not have our wine because they said they needed to chill it.
The vegetables came with a summer soup (gazpacho) in a shot glass, fresh bread with fresh ricotta and butter that are made from their cows. This is served with a tomato powder which seems like a lot of trouble for little flavor. It looks pretty, however. They kept trying to take my bread to clear the table which felt a little rushed (now, the meal took over 3 hours so it’s difficult to see how I was feeling rushed, but I was). They also brought a bite of sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, in a tiny cream puff. I found this barely worth eating and didn’t finish it. The sweet cream puff did not compliment the flavors of the tomato.
The second course was a piece of sea bass on a sauce of fresh, muddled peas, pine nuts and spices. The sea bass was wonderful, tender, almost sweet and lightly flavored. The peas were also very light and sweet and complimented the sea bass.
The third course started with an introduction by one waitress to the farm’s onions which she explained would be made into broth. It was a cut out rectangle from the center of the eggplant and I don’t think it had been cooked (maybe steamed?) and it was served with some garlic sausage and a bit of tomato and some slice of white thing which we aren't sure what it was.
A kind of mini salad of tomato and melon came in the middle with basil and little flowers. I loved the tomatoes. They were soooo sweet.
a little mound of pasta, linguine, dressed in a light red sauce. The pasta was not quite al dente and had way too much bite. The sauce was not particularly flavorful but I guess it tasted lightly of tomatoes. My little mound was so small, I would say it barely made one bite.
Fourth, we had another fish course. This was halibut with some shellfish (a combination of a tiny piece of lobster and of shrimp). The lobster was wonderfully sweet and tender. The shrimp, in contrast, had an off flavor and was a bit tough. The sauce on the halibut was a corn broth.
At this point, David ordered a Cabernet of Ridge, 2005 that was very good. Unfortunately, the waitress spilled one glass across the table making an enormous, mucky mess with some splashing on David, most staining the tablecloth. They tried to be discrete in cleaning it up but it was a mess and could never satisfactorily be taken care of so they just had to put big white napkins on top of the mess.
Fifth was slices of rare beef in an asian sesame dressing. This was quite flavorful and the meat was both tender enough (with some bite) and tasty. This was probably the most flavorful course, and hence, my fav.
The dessert courses consisted of a jellied custard with large tapioca (or the things in bubble tea—are those tapioca?) and currants. This was creamy and sharp tasting with the currants and then when you bite into the bubble it’s kind of fun. I did like this course. The second dessert course was corn ice cream on some dried fruit with fresh blueberries. The blueberries were some of the tastiest I’ve had, but I did not like the corn ice cream at all. Marci said the ice cream was better if eaten with the accompaniments of dried fruit.
They did bring a little ending course of corn meal macaroons which I did not like and didn’t eat.
A note on the service: they were practically dancing as they served us our plates in a choreographed service. Three or four people would come and place the plates for four, then they would rotate one and then put another plate. They cleared the plates the same way, hence they needed us all to be finished at the same time. If i wasn't, they just took my plate anyway.
The experience, the conversation and company were enjoyable, but overall the experience was a disappointment. Many cheaper meals were better tasting and certainly more filling.

Harvard Square, Cambridge



Cambridge MA
Cambridge in the middle of July is a very busy, hectic place (at least at Harvard Square). I don’t know how many of the people milling around are tourists and how many are locals, but it was like a zoo. At the square itself is a central visitor information booth with long lines. It’s also where the T stops. There are many cops just hanging around here as well, not sure why.
Radiating out from the central square are the main shopping/eating streets and then Harvard itself which we really didn’t get to see because we had time constraints given that the bikes needed to be back. But we did wander the streets a bit. The shopping seemed primarily geared toward locals. There were not a lot of t-shirt or junk shops but more Harvard wear, trendy stuff, sports stores, a few cafes, ice cream shops, etc.
We got ice cream from a side street recommended by the visitor center but Asha’s pistachio was so yucky she tossed it out. Lauren had chocolate and she seemed to like it. The place was kind of messy and trashy (like the whole area is). There are lots of places to eat on the sidewalks if you just want to take in the crowd vibe. People play instruments and sing in various places as well.

Cafe of India, Cambridge



Cafe of India, Cambridge
This café is located off the Harvard Square and was recommended by Chow hound and some other reviews, so we decided to go to the buffet because we’d be able to get the food fast. It’s a pretty big restaurant but the buffet ($8.95) is small with about 7 items and 2 chicken dishes. It was heavy on potatoes and kind of a disappointment but the food was fine. We were so hot, though, I wasn’t much interested in eating.
They brought fresh Naan to the table. The food was very mildly spiced, not very greasy but not particularly flavorful. They have a lot of wait staff but no one even asked us if we wanted drinks, so we had to flag them down. I didn’t notice any frozen carrots. The tandoori chicken was very moist and kesh ate a lot of that.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Antico Forno


Antico Forno, Boston
We read some good reviews of this Italian place in the North end neighborhood and it was on the freedom walk and it took reservations (we had 10 people) so we stopped there as we strolled. The restaurant is large with wood tables and an Italian wait staff that was not very friendly or cheerful. They sat us immediately at some tables pushed together and we waited about 15 minutes for them to take our orders.
The menu items included lots of pastas with a variety of toppings from alfredo to Bolognese (about $12), a wide range of salads and pizzas. We ordered a pretty broad selection and they were accommodating of our special needs: Lauren just wanted butter on her pasta and one of the other boys had allergies and needed a particular pasta as well.
I had a salad on focaccia with veggies and cheese and roasted peppers. It said it had zucchini but it didn’t come with it (which was fine with me because I don’t like zucchini). The salad was fresh, tasty and large (Marci and I shared it). Asha had pizza which I thought had way too much cheese on it but she ate 4 or 5 pieces of it. Marci had a baked pasta dish with sausage and red sauce which was fine but nothing special. Kesh had fettucine Bolognese. I think the noodles in this dish were homemade but they were too thick and kind of gummy but kesh ate it.
The service was lacking not only because they weren’t very cheerful but they never came back to ask if things were okay or if we wanted water refills (which we did because it was so darn hot). Overall, I wouldn’t return.

Figs, Boston






Figs, Boston
Tonight, us girls (sans marci who had boy duty—where are those husbands?) were doing a girl’s night. We were going to start with cocktails (mocktails for the girls), dinner at Figs and then a movie. Cocktails were a bit disrupted when the only room at the hotel restaurant was at the bar and the girls weren’t allowed to sit there. Eventually, we did get a seat and the girls had Shirley Temples and I had a glass of wine.
The walk to the restaurant was nice. It wasn’t horribly hot at 7pm and the neighborhood the restaurant was in was quite nice. It is an older neighborhood that is famous, Beacon Hill. So it was fun to walk through the neighborhood, about 1 mile from the hotel.
Figs itself is very small and narrow with tables along one wall, a few tables in the front and a bar and open kitchen where you can see the wood burning stove for the pizzas and, in the back, the other food is cooked. Our wait was about fifteen minutes. We could have gotten a reservation but I didn’t realize it so we had to wait. We sat outside for a bit, just enjoying the city scene.
The menu had lots of yummy options so it was hard to make a choice. They have several salads from the traditional Caesar to a beet salad and one with spinach and bacon. Several seafood appetizer choices, pastas and pizzas. The pizzas are very thin crust, almost crispy even through the center. Lauren ordered a Caesar salad and spaghettini with meatballs and marinara. Asha ordered Asparagus risotto with tomato and shrimp and I ordered a beet salad to share with Asha (good thing because it was huge) and a prosciutto/fig pizza.
Lauren’s Caesar salad looked fine and she ate it all but I didn’t try it. Her pasta was excellent for a basic pasta style. The sauce was very flavorful and not acidic as tomato sauces can be (much better than our lunch pasta) but, ironically, it had that green container parm on it. Asha really liked her risotto but I thought it had too many things going on. The beet salad was quite tasty and lightly dressed. It had tons of beets in it, onion, walnuts and even some fried onion and goat cheese.
The pizza was very tasty and huge, enough for three people probably. I put my first piece on my plate and then Lauren knocked over my wine onto it and down both my legs and into my shoe. Thank goodness I was not wearing my white pants or my good shoes.
The service was almost too ingratiating but at the same time rather sloppy. I’m saying that even though they comped me my salad after they brought me the wrong one. But, the waiter had a level of familiarity that wasn’t comfortable for my level of boundaries. He winked at Asha and kind of acted like he and I were in a conspiracy with the little girls or something. Then, after the wine spilled he didn’t even wipe off the table except with Lauren’s napkin so wine was still dripping on the floor and anything we set on the table got wine on the bottom of it.
Overall, I would definitely like to return. I think it wouldn’t work if you had more than four people.

Biking Success, Boston






Biking success, Boston
Hot, humid, sunny. Kids don’t want to walk but we don’t want to sit in a hotel in Boston, so Marci and I begin a hunt for bicycle possibilities. The day before, I had walked the Charles River trail and thought if we could rent bikes and bike that trail it would be safe and we would make it to Cambridge and we wouldn’t have to deal with whining. After calling around, the best bike place we could locate that had a tandem, was within walking distance, and we could get to the Charles River trails without much riding on the road was Urban Adventure biking on Atlantic Ave.
We rented a tandem and four bikes, got our helmet and headed out. The ride does require riding on the road for about 1.5 miles but then you can get on the River Trail. The trail was a bit cooler than the road and there was some shade. We crossed the River at the Massachusetts Bridge because it had a bike trail, but we ended up riding on the sidewalk because we thought it was too scary to have the kids on the road next to the trucks, etc. roaring by.
We wound up in Central Square at Harvard and realized the bike shop had not given us our locks. So, Marci went to hunt up a lock while I went to hunt up a place to lock up four bikes and a (very big) tandem. Our plan was to eat at Café of India and across the street was a small library for the University and behind that was a large bike rack. Here we ended up parking our bikes and then headed to the restaurant.
We were all very hot and tired and ready for some water and food. I’ll write about the food in my Café of India post.
For the ride back, we crossed one of the smaller bridges near Harvard and rode on the otherside of the river. The disadvantage was that we didn’t have any shade for a bit on this side of the river, but eventually we did get under some trees. We were able to find some drinking fountains to fill up our one water bottle, thank goodness, because it was hot. Unfortunately, on our way back we missed part of the trail near the Museum of Science and ended up on the road longer than before.
We returned the bikes about 3:45 (we had rented them for four hours and the whole excursion took us about 4 hours 15 minutes). Next door to the bike shop was a restaurant called The Living Room where we all wobbled in to get a cold drink. Rakesh, in contrast to the rest of us, was still raring to go and dancing around the restaurant. The Living Room was like a bar in the front with couches and then a formal restaurant. The kids ordered hamburgers and mac and cheese. The hamburger patty was pretty gross and had that strange texture that industrial hamburgers have but Rakesh ate most of it. French fries were spiced waffle fries which we all liked. The mac and cheese was penne with four cheeses and seemed too dry, but the kids ate most of it and Kesh finished it off.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Equal Exchange Cafe, Boston



Equal Exchange Café, Boston
Marci and I were up at 8am and wanted coffee/tea so we looked at google for something near the hotel. As we headed to the targeted place, we saw this and decided to stop. It’s focus is supporting local, small businesses, using organic fresh products. I had a nice cup of tea (my options were black, green and herbal). I chose black. Marci had coffee and a bagel. I also had a cranberry nut bun. In the time it took us to eat those, they ran out of the rest of their buns and many of their bagels. They keep a very small inventory.
The store has several tables, a couch and counters against the windows as well as free wifi.

Masa, Boston

Masa, Boston
As usual, Marci and I were running late after some difficulties getting checked into the hotel and returning her rental car, but we forged ahead finally leaving for the restaurant at 8:15 for our 8pm reservation. Luckily, after taking the taxi, the place wasn’t very crowded.
Masa is a pretty big restaurant with lots of tables. It’s open and not very decorated with a bar on the left and tables on the right. It was about half full when we arrived. We waited a long time for a waiter to come and pour water and then longer for someone to come to ask us about drinks. We ordered a margarita and a Caprinha. Marci said the Margarita was good but the Caprinha was way too bitter. It needed something sweet. It was a strawberry Caprinha so maybe the strawberries weren’t as sweet as they should have been.
The menu was intriguing and we had a terrible time trying to decide what to order. Entrees were about $22 but they had a prix fix for $25 that included one of four appetizers, one of four dinners and one fo three desserts. The appetizers all looked good, but we settled on two off the prix fix menu and one from the regular menu: quesadilla with shrimp and chorizo, beet salad and All three were very good and flavorful. I would order them all again.
Mains included a salmon with a horseradish crust and empanadas with spinach and chiles. The salmon was quite good, flaky and flavorful but it could have used a sauce. The empanadas were mixed. The spinach one tasted kind of like spanakopita which I don’t really care for and the other one was very tasty and Mexican. It came with two salsas but the way they are spread on the plate it’s hard to get any up. I would have liked salsa in little bowls.
We got to order dessert off the regular menu because the prix fix menu was sold out of its desserts. We selected an apple tart and chocolate tamale. The apple tart was excellent, very flavorful with a lovely puff pastry crust and the apples were just slightly crisp which I like. I didn’t like the kind of eggy texture of the chocolate tamale, but Marci liked it a lot. It was very chocolatey.
A note on service. Our waiter was a bit creepy but friendly. By creepy he kind of looked like a homeless persom and didn’t look you in the face and kind of mumbled when he talked. However, when we asked him questions about the menu, he wasn’t very helpful. He said that it depended on what you liked, which of course is true, but not useful. I asked what was spicy and he said they would make anything spicy which was not my question. He got more friendly as the night went on, but it put a bit of a damper on things dealing with him.
We didn’t leave until almost 11 and as we were walking back we realized Marci had left her sweater so we turned around and returned to get it. Luckily it was still under her seat.

Driving to Boston





Getting to Boston
The drive to Boston was about 5 hours including some serious traffic and rain storms near the beach towns. I was worried about finding the hotel but it went better than expected for me with the help of Sally. Unfortunately, sally did not notice some street changes like a boulevard in the middle of the street that kept me from turning where Sally said I should but with some help from lauren and Asha I was able to work it out. The street was under construction as well. The biggest problem though wasn’t the one way streets or the construction but the fact that we couldn’t find street names.
When we arrived at 4:30pm, the room wasn’t ready so they told us to get all of our stuff, they’d park my car and then take our stuff to our room. Marci had to return her car so we thought we’d do that why we waited. The check in lady said that the Hertz was 1.5 miles and gave us a map and then suggested we walk back, by then the room would be read. The walk back was only about 1 mile because we didn’t have to follow the one way streets.
So, we headed out. The kids fought in the back seat (all four of them), hitting each other, elbowing, yelling and otherwise making it easy for Marci and I to hear each other and focus on driving. The google direction said to merge on the “embankment road” this turned out (after many tries) to be impossible. So, we gave that up and decided to follow our own map. We were able to get to the Hertz but it required quite a bit of maneuvering on the one way streets. We arrived at about 6pm at the Sheraton. I went inside to inquire where the Hertz was and they pointed to the hallway but informed me curtly that it was closed. We checked out the Hertz and found out that we could leave the car after filling out some forms (which the Sheraton people did not inform me of).
So, we left the car with the valet who had just lost someone’s keys and had every key in the little booth spread hither and yon and there were LOTS of keys so we were a bit concerned and watched as the guy put the sign in the car. Then we started walking back only to see another Hertz closer to the hotel which Marci believed was the one she was supposed to return the car at. So, we asked a hertz guy and he confirmed that we’d left the car at the wrong hertz (per our hotel’s instructions). But, luckily the Hertz guy was willing to go take care of the car. We grabbed some subway for the kids on the way home.
We finally got back to the hotel at 7pm where we were told we missed the wine hour. I had ordered a bottle of wine for Marci’s birthday and that was waiting in our room, so we popped that and hurried to get ready for dinner.

MC Restaurant, Ogunquit ME






MC restaurant, Ogunquit ME
Marci had been here before and felt like it was worth another visit, so on our way to Boston, we got off to visit this restaurant. This was on a Sunday, and the minute we got off the 95 (295 was closed for construction) we hit this serious beach traffic and went about 5 miles per hour for 2 or 3 miles which actually takes a long time. Then the traffic cleared up once we passed the turn off to Wells.
But this was definitely the most crowded place we visited. People and cars were swarming everywhere. It was something else. The parking lot was $12 and as I waited to turn in after Marci some guys stuck their head in my window and said they’d park my car. They were valets for a restaurant (not the one we were going to) and the only charge would be there tip. I was wondering if this was a scam, but it seemed okay so I let them take the car.
We walked to MC which is right on the ocean and has spectacular views, which were worth the visit. The food was icing on the cake. I had fried haddock with fries and fennel with lemon, tarter sauce and vinegar. I thought I should have fish at this place and it was good. The breading was crisp and tasty and the fish was flaky and tasty. Really enjoyed it. The fries weren’t greasy but were fresh cut and tasty.
Kesh and Asha shared the tomato soup and grilled cheese. The cheese was white and kesh ate it but wasn’t really thrilled. The tomato soup was tasty but too acidic. Marci ordered a plate of salmon with onion. She really liked it.
We wished we could have ordred a drink but couldn’t because we still had to drive.

Brooklin Inn, Brooklin ME

Brooklin Inn, Brooklin ME
Brooklin inn was written up in many places, so we were excited about giving it a try even though it was late and we had to drive 30 minutes. The Inn is in Brooklin which is about 30 minutes from Blue Hill. It’s a very small town and the inn is in a farmhouse. Out back are some run down out buildings and when we walked into the front of the restaurant it smelled of damp and old house. But the restaurant looked cozy, with tables in several rooms and windows looking out over the yard.
We had a table in a back room and talked briefly with the host about the wines. Apparently, they do wine tastings occasionally and had recently done a Zin. We picked the Dry Creek Zin for dinner because I’d had it before and he said he’d met the owner of the vineyard and he was quite excited that he had eaten there. It seemed like a good beginning, but it was downhill from there.
We started with some peekytoe crab (like at Arborville) and it was supposed to be dressed with a lmeon vinaigrette but all we could taste was the lettuce and the crab, which was okay because the crab was very tasty and sweet but it would have been nice to taste some lemon. Marci and I were joking that there was a wisp of lemon we might have smelled. Perhaps, we wondered, it was the emphasis on farm to table and the food was supposed to stay as unadorned as possible.
I ordered a caprese salad after asking if the tomatoes were local. They were. The caprese was fine but clearly lacked salt (pepper or any other flavor other than tomato, mozzarella and a few slices of basil—I couldn’t even taste the olive oil). For mains, we had a Risotto that was nicely cooked al dente and very creamy, but again, it lacked salt or pepper. By this point, Marci and I were taking the lid off the salt shaker and practically pouring the salt on the food. It was sooooo bland.
Marci’s meal, a chicken cooked under brick, had very little flavor and was overcooked. Marci poured on the salt, but it couldn’t’ be salvaged. We barely ate it. We were so hungry, we decided we’d have dessert. We selected a vanilla custard and a chocolate molten cake. The vanilla custard said it had caramel and fleur de sel. We were quite excited by the thought of salt, but couldn’t detect any. The chocolate molten cake was burned almost to a crisp and shouldn’t have even been in the same room as “molten”. Marci had a very small bite and we left it untouched. No one even asked us whether the food was okay; they just whisked the food away, smiling at us and brought the bill.
Overall, it was a very unsatisfactory experience, one that we had high hopes for. But, the dry creek Zin was as good as we expected.

Maine Pictures





Acadia and Sand Beach






Acadia National Park
Woke up to day to the sun but, unfortunately, everyone did not get up until late so we did not get to Acadia until around 11:30 or so. It’s about a 45 minute drive from Blue Hill. We thought we were going to bike, so we headed to the bike shop and ordered our bikes. After we got all the bikes (including the tandem for Asha), we headed out to the shuttle stop that would take us up into the park. Marci, Brian and Lauren had rented bikes earlier and attempted to ride bikes into the park and apparently there is a 1.5 mile hill that they did not want to attempt a second time.
We stopped at a café, Michelle’s brown bag, to get our sandwiches for lunch. I got a Reuben, no sauerkraut, a ham and cheese sandwich for Kesh and some buckeyes and chips. The sandwiches were fine but the store wouldn’t even put a bit of water in my water bottle. The buckeyes were good. I haven’t had those in ages.
Armed with our sandwiches in our carrybag on the back of the tandem, we headed to the shuttle where the shuttle driver tells us they can’t take the tandem. We told the bike rental place we were going on a shuttle, but they failed to mention that the tandem couldn’t go on the bus. So, now we had to debate what we could do. The hill? Leave asha? Abandon the bikes? Some people bike, others do something else? Finally, after much discussion, we gave up the bikes and decided we’d ride the shuttle to sand beach instead.
By now, it was 1pm and people were a bit frustrated, to say the least, and they were hungry. So we walked to the harbor (through crowds of people) and sat on the stone wall at the harbor to eat our sandwiches while Marci and I listened to the various complaints from our poor, deprived, children. We tried to ignore most of them.
We caught the 2:05 shuttle to sand beach. It was fairly busy but we decided to walk first. We wanted to do the beehive hike which was supposed to be at this stop but we couldn’t find it. The signage was terrible. None of the hikes were marked and we ended up walking along the coast. This was a beautiful walk that eventually took us to some rock formations that jutted out into the ocean that we could walk out on almost to the ocean waves. This struck Marci and I as a bit dangerous and we had to pull the kids away once we realized that unlike on the coast if a kid got swept out by a wave, the water would only be a few feet deep, here it was probably very deep.
Then we returned to Sand Beach where the kids had the best time. At first, they were just going to play on the beach, then take their shoes off and wade, then get in to their knees, and finally all four of them were soaked from head to their fully clothed bodies to their toes. We had no second change of clothes and no towels. So, when the kids were finished they rinsed off their feet and legs and we cobbled together some sweatshirts that Marci and I had been holding. We caught the shuttle back and the kids shivered back to Bar harbor.
We bought all the kids pajama bottoms and the boys socks and they changed out of their sopping pants. By now, the bike disappointment was long forgotten.

Barncastle, Maine


Rainy Day in Blue Hill ME
Woke up to a downpour and decided to see how the kids were doing before we moved them out to all of our rainy day options which include the Oceanarium in Bar harbor and Southwest Harbor or the Auto museum in Southwest Harbor (which includes motorcycles) or the beach in blue hill. The kids had breakfast and were back in the room about 10:30. The boys hooked up their DS’s and the girls started building a puzzle. They seemed pretty happy, so Marci and I went out to do laundry. The Laundromat is only about .6m but we drove because of the pouring rain.
After we got the laundry started we were going to go downtown for coffee. It took us a while to figure out where we could have coffee. There is a bakery behind a bookstore (The Hearth) and the Coop grocery has a café. We decided on the Hearth but it was a major pain in the butt to find parking. The little downtown fills up with cars and cars are cruising the streets. We couldn’t figure out what all these people are doing in Blue Hill in the rain. There are lots of art galleries and a theater (but it’s not showing plays in the daytime). Finally, we found a parking place and got a tea at the bakery.
The bakery turns out a huge assortment of baked goods that just keep coming and it has pizza dough (which we bought) . Lots of people were coming in and purchasing baked goods but we didn’t try any. They leave them all out on shelves with no coverings and people come in a pick them up and put them down and touch them and then take what they want. And, there is no covering to keep things from drying out (of course with this rain, maybe nothing dries out; it just gets soggy) or keeps flies away.
After completing the laundry and heading back to the kids, I suggested that they come with me to the beach in Blue hill in our rain gear but I couldn’t get any takers. The beach is just a few blocks away. I walked down there and it is spacious with lots of pebbles but it seemed very mucky if the kids were to go into the actual tidal flats so it might have been good that they didn’t want to go. They were perfectly happy in the room. The boys started playing twister and the girls turned on a movie or tv show.
Marci and I went to the Fish to get lunch for everyone. This is a pretty large fish shack on the edge of town with some interior seating. Marci and I ate inside. We’d read about their lobster rolls, so we got one of those. We also ordered a peanut butter sundae (which is soft serve ice cream with topping; and it was soooo yummy. I want another right now!). Marci ordered the fish chowder which seemed to be mucky water with overcooked fish, shrimp and clams. I didn’t want to eat it at all. The lobster roll was substantial ($12.95) and mostly lobster with a bit of mayo as a binder. The bun was like wonder bread which I just don’t get. We also ordered a moon pie which is this chocolate cakey cookie thing with this white filling. But no one would eat it. Lauren tried it and said it was okay but dried out. They also had corn on the cob which was sweet and great without butter.
After lunch, we hung out reading (Marci and I) and playing with electronic devices (the kids).

Rainy day in Blue Hill, ME






Rainy Day in Blue Hill ME
Woke up to a downpour and decided to see how the kids were doing before we moved them out to all of our rainy day options which include the Oceanarium in Bar harbor and Southwest Harbor or the Auto museum in Southwest Harbor (which includes motorcycles) or the beach in blue hill. The kids had breakfast and were back in the room about 10:30. The boys hooked up their DS’s and the girls started building a puzzle. They seemed pretty happy, so Marci and I went out to do laundry. The Laundromat is only about .6m but we drove because of the pouring rain.
After we got the laundry started we were going to go downtown for coffee. It took us a while to figure out where we could have coffee. There is a bakery behind a bookstore (The Hearth) and the Coop grocery has a café. We decided on the Hearth but it was a major pain in the butt to find parking. The little downtown fills up with cars and cars are cruising the streets. We couldn’t figure out what all these people are doing in Blue Hill in the rain. There are lots of art galleries and a theater (but it’s not showing plays in the daytime). Finally, we found a parking place and got a tea at the bakery.
The bakery turns out a huge assortment of baked goods that just keep coming and it has pizza dough (which we bought) . Lots of people were coming in and purchasing baked goods but we didn’t try any. They leave them all out on shelves with no coverings and people come in a pick them up and put them down and touch them and then take what they want. And, there is no covering to keep things from drying out (of course with this rain, maybe nothing dries out; it just gets soggy) or keeps flies away.
After completing the laundry and heading back to the kids, I suggested that they come with me to the beach in Blue hill in our rain gear but I couldn’t get any takers. The beach is just a few blocks away. I walked down there and it is spacious with lots of pebbles but it seemed very mucky if the kids were to go into the actual tidal flats so it might have been good that they didn’t want to go. They were perfectly happy in the room. The boys started playing twister and the girls turned on a movie or tv show.
Marci and I went to the Fish to get lunch for everyone. This is a pretty large fish shack on the edge of town with some interior seating. Marci and I ate inside. We’d read about their lobster rolls, so we got one of those. We also ordered a peanut butter sundae (which is soft serve ice cream with topping; and it was soooo yummy. I want another right now!). Marci ordered the fish chowder which seemed to be mucky water with overcooked fish, shrimp and clams. I didn’t want to eat it at all. The lobster roll was substantial ($12.95) and mostly lobster with a bit of mayo as a binder. The bun was like wonder bread which I just don’t get. We also ordered a moon pie which is this chocolate cakey cookie thing with this white filling. But no one would eat it. Lauren tried it and said it was okay but dried out. They also had corn on the cob which was sweet and great without butter.
After lunch, we hung out reading (Marci and I) and playing with electronic devices (the kids). the kids used the pizza dough that evening to make really yummy pizzas.