Lob-stah!
From the beach in New Hampshire to the shores of Bar Harbor, it is the crustacean of choice
We’re on a road trip to the Canadian Maritimes, and it’s a seafood extravaganza. Our first stop for the night was at the beach in Hampton, New Hampshire. (Yes, New Hampshire has about 18 miles of coastline between Massachusetts and Maine, along the I-95 corridor, which was stop-and-go for an eternity last Friday afternoon.) Once we pulled into our little motel, we took chairs across the street and settled in to have a glass of wine while we contemplated dinner. Yelp recommended The Surf Shack for lobster rolls, and it was a quick walk to the open-air venue in the parking lot of a large hotel complex.
At $30 for two lobster rolls with drawn butter and chips, it was a bargain. I walked them back across the street, unaware that I was being stalked. Once I got to our chairs, I had no sooner delivered John his roll before we felt a swoosh that knocked John on the back of his head. It was a large, hungry gull who had no doubt that he was invited to dinner.
John leapt up and scared the bird away, but we were swooped again by the circling marauder, and this time he attacked me and caused me to drop about half the lobster from my roll into the sand. The gull didn’t stop there. John lined up sticks to hurl at the invader, while I gobbled my diminished roll—which still had plenty of lobster meat on it—and he tried to enjoy his while keeping the bird at bay. The scene was comical—and a good lesson for us. I was just glad that he wasn’t after our wine. Our sacrifice of lobster to the real resident of Hampton Beach was apropos.
The next day, we went into Portland, Maine, on our way to Bar Harbor and enjoyed the bustling downtown scene near the wharf. Of course, lunch was in order, and we enjoyed a Cod slider and a cup of chowder before heading into a seafood market to ooh and ahh at all the selections available.
Bar Harbor, we had been warned, was pricey. Its location adjacent to Acadia National Park and its stunning landscape mean top dollar for lodging and dining. With coaching from Michael Desmond, we stayed up-island, near the bridge as you drove onto Mount Desert Island. Our Sunnyside Cottage, run by Helen and Rich, a Polish couple from Krakow, who had emigrated after the war—WWII, i.e.—was vintage and immaculate with an Old World charm.
The next day, John set out to explore Acadia, and I opted to tour Bar Harbor, as he already knew all about the town. There was a free shuttle bus that I walked to, which drove me right into the Village Green. I was then able to move at my own snail’s pace through the churches, shops, and galleries in the compact and bustling downtown area.
The Abbe Museum wasn’t open because there was a special event that weekend at College of the Atlantic, which was walkable from downtown. The Dawnland Native American festival was an interesting event, featuring numerous vendors selling a variety of crafts, books, baskets, and jewelry. There was a drumming circle by the Thunderbird Women that had everyone’s feet tapping in the performance tent. The college campus was spectacular, right on the bay, with a view of the boats moored in Bar Harbor, and the serene, forested hills of Acadia behind.
We both enjoyed our separate day and met up in Acadia for dinner, but opted to go closer to our cozy cottage rather than fight the crowds for dining in the park.
That was the right move.
We stopped at a few different options before finding one that was Just Right. C-Ray Lobster was on the highway close to our cottage. The operation’s description of itself, “No-frills, family-owned joint featuring locally sourced lobsters eaten at outdoor picnic tables,” was spot on. A smiling 5-year-old girl greeted us as we pulled into the driveway, and we queued up and gave our order to a hospitable woman. Our lobsters were fished from the tank by an eager 12-year-old girl. We watched as Dad dropped them into the boiling pot of seawater and had them delivered, crowned with mussels, by a grinning teenage boy. The hard-working family made it all fun.
The lobster dinner was as good as it gets, although the corn was a bit tough. But the mussels were sweet and salty, needing no adornment at all, and the lobster, that fresh, was a revelation. Thanks to C-Ray for the real deal.