Fried Clam Finale
After our garden field trip we all decided to “take it down” on the beach with books, water toys and towels. I am in the water, or should I say I am perched nicely on top of my float barely touching the water! In my defense I did go in earlier and it was quite “refreshing”. I actually used the “noodle” that you can see laying on the beach which didn’t do a very good job of keeping me out of the water. I was definitely submerged but it felt good and I kept reminding myself that this was the last swim of the summer so I better make it count!
Soon after my swim, my aunt Holly and uncle Bob returned on their boat and asked us all if we wanted to go to Port Clyde for dinner. We had planned on having lobster and corn but figured that we could cook both later on and they would still be good. We all put on normal clothes and grabbed a sweatshirt since the ride there and back would be windy to say the least! My grandmother even made it on the boat! I couldn’t believe it so we had to take a family picture even though we are missing quite a lot of our crew.
We toasted the end of summer with a Bud light lime.
It was an absolutely gorgeous way to end the season. I only wish that Darin had been able to join me on this trip. I know he had fun in Boston but I missed him and wanted to share the experience especially with views like this.
Port Clyde is a small town which has a number of little shops, a general store, and an ice cream parlor. It is also the place that people come to take the ferry to Monhegan Island. We popped our heads into “The Shop Upstairs” which is run by Linda Bean (L.L. Bean’s Granddaughter). I picked up a few things that will be fun to show at breakfast tomorrow morning!
After shopping a bit we grabbed a long picnic table for the group and got down to business. We ate dinner at The Dip Net which is one of the best places to get fried clams in my opinion. The prices are reasonable and the dockside eating is second to none. We were treated to some folk music during our dinner which only enhanced the experience.
I ordered a glass of the pinot grigio which turned out to be a great choice.
My parents and I split three items:
- A salad with blueberry balsamic vinagrette. The dressing was out-of-this-world good. I wonder if I could re-create it somehow?
- Fried clams and French fries
- Vidalia Onion Rings
Tonight’s main attraction! Perfectly crisp and crunchy. Melt in your mouth delicious.
One of our dinner mates was nice enough to share a fried scallop. These were perfectly cooked and not deeply breaded or battered, just lightly fried.
When we came home we realized that we hadn’t tried the special Belgian Beer that I had brought from Trader Joe’s for everyone. So we cracked it open and each had about 4 ounces. Seriously this is worth the 9.99 that I paid for it. It might be what one would call a “girly” beer because it’s so sweet and easy on the palate but I think ANYONE would enjoy this if they could try it! It comes in 4 flavors I believe. I have tried the raspberry but have yet to sample the others which I think are pear and black cherry. This beer was pretty sweet and definitely should be enjoyed in small amounts since I think it probably is quite caloric. I wanted to try watering it down with some seltzer but didn’t have the chance. Next time.
And a final taste for the evening was some sweet corn because I wasn’t going to let the weekend go by without at least a sample. I had two baby ears.
This concludes my Maine Island Weekend. I am totally blogged out now so you won’t be seeing my eats from today but tomorrow morning it will be back to the regularly scheduled posts. Hope all of you had a fabulous Labor Day Weekend!
Wowza, did you just post all these entries at once?? My Google Reader has about 20 updates from you, all from today!! Don’t get me wrong, I ADORE your posts/photography/writing, but I just wanted to figure out if Google Reader was screwed up or something, haha
hahaha sorry! I probably should have spaced them out so as not to stress the google readers out! I just can’t stand it hanging over my head.
I just found your blog and am loving the Maine pictures. My mom grew up in Maine and we used to go every summer when I was a kid.
Thanks Lee! Maine truly is gorgeous!
Loving the gorgeous pictures in Maine! Can’t wait to see the goodies that you picked up in The Shop Upstairs! So glad I found your blog, can’t wait to read more
I just found your blog and I LOVE your pictures! I’ve never been to Maine, but you make me want to go.
Happy Weekend.
Hi Caroline,
Thanks for visiting my blog! I love your photos from Maine. A friend of mine has a house on Vinal Haven and I’ve gone up there a bunch of times- it is sooo beautiful and relaxing and the seafood is awesome! Is that close to where you are?
Corn on the cob is probably one of my favorite summer-time foods, ever. I could eat it with hot sauce, plain, salt, anythanggg.
LOVE your pictures by the way, and that last one is gorgeous!! Glad you had a great trip girl!
Looks like you had a great weekend! I love Maine. Your pictures are great – I LOVE the first one!
The clams look great – nothing like fresh seafood!
Just ate a piece of zucchini bread made from Dad’s zucchini and wanted to tell you I looked at your blog last night. Aside from my “island dog” who somewhat resembled one of those strange greeting cards, your pics were beautiful and you captured the island perfectly! I brought home beets which I’ll bake at 400 degrees wrapped in foil for 1 hour, cool, peel, and slice in my salads… and 0 WW points!
Happy September eating!
Ginny
The pic of Sophie just cracks me up! I had to include it. Thanks for checking out the posts. I love beets and will have to try them that way. Good suggestion!
Kat,
I think Vinal Haven is relatively close to where we were. The mid coast is really a neat area because of all the islands of the coast, it makes it fun to explore.
Kristen, Thanks for visiting the blog! I remember meeting you at the HLS. I will have to check out your blog, I remember you were just starting it when we met.
Seeing these pictures makes it hard to return to work again! My fave is the breakfast shot with the “lichen doily” on the rock. Awesome photos, delicious food all weekend long!
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