Clambake Cruise

When we were planning our trip to Maine a few months ago, we decided not to make too many day trip plans so that we could just relax and do whatever we felt like doing when the time came. The only excursion we really wanted to do was a lobster bake, so we booked our reservation for early in the week for the Cabbage Island Clambake (side note - not really sure why they call it a clambake when the feature attraction is clearly the lobsters!).

I wanted to get a workout in before cruising off for a food-filled day, so I headed down to the dock bright and early for a quick cardio circuit. We don't get Internet where we're staying so I couldn't access my beloved Pinterest workouts folder, so I scribbled together a quick one while lacing up my sneaks.

My quickie 30-minute circuit got my heart rate pumping and set me off on the right foot for the day. And there really is no better setting for a morning workout than a dock in the middle of a saltwater cove right after sunrise.

After showering up and downing bowls of Kashi for breakfast, we took a drive down to Boothbay Harbor to hop our ferry to Cabbage Island. It was a gorgeous day and the boat ride was so peaceful, and the captain narrated the history of the boats, lighthouses and little islands as we putted along through the bay.

Cabbage Island is a small private island where only the owner of the boat/island and his family live. There are no roads or cars, just a few houses, a covered pavilion, a bunch of picnic tables and a lobster bake area. Can you imagine having your own, boat-access-only private island? Crazy! The place was beautiful, and we could smell the lobsters cooking as soon as we pulled up.

We walked around the island for about a half hour, chatting with the other guests and sipping on drinks, and then the bell tolled and we were served our first course - homemade New England fish chowder. It was delicious, but we were just biding our time before the lobsters arrived...

We were each served 2 whole lobsters, a bowl of steamed clams, corn on the cob, baked potato, a whole steamed onion (which, strangely, was super sweet, tender and delicious - who'd have thought?) and a hard boiled egg. I'm not sure what the deal is with the hard boiled egg - any New Englanders out there know?

To cook the food, they actually pile everything up in between layers of seaweed, then steam the food over a wood fire.

I didn't think I'd be able to eat two whole lobsters, but turns out I didn't have any trouble at all. ;-) They were the most tender lobsters I've ever had - so good! The corn was super sweet, so I also ate that, as well as half my baked potato and half my onion. I gave my clams to Matt (not a fan of whole clams) and my egg to Riker (he loves egg yolks and had a grand time shoving his face with them). Talk about a huge meal! 

For dessert, as if we needed it, we were served an enormous piece of homemade Maine blueberry coffee cake. I could not put one more bite in my mouth, so I wrapped my cake up and took it home for later.

The staff on Cabbage Island was so nice and friendly, and the food was amazing. We had a great time, and would do it again in a heartbeat. I highly recommend this trip if you're ever in the Boothbay area!

As you can imagine, we were pretty stuffed after the clambake so decided to skip dinner and just pack a little dessert picnic for the dock that night after Riker went to bed. In case you're wondering what a dessert picnic on the dock looks like, it's a bag full of bug repellant, red wine, books and a leftover piece of blueberry cake. ;-)

So serene. Now this is what I call vacation. :)

Beach Day

Our first full day in Maine started off with a bang. We were up early with Riker and didn't feel like sitting around the house, so we took an hour-long drive around the harbor looking at all the pretty houses and inlets. It's so beautiful here!

The New England shoreline is so different from the beaches we live by in Jersey. It's rocky with crystal clear water, and the air smells so clean and pure with a hint of sea salt. I'm in love with this town.

By the time it was 8:00 and the restaurants were starting to open, our bellies were rumbling. We'd been told to make sure we got to the Cupboard Cafe for breakfast one morning for their famous homemade breads and sticky buns, so we headed straight there. There was already a line out the door, but the wait wasn't long and the staff was super friendly. How cute is this place?

Now I'm not one for sweet breakfasts - especially high calorie-laden sticky buns, but everyone in line told us these were a must, so we ordered one as an "appetizer" to share. ;-) We weren't disappointed! They were freshly baked, soft and gooey. Yum.

Matt and I also each got breakfast sandwiches - mine had fried eggs, fresh spinach, tomatoes and local cheddar cheese on homemade multigrain bread. Delicious! I was really full after eating only half, so took the other half home for breakfast the next morning.

After breakfast, we packed up our beach bags and headed a short way down the road to Pemaquid Point to hang out on the beach for the day. It's been unseasonably warm in Maine this summer, so we were even able to go swimming in the ocean - a rarity this far up north! 

It was Riker's first time at the beach, and he loved it. A little too much. Every five seconds we were pulling handfuls of sand out of his mouth. 

"What's wrong with eating sand?" ;-)

Our long, relaxing day in the sun concluded with freshly caught seafood right on the dock at Shaw's Wharf, which is a few miles from where we're staying. Maine is full of these "order at the counter" seafood joints, and they are my favorite places to go here. They aren't fancy, but the seafood is so fresh, the atmosphere is laid back, and there is usually an awesome view to look at while you eat.

Matt ordered the fried seafood platter for dinner - something we had to get at least once while we were here - which came with local shrimp, scallops, haddock and clams. I ordered grilled salmon with a baked potato. Both were delicious.

It started pouring as we pulled in so unfortunately we had to sit inside, but as soon as we were done eating, the sun came out and we were able to go out and watch the boats in the harbor. I love the feel of the air after a good thunderstorm.

Talk about a great day!

The Way Life Should Be

Hello from New Harbor, Maine!

We set off on Friday night for our first family vacation since Riker was born, and it's been a blast so far.  We figured driving up on Saturday would be quite a hike with summer traffic, so we drove about 5 hours north on Friday night and stayed in a hotel outside of Boston. It was the perfect halfway point. Riker was pretty tired by the time we got there. Love that face!

After a quick breakfast at the hotel on Saturday morning, we packed up, swung by Starbucks for his & hers iced coffees and then hit the road for northern New England.

By early afternoon we were in Boothbay region, and we had only one thing on our minds for lunch...lobster rolls! We had been told by numerous people that Red's Eats in Wiscasset is a must for lobster rolls, since they were rated the best in all of Maine.

The line was crazy (45 minutes at 2:00 in the afternoon), but it was sooo worth it.

Look at that roll! Actually, you can't even see the roll itself because it's covered in over 1 pound of pure, fresh lobster meat. You can choose to have your lobster roll served with either drawn butter or mayo to spread on the roll, but I chose to eat mine plain. I love that Red's gives you that option because I don't really like lobster salad all covered in mayo. Matt and I also shared a side of homemade sweet potato fries. Amazing lunch, accompanied by an amazing view!

After such a big lunch, neither Matt or I were hungry for dinner, so we spent the evening sitting on the dock sipping drinks and enjoying the view. Talk about relaxation.

Sometimes we like to go on big trips with friends or adventurous vacations where we pack a million things into one week, but sometimes we just like to go on vaca to get away from everything and unwind. This is definitely one of those weeks. It's just what we needed after a few months of hectic work schedules. As the Maine welcome sign says, this is "the way life should be." :)