Maine! Day 4.

On Day 4 it was time to leave Portland and start our drive up the coast to a half-way point in Rockland, Maine.  Our trip wouldn't have been complete without stopping at Stuart's favorite brewery of the trip: Allagash.  It was my favorite, too, because it's really about the only beer I like.  It's Belgian style, which in Kacie-terms means none of them have a bitter aftertaste.  Allagash was named after the Allagash Wilderness in Northern Maine.  It's quite a big production, considering they got started in a garage.  Now they ship all the way down to Virginia! Since they're a bigger production we got a little better tour.  Stuart really enjoyed watching all the moving parts  =)  We also wound up meeting a Vanderbilt anesthesia resident and his dad there, so had some good convos.

Headphones, safety goggles and all!

This was my favorite part - the bottling machine

Experimental beers

After the tour and tasting we were getting pretty hungry.  All reviews I found said we needed to stop in Wiscassett, Maine at a teeny place called Red's Eats for a lobster roll.  It has been voted the best lobster roll in Maine several times.  Being that I only had that one roll earlier in the trip I didn't have a whole lot to compare to.  When we got there, it turned out everyone and their brother wanted to stop there too!  I was a little bummed because I am not a fan of tourist traps, but then again figured it had to be decent or else so many people wouldn't eat it.  We waited in line for a WHILE, and then finally got our number called.  We ordered a lobster roll and some clam cakes to split.  I added on the clam cakes because I had no idea what they were.  Turns out its like a crab cake but tastes like a clam - who would have thought?!  Anyway, the lobster roll was basically the meat of 1.5 lobsters on a toasted bun with some melted butter served on the side.  It was ... ok.  The lobster meat was good, but wasn't everything I had worked up in my head that it would be.  But, we were full, and it was time to head on down the road again.

Can you find Stuart?

The drive we took was down highway 1A, which hugs the coast of Maine.  You pass through countless quaint towns such as Bath and Camden.  The trees were just starting to turn bright reds and yellows, and you could sniff out the saltwater wafting on the breeze.  It was a great drive and I think we'd like to do it again perhaps with actually stopping in the towns rather than passing through.

Once we arrived at Rockland we took a quick detour to the Owls' Head Light.  This is perched on the side of a cliff that, according to the Indians who once lived there, looked like the face of an owl.  I looked and looked but didn't quite see it.  Otherwise the light house is still working and gave us a nice little side trip prior to landing at our hotel.

Stuart explored and found some apples while I was busy snapping pictures

After checking in to the hotel, we drove through Rockland (which if you blink you might miss) to what turned out to be the best meal of our trip at a place called Primo.  The chef/owner is of Italian heritage and once lived in Maine. After culinary school she decided to move back and buy a farmhouse and turn that into a farm-to-table restaurant.  We didn't imagine such great food coming out of a small town, but boy were we wrong!  The menu changes nightly, and the chef was named the best chef in the northeast for a reason!  Most all the food comes from right on the property (including the meats), so it's about as fresh as you can get.  Stuart had stuffed quail with squash ravioli, and I had a veal and pork bolognese (oddy the only no seafood meal of the trip too).  Bolognese is basically a fancy word for spaghetti, and since spaghetti is my go-to quick meal at home I figured I'd see how this award winning chef did it.  And it was the best spaghetti I've ever had!  It was a fantastic meal and is one of the reasons I'll be eating a lot of salads once we get back.