Why the lobsters are so tender in this part of Maine?

Tag : Skirt Bathtub
Having sampled the delicacy up and down the coast, I vote for anylobster between Bath and Rockland. This is subjective, but there isreasoning behind my proposition. The town of Bath lies past theurban sprawl, east of the state's highways. Long, windingpeninsulas stream southward in this region that extends toRockland, cut by such rivers as Sheepscot, Medomak and St. George.On the map, the coastline looks like a craggy mess of inlets andislands. Plenty of shelter for a lobster, I say. And if thatweren't enough, the landscape here has a verdant softness I don'tsee up north. Perhaps this is why I find the lobsters so tender inthis part of Maine.
All favorites aside, if you are anywhere on the coast of Maine,spectacular lobster is within your reach. You just need to drive toits source. So turn off Route 1 and follow those curving roads downto the sea. Drive past sleepy villages with neat, flowering gardensand lichen-covered graveyards whose stones date back to the 1700s.
Pull over and watch local artists work. The rural routes betweenBath and Rockland abound with galleries, studios and potteries. Whoknows what eccentricity or exquisite piece of pottery, glazed inthe iridescent colors of the sea, you will discover? Stop to browsein any of the antiques stores tucked off the road. Who knows whatrelic from another epoch you'll find?
Roll down the windows to smell the salt in the incoming fog. Passthrough stands of pines, fir and spruce, and pause to breathe intheir scents. You will surely pass a nature sanctuary with trailsto hike and shorebirds to observe. Catch a glimpse of thelighthouse in the distance. Visit it.
Sooner than you will expect, you'll spot notice of a lobster pound.In Maine, even the smallest establishment has a sign leading to itsdoor. Follow it to its inevitable end, to a dock with a shack andsome wooden tables, all with a view of the harbor, the lobsterboats swaying on their moorings in the breeze, and beyond, a sea ofislands dotting the shimmering ocean.
You won't need to roll up your windows or lock your car. Let itfill with the Maine air while you study the chalkboard ofofferings: hard- and soft-shell lobsters, clams and maybe corn andpotatoes. Order the soft shell, a pound or a little more. And ifyou're hungry, go ahead: order the twin. The soft shell is adelicacy only found in the summer and early fall months, after thelobster has molted. It is so tender, it can't be shipped. It canonly be eaten in Maine, at its source.
When it arrives, a red so bright it startles, its shell will beeasy to tear open. Juices will spill out, but stay clear of thegreen tomalley (the lobster's liver), per a recent FDA advisory.Bite into the lobster's flesh, sweeter and more tender than anyyou've ever tasted. And savor it, for this is what you came for.
THINGS TO DO
Sunny day adventures
Reid State Park
375 Seguinland Rd., Georgetown; 207-371-2303
This pristine park is blessed with not one, but three of thestate's few beaches. Digest your lobster with a walk down MileBeach and over the short trails that skirt marshes and a lagoonwhere shorebirds feed ($4.50 a person ages 12 and older; ages 5-11,$1; ages 65 and older and children younger than 5 are free).
Fort William Henry
Off Snowball Hill Road,
New Harbor; 207-677-2423
The 18th century fort commands a view out to a bay of islands.Inside and in the nearby fort house, too, numerous exhibits ofexcavated tools and shards are enough to imagine the lives of theearliest settlers ($2; 12 and younger and seniors free).
Monhegan Boat Line
Route 131, Port Clyde; 207-372-8848
monheganboat.com
Take a 2 1/2-hour cruise out to see the puffin colony on EasternEgg Rock or around the islands to view myriad lighthouses ($24adults; $10 kids).
Rainy day rambles
Musical Wonder House
18 High St., Wiscasset; 207-882-7163
musicalwonderhouse.com
Surely one of the world's largest collections of elaborate, antiquemusic boxes. Take the tour ($20; 12 and younger free; 10 percentsenior discount) and you will get to hear their glorious tones, orjust drop quarters into any or all of the 23 Victoriancoin-operated music boxes.
Montpelier
30 High St., Thomaston; 207-354-8062
generalknoxmuseum.org
Guided tours ($7; seniors, $6; 5-13, $4; family $18; open Tuesdaysthrough Saturdays) run every half-hour in the summer and hourly inthe fall through Henry Knox's mansion, three floors of history andlife as it was lived in the early 19th century, when the younggeneral and his wife settled in Thomaston after the RevolutionaryWar.
WHERE TO SHOP
Georgetown Pottery
Route 127, Georgetown
866-936-7687
georgetownpottery.com
Housed in a rambling log cabin, potters work right in sight ofvisitors. The many rooms of the airy shop are stocked with vases,lamps, bowls, plates, mugs, even a shaving scuttle, all in thecolors and patterns of Maine. Most items run from $15-$65.
Granite Hall Store
9 Back Shore Rd., Round Pond
207-529-5864
Candies selling for cents take center stage in this store set in aGrange Hall. For those without such cravings, the store sellseverything from blankets to baskets to new kitchen tools, withalmost everything less than $40.
Maine State Prison Showroom
Route 1, Thomaston
207-354-9237
Inside this oddity of shops, beefy men service the counter while acorrections officer handles the cash register. Wood is the mediumhere, with old-fashioned blocks, toys, puzzles, cutting boards,chairs and a bevy of souvenirs including a savings bank designed asa cell ($20). A one-of-a-kind experience.
THE STANDOUTS
1. Five Islands Lobster Company
1447 Five Islands Rd.,
Georgetown
207-371-2990,
fiveislandslobster.com
Open through Columbus Day weekend, this lobster pound is reallythree shacks, one for sandwiches and fried foods, another for theregionally famous Annabelle's ice cream and the last, foreverything boiled, including lobster. Tables cover the wharf, somewith an awning for those rainy Maine days.
2. Sarah's Dockside
Moore's Turnpike,
Georgetown
207-371-2722,
sarahscafe.com/dockside
Set in a remote cove, Sarah's has a few tables set out on thewharf. The specialty, naturally, is lobster, fresh from the co-opnext door. She also serves a wicked blueberry pie with the crustcrusty and the wild blueberries not too sweet, reason enough tostop by. Open through September, weather permitting.
3. Red's Eats
Main and Water streets,
Wiscasset; 207-882-6128
The lobster roll is worth every bit of the wait, even if the linesnakes around the block. Don't gasp at the $16.50 you'll spend onit. You will be handed a lobster roll like no other, with nearlytwo full lobsters stuffed into your buttered roll; mayo and meltedbutter served on the side.
4. B.C.M.S.
371 Medomak Rd., Bremen
207-529-5186
Diners are almost an afterthought at Broad Cove Marine Service,unusual for its scant signage. Order from the shack by the gas pumpand take a seat to savor the conversation between lobstermen beforeeating what I consider the best lobster to be had in all of Maine-- tender, flavorful, juicy -- the essence of lobster. Here theyserve them super soft-shell. Cook Leeanne Mank thinks thedifference isn't in the softness but in the cooking -- she steamsthem instead of boiling.
5. The Dip Net
1 Cold Storage Rd., Port Clyde
207-372-6307,
dipnetrestaurant.com
With a menu that serves raw oysters, a lobster bisque laced withcream and sherry, a wine list with local and foreign bottles and abathtub full of lobsters delivered that morning from MosqitoIsland, this little dockside shack takes artisanal to a new level.
6. Waterman's Beach Lobster
343 Waterman's Beach Rd., South Thomaston
207-596-7819
The restaurant is set on a grassy knoll next to the small beachthat overlooks Muscle Ridge Channel, so stop in for peace and alobster, or clams, or maybe just a lobster roll and homemade pie.BYOB, open Wednesday through Sunday only.
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Agriculture , Food & Beverage , Food & Beverage Production , U.S. Food & Beverage , Americas , North America , New England , USA , North American Agriculture , Food & Beverage , North American Food & Beverage , Fish & Seafood , Maine