That little trip to Maine: Part 2

As promised, I have another Maine restaurant to share with you!

Unlike the months of planning that went behind our trip to Salt Water Farm, the trip to this one happened completely by accident.

After gorging ourselves at dinner the night before (and again at the Whitehall Inn's breakfast) we decided that we were going to head back down the coast of Maine stopping and shopping around in the little towns until we made it back to Boston that night.  That plan came to a halt about 15 minutes after jumping in the car as we came upon our first winery, Cellardoor Winery.  After our eighth tasting of their delicious wine (my favorites were the Petite Sirah and the Prince Valiant) we realized we weren't heading back to Boston, we were going on a wine tour!



As we were heading to the next winery, a sign popped up on my right further solidifying our choice not to head back to Boston.  That sign was for Primo.  Distant memories of an Anthony Bourdain episode came at me like a ton of bricks and I suddenly realized what we had just discovered.

We immediately called while crossing our fingers and hoping that we could get in that night.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that downstairs is for reservation only but upstairs is a free for all.  So we moved along to our next winery with far bigger smiles on our faces.

As we arrived for dinner the upstairs host told us there was a 30 minute wait but that we should grab a drink and head out back for a stroll around the farm.  And that we did.

We aren't talking an herb garden out back.  We are talking a FARM.  Complete with every vegetable, edible flower, and fruit you can imagine as well as pigs, chickens, and ducks.

After a long day of wine tours and not a lot of food, we decided appetizers were much needed to go along with our deliciously crafted cocktails.  We ordered a cheese board that included an incredibly pungent and delicious blue cheese served with honeycomb, fruit, and nut and fruit crackers.  We also ordered a Mediterranean plate with beet hummus, olives, flatbread, and several other bowls of goodness.

The entrees are below captured by some horribly lit iPhone pictures that obviously do not do the dishes a bit of justice.  Just read the captions.  And drool.

Our second night in Maine proved to be just as wonderful as the first.  Incredibly fresh and delicious food, beautiful and rustic decor, and of course great company.













Within the next couple of days I'll be posting a recipe for something that has been on my bucket list for quite a long time now...Fresh Maine Lobsters!

That little trip to Maine: Part 1

Oh my goodness.

I'm finally coming out of the food/drink/fun induced coma that I slipped into as soon as sweet Momma Bell jumped off of the plane.

It was a go big or go home kind of week.  We did everything, ate everything, and saw everything that we possibly could in that short little week.  Fortunately, most of it revolved around food.  And that means that it's going to take multiple posts to share the highlights with you.

But we're going to start at the beginning.  With our little trip to Maine.

Throughout mom's visits to Boston over the last couple of years, we have always made it a point to take a couple of days to venture outside the city whether it be to the Cape, NYC, or a quick trip to the casino, we love showing her the ins and outs of New England.  It's one thing that I'll miss about New England.  There are so many wonderful spots that are just a couple hours drive (and typically a beautiful one) away from Boston.

Out of all of those little trips we never made it to the great state of Maine.  So, it became the destination for this visit without second thought.  I think we were just saving the best for last.  Maine has always felt like a little bit of Missouri.  The scenery is breathtaking and the people are warm and incredibly welcoming.  A drive through Maine is town after town of adorable little shops and quaint restaurants and the perfect amount of people that sits snugly between a ghost town and a mob of tourists.

Oh.  And did I mention the food?

Other than just the utter fact that Momma Bell needed to experience Maine, Salt Water Farm also played a huge part in shaping our trip.  At this point I'm not even sure how I discovered Salt Water Farm, but somehow several years ago I heard about it and began looking it up.  At that point in time it was just a farm that hosted cooking classes.  Amazing, wonderful, delicious sounding cooking classes.  I often browsed the website and told myself I was going to splurge and just go do it.

Unfortunately, I never pulled the trigger.  Which, I have to say will go down as one of the things I will regret not doing while I was here.  (But let's be honest...I'm coming back to visit...And I'll probably make a special trip for that.)

Luckily, Salt Water Farm decided to open up a restaurant three months ago.  The excitement couldn't be contained the moment that I realized my chances of experiencing SWF had not been lost.

So what do you think?  Do you think it met my expectations?

Of course it did.

Above and beyond actually.  As soon as we walked in I knew.  The smells.  The open kitchen.  The baskets of local vegetables for sale.  The beautiful wooden tables.  The unbelievable view of the bay. Sights.  Sounds.  Smells.  It had it all.  And this was all within the first thirty seconds.

Naturally my love for the place grew larger by the second.  The meal itself was a special menu prepared for an event SWF was hosting with Dogfish Head Brewery.  Each dish below was paired with a special brew from Dogfish Head that had been crafted from wine grapes.  I, being the sober driver of the evening, stuck with a glass of wine and let everyone else enjoy the incredibly generous pours.  However, both the wine and beers were phenomenal.

But the food was better.  Every dish was simple yet so perfect.  Not one of the dishes lacked in flavor or creativity.  Nor were they pretentious and over the top.  Picking favorites seems unfair, but the trompette mushrooms were out of this world.  And graciously prepared for me instead of the duck.

To top off the evening we were able to speak with nearly every person involved with the dinner including the founder of SWF, the founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, the chefs, and of course our wonderful waiters and waitresses.  Every single one of them had a passion for what they were doing and it was radiating out of that restaurant.

If you can't already tell from the amount of time that my fingers just flew across the keyboard in an attempt to somehow get you to SWF...I love this place.





















Tomorrow I'll be back with yet another culinary adventure from Maine!  Until then...check out Salt Water Farm!

My Politic Tour Update #4 -- Adventures in Missouri

This was the first visit back home that I actually took pictures.

Proud?

Because I am.  Usually I'm scrambling to snap a few last minute photos in the airport parking lot just to have enough pictures to count on one hand.  BUT this time I had to filter through them because there were so many.

We rolled into Missouri around 3am on Thursday morning and groggily stumbled into my house to put ourselves to bed.  Those several hours of sleep before the long weekend began were much needed.  The next morning we roused ourselves out of bed to get over to Spring Creek Tea Room for some lunch.  The Tea Room is always an essential first stop when arriving home....and I usually have plans in place before I cross the Missouri border.  As you know, I like to think ahead when it comes to food.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing and preparing to go surprise Kaston's dad with our arrival.  We kept the whole tour/us coming home thing a secret as a little birthday and father's day surprise for him.  The rest of the weekend is a big blur of My Politic shows, food, card games, and a big BBQ.  The guys played a house show on Friday night, The Farmers Market of the Ozarks and The Copper Run Distillery on Saturday, and a BBQ at my house on Sunday.  All of which were fantastic.

I had such a great time being home and getting to see everyone even if it was only for a few short days.  And I owe a big thank you to everyone that took time out of their busy weekends to come say hello and join us for the festivities!

Enjoy the pictures!

Guess what!  I have three more guest posts for you!  Next one is coming up tomorrow so check back in!

My Politic Tour Update #3

8 days since the last tour update?  I'm shamefully behind.

I've been home (in Missouri) for the last 4 days and things were a little hectic.  Trying to cram several weeks worth of visiting into 4 days gets tricky...and also happens to be very time consuming...but most importantly, it's a blast.

I'm sad to see Missouri in our rear view mirror but I'm also excited to continue on with the tour.  We are currently on our way to Syracuse, NY.  Which, if you haven't seen a map recently...Missouri to upstate New York is quite the drive.  19 hours to be exact.  19 hours in the car however, is very conducive to putting up blog posts...

Instead of trying to cram 8 days worth of picture updates into this one post, I'm going to break it up into two for both of our sakes.  I'll post the "Missouri" portion tomorrow...I promise.

Ready to time travel back a few days?

This is one among many of the reasons that I love Asheville.  Local. Local. Local.

This is also on that list.  Breakfast at Early Girl Eatery.

Fresh squeezed orange juice.  Swoon.

Black bean and cheddar omelet with salsa, avocado (it's hiding), homefries, homemade biscuit, and fabulous berry jam.

 

Brendan loves him some Early Girl.

Sadly these were our last few moments with the Boston boys.  Next time we are kidnapping them and taking them to Missouri.  Just a warning.

After our delicious breakfast at Early Girl Eatery and saying goodbye to the Boston boys, we spent the day wandering around Asheville...browsing through shops, having a few local beers, and....

...finding yummy treats like these at The Chocolate Fetish (They were to die for.  Living anywhere near this place might be dangerous).

After our afternoon in Asheville we jetted down to Atlanta for the guys show at The WonderRoot with Threadbare Brother <-- amazing music...go listen!

The next day we went to Knoxville, TN...

And the guys played at a great little coffee shop called Remedy Coffee in the Old City part of town.

And we met these lovely ladies who made our trip to Knoxville very well worth it.

On to...Nashville, TN.  The boys HAD to stop at Jack in the Box.  They got a cheeseburger and two tacos for $1.09.  I don't know if that should be concerning or just really awesome?

I didn't join in on the Jack in the Box consumption (obviously) but I did spring for a creamy popsicle at Las Paletas Gourmet Popsicles (which you can read about here).  I had the Mexican Caramel and Kaston had the Cookies and Cream.  Soooo delicious.

And finally the guys played a show at That's CooL in Nashville before we made the journey back to Missouri.

Come back tomorrow to see our Missouri adventures!