We made this trip with our good friends Mark and Leslie. They once lived in the area and agreed to be our travel guides. The two knew all the best out-of-the-way places we should see and made this a fantastic trip for me and Hubby.
First we flew to Boston, by plane of course, where we rented a car. Then we headed toward new Hampshire with a stop for lunch at 99 Restaurant and Pub in Stoneham, Massachusetts. You could say that this restaurant is the New England equivalent of Shoney’s, only with a lot more seafood options. It is a great place to find some local (literally) flavor. I think one of my favorite things I did on this trip was people watch. Food was pretty good too.
Once our tummies were full it was on to the next state, where just over the New Hampshire line we got our first glimpse of a liquor mall. This place was as large as many Tennessee strip malls. And it wasn’t alone. This type of discount store was everywhere.
New Hampshire is known for its granite, but also for its “sin" tax. The state collects a higher percentage of general revenues from gambling, lottery, tobacco and alcohol than anywhere else in the country. Since New Hampshire has no state sales tax, alcoholic products run a bit less expensive so a lot of travelers, and locals from just across the state border, frequent these outlets.
We arrived at the Hampton Inn in Bath, Maine in the early afternoon. This is a quaint (you’re going to see this word a lot) seaport town and our rooms overlooked a harbor on the Kennebec River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean.
Bath, Maine, the City of Ships, has long been referred to as the home of the best shipbuilders in the world. Bath Ironworks is still building destroyers for the U.S. Navy.
We strolled to downtown Bath where the shops included art galleries, antique shops, jewelry stores, and lots of specialty shops; one of which was The Fountain Ice Cream and Deli. I tried the Maine Black Bear ice cream, homemade by the way. This consisted of vanilla ice cream with a raspberry swirl and dark chocolate truffles. Oh my, it was amazing!
Bath, though small, is filled with beautiful parks, and everywhere you turn there is history and architecture dating back centuries. The harbor was never more than a few steps away and it seemed like there were benches on every corner where one could ponder the birth of our nation; or where to eat your next meal.
As the sun was heading toward the horizon, we continued our walk to J.R. Maxwell & Co. on Front Street for dinner. This is a small pub and restaurant and reservations are recommended. We didn’t know that beforehand. When the hostess (inside the restaurant) asked if we had a reservation, I asked if I could borrow her phone to call the restaurant and make one. She said yes before she really understood what I was asking. Warning: People in Maine do not get my sense of humor. I will find out later that I don’t get theirs either.
There was about a thirty minute wait to be seated, but the food was so worth it. If you go, get a salad and try the parmesan peppercorn salad dressing. The restaurant has five plus salad dressings that they make on-site. All of our food was outstanding and the service was impeccable.
Afterward, we all crashed. Did I mention flying is tiring, even for such a short flight?
While this isn’t exactly a food blog, I must tell you that food played an important role in this trip. To say we were pretty much always surrounded by food is not an exaggeration and I will speak often of the tasty morsels we were served at unique restaurants.
We started the next day with a continental breakfast at our inn. See, more food. During the majority of my personal travels, a continental breakfast has meant toast, cold cereal, maybe a muffin and coffee. Nope. The Hampton Inn, Bath knows how to feed hungry travelers.
Tobi, the chef, has been with the inn since it opened and does the cooking. All food is cooked on-site and the options change daily. On this day, Tobi had prepared a western omelet, hash browns, sausage, oats, waffles, muffins, and then some. Of course, if you wanted a continental breakfast there was also, juice, coffee, milk, teas, cereals, toast, bagels, fruit, yogurt and more. You could spend an hour just browsing the breakfast bar.
That’s enough about food for now. We will continue heading northeast today with stops at Edgecomb Pottery, Boothbay Harbor, and Hermit Island in Phippsburg, Maine where Leslie vacationed during her childhood years.
Next overnight stop, Castine, Maine. Really this time. Hope you’ll follow me as we travel there.