There are many amazing things about Maine and for today’s A-Z Blogging Challenge, I wanted to highlight a couple interesting trivia facts about the state.
One thing I accepted long ago was that to live in Maine means to drive a lot, especially if I want to keep in touch with friends and family who are spread throughout New England and, in some cases, even farther. I could never lease a car. I’d go over my mileage in the first month.
Many of my drives involve meeting a friend “half-way” so that we can get together and have some fun. Since moving back to Maine, I’ve been making regular trips to Portsmouth, Kittery, and Newburyport, to connect with friends who live down in Massachusetts. I’ve become extremely knowledgeable on places to go and things to do in those areas. I could even rename my blog, “Weekends in Maine and towns off of Route 95 Heading South”.
Flavors of Freeport is an annual event held in February in Freeport Maine that highlights the amazing food and drink options available in the area. While the major cornerstones of the event are an Ice Bar at the Hilton Garden Inn with a dance party on Friday night followed by the Chef’s Signature Series on Saturday evening, we decided it would be fun to head up during the day on Saturday to try some of the smaller tastings offered at many of the local shops.
Wilbur’s Chocolate of Maine, 174 Lower Main Street | Cost is $4.50 per person
We started off by stopping into Wilbur’s Chocolate of Maine to check out their shop and take their hands-on factory tour to learn about Wilbur’s history, chocolate making, and enjoy some chocolate samples. I had never been into the store before, and it was amazing to see how large their chocolate selection was. They were gearing up for Easter while we were there so there were lots of selections of Easter Bunnies. We learned that Wilbur’s is one of the few places left that still make solid, non-hollow bunnies. The store also has a nice selection of products for sale from local Maine vendors.
It doesn’t happen often, or at least not as often as I would like, but we found ourselves with no plans this past Saturday. Knowing that we would be house bound with some projects on Sunday, we wanted to get out of the house for a bit. While I like to hunker down, I’m not a true homebody. I get antsy quickly if I stay in too many days in a row. Fortunately, my husband shares my love of going out, although he can also successfully hunker for days on end. He’s multifaceted.
Enjoying the early spring weather that we’ve been experiencing in Maine this year, we headed into Portland for the afternoon. Temperatures were hovering just below 50 degrees so it was perfect weather to wander, and I was craving a lobster roll. For me, lobster rolls are best enjoyed sitting at a picnic table overlooking the ocean, but even with the unseasonably warm weather, outside seating was still not an option so instead we headed to Eventide Oyster Co. for their amazing Brown Butter Lobster Roll. While normally I’m a purist when it comes to my lobster rolls – hot dog bun, lobster meat, and plain drawn butter – Eventide has created something truly wonderful. The brown butter adds just the right touch and elevates the lobster roll to another level. I had only had it once before, at the Allagash Street Fair last summer, and I was looking forward to another taste.
We had stopped by Slab once before during one of our PCRT Portland Beer Week Scavenger Hunts although technically it wasn’t one of the stops on our list.  But, that was awhile ago, and we were overdue to come back to actually spend some time. Finding ourselves with a few hours between dropping off and picking up the girls, we decided to head to Slab for lunch on a recent Saturday. I’m so glad we did!
Slab advertises itself as “Sicilian Street Food” which sounded interesting. We were looking for something casual and fun, and my husband always likes it when there’s a good craft beer offering. Slab delivered on all counts. It’s located in the old Portland Public Market Building. The restaurant has a nice, modern decor with high ceilings, and lots of light coming through the many windows. We settled into a cozy booth.
Weekends in Maine 