Another of My Detours - This Time to Maine

Today was scheduled to be my last post on Nancy Braithwaite, but last week I went to Maine with a good friend.  It was a whirlwind trip with lots of driving and lots of good conversation.  We've known each other since high school; her husband was our best man.  So our trip supersedes Nancy's finale but only till next post.

Our first destination was Yarmouth, Maine where she and her whole family had had a lobster bake in August .  They (all fifty of them) had a wonderful week-end and she relived it a bit by showing me the beautiful locale.  Quiet now, but I could just imagine the festivities.

Below is her cousin's converted barn with two apartments, one of which she and her husband occupied for the week-end.

Cocktails began here each night,

and the lobster bake took place here, with lobsters and clams provided by vendors below.

Cousins and grandchildren mastered the art of paddle-boarding here.

Across the lane from the restored barn was the bed and breakfast housing more of the family.  I lost the photo of the exterior, but captured some charming interior ones.

Pretty neat place to hang out if weather is inclement, but weather was perfect for the lobster bake and our visit.

Liked this little chest of drawers.

Leaving Yarmouth and its lobster bouys, we drove to Acadia, the Jordan Pond House, autumn gardens and Northeast Harbor ...

where dreams of eating popovers and viewing bits of paradise danced in my head...

instead we were greeted with this.

Most visitors had the feelings below.

But undaunted, we wended our way to Castine, where we had reservations at the Pentagoet Inn.  Below is a charming lighthouse seen as we entered the town.

Before a dinner of scallop-bacon-corn chowder, beet salad, cod, and gingerbread with carmelized apples and whipped cream, we did a quick tour of the town to whet our appetites.  Good thing.  

The Pentagoet has no TVs, so I fell asleep listening to the Tigers beat the Red Sox.  I was asleep in about ten minutes but my baseball-fan friend listened to the whole game.

Next morning we did another tour of Castine before driving back.  Castine has much colonial history with the English almost entering its harbor during the Revolutionary War.

And it is a beautiful town, quintessentially New England.

A couple more shots on the way out of town...

then we headed toward Wiscasset and a lobster roll lunch.  While we were disappointed that Acadia was closed, and the Marston House in Wiscasset was also closed, we had a great time.  It reaffirmed my  

belief that good friends are one of life's greatest treasures.

Now to another personal note.  I've never mentioned this before, but I work part time at a Williams Sonoma store in my area.  A new cookbook by the Beekman boys caught my eye there and in two seconds it was mine.  I want to try many of their recipes here but started in their autumn section.

This morning I made their cinnamon bread recipe which looked irresistible, at least I couldn't resist it.

Above is their masterpiece.  Below is mine.  I'm embarrassed to say this, working at WS and all, but I do not have a non-stick bundt cake pan.  I improvised with a redware antique one which I prayed would release the bread.  Here are my results.

The bread did not release as nicely as I had hoped as you can see from the little tears, but it is really delicious with its buttermilk, cinnamon and egg yolks.  The house smelled terrific.

Got a little carried away with my staging here and should have removed the dust mop and vacuum cord.

Now, last but not least, two great kitchens I have loved from Pinterest.  Love the lighting, stove and refrigerator in the first one.  Perfect, and no cords or dust mops.

Stainless steel is such a great counterpoint to the brick, greenery and old wood flooring in this second one.

That's it my friends.  Hope I didn't blather too much about personal "stuff".  

Next post will be my last on Braithwaite, at least for a while.

b