I did not want to go.
I have been such a slouch lounging at the cottage so busy with work lately.
Sometimes though…..an evening turns into an adventure…..and takes you by surprise.
I had to be in Boston early. Un-godly early. Especially for one who has been slouching at the cottage so busy with work lately. Steve-the-most-friendly-driver-ever-who-even-bought-me-a-Dunkin-Donuts-coffee-cause-he-could-see how-wiped-I-was picked me up at Logan and took me to charming Newburyport where my meeting was. I soon learned Steve grew up in the area and pretty much knew all about what this place was all about.
Eileen, one of my dearest friends from University lives only 2 hours away from Newburyport and was coming to meet me for dinner. Amazingly. Considering my invitation to do so went something like this:
“I have to get up really early to get to Boston. Then, I have to work all day. I have to be at work super early the next day. I don’t think I am going to be a barrel of laughs. Want to join me for dinner anyway?”
“Yup…”
That’s what I love about people like Eileen who have known you for over 20 years…..they know when you are full of it and just being grumpy. She saw right through it. She knew it would not be long before my regular self shined through.
I usually start sentences with…”You know what would be REALLY fun?…………” When I say this, hang on to your shorts, fun is impending. Trust me. Just go with it.
So….I had not done any of my regular due diligence in terms of scoping out an awesome place to have dinner. I was too grumpy. Steve, however, was so NOT grumpy and so enthusiastic about his home town, I decided to get his advice.
“So – where would you go if you wanted lobster?”
“Well…..” (you could tell by the long drawn out Bostonian-accentised ‘well’ that this was not an easy answer to provide) “That depends on if you want lobsta, or the best lobsta…”
I perked up.
“Oh…..I want the BEST lobster!!!!!!!!!!!” (Lobster is my favourite. Best meal = lobster and lots of chardonnay – that’s it – that’s all.)
“Well….you’re gonna have to drive to Maine…….”
I was already texting Eileen….’wanna go 2 maine 4 dinner?’
‘Yup’
Not even ‘??????!!!!!’ or a simple ‘wtf?’ Just ‘yup’. I really love Eileen.
With Steve’s vague, yet simultaneously detailed directions in my mind’s eye, one GPS (with a snarky passive aggressive tone), an Iphone, and my blackberry (ok the blackberry in this situation is completely useless), Eileen and I headed north after work – grumpy no more……We were going to MAINE! For DINNER! For LOBSTA!!!!!! Woot woot!!!!!
A little over an hour later, we figured we were lost. I know. How do you get lost armed with that much technology? What would we have done if we only had old fashioned paper maps? We resorted to some old school direction asking……besides we had to stop to buy wine anyway. Turned out we were only 2 miles away. The length of time it took the guy to describe the two miles between us and the best lobster, we could have been there already.
Finally we saw it. Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier. I think I heard angels singing. It was like a lobster hut from a dream. Red and white. Huge deck overlooking the water. Picnic tables. People laughing, smiling, drinking ice cold bevies – and chowing on LOBSTER!!!
The menu is pretty basic. Chowda. Steamers. Corn. Lobster. All the essential food groups. We placed our order and watched a young guy wrestle our 2lb babies onto a tray (Steve said not to bother with anything less than 2lbs – so we had to listen) and then they were sent off to be boiled…
We grabbed a table and gawked at the folks around us. They had tablecloths, flowers, appetizers from home. China. These folks were serious. The table behind us was having dessert and passing around tupperwares full of home-baked baked goodies. Eileen and I just had our bag of chips appetizer and drank our California Chardonnay from the complimentary plastic cups we got from the lobster jockey. We could have cared less. We were in MAINE! For DINNER! For LOBSTA!!!!!! Woot woot!!!!!
First steamers. Probably the ugliest food that humans eat. What is uglier than a clam? Really? I wonder who the first guy was who ate steamed clams. All his friends probably stood around laughing at him and then waited to see if he would die. First you peel it OFF the shell – the shell being the most attractive part. Then you remove the gross/dirty clam skin/condom-like thingy (trying not to think too much about it – wine helps), dip it in broth to try to get off as much sand as possible, then dip it in BUTTER (what does not taste good with butter) and voila! Delicious and disgusting all at once. We flagged down a kid clearing lobster guts and paid him to fetch us a second basket.
Not long after, the main(e) event! Our lobsters arrived – golden red and glistening – a thing of beauty to behold. After a quick spray of DEET around the ankles (the mosquitos were coming out as the sun went down) we dug in. They really were cooked to perfection, moist, juicy, sweet, salty…….my fav dinner of all time. Armed with classic plastic lobster bibs, we ripped them apart, sucked out every last morsel and washed it down with our convenience store wine. I think there was corn and cole slaw – but they were completely irrelevant. It was totally and completely awesome.
We went to MAINE! For DINNER! For LOBSTA!!!!!! Woot woot!!!!!
Chauncey Creek. If you find yourself anywhere close to Kittery, Maine it’s worth the trek – especially if you rope a friend into doing the driving http://www.chaunceycreek.com/
PS. In my post lobster feast haze I posted a few pics of the carnage on FB. A dear high school friend, Liz, who lives in Whistler, BC was vacationing at her beach house in Kennebunk – 30 minutes up the coast. She saw the pics and moments later we hopped in the car and popped up to see her. Sitting on her deck by the waves and looking at the moon I practically had to pinch myself – how lucky was I? Two dear friends I rarely get to see and a lobsta dinner in Maine all in one night.
PPS. Turns out, Eileen is not so great after all. After visiting with Liz she refused to drive another 30 minutes north to LL Bean. It was only 11:30 – and they are open 24hrs. “You know what would be fun?……“ I asked her. She shut me down. Apparently I should shop the catalogue, and I don’t need any more flannel. So we went back to Newburyport. Boring. Next time. But……We did go to MAINE! For DINNER! For LOBSTA!!!!!! Woot woot!!!!!
