In pouring rain I drove north from Wayland, MA on Interstate 95 to Portland, Maine, about 120 miles. As I came close to the city, anxiously looking for exits with the car wipers at the fastest speed, I saw a sign in a distance with a digital message. I strained to check out what it was saying, could be crucial information. Soon I got close enough to read this alert: “Rain Pounding on Road” Thanks. That was helpful.
A bit later after I exited and entering Portland, I was met with another warning sign: “Flash flooding in some intersections”. Thanks again. Which ones?
After a few tense moments, we found our way to an Arabica Café, calmed down with a latté and regrouped. In this weather, no sight-seeing around town was possible, so might as well drive to our next destination, a must-see, pounding rain or not. That’s New Harbor in the eastern tip of Maine, about 70 miles from where we were. What’s the bait? Lobster of course… and, Kevin Costner.
Earlier on I came across the website epicurious (love the name), Shaw’s Fish and Lobster Wharf in New Harbor was listed as one of their 7 favorite lobster shacks in Maine, and the tidbit that it’s one of the filming locations of the movie Message In A Bottle. So obviously, the motivation to get me driving all that 70+ miles in the rain under a dark grey sky was not just the lobster but Kevin Costner… oh, throw in Paul Newman as well.
Here’s the place at the end of a long and winding road along coastal Maine in fading daylight:
A view from the dock:
Inside the bar, a movie poster:
and some production photos (See Paul Newman in the middle?)
Since it was getting late, we decided to take out instead of eat there. And so we did, heading out to our rental car with two cooked live lobsters (oxymoron?), drawn butter, paper plates, and a lobster cracker kindly thrown in for us, all for $30. Not a bad deal.
Just as we congratulated ourselves on our triumphal exit with lobsters and Costner poster photo, we saw the iPhone on which we’d so depended for its GPS to be not in service. Now we had to find our way out of this remote place before darkness totally engulfed us. It’s not as easy as you might think. It felt like forever for us to find our way back to the main road and headed north for another 40 miles to our motel in Rockport. It seemed a much longer drive when you had two cooked live lobsters in the back seat.
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Another seafood restaurant I can whole-heartedly recommend is Archer’s on the Pier in Rockland, ‘the lobster capital of the world’. Just a 12-minute drive south of our motel in Rockport, Archer’s lobster is one of the best I’ve tasted for as long as I can remember. Of course a bit pricier than Costner’s place, but well worth it with all the extras, corn cob, coleslaw…
the location and the view:
I haven’t seen much fall foliage yet but that’s ok. It’s been a delicious journey so far.
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Follow my New England series:
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Looks delish and you can’t beat the view.
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Ti,
I must say Shaw’s Fish and Lobster Shack has a good view too, and an authentic setting as a fisherman’s wharf. But not as accessible. A fun place to go if the weather is fine. Thanks for stopping by the pond. Good to hear from you. 😉
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How I’d love to be joining you on that trip. Lobster is my favorite (you DID have lobster rolls too, didn’t you?!) And the area looks as I remembered it, though I don’t think I was where you were — but lots of boats, shacks with wonderful food on the water… everything one would love. I didn’t think about the storms hitting so far north during your visit and I’m sorry you had to contend with that. I hate the rain-driving. Good for you, soldiering on!
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Jeanie,
So many places I didn’t have time to explore around there in Maine, like Acadia National Park, and next time, Bath, another filming location for Message in a Bottle. I didn’t have much luck with the lobster rolls. Since they were rolls, the lobster meat weren’t as fresh, for the ones I’d had anyway. So eating a live lobster should guarantee freshness I supposed. But I did have the best chowder… coming up. Stay tuned. 😉
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That makes sense about the lobster.– rolls v. fresh. NOTHING beats fresh and no one cooks it like they do in the East. I suppose you can get the “fresh” (read that as flown-in) lobster and they can boil it up the same way (we’ve done it at home) but it is NEVER as good!
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Glad you made it to this great destination despite pounding rain on roadway and flash flooding in intersections!!
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It was quite an adventure. 🙂
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Wow, looks fantastic!
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They were delicious. 🙂
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Wow! That’s a lot of driving, and in bad weather too! I hope it turned out to be worth it (though I must say I feel sorry for the lobsters) 🙂
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Of course, yes, I see you would empathize with the lobster. Have you read David Foster Wallace’s Consider the Lobster? 🙂
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I love lobster. what a great place to visit – views and great seafood.
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U must go to Maine and taste their sweet and fresh, live lobsters. I like them just boiled and dip in drawn butter. No black bean sauce or with ginger and scallion. Know what I mean? 🙂
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I got a good laugh from your readings of the helpful and timely road signs. Wonderful view and fresh (cool!) air with fresh lobster before you on a plate? Magnificent.
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Glad I’ve taken this trip. Other than these two episodes I described here, all the rest of the trip, driving was a breeze and very enjoyable. Watch for the posts coming up in the next little while, the scenery of the inland county roads is wonderful.
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Oooh, I love lobster too, how I’d love to try these. It’s amazing how lobsters taste different around the world- French lobsters are quite different to our Australian ones, I’m sure these would be different again.
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We in Canada of course have lobsters too but beat is on the east coast. I’ve never tried lobsters in other parts of the world other than in N. America.
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Keep those posts coming, Arti!!!
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I’ve already has 7 of them posted. Yes, u must go on a trip to New England. Maybe next fall.
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Now you’re talking! I love lobster, and rarely have it. Of course we have crawfish, but that’s hardly the same. I’ve never had a lobster roll, though a friend who travels the NE swears they can be better than the fresh-cooked lobster. Of course, that depends on getting fresh lobster on a fresh roll – and she says there are special rolls you have to have, too.
In any event, I think this is just wonderful. It’s great seeing the harbor and the boats, and even the rain signs made me laugh. We have the possibility for heavy rain this weekend, so our signs will be cranking up, too.
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