Maine Moments: Portland Interlude

ARRIVING

We landed in Portland on Thursday afternoon expecting cool breezes, but it was hot.  Not as hot as we North Carolinians have been experiencing, but HOT for Maine.  Also because we spent more time wandering around outside in the bright sun than at home.  Overall, the heat prompted a lazier approach to our 36 hours here.  More time in our favorite local bookstores, Longfellow Books, and Sherman’s.  Two long visits to Longfellow’s shop and a brief one to Sherman’s which was packed with browsers.  And we slotted in some delicious meals.  

EATING WELL IN PORTLAND

David’s Restaurant

Our tradition for dinner on arrival day is to head to David’s, a popular restaurant at Monument Square serving the requisite lobster roll and other more creative fare.  There are also a few daily specials to tempt the palate.  This time, we began with the fried calamari which pops with hot pepper slices, tomato bits, little black olives, and feta. Yum! 

Caesar salad at David’s

The Chief Penguin had Caesar salad, a stacked version with lovely lettuces, not the typical romaine, while I tucked into my first lobster roll of the season.  A tasty one with a small side salad, also interestingly done.

First lobster roll of 2026!

These dishes with glasses of a crisp Albariño made for a perfect first meal.

Duckfat

Staff at Duckfat

We could have had clam chowder and fish sandwiches for lunch, but opted instead to check out Duckfat, a very small eatery we hadn’t been to in several years.  Inside are counters with low stools and a bar; outside is covered seating, perhaps from Covid days. This was an indulgent lunch. 

 A stand-up cone of Belgian fries cooked in, you guessed it, duck fat and served with two dipping sauces, jalapeño lime and truffle ketchup.  We followed the fries with large sandwiches on some toothsome sourdough.  I opted for the grilled cheese and smoked turkey while the C.P ordered grilled cheese and Tasso ham.  This is not your ordinary grilled cheese sandwich; it is elevated with cheddar and raclette slathered with sun-dried tomato pesto. Had we not had fries, we might have been able to eat the entire sandwich; as it was we each savored just half.

Leeward (Arts District)

When it opened in 2020, Leeward was highly touted gaining lots of attention. Since then, its chef has been a James Beard Foundation nominee or semi-finalist almost every year.  On Free Street, not too far from the Portland Museum of Art, it’s light and attractive inside.  The cuisine is mostly Italian with a nod to innovative pasta dishes. The menu is compact and all the offerings carefully crafted.  We began with the Simple Salad—not so simple really with a red wine dressing, local lettuces, a few thin whispers of Piave cheese, and candied pecans.  Perfect for a warm night. 

I went vegetarian this meal (my sisters would be surprised!) and loved the luscious radiatore pasta with olive pesto, zucchini rounds, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. The CP went for the tagliatelle with fresh porcini mushrooms and a bit of prosciutto. 

Pasta with porcini

Delicious overall and very satisfying!

DEPARTING PORTLAND

 We got an earlier start than usual on Saturday morning, and all was well.  Then the car fob didn’t work.   A hotel valet extracted the key and was able to open up the car which was parked in a nearby lot.  But the car wouldn’t start.  Key question, was the car battery dead or was it just the fob battery?  Fortunately, testing indicated that it was the fob and not the car.  

Meanwhile, I was just outside the hotel on a bench keeping watch over our luggage and enjoying the now cooler air. With no hotel car available to provide a lift, and knowing his way around downtown Portland very well, the Chief Penguin walked briskly to the nearby CVS to purchase a new fob battery.  The helpful salesclerk there opened the plastic packaging and made it easy to put the new battery in the fob.

Fob in hand, the CP returned, the car started, the luggage was loaded, and we headed north.  We were grateful for the assistance of the enterprising hotel valet and the CVS clerk.  Now we’re happily ensconced on Southport Island with views of the ocean and cove!

Note: Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Carolina Comments: Observing the 250th

With temperatures reaching 101 here for several days, we have barely ventured outside.  It is definitely the hottest week I can ever recall experiencing!  Today’s high is slated to be only 98.  

JULY 4th ACTIVITIES

Declaration of Independence Reading

On Friday, residents where we live participated in a reading of the Declaration of Independence in its entirety before an audience.  The document was divided into 33 sections, and 31 of us each read a section (one couple took two sections each.) Lined up in order to keep things moving, we stepped to the podium, read our piece, and then sat down.  

Having not read this document or at least not all the way through, it was a moving and meaningful experience, both the words and sentiments, but also hearing so many different voices.  I was #27 in the line-up, and I chose my piece because of its first sentence.  “A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the rule of a free people.”  The capital letters are in the original document, and I thought this statement was particularly apt for today’s times.

As part of this program, we all said the Pledge of Allegiance and then sang the national anthem.

America’s 250th Patriotic Celebration (Cary Arts Center)

(carytownband.org)

The night of July 3rd, the Chief Penguin and I attended a downtown concert with narration and video images presented by the Cary Town Band.  Founded in 1987, with just sixteen members, the band now consists of 50 volunteer musicians.  It plays free concerts at a variety of special events each year.

In years past, in Swarthmore, PA, we loved attending the town’s annual 4th of July parade.  A small series of floats, lots of kids on their decorated bikes, and a chance to chat with one’s neighbors, followed by rides around town on the fire truck.  As I recall, our son adorned his bicycle with crepe paper one year and joined the parade.  In Florida, we didn’t attend any parades, but from our lanai overlooking Sarasota Bay, we could usually see fireworks go up-up in about ten different towns ringing the water.  Often, we got together with friends to celebrate this night.

The Cary Town Band is wind instruments, percussion, and brass as one would expect. The music was wide ranging, opening with The Federal March (1788) celebrating the adoption of the U. S. Constitution, and then the Armed Forces Salute, including the songs for each force from the army to the new Space Force.  What came next was a series of pieces, many unfamiliar, but selected to go along with a specific era in our history.  Beginning in 1776 and then advancing in 50-year increments from 1826 all the way up to 2026.  It was rousing music accompanied by historic images and text on a big screen; a history lesson that did not gloss over or omit our nation’s shortcomings.  Overall, it was a wonderful performance combining inspiration and appreciation for all that came before.

And yes, we said the pledge to the flag and sang the Star-Spangled Banner.  Twice in one day for me.  

SUMMER READING

Savor: A Chef’s Hunger for More by Fatima Ali with Tarajia Morrell (published in 2022)

Fatima Ali (penguinrandomhouse.com)

Fatima Ali was a young Pakistani chef who came to the United States as a child, studied at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), and aspired to one day own her own restaurant.  She was ambitious, determined, and had lofty goals.  She also wanted to do something to address hunger and poverty in her home country.  Alas, her life was cut short by a rare cancer.

Savor is an unusual memoir in that its primary sources are Ali’s essays, journal entries, and in-depth conversations that her co-author Tarajia Morrell had with her over the course of one intense week.  To provide more context for Fatima’s life, her mother, Farezeh Durrani, bares her soul and shares the story of her arranged marriage and divorce, along with other family secrets and regrets.  

The result is a very personal family history interspersed with details of Pakistani culture and its food.  Fatima extols the variety of Pakistani dishes with their fragrant spices as she advances her career, cooking in a variety of restaurant settings in New York and then competing in the Food Network series, Chopped, and eventually on Top Chef.   Along the way, she loves the greater freedom for women here while missing aspects of home.  It’s a rich book full of food and a young woman’s zest for life.  Recommended! (~JWFarrington)

JUST FOR FUN

I can think of no one I know who likes going to the dentist. Even for a cleaning.  Earlier this week, the C. P. and I visited our local practice which is across the street and down a ways.  I like my hygienist a lot and was pleased to see her since she had been out due to a skiing injury.  As I was leaving her room, she said, “You are Patient of the Week.  You get to take home the flowers.” Lo and behold, indeed, we did get to take a lovely bouquet of flowers in a tall glass vase.  First, a photo of both of us (yes!), and then you-know-who carried my flowers home.  Why me?  Why the middle of the week?  Do they do this every week?  The flowers were very fresh, not at all wilted, and they still look good 5 days later. Almost enough incentive to go back to the dentist’s office!

Happy July 4th weekend to you all!

Carolina Comments: Big Birthdays & Grantchester

MILESTONE BIRTHDAYS

Two of my siblings and the Chief Penguin have summer birthdays, one in June, one in July, and one in August.  

Chief Penguin earlier this spring

This year, this trio is turning 70, 75, or 80.  It seemed the right time for a family celebration.  The C.P. and I see the North Carolina relatives, my two sisters and spouses often and my nieces and their families less frequently. 

My 3 siblings

We hadn’t seen my brother and sister-in-law from the Finger Lakes region for almost three years.  Thus, the Milestone Birthday Party yesterday. Almost everyone came including our son and family from Manhattan!  (We missed my brother’s daughters and their families who were only present in photos. Another time!)

This was also an opportunity for the cousins of the two younger generations to spend time together.

Niece Erica & family
First cousins!
Watching gift opening, Pat & others

It was a lively 36 hours beginning with an Indian lunch in Chapel Hill for the four siblings and spouses. The Chief Penguin and I also enjoyed dinners and ice cream in hopping downtown Cary with Tim and Jen and our granddaughters.  An all-around good time with lots of laughter! 

Entire family group (minus sister-in-law Pat who took the photo!)

 I think we created some lasting memories, especially for the youngest generation.

WATCHING

Grantchester: The Final Season (PBS)

After three vicars and eleven seasons, Grantchester is finally winding up its last season.  The Chief Penguin and I have been loyal viewers since the beginning.  We have liked watching police detective Geordie deal with Sydney, Will, and now Alphy, distinctive vicars who assist him in solving local crimes.  The supporting cast of housekeeper and friend, Mrs. C.; the caring and sometimes doleful curate Leonard; and Geordie’s wife Cathy, who embraces new opportunities for women, add richness and depth to the series.

Geordie & Alphy, Mrs. C. & Cathy, Larry & Miss Scot (tvinsider.com)

In this final season, Geordie has an offer of a promotion, life changes for Miss Scott and Larry Peters, and Alphy confronts head-on his mother’s past and present.  It is partly a tying up of earlier issues but also settling the characters comfortably for whatever lies ahead.  Recommended!

Note: Family photos taken by JWFarrington, EBWalter, & P. Walter.

Carolina Comments: Watching, Reading, Eating

ON THE SMALL SCREEN

Mary in the middle flanked by her sisters (townandcountrymag.com)

The Other Bennet Sister (BritBox)

Mary Bennet is the odd sister out.  Very smart, but plain compared to her other sisters, she is harassed, berated by her mother, and oftentimes just ignored by her many siblings.  In Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, she is viewed as having no marital prospects, while her sisters all gain husbands.  

The Other Bennet Sister begins with the scenario in Austen’s novel but then goes beyond it to create a world and another life for Mary.  She spends time in London with her aunt and uncle, acting as a fill-in governess for their children.  The Gardiners introduce her to London social life, and Mary meets and even captures the attention of two very different young men, Charles Ryder and Tom Hayward.  But her mother intervenes, thus providing more challenges for Mary to overcome.  

There are 10 episodes and they are short, just 30 minutes each.  Those familiar with Mrs. Bennet’s managing ways and Caroline Bingley’s superiority complex will delight in their portrayals here. Highly recommended for Jane Austen fans! 

A NOVEL FOR FATHER’S DAY

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Author Strout (Britannica.com)

Elizabeth Strout’s new novel, The Things We Never Say, is set in Massachusetts, not Maine, and none of the characters are familiar from her earlier works.  No Olive Kittredge here.  Instead, we have high school history teacher, Artie Dam, husband, father, and a lonely man.  At 57, Artie is distressed by the state of the world (it is not said directly, but the book opens just before Trump’s second term), somewhat depressed, sad in his marriage, and generally out of sorts.  

But he is a good teacher and frequently shows compassion toward difficult students (his wife Evie considers him “soft.”)  He obsesses over whether humans have free will, and in his spare time loves sailing alone on the bay in his boat.  When his son Rob shares a secret with him, Artie is initially both unsettled and doubtful.  The knowledge of this secret brings father and son closer together, and they begin to communicate regularly with each other, texting and phoning.  In many ways, the expansion of their relationship is the most significant one in the novel.

Through Artie, Strout explores how families and friends communicate or don’t, delving into the secrets and fears individuals keep to themselves or share only selectively with someone outside the family.  More than any of Strout’s works that I know, this is a political novel, quietly so.  U. S. politics with all its disruption, division, and angst is an underlying thread surfacing only fully in Artie’s unexpected friendship with Ken.  Some readers may find this novel dreary; I found it thoughtful and memorable.  Recommended! (~JWFarrington)

LUNCH OUT

Q Noodles (Cary)

On the wall at Q Noodles

If you have a hankering for soup dumplings or any kind of noodles, a visit to Q Noodles would be most satisfying.  Tucked away in a less visible part of a strip mall behind DQ and Paris Baguette, it can be easy to overlook this restaurant.  In fact, I had never spotted it before our lunch here this past week.

The menu is extensive and includes a variety of pork and chicken buns, steamed and panfried dumplings, dim sum, and hot and cold noodle dishes, along with sweet and savory rice offerings.  Our table of ten shared two combination towers of dim sum (tasty) besides what we ordered individually.  I opted for the Sichuan beef noodle soup. In a big bowl, it was nicely spicy and enough for a second lunch the next day.  The Chief Penguin went for the Ybin spicy dry noodles with minced pork.  His dish was really spicy, and he loved it.  Lots of the other dishes are mild and would appeal to those who aren’t fans of spicy fare.  

Dining room, Q Noodles

The dining room is very attractive with its wall poster and inviting seating.  Service was friendly, but leisurely; we were definitely ready when the food arrived.  Q Noodles is so close that the C.P. and I could easily walk there—who knows when we will next want to satisfy a noodle craving!

Note: Restaurant photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)