Maine: Reading & Art

SUMMER READING

How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry

If you are a reader and a booklover, then this novel set in a small town in Cornwall should delight you.  When her father Julius, bookshop owner extraordinaire, dies, his daughter Emilia inherits Nightingale Books.  Emilia has lived in Hong Kong for some years and returns to deal with his affairs and discovers that he was beloved by the townspeople.  Julius was an unofficial therapist or at least a willing ear, but a lousy businessman. While Emilia’s efforts to save the shop are one focus of this story, it’s also a series of vignettes of individuals who patronize the bookstore, some of whom have been unsuccessful or unlucky in finding love.  Like a box of bonbons, it’s a sweet and charming novel with happy endings for all. 

SMALL SCREEN

Borgen (Apple TV)

Last summer we binge watched the final season of The Americans.   This year we raced through all of the latest Grantchester episodes and were hungry for more good viewing.  The Chief Penguin found us Borgen and now we’re glued to it.  

The prime minister and Katrine (Vanity Fair)

It’s a fictional Danish political drama produced in 2010 about Birgitte Nyborg, the first female prime minister.  With a parliamentary system that requires the party leader who becomes prime minister to have a majority of seats or a majority made up of a coalition of parties, there’s lots of wheeling and dealing among the players to arrive at a viable candidate.  Besides the prime minister and her husband and two children, the key characters are Katrine, a TV news reporter, and Kasper, a politico/spin doctor.  The series is fast paced and totally absorbing, partly because you become enmeshed in the complicated personal lives of these individuals.  There are three seasons and we have now watched the first five episodes in Season 1. The first episode is free, but then you have to pay.

RETURN TO ROCKLAND

On another gorgeous Maine day, we took our friends up to Rockland for a visit to the Farnsworth Art Museum.  This lovely museum has a strong collection of works by various members of the Wyeth Family from N.C. Wyeth, the patriarch, to Andrew Wyeth, his son, to Jamie Wyeth, Andrew’s son, as well as works by the siblings and other relatives.  

Catching Pollen

This summer, in addition to the Wyeth family paintings in the permanent collection, there are two special exhibits of Jamie Wyeth’s work, Untoward Occurrences and Other Things, scenes of Monhegan Island featuring artist Rockwell Kent and others, and Phyllis Mills Wyeth:  A Celebration, paintings of his wife over more than 50 years.  Sadly, she died this past January.

I especially enjoyed the Phyllis paintings for the range of emotions depicted, from the exuberance of “Catching Pollen” to the quiet determination in “And Then into the Deep Gorge,” and the mystery of “Wicker.”

And Then into the Deep Gorge
Wicker

In addition to the Wyeth exhibits, there is a small one of some contemporary screens, room dividers, that are quite a mixed lot in terms of style.

From The Screen Show exhibit

We had such a great experience we returned to Rockland and the museum this week with my sister and brother-in-law. I loved the Wyeth exhibits even more the second time!

LUNCH FARE

Continuing a quest to sample local beers, we ate lunch last week at the Rock Harbor Pub and Brewery on the main street.  The guys ordered two different beers and were happy with their choices.  The fish tacos and the haddock sandwich were both very good.  The lobster rolls, part of their summer lobster specials, had a decent amount of very fresh lobster, but the roll suffered from not having been grilled and buttered.  Fries and cole slaw were also fine.  

This visit, for an even better lobster roll (which also came with fries and cole slaw), we went down the block to the Brass Compass and sat outside at one of their umbrella tables. Perfect Maine.

Lobster roll done right!

Note: Text ©JWFarrington. All photos by J. Farrington.

Maine: Southport & Around

SUMMER READING

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter by Hazel Gaynor

This is the kind of historical novel that sweeps you up immediately and keeps you absorbed all the way through.  Set in 1838 on the Irish coast and in1938 off Newport, Rhode Island, two young women become attached to, devoted, some might say, to their respective lighthouses. Grace Darling, a real individual, lived in the lighthouse on Longstone Island, Ireland, and rescued survivors of a shipwreck in 1838.  She became a national hero touted in the papers and painted and drawn by many artists. In 1938, the fictional Matilda, nineteen, unmarried and pregnant, is sent from her home in Ireland to a relative in Rhode Island, who is one of a handful of female lighthouse keepers.  

How the parallel stories of these two women, Grace and Matilda, are linked through storms and destruction is the stuff of the novel.  In the process, you learn a lot about what was involved in keeping a lighthouse functioning pre-automation.  (~JWFarrington)

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

I liked Harper’s latest mystery, The Lost Man, so much that I’ve gone back and gotten her two earlier works.  One still resides unread on my Kindle; this one I read in paperback. Five women trek into the Australian bush on a corporate team building exercise, but only four return to the appointed site.  A wide-ranging search is undertaken to try and locate the missing Alice Russell. 

Although I did not find this novel as compelling as the other one, it is well plotted and creatively organized with two timelines running simultaneously.  In present time, federal agents Aaron Falk and his partner, Carmen Cooper, are asked to become involved since they are investigating the company’s CEO in a separate matter.  Interwoven with the ongoing search effort are day-by-day accounts of the hike told from the perspective of the individual women.  Disagreements, underlying jealousies and office competitiveness combine for a less than harmonious experience that leads to tragedy.  (~JWFarrington)

KEEPING BUSY

While I can spend many enjoyable hours just reading, Maine at this time of year offers a varied selection of diversions. And when we have house guests, there is even more reason to take advantage of this region’s cultural and dining opportunities.

Home and Garden Tour

Each year the Boothbay Region Garden Club showcases six area homes and their gardens.  This year three of the houses were on Southport Island, including the former Lawnmere Inn, and the others in Boothbay Harbor.  It was a lovely blue sky day and just warm enough to be pleasant.  To deal with narrow streets and difficult parking, school buses were used to shuttle us around, and the whole affair was very well organized.  As is our tradition, eight of us rounded out the tour with lunch on the deck at Linekin Bay.   

Organ Concert

All Saints-by-the-Sea is a summer chapel on Southport that not only offers weekly worship services, but also the occasional organ recital or evensong service. This small wooden chapel is more than a hundred years old and sits in the woods, hidden down a side road and overlooking the water.  You can park on the main road and walk down the hill or arrive by boat at their dock.  All Saints is Episcopal in its affiliation, but welcomes visitors from all denominations and faiths.  

We’ve attended several recitals here in the past. One recent Sunday afternoon, despite the heat, we were pleased to hear renowned organist, Henry Lowe.  Organist and music director emeritus, Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore, Lowe played pieces by several French composers (Faure and others) as well as a prelude and fugue by Bach.  His short comments about each work were enlightening and added to this listener’s appreciation.  These recitals always end with a lovely reception (with wine) on the deck looking out at the rocks, dock, and water.

Yacht Club

View of Boothbay Harbor

Florida friends visited us this week and thanks to B and A’s reciprocal privileges, combined with B’s charm offensive, we were able to have lunch at the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club.  In their attractive dining room with windows on three sides overlooking the harbor, we enjoyed some tasty sandwiches and salads.  We hope to return!

Note: All photos and text ©JWFarrington.

Maine: Boothbay & Beyond

MOON DAY

If you’re of a certain age, you probably remember exactly where you were fifty years ago today on July 20, 1969.  I had a summer job at Cornell University and was living in a rooming house near the campus.  My fiancé, now the Chief Penguin, was doing Air Force training in northern Maine at Loring Air Force base.  I lived in Ithaca without a car (I didn’t own one) and walked everywhere.  Usually my kind father came and retrieved me and I went home to Auburn for the weekend, but not this one.  (I think my folks were going out of town.)

Given how momentous an achievement the moon landing was, students and others were invited to gather in one of the Cornell lounges for the historic moon walk.  With no personal computers, iPads, or iPhones, twenty strangers and I sat, eyes glued to the small TV screen.  Transfixed, we held our collective breath and watched as Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon’s surface, planted the American flag, and uttered that memorable statement, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”  Although we might phrase it slightly differently today, it was an awesome occasion!  Now we have billionaires dangling the lure of space travel for ordinary people with dreams of getting to Mars.  Will travel to Mars really be in our future, who knows?

CURRENT READING

I bought Kiese Laymon’s Heavy: An American Memoir just because it looked interesting.  A black man raised in poverty in Mississippi, Laymon addresses this work to his mother, the “you” referred to throughout.  I am about halfway into it and not sure what my final response will be.  I’ll report back when I finish it.

COASTAL DINING

From Boothbay Harbor to Southport, we get around the local dining scene with multiple visits to favorite eateries. Here are a few notes on first visits for this season.

Harborside Tavern

We refer to this restaurant as Fiona’s Place since chef Fiona did a stint cooking at the Newagen Seaside Inn several years ago. The food that summer was especially memorable.  This year, instead of stopping for lunch at Sarah’s Café in Wiscasset (lots of construction going through town and torn up sidewalks), we continued on to Boothbay Harbor.  

The Chief Penguin ordered the chicken quesadilla (odd choice, some might say, but it’s one of his two standard lunch orders, the other being a Reuben), and I had my first lobster roll of the season paired with cole slaw instead of the fries.  Both were tasty and delicious combined with a view of the harbor from the second floor dining room.  Their dinner menu looks even more appealing so I sense we will be back!

Thistle Inn

It was fitting to have our first night’s dinner here as we’ve dined at the Thistle many times over the thirty summers we’ve come to Maine.  Recently, the food has only gotten better.  

We sat outside on the deck under the trees in a perfect corner table.   The Chief Penguin ordered the clam chowder, which he pronounced the best he’d ever had (have to agree based on my taste of it!) and the lobster tail in a brandy cream sauce, as pretty to look at as it was delectable.  I had the house green salad and the crab cakes.  Both were good, but not exceptional, while menu prices have increased.

Ports of Italy

This Italian restaurant remains one of our all-time go-to places and is consistently excellent. Homemade pasta, real thinly sliced veal prepared several ways, including the newest addition, scaloppini with pencil thin asparagus; and occasionally, by special request, veal saltimbocca. The Caesar salad is big enough for two and is nicely dressed with thin strips of Parmesan.  Inside is cozy, but the spot to be is on their screened porch above the street.  Nothing special about the view, but airy and just right for a summer night.  We have been coming here so many years now that both the maître d’ and Tony, the waiter, greet us warmly.  

Cozy’s Waterside

Charred shishito peppers

Our casual favorite, Oliver’s at Cozy Harbor on Southport, has been reincarnated as Cozy’s.  The menu is mostly burgers of all types, hot dogs, the requisite clam chowder and  lobster roll, other sandwiches, and a few salads.  We’ve had one dinner thus far and began with the wonderful shishito peppers. The Chief Penguin thought the fish and chips entree was an excellent rendition.  My grilled haddock sandwich on brioche was also quite nice.  I miss some of the fish entrées on the old menu so the jury is still out as to how often we will dine here.

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photo is an idle boat at Molly’s Cove.

Portland: Food & More

PORTLAND—FOOD AND MORE

Like Julius Caesar’s army, the Chief Penguin and I travel on our stomachs.  Despite what it may seem, we did do more in Portland than eat. But, knowing the restaurants mid-coast are not as varied or inventive, we took advantage of Portland’s wonderful foodie scene.

DINING

Hugo’s

Hugo’s Cucumber

The food at Hugo’s is sophisticated and creative.   We’ve now eaten here several years in a row on our first night in Portland and this visit was no exception.  We began with tuna crudo and then proceeded to a charcuterie board; cucumber with falafel nibs; roasted cauliflower bathed in a smear of hot sauce; and spaghetti chittara; ending with two desserts—chocolate several ways and mini cubes of rhubarb accompanied by mousse and locust leaf sorbet, etc.  All dishes were on the small side and we shared everything.  We hadn’t ordered the cucumber, but when they brought it instead of the cauliflower we did order, they comped us the cucumber.  

Duckfat

We were inspired to try some place different for lunch, figuring if there were a line out the door we’d go elsewhere.  But Lady Luck was with us as we were seated at the bar immediately upon arriving, just ahead of the noon rush!  Duckfat is most casual with seating on high stools at the bar and low stools at counters around the perimeter.  

It is known for its Belgian fries so of course we had to sample them.  Probably the best fries I’ve ever tasted and even better with the Thai chili dipping sauce! From there we moved on to the duck and charred cabbage salad; a board of charcuterie and salmon, Tasso ham, pimento cheese, homemade pickles, loma, and buttered brown bread; and also a wedge salad (actually two large wedges) decorated with slivers of tomato and radish slices in a rich blue cheese dressing.  The last was to offset those fries. Paired with a glass of summery rose, it all made for the perfect lunch!  

Chaval

Chaval is the sister restaurant to Piccolo which we’ve also enjoyed.  This was our second meal at Chaval and with a slight chance of rain, they had closed their garden in favor of inside seating. The menu is a mix of small plates and entrees such as steak frites.  Having enjoyed our Duckfat lunch, we ordered more lightly—warm olives, broccolini with bacon and bits of orange, a young beet salad, Iberia ham croquettes, and the Alsace chicken breast entree with morels and spinach in a light cream sauce, which we shared.  Everything was delicious!

Broccolini with bacon and citrus triangles

While out and about, we also checked out a natural foods store, stopped in to Le Roux Kitchenware for mugs and paring knives, and bought pancetta and good canned tuna at Micucci Grocery, a new find on India Street.  All sorts of Italian dry goods from jars of peppers and pickles to panettone, and many pasta shapes, plus cheeses and sliced meats.  

ART

We like the Portland Museum of Art.  They do an excellent job presenting their collection and engaging visitors with exhibits that focus on lesser-known aspects of arts and crafts.   The currently featured exhibit is called In the Vanguard:  Haystack Mountain School of Crafts 1950-1969.  It brings together works by sculptors, painters, and fabric artists that were groundbreaking and signaled new directions in artistic creation for that time.

Celibacy, 1968, wool macrame by Walter Nottingham

Also on display is Open-Ended, an exhibit of new museum acquisitions that I particularly enjoyed. What makes it special is the commentary about why a piece was purchased and its significance or connection to the rest of the collection.

BOOKSTORES

And for me, time spent in Portland would not be complete without time in their independent bookstores. We didn’t get to Print this year (our time here was shorter than usual), but we browsed in Sherman’s (one of their several locations, this one on Exchange Street) and in Longfellow Books at Monument Square.   I made several purchases in each store, adding to my growing stack of summer reading!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved). Header photo is of the board at Duckfat.