Saturday, September 15, 2007

Vacation, Food and a Thanks

Life was going to get pretty hectic from September so a relaxed vacation in the State of Blueberries, Lobsters and the beautiful Acadia National Park was thought as the perfect rejuvenator. It however was so intoxicating that it left us longing for more. Does this happen to you? You go on a vacation thinking of coming back all refreshed instead you are left pining for more



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The trip re-instilled my faith in my little daughter, she is now a confirmed foodie. I had my doubts when she used to pick on her lunches at school or when I had to run around her making she sure she drinks her milk. However in this trip I saw her face light up on the mere mention of food when she visibly was not getting any enjoyment while we waited for hours perched on an overlook waiting for the sun to set.
It is another thing that in that hour she made me go to & fro between the car and where her dad was sitting numerous times but discussing the menu helped.
However I must also give it to her that she very eagerly complied when we couldn’t make up our mind on where to eat and what to eat and switched ever so often.

Bar Harbor, Maine has a quaint but very thriving downtown and a wide choice of restaurants. A stroll along its streets every evening was a pleasure in itself. There are many fun places to eat at.
No Indian place though, any takers? The Asian places are not good either, The Thai place "Nakrom Thai" was dilapidated, we just packed Satay & white Rice for S who was pining for some and fled. The only Chinese place wasn’t much to talk about either.

Some of the good restaurants that we thoroughly enjoyed were,

Jeannie’s – For Breakfast. Open only till 1:00PM in the noon, this cheerful, bright place serves only breakfast. The sunny interiors surely brightens ones day. Breakfast choices are typical Omlettes, Toast, Sausages, French Toast, Pancakes the works. I tried a spicy salsa omlette, definitely not spicy but hearty altogether.
Toasts are served with their home made rhubarb jam.



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Morning Star Bakery – A small quaint bakery in one of the by lanes. Very Hippy style. Loved the Lemon Tart with fresh blueberries though never found it again on day two or three. They bake their own bread and the bread is good. They also offer boxed lunches which are a good option if you want to have a quiet lunch on top of the Cadillac Mountain or any of the picnic areas in Acadia. I liked the Curried Chicken sandwich and also a certain cilantro cheese spread. The scones were a bit dry though


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Maggie’s Classic Scales – Excellent place for dinner. The food was so good that I do not have a pic to vouch for. I had Lobster crepes smothered in some French wine sauce. It was phenomenal. D had a salmon paired with basmati and he loved it. The atmosphere was very good too, very homely and full of life.

Rupununi – I fell in love with the name, the name of ariver that runs through British Guyana in South America. Again the outside sitting was very pleasant on a summer evening. I had Lobster sautéed in parsley & Butter. I didn’t want to hammer out my Lobster so I chose the Lazyman’s Lobster where they shell it and serve. It was pretty good.


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We also went to some more places, a Mexican one and another Fish Place but they were ok. The Mexican one was good enough and served very good Mojito which I couldn’t even finish, so I asked if I could take it back to the hotel. Of course they didn’t allow :D but I loved their mango salsa and the creamy mango sauce.


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These gorgeous beauties arrived yesterday evening. That they were delicious is to say the least, they were so very good that the whole family was floored. Thank You for the sweet treats !!! It was very touching to get these even though I couldn't be a part of the friendship bread chain, and should have actually got some mustard reeking bombs:D

40 comments:

  1. Sandeepa, As usual an amazing post and I am glad little S likes good food as her mom is a superb cook :). I can totally relate to coming back from a vacation and longing for more. We (I and my husband) love to travel and always have the same feeling after coming back. Our latest adventure was in Peru in May and we want to go back only if we have more vacation. Ok,need to run to go to a dinner party. Take Care

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  2. Wow, beautiful pictures... you guys had the perfect vacation it looks like... And having lobster in Maine... sigh... that is a treat...
    I always always come back from a trip either pining for more, or completely tired, either way a vacation always makes me want another vacation !!!

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  3. lovely pics. i wish i cud go off on a vacation with family too. doesnt look like its possible till xmas :(

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  4. Lovely pix, and your are all lucky to be able to have had the vacation.

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  5. wonderfull post and so good to know about the daughters picks on food :) the pictures are just superb!

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  6. I loved looking at those pictures. I felt like I was there, and now I'm almost pining to be there myself. I'm so glad you got to spend time with your family in such a lovely place. And congrats on your daughter being a foodie!

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  7. you're welcome, sandeepa. i've been longing to visit maine, and your feedback will be very useful indeed. i adore the northeast. glad you had a wonderful time there.

    when i am on vacation, i indulge in seafood to my heart's content. that's what i miss most from my carnivorous days.

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  8. Sandeepa, Pls don't remind me abt those blissful, all fun, no work days. Am just back from one of these. I'll take yr suggestions next time I go to Maine! Have a nice weekend!

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  9. Hey Sandeepa, great pictures! I love the sunset picture the best! And am glad that lil' S is turning out to be a foodie :). My hugs and love to her!

    Yes and what you said happens to almost everyone after vacations! Like a friend said, "I need the vacation after vacation" :-D.

    have a great weekend,
    musical.

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  10. Sandeepa
    Fascinating pictures, u did catch the right mood in those pictures!! so subtle and serene!!I too come back from a holiday wanting more or completely knackered but either way vacations are definitely amazing!!

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  11. the pics say it all...
    and all that beautiful food u r describing so perfectly...great post!

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  12. Lovely post with beautiful photos Sandeepa. Hope you enjoyed. Viji

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  13. That is great trip you had Sandeepa.Lovely little harbor,beautiful!:))
    Enjoy the brownies.

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  14. Sandeepa, ha this is where you have been visiting up North, lovely place, now i want to visit Maine even more, originally it was for the lobster and the Lighthouses. Little S a confirmed foodie, great to hear that. Life as one long vacation is what we should all have :) I can completely understand I am ready to start planning my next one.

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  15. Sandeepa, P and I visited Maine and Acadia last May just before the tourist season began. We drove from Boston to Acadia and camped on along the coast . It was great fun, and the rugged coastline was breathtaking!

    The upside was that there were no crowds at all. The downside of course was that it was still pretty chilly, specially at nights, so we couldn't soak in the water. Also, because it was off-season, many restaurants and shops were closed. And finally, it rained on the last few days so we didn't get to explore Acadia as much as we liked.

    But we loved every minute of it, and hope to go back during tourist season and enjoy the sun :)

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  16. Sandeepa - looks like you had a superb holiday . The photographs are beautiful too . However it's good to have you and your lovely evocatibe recipes back. Evocative - because your cooking which must be a reflection of whatever your mom taught you , reminds me powerfully of my Ma .Thanks girl . Im glad I found your blog.

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  17. Mahua
    Ha ha...little S likes "eating out" any day. She prefers that to her Mom's cooking :D
    Peru...wow...but vacations are much more relaxed when there are no kids tagging along...so enjoy

    Sig
    Yeah what is this with vacations, a marketing ploy, always makes you want more ;-)

    Nags
    Planning for one is better...

    Sra
    You are right, most of the time I save my leave for India trips & for S so the vacations we go for here are short ones. This time since family is visiting throughout the year, we are not going to India and so had leave to spare.

    Roopa
    The daughter is always ready for a "eat out"

    Sher
    Thanks and isn't Maine a beautiful place. It was my first time there

    Bee
    With most of the lobster places, i wanted to bring them back and cook them our way. But those crepes were delightful

    Suganya
    There are more fun & good places, i had taken a list but couldn't sample all

    Musical
    You liked the sunset pic ? That one was taken by D with my new D80 which he apparently gave me as a gift for our anniv. But he has been using it ever since

    Padmaja
    Yeah you would know, back from India :)

    Bindiya, Viji, Asha
    Thanks :)

    Indo
    Too much of a good thing..nah wouldn't be that precious then

    Ash
    I am lazy, just put up my feet up in a hotel. The camping must have been much better though. Thank God we were not there over the long weekend but I liked the crowd, especially when at bar Harbor

    Eve's Lungs
    That is so very sweet of you :D Thanks

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  18. sandeepa...looks like u had waay too much fun...it is boring to get back to work :(..ha ha loved the part where ur daughter was bored at the sunset but her face lit up when food was mentioned...ah! another foodie in making..good girl..

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  19. I can't get past the pic of that sunset! Makes me want to have it poster-sized and hanging in my house.

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  20. This is where we went last year and has been wanting to go back. Next year now. Did you eat at two cats? It was the best breakfast I ever had. Really! The picture of the sunset is totally amazing.

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  21. Yes I had the same feeling after our Leaf Peeping trip in New England last year....but we did not cover Maine that time...Hope I could make it there sometime in which case this post is going to be of great help :)

    Shn

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  22. Happens all the time S :-) I know exactly what you mean :-)

    Glad you had a nice vacation. :)

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  23. I do, indeed, know how intoxicating Acadia is and how it does leave you longing for more; that's why we had to go back last week. Last year's honeymoon simply wasn't enough for us. So glad you got to Bass Harbor Light, Sandeepa. It's quite an adventure to climb those rocks, isn't it? Stunning pix. Where did you take the sunset shot?

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  24. seems you had a great time. lovely pics, esp. of the sunset! there are lot of options for non-veggies:) but for veggies life becomes real difficult! I atleast manage to have a egg sandwich at dunkin donuts my hubby does not:)
    I am happy you daughter is a foodie, my son is very choosy.

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  25. looks like u had a good vacation and now.... u r ready for the next.... :)

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  26. Beautiful pictures Sandeepa... this yr we have traveled a lot, after nish was born we were not able to go but now he is old enough:) for long weekend we went to CA.. as of now getting out of all traveling jetlag:) . We might go to new england & boston for fall colors.. lets see what happens. I think I can as u for tips n places to visit.

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  27. Hi Sandeepa, glad to see you had such a nice relaxing vacation. Hmmm, I haven't been on a real vacation last few years. 2005 had baby, 2006 - went to India for my BIL's wedding, 2007 end will go to India again so no vacation left. Maybe 2008.. sigh.
    Thanks for checking on me - I have just been really busy at work, so no new posts. Hopefully I'll manage one soon.

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  29. Hey Sandeepa, very nice and colorful post..:D and the pictures are lovely.. seems like u had a blast..

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  30. Rajitha
    Yeah waiting for an hour and a half for the sun to set does get boring for little girls :D

    Cynthia
    That one was D's piece, he will be very pleased to know

    Gini
    No we missed out on Two Cats. D wanted to go but it didn't happen :(

    Shn
    Acadia is really very beautiful, a week is must to really enjoy though
    Our NH trip was in a hurry

    Raaga
    :)

    Susan
    You are back !!! the sunset pic was from the Bluehill overlook, a bend below the summit

    Sharmi
    You are right. For veggies it would be difficult. But there is a total Vegan restaurant there which is supposed to be very good too
    But no good Asian places

    Richa
    Yeah why not...let me blow up all my leaves

    Shivapriya
    You had good fun, huh ?

    SJ
    That is true, going to India does finish up all your leave. This year since both my parents visited and the in-laws are visiting now, we are not going to India. That explains :)

    Sri
    Yeah we did :D

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  31. Wow... Now thats called a good vacation with a royal treat (having Lobsters)... Nice pics Sans, I liked the sunset photo among the other beautiful ones. Bookmarked ur post on Maine, hope to travel there in the near future.

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  32. Seems u had a wonderful vacation!!!enjoy the sweet memories now!!pics were beautiful!!!

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  33. Great post! Looks like you'll had fun. As for pining for more, happens all the time with us :)

    BTW, we did make Sorshe Dharosh on the weekend and it turned out great. For reason this is the first time I have had Okra in mustard sauce even though we make quite a few things with mustard.

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  34. Beautiful Pictures. Your trip sounds fantastic!

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  35. Nice pictures Sandeepa..Hope you had a wonderful refreshing vacation!Thanks for sharing with us!!:)

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  36. ki darun jaigata!!! chobigulo o khub sundor hoyeche, bishesh kore sunset (tai to?) er chobita. etogulo different shade er rong eksathe. Excellent.

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  37. Wonderful pics...no wonder you want more...I love vacations...especially the retreated ones...India trips leave me absolutely knackered by the time we come back...what with so many visits to make...

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  38. Sandeepa, it's not too late for the Friendship Bread. I missed it,too, but Suganya has frozen a "specimen" which she will send to me at some point. Let me know if you want to be the next recipient down the road.

    Thx for your dining recommendations. We were dead tired by evening every day and couldn't deal w/ crowds, so we dragged back to our B&B in Blue Hill, but I have filed away your suggestions for next year. : )

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  39. what lovely pictures. and i guess it is very reassuring to find that your child is going to enjoy food as she grows up!

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