MAINE FOG.
Day 85 – Today it looked very much like so many pictures we’ve seen of Maine – small fishing towns enveloped in fog. It remained that way all day, and we were grateful for the cool air from the fog, especially with it being so warm elsewhere.
We didn’t take any pictures today, but we were out & about and busy most of the day. We went to Pembroke to Betty’s Crabmeat in the morning, picking up a pound of fresh crab for us & a pound of crab for our friends, Michael & Suzanne. The crab at Betty’s goes fast when she has it. As she was packaging up our crab, two workers were picking crab at a table behind her. We’d wanted to buy more, stocking up for NY, but she could only spare the 2 pounds. This means we’ll be trying to get more several times before we leave here.
An hour later, after having driven back to the RV to refrigerate the crab, we left for Machias to run errands. First we went by the Post Office, then stopped at Machias Marketplace, the wonderful Farmer’s Market. We’d planned this trip for a Thursday on purpose because it’s the day they have the most produce. They were busy, but we got there in time to get beautiful, fresh tomatoes, red onions, green onions, lettuce, broccoli & cauliflower – all from local farms. We went to the regular grocery store for other items not available at the Farmer’s Market. We also stopped at the hardware store; Rob is looking for a part for the reverse osmosis water system. He has a temporary fix going & would like to complete that project with the permanent part.
A trip to Machias is always anticipated because it means a stop at Riverside Take-out to visit “the guys” (Frank & Mark) and pick up lunch & dinner. We normally get Lobster Rolls for lunch, eating outside at a table, and take home a Monster Fish Platter to share for dinner at night & lunch the next day. We had previously passed by the Take-out on a Wednesday and on a Sunday, and they weren’t open. Trying again today.
They were closed. We found a sign which posted their new hours for this season (open only Friday, Saturday, & Sunday from 11 to 3 or until they are out of food) AND their normal menu was no longer there, their large menu replaced by only a few items. (They had previously served many items.) No more monster fish platter; at least they still have the lobster & crab rolls, sides of potato salad & cole slaw and specials on certain days, and when they have them – organic salads.
We have found this to be a sign of the times, either restaurants have closed down or they have reduced their menu items significantly. The remaining restaurants are experiencing an extremely high volume of business this summer, which has resulted in it being difficult to get in to eat at all, or a very long wait, or they run out of food early. Things have really changed here, and we suspect elsewhere people are experiencing the same.
Okay, so we looked all over Machias for someplace to get a lobster roll and a seafood platter. The other possibilities were either closed or they had long waits. Ravenously hungry by now, we drove back to the RV to put up the food that needed to be refrigerated or frozen, and headed back out in search of the elusive lobster roll/seafood platter (because now we absolutely HAD to have these items!). In Lubec, restaurants were not serving until dinner or not open at all. We finally ended up, quite a bit after lunch hours, at H&D Seafood, and they had a very long line. After waiting almost an hour, we took our to go food home with us, chowing down the fries & onion rings on the drive home. When we finally were seated at the table in the RV, we discovered the lobster rolls were very short on lobster. The seafood platters, which had been mostly onion rings, were lacking also; the scallops were small & few, and the shrimp were the little tiny ones and were mostly breading. Sigh.
Still foggy, we took Betty’s crab over to Michael & Suzanne’s house and had a good visit with them, complaining most of the time about the restaurant situation. Like, “We think it’s over-crowded here, imagine Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park!”. And, “Yeah, but at least Bar Harbor has restaurants!” We are all hoping things go back to normal when COVID is finally out of the picture!