Days 9-10 Owls Head

Day 9:  Owls Head

Quote of the day: Just as the Red Sox proved the critics wrong, Maine can compete and can win.         

Weather:    Another perfect day: 60s, clear, hazy sun

Pics:     Sunrise, kayaking on the bay from in front of the cottage, Suzuki’s

Coffee and toast, grape nuts with apple, another early morning walk, and a very easy and picturesque kayak paddle on Penobscot Bay and up Cripple Creek (real name!) with R.  S&JC have joined in and 6 of us have lunch at Archers:  crab rolls for THB and DB, $45.

After lunch, the 6 of us go for a walk along the breakwater in Rockland (see pics of a pic of the breakwater), built a long time ago using big chunks from the local quarries, extends almost a mile from shore (and the last few yards were underwater as it was high tide) to a small lighthouse (so we didn’t make it that far).

Split from the group and DB and THB take in the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, specializing in three generations of Wyeth; THB is not drawn to any of the three though years ago saw Andrew’s big show in SF and thought it very good. Maybe his compelling work is not on display here.

Full complement of 7 has dinner at Suzuki’s in Rockland: share a huge portion of sushi, sashimi, rolls, drinks, wine, and a local brew (THB of course), ginger and pumpkin ice creams and a very unusual blueberry sorbet, around $43/person and both very good and a bargain. The owner has been written up in NYT as one of the very few female sushi chefs around (of course, a round of jokes follow about how slim the binder was for this category). 

Day 10:  Owls Head

Quote of the day: See above

Weather:   Warm, overcast, cloudy, a tinge of rain

Pics:     Sunrise, Watershed (including ephemeral work by Shay Church), elephant by Shay Church from NCECA 2012, Damariscotta River Grill

Toast and coffee, Owls Head walk, Grape Nuts and apple. C, S, DB and THB take a drive south to tour Watershed, a small ceramics artist residency program. The residencies are over now, so the place is mostly empty except for one last firing in a wood burning kiln for locals, where we get to see a bit of kiln loading in action.

There are four pieces of wolves in various stages of deteriorations by Shay Church; the work is not meant to last and these pieces are definitely fading away. We saw Shay’s work at NCECA in Seattle early this year (see pic of an elephant starting to deteriorate in a gallery).

JC and R meet us in Damariscotta for a nice lunch at the River Grill: Thai seafood soup and black bean and andouille sausage soup for DB and THB, along with a basket of bread, drinks, $35.

Off Highway 1 a bit for a stop at Beths for apples, jam, etc., and other items for the cottage. The ride to Beths is spectacular as Fall is glowing bright yellow in this area.

Back to the cottage in Owls Head to rest up for dinner at Primo’s.  There are 6 of us, D stays back at cottage to rest his ankle.  Dinner: we all share a pizza of local mastutake mushrooms , onions and arugula as an appetizer; entrees of wild mushrooms with hand rolled cavatelli, scallops drizzled with pomegranate molasses (2); chicken from the wood fired oven (like the pizza) with semolina gnocchi (2);  desserts of apple tatin and chocolate budino; two bottles of wine, 5 mixed drinks, and two coffees. All good…and, oh doubtful follower, you ask how could THB vouch for all that? Because, aside from the drinks, THB has managed to finish everyone’s meal. Total: $550, and THB, DB, S, and JC treat as it is R’s birthday, and he is really old now.