Live the Live ™

Been away from the blog for a few days…

I recently drove up to Maine to pick my daughter up from the Hardy Boat in New Harbor, a ferry that takes you to and from Monhegan Island, about 10 miles offshore. My daughter spent a week there with her mom, and we decided we’d take our time getting home, with a night in Portland and a night in Kennebunk.

Lunch was in Wiscassett, Maine, home of the famous and overrated and overpriced Red’s Eats, which always has a line down the street. We chose Water Street Kitchen and Bar for our lunch with my sister, who lives in the area, and it has a fun menu and great drinks. Lunch was simple: some oysters to start, followed by a beef burger for her and a salmon burger for me, but it was exactly what we were craving.

Portland, Maine, is my favorite food town in New England, beating out my close-to-home Providence and even Boston. What makes Portland better is the walkability of the town. If your hotel is in town, once you park your car, you’re done. You can pretty much walk anywhere for food and drinks, and there are so many great small, eclectic restaurants to choose from. (We stayed at the Residence Inn, because I try to use my Marriott Bonvoy points, and we want to be near Commercial Street, on the water. But over the years, we’ve stayed at the Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn, Westin, and Courtyard by Marriott. For us, it’s all about not having to drink and drive.)

For whatever reason, the choice of Asian restaurants in Portland is incredible. Some of our favorites over the years have been Crispy Gai, The Honey Paw, Boda, Miyake, and Jin Yan Tavern. We decided to try a newer one, Lucky Cheetah, serving dim sum and and other plates meant to be shared. We were not disappointed!

What a cool space! This is definitely a great date night out kind of place.

A beautiful bar, really cool decor, great food, and awesome cocktails.

I recently read an article about fat-washed vodka, where sesame oil is thoroughly mixed with vodka, then frozen. The oil hardens into a disc that is removed, but the tiniest droplets of the oil remain, infusing the vodka. They had it at Lucky Cheetah, and they served it with caviar-stuffed olives on the side.

It was weird, wild, intense, and strangely delicious.

Our dinner was a lot of fun, too.

We chose not to have dessert at Lucky Cheetah, and instead decided to walk around town a bit. We landed at my favorite Italian restaurant in Portland: Solo. It was well past the dinner rush, so we found a couple of seats at the bar and ordered dessert.

Breakfast the next day was at Ocotillo, a cute place on the west side of Portland that serves Mexican-style brunch food. (The name means “little torch” in Spanish, referring to the bright red flower clusters that bloom at the tips of the ocotillo plant every spring.)

What great food and fun atmosphere!

Breakfast was awesome, starting with a great cup of coffee!

We arrived in Kennebunk too early to check into our hotel, so we walked around town, the very busy and touristy Dock Square, where you cross into Kennebunkport.

Since we had that amazing breakfast, lunch was a quick but very tasty bite at KPORT Provisions, where we shared a ham and cheese sandwich on freshly baked bread, and a lobster roll. (We are in Maine, after all.)

My best friend, Lee, has a home in Kennebunk, so we met him and his family for dinner at Pedro’s, a most excellent Mexican restaurant, serving up great food and very tasty watermelon margaritas!

After dinner, cocktails at the Hurricane were recommended, an old-school restaurant that has been in Kennebunkport for over 30 years.

The next morning, we opted for the continental breakfast at our hotel, because we knew we wanted to hit the road to get home to Rhode Island. (We stayed at the King’s Port Inn. Literally steps from Dock Square, so we walked everywhere. Clean rooms, great water pressure! What more do you need?)

We decided we were still craving Asian food, so for lunch, we made a stop in Portsmouth, NH (another great town you should explore) and enjoyed the food at Domo.

The sushi was fresh and delicious, but I didn’t realize just how huge the maki rolls were! I ate way more than I should have!

A great food adventure!

But I think it goes without saying that yet another diet is in order!