Category: Food

Wright’s Chicken Farm – Burrillville RI

We decided to eat dinner at Wright’s Chicken Farm after our adventures in the Douglas State Forest. It was not terribly far from where I used to live so I was once again surprised to learn about something I have never heard of – although maybe I shouldn’t be. By the time I moved into the area my narcissistic ex had gotten what he needed out of me and had long forgone the love-bombing process, instead coyly making sure I was isolated and car-free at home while he ignored me to pursue other romantic prospects behind my back. This included date nights and going out to eat so yeah… how was I to know there was a great chicken shack down the road?

I had been to Wright’s Dairy Farm already (they have AMAZING buttercream frosted cakes there.) Wright’s Chicken Farm however is in a different location and it is a large venue hall and restaurant that only serves one dinner so it’s great for anyone who has trouble picking something off a menu. Dinner consisted of baked chicken (both white and dark meat), pasta with tomato sauce, french fries, salad, and buns. All served family style so you could pick and chose whatever you pleased.

The ambiance of this place was… weird. I thought it looked like a hole in the wall casino, the kind you’d find out in the sticks somewhere. My companions thought it looked like the visitors/community room in a nursing home. Eventually we all agreed it had big bingo hall energy. The vast majority of the other people here were old, 100% of them were white, and they all looked respectable. Even I was a little uneasy – and I’m whiter than Wonder Bread! But not terribly respectable. Adding to the weird vibe it had a big gift shop attached with the most random of things in it – including but not limited to tacky glitter covered Christmas ornaments. They know their target audience. That being said they also had fudge and truffles in all flavors and that made up for a little bit of the oddness. As did our bombastic waiter whose rough NYC/Jersey Shore accent was woefully out of place and whose energy was just as loud. Made my brain itch a bit.

Anyway. The place was simple and cheap and had good food so I am not complaining in any way. I particularly liked the dark meat and french fries which I ate far too many of. They offered ice cream after this but YIKES who has room for ice cream after an all-you-can-eat styled meal?! Afterwards I hung out in the parking lot a little bit talking while waiting for the others. We noted how quaint the motel across the street looked and the duck pond in between. Eventually a complete stranger, a woman, came up to me and complemented my laugh out of nowhere. Well that’s a new one! But I’ll take it.

All and all it’s a decent enough place to go to if you happen to be in the area and have a craving for baked chicken and a family style meal.

*Image taken from Wright’s Farm website (sorry, I didn’t bring my camera in with me.)

0

Shopping at Old Mystik Village – Mystic CT

After thoroughly enjoying B F Clyde’s Cider Mill we decided to continue the day by going into the more populous side of the city for a little shopping. I’m not really one who normally enjoys shopping for the sake of shopping but I am starting to see this might just be because of the places I end up and the people I go with. I say this because on this day I had a great time!

I guess I was intrigued by the description of the shops there including an Alice in Wonderland themed tea shop and a storefront promising an assortment of sharp stabby things (seriously… who has even heard of a sword shop?! Sounds so medieval.) And all of it was situated in the Old Mystik Village which sounds sooo… witchy. I guess this is what made it all the less surprising when we walked into a series of mystic and magic type shops that had everything a Wiccan or Pagan could possibly want. We spent a good few hours picking shops that seemed interesting and wandering in to poke at things like an enthusiastic tourist. I am going to try and remember all of them and list them below but we’ll see how this goes!

Ice Imports: This was the promised stabby things store but it didn’t look like it when we first walked in. In fact it looked like a rock shop with all sorts of geodes and shiny rocks. Some were natural others were in bracelets and rings. The whole middle of the store was dedicated to magic bracelets – made with rock beads of your choice – each listing what magical purpose they were good for. None of the labels said anything about their more utilitarian use – they were GREAT fidgets! Especially if you buy two or more and play with them together. My companion was happy to find more hematite rings… to replace the ones he bought in Salem… I am absolutely perplexed how he keeps breaking them but I guess that’s part of their charm. Their sellers claim they break when they have absorbed all the negative energy they can. Convenient… I can’t say I am convinced but I respect the beliefs of others. There were also a bunch of ADORABLE knickknacks and a counter full of shiny stabby things!! So basically you could buy a baby dragon and a sword to slay it all the same shop!

Dharma Jewels: From there we walked into Dharma Jewels which describes itself as a gift shop full of handmade Tibetan and Himalayan goods. I couldn’t help but see the parallels between this and the witch shops as they also had a lot of space dedicated to things like lucky coins but also an assortment of colorful clothes, weird bags, and more recognizable religious artifacts like prayer flags and posters of Krishna. The women working the counter seemed very happy and the place had a uniquely pleasant smell, not sure what it was.

Alice in the Village: I just had to go to this little Alice in Wonderland inspired tea shop. I mean come on, it’s obvious I love the story – I draw a weekly comic based on the hookah smoking caterpillar’s ill-begotten grandchild. ANYWAY, the place was adorable. It had Alice in Wonderland mugs, knickknacks, and decorations lining the walls. The decorations to the place added to the sheer whimsy of it. It was a small place with a tiny seating area and a counter full of colorful macaroons…. which I had to try because I’ve never eaten a proper French macaroon. They’re crunchy and filled with goo. I was not expecting that but they were good! And they went well with the magic disappearing Cheshire Cat mug that ended up going home with me.

Alice in the Village

Bestamors: This shop was HUGE and weird. It was a shrine to everything Nordic/Northern European. Warm clothes, creepy trolls up the wazoo, gnomey gnomes, swarms of nesting dolls, and another counter full of stabby things listed by country! It just went on and on with no lack of things to poke at. I was thoroughly amused.

Extra Virgin: This place was another bizarre niche store that I couldn’t help but adore. As you walk in there is a row of dispensers for their flavored olive oils and vinaigrettes. And the other side of the store is dedicated to their flavored honeys – all of which you can try and we did! I ended up coming home with a bottle of blackberry bramble vinaigrette which is going to up my salad game hardcore.

Kitch: Kitch was another shockingly enormous store that really didn’t look big from the outside. Inside it was full to the brim with all the latest in kitchen gadgetry as well as a counter dedicated to a line of hot sauces. They had everything you could want here… pots, pans, tea kettles, cooking gadgets, unidentifiable tools, the whole lot! “I could lose several paychecks in here.” My companion lamented with plate-sized eyes. “I could too…”

Angel Haven: Once you’ve already been through several shops dedicated to lucky charms going into one dedicated to personal angels didn’t seem so weird. Lots of shiny pricey jewelry and some $600 steam punky clocks that opened up and showed all their gears once every hour while singing a different tune for each hour of the day. It was quite a display! And hey, someday if I ever become rich enough to dump $600 on a wall clock who knows, maybe I’ll be back. Never did figure out who my personal angel was – though if there’s an angel of anxiety and pointless distraction it’s probably that one.

Raining Cats and Dogs: I’m not going to lie – I find it pretty depressing I am currently not owned by any pets but seeing as both my travel companions had cats we all went in to see what damage we could do in that department. This place was mostly for dogs, small dogs at that, with all sorts of little coats and toys and whatnot but there was one corner dedicated to cats. And let me tell you the catnip toy that ended up coming home must have been some strong shit because the kitten just about went rabid when it was given to her.

Franklin’s General Store: I loved this place. It smelled kinda weird as general stores frequently do and it had everything from a fudge counter to a pile of zombie rubber ducks. It was a maze of eccentric old timey items and always fun to rifle through. I ended up buying a little encyclopedia of oddities because why not, might give me some inspiration.

Irish Eyes: Finally we went into an Irish themed store that was totally mental. I don’t know why I didn’t take any photos – maybe because it was a tiny cramped shop. Anyway, it had EVERYTHING you could possibly want Irishwise – funny T-shirts, cribbage boards, sheep galore, and even a music kit for starting your own Irish folk band that included several Irish instruments. It was weird and kind of sweet.

And that was our day shopping… from here we’d make our way to an escape room in Warwick RI because why not end our adventures there?

0

B F Clyde’s Cider Mill – Mystic CT

After getting our share of apple picking at Wittle Willow’s Spring Farm we continued our apple-centric adventures by driving a few minutes down the road to B F Clyde’s Cider Mill. It’s claim to fame is that it is the US’s only steam powered cider mill still running today. And it sometimes gives tours – although it appears only on the weekend and we were there on a Thursday so I apologize for my complete and utter lack of photos.

What I can say is this place was hoppin’! SO MANY PEOPLE had gathered here and it was pretty clear why. They had everything here. Regular cider, hard cider in more varieties than I could easily count, all sorts of old timey county store type things (like the pumpkin pancake mix and pumpkin butter we ended up bringing home) and I was thrilled they had apple cider doughnuts too which I gluttonously ate while sipping a cup of hot cider. It was then as we were all sitting around just enjoying ourselves that the jig was finally up. My companion looked up from his phone.

“It’s your birthday?!”

“Yeah…”

He looked around at where we were, where we had come from, and what we were eating. “This is kinda an awesome birthday.”

“It is!” I laughed.

After this we ambled around some more. There was another little shop there with more touristy things and I bought a magnet figuring it was high time to replace the ones on my fridge currently. Outside this there was a tasting station for all the various hard ciders (and wines? Champaign is a wine I think. Fuck if I know, I’m a teetotaler. ANYWAY…) Across from this they were setting up a hard cider slushee station which our friend gave a go. Sounds like some fresh hell to me but he was impressed and that’s all that matters.

This place was amazing and I left stuffed to the gills but we weren’t done. From here we’d walk off those doughnuts at the Old Mystic Village.

0

Apple Picking at Whittle Willow’s Spring Farm in Mystic Connecticut

Thursday was my birthday but I really didn’t feel like celebrating. I have been in a stress-induced haze for a year and didn’t make my goal of publishing another book on my birthday as is the tradition I set for myself. As such I was feeling less like my birthday was about celebrating surviving another year of life and more about marking down I was another year closer to death which seemed a bit grim. And because of this I didn’t give anyone any warning it was my birthday.

I did try to figure out something cool to do but I was coming up short so I did what I always do in these situations – I left it up to the Universe – “If you want me to celebrate my birthday, you figure something out.” And it did! Sort of out of nowhere we ended up getting together with another friend who suggested we go apple picking. I haven’t been apple picking since I was just a wee one so the thought of it definitely tickled my brain. Yes, this would be the perfect way to spend my birthday – and was it ever!

We ended up going to the Wittle Willow’s Spring Farm in Mystic Connecticut. They had a lovely little farm stand set up and both an apple orchard and a pumpkin patch to pick from. They handed us some brown paper bags and off we wandered into the vague direction they were pointing. We were told there were lots of McIntosh, some Granny Smiths, some Red Delicious, and a few Golden Delicious somewhere out there. And so we wandered out into the orchard which was… not marked in any way and the trees didn’t even grow in proper rows but seemed to be dotted at random. We found some Granny Smiths but they too were not in a cluster but rather smattered about in between all the McIntosh. It was pure chaos and only about to get more chaotic.

For here in the middle of the orchard was a neatly groomed stone wall with a tiny old family cemetery within it. There was even a sign dating it to the 1700’s. How ironic is that that we went to probably the only orchard with a cemetery in it?! Obviously I was charmed. Meanwhile my companion was charmed with a singular pair tree just hanging out and chilling.

“They’re just funny looking apples.” My dry sense of humor is sometimes lost on those who have to endure it.

When we all had our paper sack loaded up we headed back to weigh and buy them. It was $1.50 a pound and we all made out like bandits. I’ll be making apple butter and probably apple sauce. There was talk of apple juice, pancakes, and pies.

And then we finished our little adventure playing with some pigs sleeping in a wallow. There were three big sows and maybe a couple dozen piglets and the farm stand was selling lettuce and corn to feed them as treats. The second they heard the first lettuce leaf being plucked off they all woke up and ran to the fence. From there it was just a feeding frenzy with the big mamas grunting in disapproval whenever the treats ran dry. The largest one seemed most insistent nuzzling the fence and grunting. She reminded me of a dog with weirdly human looking eyes. The whole scene reminded me of the happy days I lived on a farm throwing one grape at a time into the chicken pen and watching 50 or so hens all make a mad dash for it. Someday I will return to this life but for now I found it very cathartic to just visit.

Our adventures were just starting for the day because after this we wanted to go to nearby B F Clyde’s Cider Mill where I was hoping to score an apple cider doughnut in lieu of a birthday cake.

0

Antiquing in Chepachet Rhode Island

After visiting the cemetery and general store we were all ready to check out the three antique stores, The Town Trader, The Old Post Office Antiques, and Old Stone Mill Antiques and Treasures, that exist right next to each other in the reportedly highly haunted little village of Chepachet RI. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day. The sky was bright and blue, the weather was fair, and everyone was in a good mood after coming out of a long winter.

I am used to going “antiquing” in Maine where I can find dirt cheap treasures in mounds of rusted junk piles. So far my visits to Rhode Island antique stores were far more refined and expensive so I figured Chepachet would be no exception but it really was. These antique stores all sold a variety of goodies for exceptionally reasonable prices. Everything from old cast iron pans, creepy probably possessed clown dolls, old paintings, furniture, and random little piles of vinyl records. And they were all located in very old buildings which were a delight to poke around. The Old Stone Mill antique store had the most to offer as far as ambiance with its exposed post and beams, wooden floors, and masonry. Clearly this was once the heart of this whole area and you could feel the history emanating from it.

On this particular day I didn’t end up coming home with anything although I had strongly considered a cast iron “pancake ball” pan as my travel companion called it. It was Swedish and I was unfamiliar with the particular word on the label but I’d like to hope it translates as pancake balls because that’s hilarious. He did end up going home with an old copy of a Julia Childs cookbook which we’d later flip through and see if ANY of the recipes were devoid of butter. Clearly we’re both easily entertained. And nostalgic of growing up on a steady diet of PBS.

And speaking of food – we were able to walk a little ways down the street and eat lunch at the Black Forest Café which was the best way to round out the afternoon. I had a turkey and gouda sandwich and my companion had a Rueben. We both behaved ourselves and didn’t get a slice of cheese cake or any of the other delicious looking goodies at the dessert counter.

1

Silver Street Tavern – Waterville Maine

By the end of our first day in Maine we’d already been to WAY too many destinations looking for shoes, got distracted by a record shop, and finally ended up with grumbling bellies around dinnertime.

My travel companion was actually more of a romantic interest who I’d “met” just before the Covid plague hit and in the convening months I had allowed for in-person meet and greets and gone on dates of sorts out in the woods (hiking) but I had stayed well away from restaurants. I’d been a good quarantine subject – avoiding these luxuries and only going to peopled places when I had to. But I did mention if he wanted to keep me happy all he had to do was keep me fed and we’d already been goddamn everywhere. I relented, telling him Maine restaurants are usually…. intensely underwhelming. I mean I’ve been served sliced Wonder bread before the meal before. Sliced Wonder bread. This shit just doesn’t fly anywhere near actual civilization.

He seemed fine with this potential failure and picked the Silver Street Tavern at random. A tavern? Oh lord, I thought to myself. I don’t drink so even before the plague came to town I avoided places like these. I also wasn’t one to eat out very often. I’d been food poisoned by large chains one too many times.

It seemed a nice enough place. There was seating outside but it was directly under the blazing sun at this time of day so we went in where a few parties were sitting, all quite far from each other. The waitress had a mask on and so did we as we ordered.

“What do you want for an appetizer?”

“Appetizer…? You already know I don’t eat much. Order what you want.”

“Quesadillas?”

“Well that is a really hard thing to fuck up. Will be interesting to see how they can fuck it up. Go for it.” I smiled.

Despite my cynicism I was enjoying the overly cheerful waitress and the gorgeous tin ceilings. My date was enamored with the black and white photos and little historical timelines littering the place. Apparently this insanely common decorating style hasn’t hit Rhode Island? I shrugged. Enthusiasm does endear me.

At one point he got up to use the restrooms and left me seated suddenly in full view of an old couple across the room. The old man saw my flamboyantly orange, red, and yellow hair and matching dress code and gave me the meanest stink eye I have seen in a LONG time. But I couldn’t help but laugh because in that same second his wife also spotted me and her whole face just lit right up with this big beautiful smile. WOW, I couldn’t have seen a more different reaction from a couple if I tried!

When the quesadillas came out I was shocked. Not only were they good they were really good, perhaps the best I’ve ever eaten, which is weird because quesadillas are one of those foods that are more or less the same everywhere. Like corn muffins. OK, I’m slowly being won over.

The main course was even better. I ordered pasta – again thinking this is something that’s really hard to fuck up – and they knocked it out of the goddamn park! The chicken was moist and delicious, the alfredo sauce the linguine swam in seemed to actually be made from scratch, this was AWESOME. And my date thought his meal of some sort of meat dish was just as great.

Dammit, now I am going to have to put this on the list of places to come back to.

0

Mushroom Festival Laconia NH

I was really excited to go to the mushroom festival today. It’s a two day event way up in the White Mountains that is gaining popularity. I found out about it through a FaceBook ad and decided I needed to go wherever my people are. Who are my people? Weird people. People who would find mushrooms far more interesting than flowers. People who would appreciate my favorite punderful T-shirt that reads, “Amateur mycologist with questionable morels” which I had no choice but to wear today.

Unfortunately I don’t live in the area so I missed the Early Bird Mushroom Walk which sounded like fun. However I did manage to get my sorry carcass up there in plenty of time to enjoy some other events and I had a great drive up listening to local artist Holly Brewer’s new album Medicine of Time Travel. As usual it was absolutely beautiful and put me into a spacey sort of mindset – perfect mushroom festival mood music.

When I drove in I was greeted by a young woman who tried to tell me where the parking was in the most alarming way possible, “HEY! So the parking is over there… see that row of cars out in the field? Like there’s tons of parking… but also a lot a holes! But we marked them with red flags so you don’t ruin your car!” Another woman in full steampunk regalia cantered up, “Why are you giving her a full song and dance?! Just go out and park! And avoid the holes!” I immediately regretted taking the Prius. It stands only two inches off the ground and is known for getting stuck in fields. But we did OK! The holes were very well marked!

And then I checked in. The festival is free but for a $10 donation I could get a cute mushroomy lapel pin or $15 I could get a glass and fill it with lemonade. I already have an odd fascination with pins so I figured why not.. and trotted off with something shiny.

I was happily surprised by everything here. The weather was GORGEOUS, there was a food truck and even a bar outside. Bathrooms were in a nearby restaurant. And unlike most of these weird little fairs and festivals I go to there was quite a few vendors and a delightful mix of things being sold – lots of jewelry, grow your own mushroom kits, some amazing sculpted art, incense and hippie things, some clothes, fresh honey, mushroom tea, and even a woman selling Fiore artisan vinegars and olive oils – three of which were mushroom varieties. She let me try them with a little bread. I asked her what her favorite was – she said lemon so I tried that first and I must say it was nice, bouncy, and fresh. Very lemony. But Obviously I was here for mushrooms so when in Rome… I requested the White Truffle because I have never eaten truffles and was curious to know what the fuss was about and HOLY SHIITAKE that was some AMAZING oil! I think I made a face because she gave a bit of a laugh. It was very strong but not at all unpleasant. I’m notoriously stingy when it comes to these things but I forked over $21 for a little bottle without a second thought. AND I WILL DEVOUR IT.

All the vendors here were super sweet and chatted pleasantly with me. They all seemed to be doing well. I learned this was the fifth such festival and it started with only four vendors that first year. It had grown so much that the farthest visitor to come by was from Washington DC! And I thought I drove the farthest! ha!

After this I stopped by the end of a cooking demonstration and was able to try mushroom “bacon bits.” Apparently if you marinate dry mushrooms in something you like, something bacony, you end up with these somewhat crunchy little chunks of flavor. I mean I wouldn’t mistake it for bacon buuuut it was closer than I thought a mushrooms could get and sure as hell beats the slimey canned mushrooms I was used to seeing on pizza – you know those rubbery gray bits that have the texture of a drool sopped dog toy? They were the reason I thought I didn’t like mushrooms all these years!!

Sculptures by Chakra Fairy

But hey, I had an hour to kill before the thing I came for so I decided to get a bite to eat. Today they were serving Black Truffle Bisque, Chicken of the Woods soup, and something else mushroomy I forgot. Seeing as I am really good at finding Chicken of the Woods that got my curiosity first but then the idea of bisque took my imagination… It was $8 a cup and yet another totally worth it thing. I sat at a picnic table in the sun and just enjoyed the day, eating this lovely earthy combination of flavors.

Eventually the mushroom dying demonstration started and that’s what I wanted to see… Here another young woman had an assortment of yarn and wool all dyed with mushrooms she found locally in the woods. She was displaying tie dye silk scarves in yellow, orange, green, and wine. I bought a little silk scarf for $15 so I could try dying one. WELL! This poor woman was having a day. Her entire set up with hot water and several heated dyes went flying over and drained on the ground at the beginning of the demo. And water has to be hot for dyes to take… So she went into the restaurant and hauled out some hot tap water and tried to heat it up further on her burner as quickly as she could. Four of us had scarves and a fistful of rubber bands to make it tie dyed. Two women wanted the wine color, I chose yellow as the orange had dumped on the ground, and the last girl went for the green. Well… it takes 30-45 minutes for the scarves to set and this poor woman did not have nearly enough material to keep us occupied that long and all of us had already visited the vendors and the food station so there was a half an hour awkward wait…

Scarves dying

I wandered off to check out their little information station. I flipped through their binders they had there and got to learn quite a bit about what mushrooms are around and what they’re used for. I guess those Chicken of the Woods were good for Cancer and Type 2 Diabetes in some studies. Interesting! And it went on to tell me about how mushrooms often have symbiotic relationships with trees, that they are some of the largest and oldest organisms on land, and that some of them even glow like jelly fish! Also there were recipes, most of which were to be expected, but three others made me really scratch my head: Chocolate and Toasted Shiitake Scones, Pear and Toasted Shiitake Jam, Blueberry and Black Trumpet Crisp.

Display table of local wild mushrooms.

So after learning all this and talking to more vendors I decided to check back in on the scarves. They weren’t doing too good… Mine, the yellow, was very very faint since the water didn’t start off hot enough and I had only been away 25 or 30 minutes… She actually wrapped up some dried mushrooms and alum to go home with me so I could try it again. And when I do I shall post pix! The women who chose the darkest color seemed to have made out pretty well though…

I had a wonderful day. So many strange and charming people – all super friendly. I’m glad I pushed myself to do it. Granted I was burping up soup for hours and had Black Trumpet flavored heart burn the entire way home. What can I expect with no gall bladder…. And of course my GPS thought it’d be hilarious to make me go on a pointless detour around the police station with a bag of dried mushrooms in my lap… Thank God I wasn’t pulled over. That would have been hard to explain… “No! They’re to die a scarf! I SWEAR!”

All and all I would definitely go again. This was 100% worth making my entire digestive system cry.

0

Dummerston Apple Pie Fair – Vermont

Today I was supposed to go out to lunch with a friend and meet a different friend at the Apple Pie Fair in Dummerston Vermont, however things didn’t go as planned. My lunch friend got sick and couldn’t go and my apple pie buddy ended up double booked. None-the-less I decided I needed to get out anyway so I asked my mom if she wanted a day out and off we went!

I’d never heard of the Dummerston Apple Pie Fair until I was invited. From what I could gather it was some event held by the local church there… looked quaint and adorable so I figured why not? New England is THE best place to get Autumn apples, cider, apple cider doughnuts, and apple pie… I was going on an empty stomach for a reason!

Yesterday I spent the day helping my mother sell soap at a local craft fair and it must have drained my energy more than I thought because today I could NOT get going! So it was 2:30 before we go there… The listing online said it ended at 4:20PM, which is obviously a joke for the herbally inclined… so I thought maybe it ended at 5? I was hoping anyway. I found parking in a field down the street. There was no charge. We walked past a big house that was taking the opportunity to host a multi-family yard sale since so many pedestrians were walking by… The people there were super sweet and talkative! We moseyed on towards the church. SO MANY PIES – sold whole in front of the church or by slice down aside the church. There was also apple cider and apple cider doughnuts. I grabbed a doughnut to snack on as I walked. Apple cider doughnuts are the best doughnuts you can get, absolutely delicious, and perfect to nibble on as you walk across the street to a craft fair in another church. Sadly we got there just as everyone was packing up. Guess it ended at 3. SO MANY ADORABLE VERMONT CRAFTY THINGS! Wish I got there sooner! There was the usual knitting, crochet, quilting, home-made ties, and then just an assortment of odd things… like these adorable troll like creature sculpted by a pair who call themselves The Widow and the Spinster (nancyb63@svcable.net and bunny@svcable.net). If I’m honest I probably would have taken one home if I had anywhere to put it. My life isn’t that… organized… yet. Across the way Backwoods Vermont had its own assortment of woodland creatures – another collection of trolls, this time in magnet form, caught by eye but they also had felted creations and water color paintings. Downstairs I found someone selling wooden birds who I did not get the card for (so sorry!) and a woman selling goat’s milk soap – Four Kyds Farm – who talked to my soaping mother kindly about how farmer’s markets were really a waste for soapers to go to for the most part (and having attended too many myself I have to agree…) Craft fairs were her thing. Thanks for the tip!

Before we left I was able to buy a gallon of the SWEETEST apple cider I have ever tasted and a pie for later just as they were selling out and it was starting to rain. Perfect timing!

0

Markey’s Seafood – Portsmouth NH

A few days ago a friend invited me to meet him at the Deerfield Fair. I said sure, I could use a day out, and we planned to meet each other at noon. Sounds good! Until I almost got to the exit into Deerfield, there were cars lined up for a mile in the break down lane. Oh shit… So I swung aside with them and twenty minutes later I found myself in Deerfield but just barely. I was five and a half miles from the destination and it was complete gridlock. Since I was at a standstill anyway I texted my friend who then called me and decided to come pick me up at the used car place I happened to be slinking by. I didn’t know why…. but I guess he and his friend were out on their motorcycles earlier and they wanted to come pick me up, drop off the cycles and my car at this other guy’s house and wander to the fair together as a group…. This is highly unusual for me. I don’t do vehicle hopping and I’m a shit passenger besides but seeing the traffic it just made sense to go as a group and use only one parking space.

My friend’s friend was an older guy who had clearly spent all of his youth living hard and hoping to die young. I hate seeing people like that old… their bodies completely spent, creaking at every joint, seemingly miserable at their lack of mobility… SIGH. But still! What he couldn’t do walking he sure made up for in driving. Ever wonder what it’s like to drive with Hunter S Thompson? AHHHHH HOLY ASS CRACKERS CHRIST! SLOW DOWN! A DEAD MAN’S CURVE! OH MY FUCKING GOD ANOTHER ONE! I imagine it would be a little like that. Also I want to take this moment to apologize to any passengers who may have been in my car while I was driving in a similarly terrifying manner. Know that I love each and every one of you and it’s out of my system now. Sorry.

We went the back roads and immediately hit gridlock again. It was a GORGEOUS day out there. This guy said he’d never seen the traffic this bad, that the Deerfield Fair isn’t usually that crowded, and he hemmed and hawed about being stuck…. for about and hour…. before my friend asked if I was hungry.

“Always!”

“You’re not allergic to seafood are you?”

“Only one way to find out!” Crickets. OK OK, I’ll add anaphylactic shock to the list of things I shouldn’t joke about. Here I thought I was cool because earlier I said the cure to something was “a shot through the head” which elicited shock, horror, and a nervous laugh. I’ve been a bit lippy lately but regret nothing.

To make a long story short we turned around and drove to Portsmouth, probably another 45 minutes or hour away, where I took a few lovely snaps of sea gulls and learned that lobsters have compound eyes. Ah, the things you learn when your food is staring at you! But really, we got some sort of sale and it was 4 lobsters for $32. They also got a combo plate to share between us filled with fried marine miscellany. I think there were steamers, scallops, and fries. And you know what I also learned? That fresh seafood, no matter the shape, all tastes the same when it’s fresh – like nothing. It’s really a texture thing or perhaps a “I need an excuse to eat tartar sauce” thing. Either way I am not complaining! And I was STUFFED TO THE GILLS. This place was really nice as it had a porch outside right on the ocean you could watch or feed the sea gulls from. It was quite relaxing! And here’s a few snaps of boats and seas shore when we parked down the street to check out their beach.

Another hour to my car…. an hour and a half from there home… and I am bushed! And ready for another adventure next weekend! Dun dun dun!

 

 

0

A Quick Winter Update and a Reminder Spring is Coming!

So I admit I didn’t get out much this winter but I still have been busy figuring out what to do with spring once it gets here. I have scheduled myself to visit more ruins, castles, haunted places, light houses, quirky one-of-a-kind mom and pop shops, perhaps a few farms, as well as more nature trails and museums. Who knows, I might even indulge in another passion – food! And to add to the excitement I am expanding to my repertoire of photos and writing with my very first video! I am hoping future videos will include interviews with more interesting local personalities, or at least with more subject matter than just me blathering on! ENJOY!

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider donating to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on and sharing my adventures with you!


0

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑