Tag: travel

Kellie’s Cafe- Newport Rhode Island

This is going to sound absolutely bonkers but a few winters ago I was driving at night past Kellie’s Cafe and I saw a velociraptor in the parking lot. A fucking life-size dinosaur was just chilling there on a trailer at 3am. Now, I know from previous instances in my life that it’s best not to ask questions buuuut the next morning the damn velociraptor was gone and I was left wondering what glitch in the matrix I’d just witnessed. I made note of which parking lot it was and kept this story to my damn self until over a year later my companion excitedly explained there was a life-size bronze velociraptor living in the yard at Aardvark Antiques just down the road. I KNEW IT!! I DID SEE A DINOSAUR!

What does this have to do with the little British cafe whose parking lot was once infested with prehistoric beasts? Not much. I doubt they had any idea. But seeing as I now knew about this place why not check it out? I like British things… especially Doctor Who. Fucking love Doctor Who. This place had a big old Britishly colored teapot as it’s sign outside so this seemed like good indication it’d be interesting…

Inside the cafe was absolutely tiny with only a few tables. Two servicemen and a single English dude were the only customers here on this particular day. We made our way in quietly and sat down while looking at the back wall which had a HUGE teacup display behind a life size cut out of the queen. I mean I get it, I know y’all have a king now but he has the charisma of a frozen cod fish soooo… I’ll accept this weird tribute to the former queen. My English friend tells me this is customary and everyone has one to mutter loyalties to once a day. Pretty sure he’s fucking with me there.

ANYWAY… we were tended to by a sweet lady whose accent sounded American for a few sentences and then not so much. Cracked me up. I love British accents. She offered us tea with our breakfast and I accepted. My companion stuck to coffee. We looked over the menu and realized there was fun options here to play with. A Full English Breakfast was one. My companion took that. I on the other hand I was morbidly curious about the Scotch Egg. I’d seen one being eaten on Broadchurch and heard people talking about them several times since but my grasp of what it actually was was…. poor. One way to find out! Our hostess seemed delighted I wanted to try one and she asked if my companion would like the blood pudding with his English breakfast at which point I think his brain shuttered. He struggled to answer for a moment but then said no. I on the other hand would have said yes to the iron-addled hockey puck I assume to be blood pudding. You only live once after all. And “you have to have blood pudding” says the guy who claims everyone has a cardboard cutout of the queen. (I know this entire blog entry screams unreliable narrator but I swear to god…)

My companion was very happy with his full English breakfast which he found to be very filling. I stole some of his beans which I remarked were tomato-y because British baked beans are different than Boston baked beans which rely on molasses. Still, they tasted good and I think our odd conversation was being listened to by everyone else here, especially when I received the Scottish egg and set about dissecting it for science. Mind you, it was egg-shaped and I supposed an actual egg, but that says very little doesn’t it? I cut it in half with a knife I stole from my companion (as my tomato sandwich did not require cutlery.) Inside was indeed a hard-boiled egg. On the outside it seemed to be some sort of sausage-filled batter, deep fried of course. It was filling! And I guess great for shoving in your pockets for later if you happen to work in a Victorian coal mine. I do not. And I’m not the biggest fan of sausage or hard-boiled eggs but that being said it wasn’t bad and I’m happy I tried it. I’m also happy I figured out how to use the odd plate and utensil that came with my tea. I hope the weird stick/spoon thing was to retrieve my tea bag because that’s what I used it for. I have to thank anyone who has ever called me “worldly” because I am 100% faking knowing anything. Please do not leave me unsupervised.

Finally, we ended our little meal and went to the counter which was apparently a danger zone because it was covered in English sweets. Chocolate covered digestives, Turkish delights, Jaffa cakes, numerous candy bars and the like. We took some home to keep on experimenting. I’ve never actually had a digestives with my tea… will it kick it up a notch? Guess we’ll see!

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Taqueria los Compadres – Boston Massachusetts

Since we had some time to spare waiting for our slot to open in the Boxaroo escape room we decided to wander a bit and find somewhere to eat. We’d naively believed that Faniel Hall would be open after dark but I guess in the winter months they’re not. So, we disappeared into our sweaters and headed out for a brisk walk in the sleet and snow. We were relieved to stumble upon a tavern but upon entering the bouncer was not buying I was forty years old, carded me, and then seemed annoyed I had a valid driver’s license. Thank you, by the way. These days you got to take a compliment where you can. That being said this place was bursting at the seams and there wasn’t a waitress or waiter in sight. So, we walked back out into the dreary weather where we stumbled upon an absolutely empty little Mexican restaurant which was decorated to the hilt in Cinqo de Mayo decor. Even the benches were painted with idyllic Mexican scenes. It was kind of cute.

“…Are you open…?”

Yes! Yes, they were! But they required a key to use the bathroom. I’d rather die than ask for that so I waited. And in the meanwhile, we ordered. I had the burrito bowl, my companions had soft tacos, nachos, and some other things I didn’t quite understand. I do apologize here that I am not particularly experienced with Mexican food.

The chicken burrito bowl was huge. I ended up taking it home and making two more meals of it. And it came with fresh guacamole which… if you’re not me you might enjoy! (It’s a texture thing…) The chicken was good, the beans were wonderful, the entire bowl mixed up really well. My companion’s tacos looked lovely and the nachos I taxed were so crispy-crunchy that it lit the neurons in my brain up like a Christmas tree. I didn’t even know I wanted something crispy-crunchy but after I bit into it that’s kind of all I wanted. That and the limes. I’m not sure why we got fresh lime wedges but I ate them by themself and remembered fondly how much I like fresh lemons and limes. The AuADHD brain is a funny thing.

Anyway, it was a nice little place. Quick service and fun Mexican beverages (which I did not try but perhaps should have.) We were quite full when we waddled off down the street to continue our evening, my companion scolding me to put my sweater back on which I only obliged because it was sleeting. As of late I’m pretty sure my blood has been transformed into lava because I can’t handle being anywhere that’s above 40F degrees. SIGH.

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Boxaroo (Writer’s Secret) Escape Room – Boston Massachusetts

**One super vague partial spoiler in this review**

It’d been a while since we had gone to an escape room and this one in Boston had some glowing reviews. Though I admit I loathe driving (and parking!) in Boston I was content to try this escape room partially because we got there via train which was… so much easier.

Anyway! Due to our quick arrival, we were early and had time to mull about in the sleet and rain for a bit, peering in the window before sauntering off to fill our bellies and come back. The waiting room in this place had big windows facing the street and they had several high tables with various puzzles to play with while we waited. The staff was quite frankly adorable, enthusiastic about working here, and very friendly. When our time came up we were escorted to the elevators and given directions how to get where we needed to go.

We had chosen the Writer’s Secret room which can take up to 75 minutes with 3-5 players. The website describes it as “immersive and adaptive.” On this day we had three players, as a fourth was home with a bad back. Getting old sure is fun…

We were told we could take photos, I chose not to as this was a particularly whimsical room and I didn’t want to ruin the magic. The premise was we needed to help an author come up with ideas for her next book by examining clues in the room which turned out to be a hallway and three rooms besides. Obviously, we started in the hallway at the writing desk and I actually understood the puzzle! That never happens. I’m actually quite bad at puzzles and a bit of a dead weight in these exercises. I will note however one of the best features of this room was the lack of math. I can really get behind that.

It didn’t take long for my companions to find the other puzzles and start working on them as I followed quietly behind. The first room had a marine theme to it and was kinda cute. At one point I was told the shell was whispering secrets. When I asked what the hell that meant he just repeated his sentence as if it wasn’t complete Gibberish. This meant nothing to me. It meant nothing to the other player either. And that’s why this puzzle probably took the longest.

The three rooms were an ocean room, a weird fairy nook, and a smelting room. There was only one combination lock, the rest of the puzzles resulted in actions that’d give you the next step to a different puzzle. It was indeed very immersive with a lot of thuds and bangs coming from other rooms when we solved something! I particularly enjoyed the smelting furnace which took a “gold” brick and returned a key. I just found that cute.

This may have been my favorite escape room to date, if not definitely in the top three. I loved the whimsy, the lack of math and numbered locks (which I feel other rooms rely way too much on,) and just how very Rube Goldberg-y this whole set up felt. We solved the room with more than twenty minutes to spare but did have to ask for two hints. Begrudgingly.

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Mystic Aquarium – Mystic Connecticut

A charismatic little gold and black frog stands on two feet looking out of the glass of its enclosure.

[Scroll to bottom for Gallery]

Mystic Aquarium has been on my bucket list for a few years now. Everyone I talked to seemed to rave about it saying it was better than the Boston Aquarium. The only issues were that I didn’t really want to go during the summer season when I was sure it’d be packed and I also wasn’t sure the $41 per adult ticket fee was reasonable. I mean, that’s a lot, especially for someone like me who likes to blog destinations that are accessible even to the poorest of people, *cough cough* myself. But you know, there comes a day for everything.

It was the dead of winter, there was snow on the ground, the sky was gray and the temperatures were let’s just say nippy in the 20s. We figured this would mean the aquarium would be more or less dead and we could wander around like the soul survivors of a zombie apocalypse. But alas no!

When we drove up the entire parking lot was FULL with numerous cars circling trying to find a spot. I wandered into overflow parking which was also almost at capacity. We parked, looked incredulously at each other, and started to walk towards the ticket master which it appears has been replaced with a self sign-in kiosk. Probably for the best. We weren’t even in the gates yet and we were swarmed on all sides by dozens and dozens of babies and toddlers, accompanied by their mums, scarcely a dad in sight. No children seemingly over the age of five and so many of them all bundled up in tiny parkas wandering around in the cold and the gloom. What was going on?!

I’ve been to the Boston Aquarium many times (before it’s somewhat recent renovations) and I naively thought aquariums were indoor facilities. Not this time. We waddled up to the first large outdoor tank which held three beluga whales. I’ve never seen a beluga whale before and they… looked like rubbery marshmallows with weird blubbery heads. I struggled to figure out if they were adorable or only a face a mother could love. Two swam around while a third was vertical and lazily drifting from the bottom to the top, to the bottom again. Weird.

Somewhat embarrassingly I still don’t have a coat at this point in my life (after getting too plump to fit in my all-time favorite coat and then declaring I was not going to buy another one, I was just going to lose the weight! Ha! I’m just as pale and chonky as those damn belugas now. And unrepentant about it.) So, I stuffed my hands in my sweater sleaves and continued on. Boy, was I surprised how much of the aquarium is outside! There was a lot! Belugas, sea lions, seals, walruses, and even penguins. Each had a volunteer attempting to tell us about the animals but I think they were just as overwhelmed by this bizarre massive influx of toddlers as we were. They seemed tired and just narrated in monotone, “And that’s Stella there… the one who just came to the surface…And now she’s gone back down again…” Very informative.

The penguins were my favorite of these outdoor enclosures because they were cute and I didn’t feel like they’d rip me to shreds if I accidentally tumbled into their enclosure. I wasn’t so sure about the seals and whatnot. Those things had massive teeth and moved through the water with a disturbing quickness. Sea puppy my ass, those are just wet Shutzhunds.

I was quite content to be moving indoors after this. As we walked in there was a circular tank just within the door with what I would guess were saltwater fish who were “donated” to the aquarium when they got too big or expensive to maintain by private owners. Later on, I’d see a full-grown Achilles Tang and be in total shock. Never knew they got that big! YIKES.

From here there were all sorts of tanks with various kinds of fish and habitats. There was one poor woman (my companion thinks a volunteer) nervously following the swarm of tiny people, a rag in one hand frantically wiping the boogers and apple sauce off the glass as if she thought it might be acid. Germaphobe? Overstimulated staff? Who knows! But whatever they were paying her it wasn’t enough.

I was happy to see all sorts of fish and critters I’d never seen before. Big fish, little fish, fresh water fish, marine fish. A shark and stingray touch tank was nearby. I pondered if they could catch measles. I hoped not. In any event there were colorful cichlids, charismatic Amazonian fish, and a surprising amount of non-fish critters which included some huge crabs, a spiny lobster, the cutest damn frogs I could have possibly asked for, and of course a few turtles scattered about as well as a few lizards and creepy crawlies. I could probably park myself in front of one of these tanks for a while and just relax… if it weren’t for all the crying and screaming. I did find one mother with her baby doing just that. She was talking about the octopus although it was unclear if she was narrating to her baby or trying to talk to us, the only other unoccupied adults. I get it. Being a single mom is HARD and often very very lonely. I commented the octopus was pretty neat and I think it was funny he had a dog toy in his pen.

From here my companion insisted we see the sea lion show. OK… It wasn’t any additional charge, we just had to be there on time. So we wandered in and took a seat in what would end up being a pretty damn full gallery. The humans in this performance bounced out with the energy of a highly caffeinated children’s TV host and the kids ATE IT UP. The premise of the show was that there was a mission to be accomplished with the help of the kiddies in the audience. They yelled on command and did little poses. It was kind of heartwarming and adorable.

There were three seals performing that day and they were enthusiastically silly, jumping, swimming, striking poses, shaking their weird rubbery dog heads yes and no, retrieving props and waving, you know, all the classics. I laughed with the children. It was all very sweet and had an anti-global warming message which… these days it’s just nice to see science out in the open without being screamed at by a flat earthers or whatever.

After the show we wandered back out, saw the tanks we had not yet seen, and decided to try the additional bonus exhibit which this month was Sea Dinosaurs. What? I get to see dinosaurs too?? Yes please! This was an additional $15 a person. We paid and wandered in. The ceiling was decorated with big replicas of fossil sea creatures – mostly ammonites. Inside the main hall there was what I can only describe as a scrabbling course for children which put them in harnesses and let them climb on platforms and tightropes above the crowd. If I were three feet tall I would have been ALL OVER THAT. I sighed at my cracking joints and lamented that youth is wasted on the young.

We wandered about for a while finding a self photo booth with megalodon jaws, a projector sand pit, and some sort of weird psychedelic acid trip of a thing that made our dancing silhouettes into a mass of crazy colors in real time. That was fun. Really fed my inner child. Again, I probably would have poked more at these if it wasn’t such a busy and chaotic day for the aquarium. People tend to look at adults funny when they cheekily decide to play too, though I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this and do believe the world would be a better place with more whimsy and less taking ourselves so seriously.

And so that was our trip to the aquarium. We left laughing but kind of exhausted to go to an old haunt Mystic Pizza for lunch. It never disappoints.

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Hamilton Diner – Seekonk MA

This week was another amazing food find. We were on the road searching for a birthday present (which proved stupidly hard to find) when we decided to stop at a new place for a late breakfast. This place said it served breakfast until 3pm. That’s my kinda eatery.

A day earlier my companion was teasing me because I said I rarely crave sweets but my usual choices for breakfasts suggested otherwise. I protested these were not cravings but whims. And despite the fact this place had a slew of more reasonable options I couldn’t help to go glassy-eyed with wonder when our waitress started rattling off their breakfast specials from the day. I couldn’t keep any of them straight but they sounded like the most whimsically deranged breakfast themed dessert cart one could dream up. Oreos were mentioned as were chocolate chips, a variety of sticky sweet syrups, and even cinnobuns. My resolve was tested and it suffered a resounding failure as I ordered the stuffed Cinnabon French toast. My companion on the other hand chose a more savory option, the Hamilton Kitchen Sink which came out looking like a garbage plate (and I say that with love, not judgement.) It was a pancake, bacon, sausage, eggs, a biscuit, and a truck load of home fries smothered in white gravy. We’re both very chosey with homefries but I’m happy to note I tried one with gravy and it was goddamn delicious to the both of us.

Meanwhile my plate was a war crime to diabetes but ahhhhhh, it was so good! The cinnobuns were made into French toast, stuffed with cream cheese and jam and topped with a truly indecent amount of whipped cream. I didn’t even have to put any syrup on it.

Our waitress joked it could be made better with chocolate chips. If I had only had a tiny white flag to wave back at her. I ate most my meal, was stuffed to the gills and couldn’t take on the last few bites but wow. Do I regret my heart challenging option? Nah, no other place has made me want to yell ‘you only live once’ like this place! I have learned nothing.

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The Find on 6 – Johnston Road Island

So it’s been a tick since I have stopped by this blog. Back in the autumn a deer decided to pick a fight with my car and it’s been in the shop for months and I… have been taking a bit of a involuntary hiatus. But this week I did get out for a much needed little jaunt.

The Find on 6 is a consignment and antique store that features a main shop and one big room off of it which was clearly a greenhouse at some point. It was easy to find and charming. Everything was displayed very well and the prices COULD NOT BE BEAT. Seriously, they were beyond affordable. I found two baby blue couches with two matching chairs, all tufted and in great condition. The couch was FORTY EIGHT DOLLARS (after the 26th, but starting at SIXTY-FIVE which is still insanely affordable!!) The chairs were cheaper! I have never wanted to rescue something so bad in my life. But alas! I do not own a Victorian home with a parlour, or a car big enough to fit a couch. Life is just not fair sometimes. So instead of rescuing this adorable living room set I instead let it live in my fantasies when I’m daydreaming about running my own tropical fish store. The couches will be in front of the big display tanks because I believe firmly in building community and encouraging “the slow life.”

The rest of the shop had a fun mix of weird things – a pile of books from a local author, some delightfully bizarre and unique bric-a-bracs and dish wear, a series of items that defied identification, a mimeograph, lots of roosters, and a series of very nice kitchen knives for cheap. I would have likely bought one of those if I didn’t JUST get a good knife for Christmas. I did buy the book about Rhode Island by a local author. One never knows if such things can’t be further inspiration for travels.

I am making a note to come back here if I ever have a house to see what they have for quirky furniture. This place was awesome.

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Grilled Cheese Gallery – Hyannis Massachusetts

What better way to follow up a visit to the pirate museum than to find ourselves a rocking grilled cheese joint?

It was a gorgeous summer day but there was an alarming lack of tourists around. I suppose a sign of the times. Even so I parked in a super easy parallel parking spot in front of the JFK museum having no idea the next half a mile had oodles of parking spots. Oh well, can’t complain too much about getting a little exercise, especially when the stoner-friendly sandwiches we were after were probably about a billion calories each. On this day I did not care.

When we finally arrived we found a vendor and an outdoor cafe space. A woman was already at the window waiting for her order when we ambled up to look at the menu. She turned around to tell us, “Everything is great here! You’re going to love it!” High praise, we both laughed and thanked her for the unsolicited review.

I wanted fries with my sandwhich so we decided to split a poutine and each get a different weird sandwhich. Pretty sure my companion got the Country Boy and myself the Veggie Daddy. The cashier on this day was having a day, for sure. He was straight from a wedding in Florida and clearly very tired. He couldn’t remember the order and asked my companion to repeat Veggie Daddy until it was uncomfortable but luckily we were both laughing at this because it was hot, we were being a pain in the ass taking forever to decide, and we could empathize with a little brain fog. Our reward for being a sport about this was being able to sample their home made hibiscus ice tea and lavendar lemonade. Both were really good but the tea was amazing so the pitch worked!

We sat at one of the tables and waited, our server clearly as entertained by us as we were of him, yelling, “I’m going to take care of you!” And he did. Even drew smiley faces in our dipping sauce. It was fucking adorable.

And the sandwiches… oh my god. Totally worth the fact they probably went straight to the arteries! The dipping sauce was another fun touch. They were SO MESSY and sooo good. I got it all over my shirt and sighed. Can’t bring me anywhere.

I was so full by this point. Even so my server came back out to offer a refill on my ice tea as we were cleaning up. I was tempted but then I’d have to carry an open cup to the car. Instead I thanked my server and smiled. He said, “You guys are great!” Before returning.

So yeah. DEFFINATELY would recommend this place.

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Whydah Pirate Museum – Yarmouth Massachusetts

I know I haven’t been giving my beloved blog much attention lately but it’s only because my chronic fatigue has been working me over like a steam roller this summer so I haven’t been able to make it out of the house very often. So too has my usual travel companion who is currently being pushed to the brink by his capitalist overlords. As such we both desperately needed a more unusual outing, an extra little escape from the bleakness of reality. I pitched the Wydah Pirate Museum because you can’t beat pirates!

The Wydah Pirate Museum is an entire museum based on one very lucky discovery of a sunken pirate ship off the coast of Cape Cod. I’ve always wanted to see an old wooden shipwreck but am also phobic of the ocean so barring that this seemed a nice compromise.

We ended up during peak traffic hours on a gorgeous summer day so by the time we got there I was in no mood to be fighting with the GPS who didn’t feel it was nessassary to tell me which side of the road I was supposed to find this establishment. It is set back from the road with an underwhelming forefront so I drove right past it and ended up turning into a big seemingly abandoned parking lot which turned out to be almost directly across the road. And then I had to dodge two lanes of unrelenting traffic to get across said road which nearly ended in catastrophe when I saw a break in the traffic and slammed the gas to the floor only to have my wussy little Prius bottom out and only kick in a full second or two later. No one died, not even the Prius. Thank God.

As I drove in I was one of several cars there. Outside there was a big banner above the door to what looked like a big metal warehouse. This was almost as sketchy looking as all those salt water fish stores.

Fortunately the inside was completely different. Two teenagers joyfully tended the entrance desk and told us this was a no photo establishment and self guided tours started in an adjoining room where a short video played on a loop. Under the screen was a big gold bell in a tank which was apparently the first thing they found on this wreck.

Travellings into the museum itself we found LOTS of plaques and information, the usual scattering of creepy wax dummies, and a few cases of random things found. We learned this particular ship had a 40% black crew as well as numerous indigenous members and a random twelve year old runaway whose boot and shinbone were found and were currently on display. This was all news to me. I knew black pirates were a thing but I had no idea there were so many and why would an indigenous person want to be a pirate?? I had no answers on that one although the picture was much clearer for the black crew members who through escape and mutiny had chosen the pirate life over slavery. There was also a small display honoring the women pirates who dressed as men to take on this life which to me sounds like some transmen found belonging in a diverse democracy at sea. I’m telling you pirates sound better at governing than our own land based government.

I also got to see some twisted and broken pirate pistols and learned why pirate guns always seemed so cartoonishly large – its because they’re not hand guns, they’re literally sawed off shotguns. Remind me not to get on the bad side of a pirate.

There was even a little station where you could touch some of the coins dredged up during this escavation. They were well polished and worn by being pawed at by thousands of fingers and yet it was still pretty cool to touch someone’s spare change from hundreds of years ago. Also on display were real gold deblooms and pieces of six. They looked so much more primitive than I’d imagined.

But the most unique display was a whole room of various fish tanks filled with large chunks of the wreck that had been encased in mineral deposits and needed to be slowly melted away with the magic of water erosion. There were X-rays revealing what was in these strange rocks. I had always thought corals may take over these sunken vessels, it never occurred to me they’d be slowly enveloped by rock over time, like fossils! Of pirate guns.

Finally there was a slew of displays on what ultimately happened to the pirates who were caught. Spoliers: nothing good. Sort of brought my mood down a bit to be honest. I was rooting for these probably ADHD-addled sea rogues.

We took a moment to play at the knot tying station before scanning the gift shop for morbid loot. There were indeed books a plenty but I left them on this day feeling the $18 entrance fee was already quite enough to spend.

Off we went. I took a selfie outside with one of the wooden pirates so I’d have something to post here, having obeyed the rules of the inside museum.

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Monadnock Berries Troy New Hampshire

I decided to go berry picking this summer because its been many many years since I have done so. And I heard rumors there was a berry farm nearby that had more than just blueberries. Monadnock Berries boasted of blueberries, raspberries, goose berries, red currants, black currants, and white currants. I have never eaten gooseberries or currants so I was keen to check this out. I brought my mother with me even though she’d heard it’d be expensive.

There were signs from the center of town you could follow but it was pretty far out in the woods on a dirt road. You just had to trust there’d be more signs or that your GPS was worth trusting.

Finally we got to the farm which had a nice dirt parking lot on a hill. We followed more signs into a cute little shop which had pre-picked berries, maple syrup, and a few other commodities. There were also cartons and buckets of various sizes to go picking ourselves. We were told we could mix all the berries if we chose to except for the raspberries. They were more expensive and apparently turn into sludge if you pile other berries on top of them – hence the need for separation. As such I declined the raspberries and bought a “small bucket” for $22. It didn’t look big but boy, by the time we were done we had over four pounds of berries! That’s an overflowing large Pyrex mixing bowl! If you’re familiar with how much a tiny carton of berries cost you’ll know this was a steal, the very opposite of expensive.

There were maps via QR code but also signs everywhere. The blueberries were endless, just bunches of bushes. We found the raspberries next, and in front of them was the first row of currants, all black. I tried them and found them to be quite displeasing to my pallet but this was a matter of personal taste. The red currants were nearby and had a remarkably different flavor profile. They were very tangy! I started throwing fistfuls of them into the bucket. The bushes at first didn’t look like they had much on them but with a little closer inspection the lower branches were heavy with berries.

My mother at this point got very into picking red currants and took some convincing to move on. The gooseberries were a good walk away, snuggled next to the white currants which had a delightfully mild taste. The gooseberries were robust in their unique flavor. These two ended up being my favorite berries of the day.

By now it was getting hot, I was overheating, and it was threatening to rain. Our bucket was nearly full anyway so I said we should get some blueberries to top it all off as we walked back towards the store. I was surprised to find the blueberries from different rows also tasted different, perhaps they were of different varieties. I settled on a bush with very large blueberries which I felt were the sweetest. When the bucket was filled we walked back to the counter which felt like it was miles away in the heat. When we turned in the bucket the teenage cashier pulled out the plastic bag lining the bucket and exclaimed how happy it made her to see currants under the top layer of blueberries. Both the teenage girls working today were so friendly and funny I couldnt help but adore their youthful enthusiasm. I paid my $22 and got a cold drink to go.

All and all this was a really fun day. We made out like bandits and there were some adorable goats in a pasture next to the parking lot. This place was awesome. Well worth a visit and family friendly to boot! I could have spent all day taking photos of the luscious berries and the sprawling mountain landscape beyond. This place was gorgeous. I guess that’s why they also host weddings here on Saturdays. I was impressed.

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Moore Manor Lavender Farm – Newport Maine

I ended up at Moore Lavendar farm twice in one week due to an accidental theft. But before I get to that I’ll tell you a little bit about the place.

Moore Manor Lavendar is pretty easy to get to and has a weird little field parking lot as farms usually do. My travel companion on this day was just relieved they also had two portapotties, one attached to the parking lot and one outside the gift shop.

I have heard of pick your own berries or apples but this was my first time at a pick your own lavendar farm. And it was set up really lovely with all sorts of places to sit and enjoy the scenery and aroma. There was even a food truck and on this day two separate groups of picknickers.

They had the drying shed opened up for view to the public as well as a gift shop with everything lavendar you could possibly want. Lavendar bundles, lavendar soap, lavendar clothing, paintings of lavendar, and even lavendar tea and jam. I had no idea you could (or would want to) eat lavendar. But why would I? The smell of lavendar has always given me migraines so I usually stay the hell away from it. Why was I not on this day? Because I’m not very smart, that’s why. And oooo, was it pungent that day! My head was swirling, I was overheating in the sun, and my blood sugar was crashing from a lack of breakfast. Admittedly because of these factors the first trip out was…. unpleasant for me. Still I stuck around as my group picked bundles of lavendar. They were given a twist tie to put said bundle in, some scissors to snip them off the bush, and directions on how to do so and from which bushes, all recieved at the gift shop. Just outside the gift shop pots of live lavendar were set out for sale to anyone who may want to bring this little agricultural adventure home.

Admittedly, I did little on this first day besides find a nice spot away from the activity to just sit and watch. But then after paying for her bundle my mother in her usual fit of ADHD forgot to turn in the three pair of scissors and walked off with them.

This is how we ended up back there two days later and this time around it was cooler, my stomach was full, and I’d mastered breathing through my mouth. In doing so I noticed this place was kind of gorgeous. There was several gardens scattered about with all kinds of different flowers and I spent some time just taking photos of their beauty. We were also greeted warmly and thanked for returning the ill-begotten scissors.

This place was fun, family friendly, and was pretty cheap. On the day we went they were running a two for one deal so we ended up bringing two lavendar bundles home for only six or seven dollars, I can’t quite remember.

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