The trip did start off with a scare though. As soon as we arrived at the cottage we took Diesel inside and let him off his leash. A few seconds later I looked for him and saw the garage door was open, he had taken off. The four of us went running in four different directions trying to find him. Mrs. Poop's dad was the first one to get to him. Diesel had run to the beach and was swimming in the ocean with some kids. Never mind that he violated two city ordinances forbidding off leash dogs and dogs on the beach prior to 5pm but as soon as he saw him Diesel came running over as if to say "hey grandpa, let's go swimming, isn't that what we came here to do."
Our first two days there weren't such great weather so we went to this great pizza place in Portland called Ricetta's for the lunch buffet, they make a bunch of pizza with combinations of different toppings (chicken, pepperoni and mushroom, for example) and then you can eat til your full. Or you can have cherry or blueberry pizza for dessert.
On Tuesday we saw the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox AA affiliate) beat the New Hampshire FisherCats (Blue Jays), in another annual tradition. I had a Sea Dog Biscuit Ice Cream Treat.
We did get in a couple of good beach days and I was able to read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." I won't say anything about it here, I'll wait for the next edition of Paulo's Book Club.
Diesel also got in a couple of good beach days. That dog loves swimming. He will completely duck his head under the water. And when a wave comes, he jumps completely over it. But he just seems so happy doing his doggy paddle. The part he hates is the bath he gets afterward to get the smell of ocean water off him and the sand out of his fur and paws. But I think 10 minutes of swimming exhausts him more than a 45 minute walk.
But of course the best part of Maine is the lobster. One night we bought them pre-cooked in a takeout place ($8/lb. I think), I had 2 of them. Then the next night we went out to dinner and I had the Lazy Man lobster. It's a lobster that they pluck out of the shell for you and serve it in a dish.
And we made a new discovery this year. The lobster roll, which is normally made with mayonnaisse (I hate mayo), can also be purchased "plain" and drizzled with warm butter. And they really stuff them full of lobster meat. So we had that for lunch a couple days. $10 is kind of expensive for a lunch sandwich (outside of Manhattan), but the amount of lobster meat makes it well worth it.
Another year has passed and we have roughly 51 weeks until we visit Old Orchard Beach again.
Questions: How do you play "lawn bowling" on the beach? Growing up in the concrete jungle, does Paul know how to swim?
ReplyDeleteIt's bocce and the balls basically plop down wherever they land, a little roll is possible. No, I do not know how to swim, but I go in the water and splash around.
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