Food on Board the Angelique

I would be remiss to say so much about this trip and not create a separate post about the food. You must keep in mind that the area for food preparation were very small and the cook stove was fueled with kerosene with only three settings low, medium and high...well that would certainly be a challenge for me!
Our chef seemed to outdo herself progressively, each meal seemed to be better than the last and every day we had freshly baked bread and desserts. It was quite an accomplishment in my estimation. View for yourself...

OK, I see I jumped the gun here...this is clam chowder that we had at Cappy's, a restaurant in Camden, Maine. We tried to test all possible choices so we could report to you which place actually served the best chowder in New England...but it was a task bigger than both of us. It was great where ever we had it!
This is a lobster quesadilla that we also had at Cappy's...kind of unusual
The only day we had cold cuts, and a bunch of other nibbles with freshly baked bread
rolls and herb spread to accompany our soup of the day...
Caught her making bread...
Fresh from the ovens

Ahh....brownies...don't need to say anything else
lasagna...fabulous
French toast and Canadian bacon

Salad and stir-fry chicken

Lobster Bake, Burnt island, Maine

The highlight of our sailing trip on Penobscot Bay was the lobster bake. It started with the captain picking up a huge container of live lobsters while at our stop at the Wooden Boat Store. We held them for the night in a container lashed alongside the Angelique in the seawater, then moved them to another container and hooked up a hose to keep them alive until we found the perfect spot to have our picnic.

One of the purposes of an Elderhostel program is education, so we learned a lot about lobsters. We had a naturalist, Barbara, on board to instruct and entertain about the nuances of lobster life...

Here Barbara is transferring the lobsters to a container for the sail to Burnt Island. The container had to have openings to allow fresh seawater to flow over them to keep them alive until it was time to cook.
Barbara and Bud are holding a lobster to demonstrate the parts of a lobster and where the eggs are held.
See, you need a really big tub with a lot of seawater brought to a rolling boil...


Once the water is really hot, transfer the lobsters to the pot...

Cover them with seaweed, to act as a lid and steam the contents.
Once the cooking is finished (about half an hour) the water must be drained out.
The trick here is to keep your toes out of the water!


Create a platform with the seaweed that was used as a lid just moments ago
dump the lobsters very carefully and keep them all on the seaweed platform
Get on line and grab a lobster... (I know you will find this hard to believe, but this lobster is the same one they used as a demonstration one earlier in the post) see the broken claw and same color bands?

All good things come to an end...we helped carry all the stuff back to the boats and rowed to the Angelique and continued our sail. Yes, it was very much like a piece of heaven.

Sailin' on a Ketch in Penobscot Bay, Camden, Maine

During the week of September 13th through the 19th we enjoyed an Elderhostel program featuring a week of sailing on a 125 foot ketch, The Angelique, anywhere in the 1,000 square miles of Penobscot Bay out of Camden, Maine. It was a new experience for me...never having been on this type of vessel before. I was pleasantly surprised that I could spend a week on water and not feel the least bit seasick. I remember many fishing trips to Long Island Sound that did not end happily. Anyway, the weather was great; only one or two very short periods of rain. It never got too hot nor cold to interfere with the activities of the day.

Since this was an Elderhostel program we could participate as much or as little as we chose, in raising/lowering the sails, rowing to shore or any of the vessel related activities. We learned a lot about how the boat functions and the enormous effort required to keep her in tip-top shape. Operating a vessel of this magnitude is truly a labor of love and it is very apparent in the attitudes of the crew and the captain. But I suppose the best part was enjoying the silent progress the boat made once it was fully under sail. It is amazing how quiet and not windy it is. Since we were travelling at the same speed as the wind it was breeze-less on deck while we were moving.

We visited several little harbor towns and assisted in rowing to shore. We joked that by the end of the week we would challenge the Harvard rowing team. Not to worry, I don't think we could have really been a threat, but it was fun trying. It was amazing how fast eight people could learn to row together!

Here are a couple of shots I took from the boat to give you a taste of what we saw:

Sunday River Brewing Company, Bethel, Maine

We made our way through Maine toward New Hampshire and found an interesting looking place for a quick bite to eat, the Sunday River Brewing Company

This is the sort of place that appeals to sports enthusiasts, pool players and beer drinkers. They brew several of their own and sell many others. We were more interested in food.

Chuck had the french onion soup and a Phillie steak sandwich; I opted for the meat ancho chili. They were all delicious!

This is the first chili I have ever had that had only a few beans on top...the rest was all meat.

It's been a while since Chuck had any beef..so I was not surprised when he ordered this.

This french onion soup was very good...I was sorry that I didn't order some for myself. But you can only eat so much!

After we finished the meal, we were backing out of the parking space and an eagle flew over head from one side of the road to the other. Man, that was sure nice to see.

AMC, Acadia Park Triathalon

We got to spend Friday at the AMC camp and partake of the activities that were being sponsored. After spending a quality time on Echo Lake kayaking and mentally communicating with some loons in the center of the lake,I got back just in time to witness the annual anna-banana triathalon.

This particular activity involved a person grabbing a banana and fast walking (nto running) it to a waiting canoe team (the canoe is filled 3/4ers with water), handing it off to the canoe team, they begin to hand paddle the swamped canoe to floating swimming deck some 50 away and place the banana on the deck. another team member standing on an opposite shore must swim to the deck and back to the shore, hand the banana to the final team member who walks the banana up to the judging area, sits, eats the entire banana and presents an empty mouth. There were three teams in this competition. Surprisingly, the final times were within 30 seconds of each other.

Here is a picture of the award that goes to the winning team.



Well, when you really take a good look at it; it is clear why s many people will struggle to become the winner in this contest!

They do not get to keep it though. they only hold it for a few moments and then it gets replaced on the fireplace mantle till next year when new teams will vie for it!

Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park, Maine

Our visit to Acadia National Park would not be complete without a visit to the Jordan Pond House. It is an unassuming restaurant hidden out in the open, right in the center of Bubble Pond and the Wildwood stables and is always a buzz of activity. We had already ridden 12 plus miles on the carriage roads along Bubble Pond and then over to and around Day Mountain, so we were ready for a little refreshment. They have a gift shop that meanders into the restaurant area; the day we went, we found a side section that was still in the building but gave you the feeling of being outside without the bugs, heat etc.



It was pretty nice! Since we were not quite ready for a big meal, and what they were offering seemed a bit pricey, we decided to try the fish chowder (which came with two of their famous popovers) and a dessert consisting of a warm crispy popover stuffed with the richest ice cream imaginable then drizzled with a hot ganache chocolate sauce. Gee, I guess I have understated the fish chowder...it nothing short of divine! The bowl was huge and the chowder creamy which large chunks of haddock, perfectly cooked potatoes and a marvelous blend of spices.

The hardest decision was trying to figure if we should eat dessert first or the popovers with jelly or the chowder…

Chuck dug into the chowder, so I grabbed a popover and smeared it with jelly and was in heaven after one bite. The freshly brewed coffee just complimented it so well. I thought I would just take a taste of the ice cream popover until the chowder was available, but after one bite, I was not so anxious to share anymore! The crunchy popover and the sauce combined with the ice cream were turning me into a person with selfish tendencies that I never knew existed! I did share though and Chuck was obviously struggling with the same thoughts! Here are some shots of the food. Enjoy!

I don't know why they had to stab it with a huge steak knife...I don't think it was going to try and escape or anything like that! I discovered if you hold the knife rather loosely and use very little pressure, you can keep the pretty presentation throughout most of eating it.

Oh, I have to clear up the pricey thing. Everything was so over the top delicious, it was really a bargain! Go there, order with wild abandon, do not be afraid…enjoy!

Actually, even if you ARE NOT into hiking, biking or any of that outdoorsy stuff...go there for the food. I promise you will not be disappointed!