We had a lovely morning and the best lunch in many a
day. Cynthia drove us to Parsons Beach
after passing through Kennebunkport (Disneyland for grownups). We parked on the side of the road near the
beach and walked through a beautiful field of beach roses (rosa rugosa) behind
the dunes that skirted the beach. We first walked to the spot by an old driftwood trunk of a tree where Cynthia and Ricardo will wed.
Then Willy and Ricardo ran into the surf and did a little body surfing and swimming in the 72˚ water, while Suzette and Cynthia and I walked toward the point where the largest house was located.
Willy and Ricardo caught up with us and as we all
walked back from the point we collected shells along the high tide line on the
beach. 
Then Willy and Ricardo ran into the surf and did a little body surfing and swimming in the 72˚ water, while Suzette and Cynthia and I walked toward the point where the largest house was located.
Cynthia was our driver and drove us along the beach road north through Kennebunk past the Bush’s (actually Barbara Walker Bush’s family’s) summer home located on its own point. Finally we arrived at a point called Cape Porpoise north of Kennebunk where a small marina with fishing boats and several restaurants were located. We parked and walked across the road to the restaurants and down a ramp to a restaurant called the Ramp that was on a lower level below its fancier sister restaurant upstairs named Pier 77.
The Ramp was full but the Maitre D’ d told us that
Pier77 served the same menu at lunch, so we walked back up the ramp and around
to the front of Pier 77 and went in. It
was not very crowded and the Maitre D’ said he would set a table for five for
us. In a few minutes he escorted us to
the corner table of the restaurant that faced the window looking over the
marina and the coastline to the north.
Suzette, Ricardo and Cynthia ordered a lobster roll, I ordered Steamer clams cooked in a Provancal sauce and Willy ordered the sandwich of the day. The meat of the lobster was a whole lobster that had been mixed with mayonnaise, celery, garlic aioli and tarragon and placed in a special lobster roll bun that is made in Biddeford, Maine. The lobster roll was served with homemade potato chips and a slice of tomato and a pickle. My steamed clams were wonderful. They were larger long necks than any I have ever seen and were cooked in a sauce made of fresh sliced basil leaves and thyme sprig with fresh cooked, garlic, chopped tomatoes in a broth served with a fresh piece of French bread slathered with aioli and fresh chopped basil. Willy’s sandwich was a salmon filet on bread.
Suzette suggested that we order a bottle of Gloria
Ferrar Champagne ($38.00) and I thought that was a great idea. Annie our waitress brought the bottle and
lovely large American style champagne glasses to the table in few minutes. She expertly open the bottle and poured small
amounts of champagne into each glass. We all immediately noticed that the bubbles
aggregated in the middle of the glass and made a small geyser of bubbles in the
middle of the galas. When I asked Annie
about that unique feature of the glass, she said, “The glasses are laser cut.” The glasses were marked C&S. We will need to look for them in the future.
The Maitre D’ brought us a bowl of the Soup of the
Day which was a Mulligatawny made with fresh chick peas and fresh made curry
with the vibrant spiciness we had experienced only at Jolly’s in Vancouver in
May 2012. It was a hit to say the least.
We were ambivalent about dessert but when I asked
our waitress what she would suggest she said, “The Blueberry Crumble”. Willy decided to try it and we all asked for
spoons to try it also. Like the soup, we
passed it around the table as each of us took spoonfuls of it. It was a stiff ramekin like shell of baked
shortbread within which was filled with a puddle of Maine blueberries and a
crumble on top and garnished with marigold leaves, a puddle of honey, two
orchid peddles and a scoop of vanilla gelato on top. When she brought our check Annie asked, “Do you live around here? Cynthia, told her that they owned the house at the corner of Log Cabin Road and Old Post Road and then Cynthia discovered that Annie was the girlfriend of one of their best friends, Allan, who is from an old family of lobstermen. They talked about their eggs and garden and stuff like that. The point is there was an instant connection of friendship with Annie through their old friend Allen. On the way home Cynthia mentioned that is very common in this close knit community to find folks who are friends or a friend of a friend in normal everyday life.
After lunch we went home and dropped Willy off so he
could see Manchester Union v. Chelsea on the T.V. Then Suzette, Ricardo, Cynthia and I drove
to Rout1 and toward Kennebunk and stopped at the Ace hardware where Cynthia
purchased a large canning pot to cook the lobsters in. we then drove to the
Hannaford Supermarket and bought three bottles of wine a Santa Rita Torrontes
from Argentina, a Le Vielle Ferme rosé for $6.99 and a Murphy Goode Sauvignon
Blanc $10.99, plus some groceries, like honey and asparagus, lemons, limes,
Tonic water, and a bolle of bread.
We then drove to the Lobster, Inc. fish market and Cynthia and
Ricardo bought 7 1½lb. soft shell lobsters ($4.99/lb.) for about $40.00.
We then drove home and took naps.
After our naps, at 6:00 p.m. we watched the PBS News
Hour and started cooking. I made vinaigrette
dressing with balsamic and olive oil, garlic oregano, chopped red onions, parsley
and capers.
Suzette made garlic croutons and steamed the
asparagus and then made the salad with arugula and baby spinach and the
asparagus and croutons. Ricardo filled
and heated water in the large canning pot and Cynthia cooked boiled the
corn. When the water in the large pot
boiled we put the lobsters into the pot to cook. It took about twenty minutes and then Cynthia
removed the lobsters to a large platter and served them on the table with a
lemon butter sauce and I opened the bottle of Torrontes and poured glasses and
Suzette dressed the salad.
The soft shell lobster was the best lobster I have
ever eaten. It is like the oysters in
Cancale, Brittany, France, that are flushed with seawater and filled with sea
water when opened. The lobsters’ meat
was padded with seawater that allowed one to easily suck out or lift out the meat. There was more liquid that I have ever seen
in a lobster. We ate the fresh sweet
corn on the cob and the salad of baby greens with asparagus and croutons and
drank Torrontes wine and had an amazing meal.
After the rich dinner I made a drink of Mount gay
Eclipse Rum and Cointreau and Cynthia, Suzette and I played a game of
bananagrams. I have never played it
before and like the game very much.
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