We talked to Cissie until after 10:30 while she fed us yogurt with Wild Maine blueberries, tea and coffee, and blueberry muffins and then drove for about an hour to Bangor, Maine, which is located on the Penobscot River river and was a logging town. Camden, where Cissie and Rick live, is located as the mouth of Penobscot Bay, which is the second largest bay on the east coast after The Chesapeake Bay. Both towns were important in the timber trade historically. As we drove into town we drove past the giant Paul Bunyan statute.
The folk festival was located on a waterfront park that stretched for miles along the river. It reminded me of what Bilbao did, when it remodeled it ancient commercial waterfront into walking paths and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
The festival comprised four stages about ¼ mile apart with musical sets of about an hour with 15 minute intermissions to set up and adjust the sound for the next group. The music ranged across the entire spectrum of American music from Inuit throat singers, to Texas Western swing, to urban hip hop, to L.A. Mexican music like the Los Lobos, to C.J. Chenier’s Louisiana Zydeco/Cajun/pop, to Breton Canadian folk music.
It was 1:30 so we looked for food and soon found a lobster roll truck and a blooming onion stand. Suzette got a lobster with lettuce and I bought a deep fried onion cut into vertical strips to the base, battered and fried so the strips lay out like the pedals of a flower served on a plate with Ranch Dressing. After we ate the salad and onion we decided to go to the Dance Pavillon where beer was being served. We listened to several good bands including a wonderful pianist and oud player and C.J. Chenier, who is Clifton Chenier’s son. Suzette checked the app on her phone that told us we had walked over 6,000 steps or 2.7 miles, so we had a workout, especially including the dancing to Chenier.
We left at 6:00 and drove to Bar Harbor, arriving at 7:30. After checking in at the the Acadia Pines Motel, we drove back to the Sweet Pea’s Café, which had been recommended on the Maine Oyster Tour brochure.
Sweet Pea’s had a small but sufficient list of entrees and appetizers. We selected an appetizer of six oysters for $18.00. Then we ordered dinner. Suzette ordered a pork belly with an apple and cabbage slaw. I ordered a grilled salmon served on triangles of sautéed creamy polenta topped with sun dried tomatoes and a pile of steamed vegetables that were then sautéed in butter and olive oil. Sweet Pea’s is Farm to Table restaurant, so all the ingredients are as fresh and local as possible. There was an eggplant dish and grilled kale on the menu that we did not order because we were satisfied with our orders.
We tried two wines and decided to buy a bottle a very clean metallic tasting Sauvignon Blanc from France’s Loire Valley.
Here is a picture of the wine.
The oysters were very clean tasting and the liquid in the shells was very salty. I felt like I was giving myself a mild salt water cleansing therapy.
The oysters were served with a mignonette made with red wine vinegar made by the Bar Harbor Winery, which is on the same property as Sweet Pea’s Café. It was the most delicious red wine vinegar I have tasted in America.
My salmon was over cooked a little, no red, actually whitish pink, like what we used to get at a cafeteria, but still tender and flaky. The polenta and vegetables were both excellent. I thought I tasted a slice of Maitake Mushroom, which made me very happy. The polenta was firm wedges that stood up to a slice by a fork but had a slightly crumbly creamy interior, very nice.
Suzette’s pork belly was and appetizer portion about 3 oz., but as tender as any I have ever tasted. It also crumbled at the touch of a fork and the warm sautéed cabbage and apple slaw was exactly the kind of accompaniment we would have made, so was perfect.
We only drank 2/3 of the wine,. We felt proud of the dining to indulge in a dessert. I chose chocolate mousse and a Suzette chose Coconut macaroons dipped in chocolate. Both were excellent, but we saved three of the four macaroons for our bike trip tomorrow.
The bill was surprisingly reasonable, $103.00 before tax and tip. Honest food at an honest price.
After dinner we drove to Hadley Beach and looked at the Milky Way in the clear dark night sky with only a ¼ sliver of moon, as Anthony at the Acadia Pines Motel had suggested. It looks like there is an effort to reduce the ambient light on Mount Desert Island or the thick woods simple envelope all light near ground level.
Bon Appetit
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