New England Vacation Day Six

When we decided to vacation in New England I told my husband that I wanted to eat lobster at least three times in the week we would be there. Now it's day six of our vacation and I have only had one lobster roll which was just okay, not as good as it should have been. So today we are driving to the coast in search of lobster.

We are staying at Mountain Edge Resort and Spa at Mount Sunapee in Newbury, NH. That's pretty much on the other side of the state from the coast, but we're from Texas, so it didn't seem very far at all. It took less than two hours, which is closer than from our house to San Antonio.

We drove to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and drove around the city's waterfront. There were several very nice places to eat, but they were also a little more expensive than we wanted so we kept looking.

I'm going to take a break from the story right here to tell you that the only frustration we experienced on our vacation was coffee. Every place we went in both New Hampshire and Vermont had Green Mountain Coffee. I like Green Mountain Coffee. I use their K-Cups in my Keurig brewer at home. The complaint we have was that it was almost never hot. It was brewed and kept in pump-top thermoses on the coffee bar. It wasn't fresh and it wasn't hot.

While driving through Portsmouth, we happened upon a Starbucks. It didn't take us but a nanosecond to decide to stop for coffee. While there, we asked the baristas about where we might find a reasonably priced lobster meal. They recommended a couple of places nearby on the waterfront. Neither place was what we were looking for so we decided to drive up the coast. Before we knew what had happened, we were crossing into Maine.

Maine has a beautiful visitor information center located at Kittery, ME. We stopped there to see what was nearby and the very helpful volunteer suggested several places we should visit and several restaurants where we could get lobster.

After driving around checking out a few places, we decided on Lobster Cove who had two one pound lobsters for $19.99. As you can see, we were very happy to have our lobster dinner. It was delicious and fun. The waitress offered to take our picture but said no photos were allowed until we had our bibs on.

We asked her what we should see and do while we were there for the day. She directed us to the lighthouse which we could see in the distance and to Ogunquit, Perkins Cove, and a walk called the Marginal Way. I must say, this area of Maine is spectacularly beautiful. It is home to the old grand hotels and million dollar homes.

We did not walk The Marginal Way because it was getting late in the afternoon and the temperature was beginning to drop. We walked around the shops at Perkins Cove while sipping hot apple cider. I found the cutest sweaters to take home to Our Little Princesses. Here they are trying them on for the first time.

On the way back to the resort, we saw some beautiful autumnal decorations, huge pumpkins, and a gorgeous sunset over the mountains.

We only saw a tiny corner of Maine, but it was really beautiful. I think we're going to plan a trip to Maine in the next few years. I've got to say, I could really love at least three of the seasons in New England. Winter is a whole different story.

You Can't Wear Your Pajamas to Starbucks

Grams is a Starbucks junkie. I'm addicted to the "nectar of the gods" that they serve hot in a paper cup with a plastic lid. When we travel, I have an uncanny sense that will locate a store anytime there is one nearby. I've been known to drive many miles out of the way just to get my fix.

Not only do I love the way their coffee tastes, I enjoy the whole Starbucks experience. I usually opt to go inside rather than use the drive through. Given the time in my schedule, I sit down and drink my coffee right there. I like the communal coffee experience. It's fun to check out the other customers as they rush through or linger over a newspaper or book. All in all it's enjoyable. I love the way it smells ... I enjoy the friendly interaction with the baristas ... I like the music they play ... I like to look at their retail items ... I even like to peer through the glass case at their pastries, although I rarely eat them since they recently dropped their "no sugar added" banana bread. Now, all their pastries have too much sugar. But I can suffer through the lack of pastries that fit my eating plan, because that's not really what I'm there for anyway.

The only problem I have is that it's approximately 22 miles from my house to the nearest Starbucks. Try as I may, I just can't justify a 44 mile round trip just to get my daily Grande Nonfat-2 Splenda Latte. So, unless I have a reason to head across town, I have to either make coffee at home or go to McDonalds or a gas station for a coffee fix. Both of those are sadly inadequate substitutes for the Starbucks experience.

I'm thinking of beginning a campaign to lobby for a Starbucks outlet in Northwest Corpus Christi. I know that it seems like there's a Starbucks on every corner, but sadly, not in my neighborhood.

Enter the Keurig One Cup Coffee Brewing System. My darling husband got this little jewel for me as a Mother's Day gift a couple of years ago. I don't know how I ever lived without it.

It's a coffee maker that uses K-cups that are available in many different brews and flavors. You just drop in the K-cup, close the lid and push a button. Like magic you get a perfectly brewed cup of coffee every time in less than 3 minutes. It's not Starbucks and there's no communal coffee experience, but it's a good substitute and a good cup of coffee. And did I mention it's significantly less expensive than most gourmet coffee. Each cup is less than a dollar.

Thanks to this little jewel, I can now stumble into the kitchen and make myself a cup of coffee while wearing my pajamas, something I'm pretty sure even the friendly people at Starbucks would frown on.

So, when you're in the neighborhood, drop in for a cup of coffee. Grams made it!