Maine!!! (with a baby)

So, after last week's post about our New England adventure, I wanted to finally get up a post from the last time we were in the northeast, when we went to Maine back in 2010.  I know it was forever ago, but it was such a neat place that I really wanted to have a list of places we tried there up here on the blog.  It was a very different trip than the one I just wrote about, since it was the first we took by ourselves as young parents.  Theodore was 6 months old at the time, and still nursing.  We had a hard time navigating between picking the kinds of things we wanted to do and what would work best with a (potentially) noisy baby.  It gave us some pretty good memories though.

Here's our Rundown:
My mother actually drove with me out to the East coast, since I'd been in Indiana visiting and no one seemed to think I could drive across half the country with a new baby.  I could, and have many times since, but it was nice to have someone on the drive with me.  We stopped at Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier so that she could have a taste of Maine lobster before she caught her flight back.

 And even though it was raining we made sure to hit up one lighthouse with her, as well as the ocean.

The next day, Theodore and I picked up Brian from his conference site, Bates College in Lewistown, ME.  We headed out to Bailey Island, and enjoyed some time ocean gazing and catching up after our time apart.  During the beginning of trips, we tend to stock up on food at local stores so we don't have to eat out so much.  We must have stopped at the "Bigs" general store, since I took a photo of it.

 Our next stop was Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, ME.  I remember enjoying the beautiful architecture of the historic college (charted in 1794), and how different it was from the architecture of our relatively new, dessert college.  And because my husband was fresh off his algae ice days, we had to stop at this exhibit. 

We drove further north, throughout many picturesque towns, and stayed somewhere that night.

Eventually, we arrived the next day at Acadia National Park.  It was finally a national park that was new for Brian, and it was fun exploring together.  We stopped at Jordan's Pond House and were introduced to the baked good "popovers" (the reason that pan is still on my Christmas list every year), took some photos from the top of Cadillac Mountain, and then drove down to explore the tidal pools (one of Brian's favorite things to do in life).  Later we headed to Bass Harbor Head Light lighthouse and enjoyed watching the sun set.

Later that night, because when in Maine, we stopped at a lobster pound, Town East Lobster Pound to be specific, and had our taste of their famous seafood.

The next day there, we stayed in the area and took a somewhat relaxing lighthouse tour.  Being that Theodore was held the whole time, we didn't have to constantly worry about him falling overboard like we have to now whenever on the water.

As in most of our trips, we found a place with really good ice cream, The Old Dutch Treat.

The next day we started heading south, stopping to check out some local places in Portland, ME. I wasn't expecting to be as charmed by the city as I was.  It had a little bit of that Canadian feel to it that I actually like in cities.  While there, we stopped at the Shipyard Brewing Company for a tour, Mousse Cafe for lunch, the Two Cats Bakery for a whoopie pie, and also a charming bookstore called Longfellow Books, to pick up one of my Caldecott books, Blueberries for Sal.  I think we stopped at one more lighthouse afterwards, and then drove through to Delaware.

And between the lighthouses, lobster, and quaint towns, we had a pretty satisfying Maine visit with our six month old.  The only thing I really wanted to see that we didn't were their puffin birds.  But I guess that leaves something for next time.

Claymont Steak Shop: Newark, DE Restaurant Week

While we would have loved to try several more new places on Main St, we limited ourselves to one tried and true restaurant (Café Gelato) and one newbie.  For that we chose Claymont Steak Shop.  Technically, it is on South Main St. (newly named), but it is pretty close and was participating in restaurant week as well.  This place is a DE original, and this is their second location.  They haven't been in Newark too long, and their original location is in northern DE almost at the PA line.

While you order at the counter, they do make food to order and they call your name from the counter when it is ready (think Panera Bread).

Waiting on our order.

 Restaurant Week Special:  "2 Large Cheese Steaks that are prepared with our classic fresh cut rib-eye and your choice of toppings Plus an order of Supreme fries that are smothered in melted cheddar, bacon, ranch and topped with freshly grated mozzarella cheese and finished in the oven."

Brian ordered his with peppers and fried onions.

 

 We didn't really look at their menu, since we were planning on getting the special for r.w.  Since they were voted best cheesesteaks in the state for 2012, we were expecting perfection.  They were pretty good, good buns and fried onions and meat.  However, there just wasn't quite enough cheese on the sandwiches to make it the perfect cheesesteak.  They were pretty good though.  The fries were pretty great-you know if you need a fork to eat them they are going to be tasty. 

Father-Son bonding:  How to properly eat a cheese steak.

 Theo had a 1/4 or so of my large sandwich, and of course loved the fries.  It wasn't hard to get him to eat here, but it would have been hard to change him had we needed it-there are no changing tables in the restroom.  Luckily, he's been a lot more interested in potty training this week, so we didn't need a changing table.  And Eli slept through most of the meal.  He woke up at the very end.

Can we come back once I'm eating table foods?

Caffe Gelato: Newark, DE restaurant week

So, one of our favorite times of year around here is restaurant week.  While most of the college students are still away, Newark entices us to leave our warm houses to try out new specials at Newark's best restaurants.  Today we visited one of our favorites for a cheap-er lunch than usual-well, it would have been if we had skipped dessert.

I first mentioned Caffe Gelato on my blog over four years ago as the first restaurant we ever visited on Newark's Main Street.  Their specials today for restaurant week were:

French Onion Soup au gratin

or

Roasted Cauliflower Bisque with aged Vermont Cheddar garnished with crisp pancetta

and

House-crafted sun dried tomato gnocchi ‘gratinati’ with caramelized onions, radicchio, roasted garlic béchamel and smoked mozzarella 

or

Prosciutto Panino with sliced apples, Manchego, fig jam, arugula and caramelized onions

I had the cauliflower bisque and gnocchi, while Brian enjoyed the French onion soup and panino.  All four courses were delicious.  My dishes were both very fragrant and delicately seasoned, and perfect on this cold January day.

 Their children's menu is pretty typical, but Theo enjoyed his sweet potato fries and chicken tenders. 

He was just being good the whole time to get his gelato at the end.  He immediately picked out his Strawberry flavored dessert when we walked in and were waiting to be seated, since the gelato selections are right inside the door.  He almost went for "green" (mint chocolate chip), but decided he "doesn't like" chocolate chips-which is the biggest lie I've ever heard.  Two year olds...

Cheeburger Cheeburger (Newark, DE)

After having the Chuckbox as our go-to-burger-place in Tempe, we were quite spoiled when it came to finding the perfect burger.  Chuckbox is absolutely the perfect place for college students to get a burger, beer and onion rings (or fried zucchini in my case).  This one-of-a-kind (and location) restaurant cooks the burgers to order on their huge fire pit, and lets you dress it yourself at the fixin's bar.  We pretty much took everyone who ever came to visit us there.

(couldn't find a pic of us there, but here's my brother-in-law and sister-in-law there)

There is really no comparison to it here in Delaware.  And the first few years we were here there were really no burger places at all on Main St. (though there is a Jake's just out of town).  But, as luck would have it, when we crossed the line from needing a college joint to a family atmosphere, Cheeburger Cheeburger came to Main St.  This is a chain restaurant, that seems mostly to be in our area and some of the south.  Some random airports across the country also have a location.  With a 50s décor, their shtick is to have you "invent" whatever you would like to eat.  Their menu boasts over 1.285 million milkshake combinations, and there are about 30 different toppings to choose from for your burger (I like the black olives!).  They have regular French fries, sweet potato fries, and really thin delicious onion rings. 

We took Brian's parents there last weekend, and it was probably our third visit to the new restaurant.  We have yet to be disappointed. 

You get your picture on the wall with this burger if you eat their big burger in one sitting.

Theo loves the car that his meal comes in, it keeps him occupied for a while. 

 Even Eli had a good time!