Saturday's expedition broughts us some classic views of Maine's mid-coast region on both sides of the Sheepscot River. The views got better and better as we meandered through Westport, ME past Wiscassett and Boothbay Harbor to East Boothbay and Ocean Point. We had left the rain behind us somewhere around Portsmouth so the day was beautiful and the colors were gorgeous.

It is early spring even in Maine, so the daffodils were up and the forsythia and shadbush were blooming. As every foodie knows, when the forsythia blooms, the foodie's thoughts turn to Shad Roe! I had hoped to score some two weeks ago in the Hudson Valley, and last week in Rhode Island, but failed on both counts. I had placed an order at The Market at the Pinehills in Plymouth, but I was not sure they could get it for me. How frustrating! Shad roe season was winging away in beautiful spring days...

We passed through Portland on our way north, so I made a detour to the Harbor Fish Market down on the waterfront. I had read about it on the web, but had never been there. 

What a discovery! They had some gorgeous shad roe, and all sorts of other goodies besides, including fish that we don't usually see in our local fish market, both whole and cut and cleaned. The whole fish were plump and fresh. They had about 8 types of oysters, they had cherrystones, littlenecks, and countneck clams, they had crabs and  calamari, and lots of fin-fish. The Harbor Fish Market reminded a lot me of Kyler's Catch in New Bedford (provider of the eels for our Eels on the Altar after Christmas.

I had had hake for dinner for the first time on the preceding evening at the Stonebridge Bistro in Onset Village, MA and I loved it. So I bought some hake, and the shad roe, and some bay scallops, all for a very fair price.

So I had achieved my number one objective before ever getting beyond Portland. Our drive was pleasant, scenic, and relaxing, especially the rugged coastal areas east of Boothbay Harbor.

We had dinner in Damariscotta at the Damariscotta River Grill, a very nice place with a good vibe and some good classic cocktails. Lorna had the Lobster Cakes dinner, and I had eight BBQ Shrimp with a Hemingway cocktail (a Daiquiri the way Hemingway liked to have his made, with some grapefruit juice).

Stay tuned for the Shad Roe Dinner Report.