New Year's Eve day was beautiful, so we took our traditional year-end-review drive. We pick a direction and go as far as we can until dark, then we turn back. On the way out, we go over everything we can remember of the past year, and on the return we make plans for the coming year. It's amazing how much you can remember once you get started!

It makes a difference which direction we go. Not only is the scenery different, but sunset comes earlier in the east and later in the west. Sunset yeasterday in Milbridge was at 4:02pm. An equivalent drive to the west might have found us in Hamilton, NY with sunset over half an hour later at 4:38pm! That means we might have pressed on to Cazenovia or Syracuse... But then we would not have seen the lobstermen's Christmas Tree in Rockland.

We would have had a fine lunch somewhere, but it wouldn't have been the Best of Show lobster club at the Brass Compass in Rockland!

We got an early start, so we were able to stop at Maria's Pastry Shop in the North End for a fresh coffee and a slice of Torta di Nonna.

From Boston's North End we rocketed northward past Portsmouth, NH and Portland, ME, past Brunswick to Rockland for an A++ lunch of the famous Lobster Club, Fried Clams, and Lobster Stew at the Brass Compass. Not only was it all fresh and excellent, but it was generous too - we did not have to eat again until very late, on the return trip almost to Bath. I think there was at least half a chicken lobster in that cup of lobster stew!

We pressed on through Camden, Lincolnville, and Northport to Belfast where I stopped in at the brilliant Marshall Wharf Brewing for a 4-pack of their Cant Dog dIPA for some beerhound friends.

Onward we pressed, over the new cable-stay Verona Bridge to Bucksport and on to Searsport, Orland, and Ellsworth, where I stopped at The Maine Grind. We'd come 300 miles and I was ready for their excellent coffee and a chat with the friendly staff. I always like stopping there when I go through Ellsworth, typically en route to Bar Harbor. For a Lucky Strike Extra, I scored a bottle of the Urban Farm Fermentory Blueberry Kombucha, which I had been seeking at every other stop north of Boston.

This time we didn't go to Bar Harbor. We kept on Downeasting along Route 1, where we could look southwestward to Cadillac Mountain and the Porcupine Islands.

It was getting toward dusk. We knew we would not get to Eastport or even Machias before dark, but we were enjoying the drive so we kept at it.

As we approached Milbridge, the sky had turned an exquisite Wedgwood blue contrasted with only the pure white snow and the darkening fir trees. There was almost no traffic. It was the sort of beautiful road experience that you want to take home and uncork when you're stuck on Rte 128 trying to get to work...

We turned back in Milbridge, 333 miles from home. It was 4:40pm and we had a long way to go!

Of course it wouldn't be a Foodie Pilgrim expedition without an authentic foodie discovery. On the return drive I saw a sign for a distillery that I'd never heard of. We took a short diversion to the Global Beverage Warehouse in Ellsworth to learn more. We learned that the place I saw is not yet selling anything, but we discovered (and acquired) a delicious Tree Spirits Applejack!

Even at that late hour, our discoveries for 2012 were not yet finished. By the time we got south of Wiscasset and were almost to Brunswick and the highway, we figured we should get dinner beofre all the restaurants were filled with pre-midnight revellers. Already places were filling up and Le Garage was closed for the season, so we took a chance on the Montsweag Roadhouse, which we had passed about a thousand times. I got a homey meatloaf with melted cheese and fried onions, and Lorna got the haddock special. Both were excellently prepared from quality ingredients; we'll be back!

We got home about three hours later, at 11:58pm - just in time to get inside and toast the New Year!

Here's a list of the places we went in 2012, a total of 27,560 miles of adventuring for New England foodie goodness!: