We drove to Stonington, Maine, which is one of our longer trips at 660 miles. On the long trips we get less time for exploring, but we still did pretty well; we visited two farms and two excellent markets, and got some fresh Jersey cow cream, fresh fiddleheads and two artisanal goat cheeses, and finished up with local crab and lobster and a hard-to-find microbrew from Orono, ME.

(We nearly got a ticket too, but escaped that. You don't cover as many miles as we do by driving slowly!)

It was dusk before we got on the road again for the long, long drive home, but that was good luck too. We saw many views of a gorgeous sunset as we worked our way back to Coastal Route 1.

Best of Show has to go to the Sunset Acres Farm and Dairy in North Brooksville, not far from Stonington. "Fahmah Bob" Bowen welcomed us and found for us the first Stonington Granite cheese of the season, then he introduced us to the new baby goats!

The goats live in big airy barns with a lot of space. We love seeing goats because they are so curious, even mischievous. They react to visitors much more than sheep or cows do.

Many artisanal cheeses are seasonal. In the case of Sunset Acres, this is because the fancier special goat cheeses they make, like the pyramid-shaped Stonington Granite with its layer of ash, are short-lived. Cheesemaker Anne makes them only during the tourist season, when she can sell them at the Bar Harbor and other local farmer's markets. The selling season for her opens on Memorial Day weekend, so the cheeses are ripening in her cave right now.

When we go to Stonington, we like to eat at the Fisherman's Friend, where Lorna likes the Lobster Pillow and I like the fresh-picked local crabmeat on a Caesar Salad, washed down with a Black Bear ale from Orono, Maine.