MAINE, DAY 2

On Sunday morning we awoke to another beautiful and sunny day. I'd done some research online, and decided that we'd be having brunch at 2 Cats, a B&B and restaurant in Bar Harbor. Since we arrived early in the morning, reservations weren't necessary, but as we sat, I could see how they would be if you wanted to arrive later or were visiting when Acadia's in season. (Their season coincides with the start of summer).We took a seat in the outdoor seating area, with its mismatched chairs and tables

and what really made Tom happy, a kitty cat.

Ok, the kitty was pretty cute. And nice and well behaved. She approached us a few times and we got to pet her. The service at 2 Cats is very casual and pleasant. As we read our menus and decided on what we'd be ordering, we also watched as large parties of locals also arrived for brunch and sat at tables flanking us.

I put an order in for one of my favorite things...biscuits. And these came with a side of strawberry jam. After my experience in Hyannis, I was a little apprehensive about what'd show up, but I didn't need to be. These biscuits were delicious- flaky, buttery and wonderful with the strawberry butter. They were probably some of the best biscuits I'd ever had.

Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same thing for my breakfast plate. I had ordered the Mediterranean breakfast plate because it featured pan fried sun dried tomato polenta, topped with eggs, caponata and feta cheese. It was good in theory, but in reality, the polenta was pretty tasteless. I realize that they probably wanted it to be enhanced by the caponata, but I still think the polenta itself should've been more flavorful. I ended up just eating my side of spicy homefries (yum!) and biscuits instead.

Meanwhile, I had convinced Tom to order blueberry pancakes, cause aren't you supposed to eat blueberries in Maine? He also got a side of the spicy potatoes (which he liked a lot) and spicy sausage, which he said were pretty good. The pancakes were a bit too soggy for him, but he still enjoyed them.

Overall, our breakfast was very pleasant. Sitting outdoors on a deck in beautiful weather while petting a kitty can't be too terrible, after all.

Then we started on our drive back to Boston (we shared the driving duties on the way down), but we made a stop in Portland to visit my friend, Noel, and to get some lunch. After the previous evening's dinner of lobster, we were pretty much done with seafood, so when Noel suggested Flatbread for great pizza, it sounded like a great idea. I'd actually seen Flatbread before, on previous visits to Portland, but had never tried it. When we entered, we found a huge space, decorated in a sort of rustic/industrial style. The place must have been founded by a bunch of hippies, because it's all about organic, local, clean, etc. etc. food. (not that those are bad things).

The central focus of the restaurant in this gigantic stone oven.
Initially, we were actually seated directly in front of the oven, and from 10 feet away, you could feel the heat coming off of it. We asked to move and the server obliged. We listened to Noel for tips on ordering and decided to share a salad and two small pizzas. (The large pizzas are really quite large, enough for two adults to share).

Here's their house salad with dressing and goat cheese on the side. I really liked the salad. It was tasty with it's topping of sesame seeds and kombu. It had a very Asian style dressing, too. Tom wasn't such a huge fan because it had celery in it.

Next came the pizzas. I ordered one of the pizza specials, topped with a bunch of different types of veggies like portabello mushrooms, yellow peppers, red peppers, and I don't remember much else. It was pretty good and with its whole wheat crust, reminded me a lot of the pizzas I've been making at home (if we had an oven that could burn up to 800F)But the best pizza was this three cheese pizza. The flavors of the cheese and crust were just great, and I wish I could've had more. Overall, lunch was excellent. And the price tag was great, too. With tip, it cost just $30 for the three of us.

After lunch, we ran across the street to Standard Baking Company because Noel had never been there before. (I had on a previous trips, but I don't remember getting anything.) It was clear that they had already sold out of a lot of their normal pastries, so I just bought Tom a baguette for $2. He thought it was pretty decent, but still not as great as the ones at Clear Flour. My last stop of the day was the Harbor Fish Market, located on one of the piers. Of course, this place is famous for its lobster pound and its selection of fresh seafood. Here's a pic of the shellfish area (you can see they're almost sold out. We arrive a little after 2 and they close at 3 on Sundays)And here's the one of the two fish displays.I was in the market for some fresh lump crab. Mark Bittman made a lovely crab salad with fresh peas on the Minimalist last week, and I wanted to make it for dinner sometime this week. A pound of lump crab meat was $18, which seemed kinda pricey, but it does take a lot of labor and a whole lot of crabs. This is obviously not a dish that I'll be making often, but I'm looking foward to it tomorrow.

And that was it. Our weekend in Maine was over. We had a wonderful time walk, hiking, eating and sightseeing. For you Bostonians, we live less than a two hour drive from Portland, so there's no excuse for not visiting. (you can do it as a day trip, I have.) You'll have a great time.