Day Trip to Ogunquit, Maine (2)

おなかいっぱいになって満足した後は町を散策。 After being satisfied with the good meal, we walked around the town.   This is the bridge at Perkins Cove.

橋の上から先ほどのレストランを見たところ。 The view from the bridge toward the restaurant we just ate at.

ずらーっとロブスター採り用のボートが並んでいます。 Many lobster boats on the water.

反対側の眺め。海へつながっています。 The view from the bridge toward the ocean.

ユーモラスな鮫の絵が描かれたボート。 The boat painted with a humorous shark.

ここのキャンディー屋さんにもいつも立ち寄ります。 We also stop by at this candy shop every time we come to Ogunquit.

私がキャンディーを買ってお店から出てくると、外で待っていた来福君と Poirot はまたしても大興奮。何かもらえると思ってるんでしょうが、あなたたちはキャンディーなんか食べられませんよ! As soon as I came out of the candy shop with some sweets in my hand, Poirot and Laifu (who were waiting outside) got so excited.  I know you guys are expecting some sweets, but they are not for you!!

その後 Ogunquit の町を後にして、York にある Brown's Old Fashion Ice Cream へアイスクリームを食べに行きました。ここも私達が毎回立ち寄るお店です。 Then we drove down to York to get some delicious ice cream at Brown's Old Fashion Ice Cream.  This is also the must-go shop when we are in the area.

去年は2つのフレーバーを注文したら巨大なものが出てきて (2つ以上のフレーバーを注文するにはラージサイズしかない) 食べ切れなかったで、今回は "Kid size" という、スモールよりもさらに小さいものを2つ注文。私はメープルウォルナッツ味。 Last year we ordered two flavors and found out it was humongous (to get more than 2 flavors, you have to order the large size) and we couldn't finish even half of it.  So this year, we made two separate orders of the kid size.  I picked the maple walnuts.

夫はオレンジパイナップル。カップがかなり小さかったので、一瞬これなら全部食べられると思ったのですが、実はこの小さいカップにこれでもかというくらいがちがちにアイスクリームが詰め込まれていて (スプーンが入らないくらい) 半分くらい食べたところで飽きてきました。 My husband chose the orange-pineapple.  The cups looked pretty small so at first I thought I could finish all of it.  But I was wrong - the cup was totally, completely packed with a lot of ice cream.  In fact it was packed so hard and tight that I couldn't even scoop it out with the spoon.  After eating half of it, I got tired of it (albeit it was tasty).

Poirot はもうアイスクリームしか眼中にありません。 Once Poirot found out we were eating ice cream, nothing but the ice cream was in his mind....

来福君も興奮して思わず立ち上がって夫にアイスクリームをおねだり。二匹にも少しだけおすそ分けしたら大喜びで食べてました。 Laifu also got excited and stood up, begging for his share to my husband.  We gave a little bit of ice cream to Poirot and Laifu.  They were sooo happy.

アイスクリームを食べた後はすぐ近くにある Nubble Lighthouse へやって来ました。 After the ice cream, we visited Nubble Lighthouse nearby.

"来福君、写真、写真! カメラの方向いて!" "え～僕疲れてるのに～" "Hey Laifu, it's picture time!!  Look at the camera!" "Ummm, I am so tired..."

"しょうがないな～。これでいい?" ”OK、ばっちりだよ!" "OK, how about this?" "Perfect! We both look photogenic!"

今日は快晴でボート日和。 We had very wonderful weather today.

おいしいロブスターも食べられたし、大満足の一日。あっという間に3連休も終わってしまいました～。明日からはまた仕事です～。 It was a very nice day today - we had great lobster meals, enjoyed walking with two boys, etc.  So sad the holiday weekend was already over.  We have to go back to work tomorrow!!

Day Trip to Ogunquit, Maine (1)

今日は来福君と Poirot を連れてメイン州の Ogunquit という小さな町にロブスターを食べに行きました。朝早く起こされたからか、行きの車中では二匹ともかなりテンション低め。 Today we (with Poirot & Laifu) went to Ogunquit, a tiny town in Maine to ear some lobsters.  They were very inactive and looked sleepy on the way maybe because we woke them up early in the morning...

一時間も車で行くと海が見えてきました。お目当てのレストランはもうすぐです。 After ~1 hour driving, we were getting close to our destination.

ここがそのレストラン、Barnacle Billy's です。ここは私達のお気に入りのレストランで年に何回かは必ず訪れます。 We arrived at the town,parked our car and immediately headed to the restaurant, Barnacle Billy's.  We like this restaurant and come here several times every year.

レストランには素敵なテラス席もあって、Poirot だけの時はテラス席 (お店の人が注文を取りに来てくれる) に座るのですが、今回は二匹なので、レストランの横に併設されているセルフサービスの席に座りました。窓口に注文しに行って、出来上がったら番号を呼ばれるのでとりに行くというものです。 The restaurant has nice patio seats (served by wait stuff) where we usually sit with Poirot.  But since we had two dogs today, we sat at the outside table next to the restaurant (self-served).

テーブルからの眺め。止まっているボートはロブスターを採りに行く用のものです。 A view from our table.  The boats on the water are for lobster fishing.

お店に着いてもまだ眠そうな Poirot。こんなことは珍しいです。 Even after sitting at the table, Poirot looked very sleepy, which was unusual.

来福君も大きなあくび。昨日の夜は二匹一緒だったので興奮してよく眠れなかったのかな? Laifu had lots of big yawning, too.  I wonder they couldn't sleep well last night as they were too excited ...

夫はビールを頼みましたが私はただのお水。 My husband ordered a glass of beer, but I just had some water.

さっきまで眠たそうにしていた二匹ですが、食べ物が到着するやいなや瞳がきらきら～っと輝いて、舌なめずり。現金なものです。 Although they both looked so sleepy, they suddenly woke up with their eyes shining and licked their chops as soon as my husband came back with our food plates in his hands.  Unbelievable!

私はロブスターロールを注文。今年は既に4,5回ロブスターロールを食べてます。 I ordered the lobster roll.  This summer I already had 4 or 5 lobster rolls!

シンプルにロブスターとマヨネーズだけ。ロブスターの身がぷりぷり！ It's very simply - just lobster meat and mayo.  The lobster meat was very succulent.

夫は蒸しロブスター。夫はロブスターや蟹の殻から身を取り出すのが得意。いつもきれいに身を取り出して私に食べさせてくれるので私は手を汚さずに食べることができます。 My husband ordered the steamed lobster (1.5 lbs).  He is very good at taking lobster (and crab) meat out of its shell.  Every time we order lobsters or crabs, he cracks the shell, take out the meat and give it to me.  So I can enjoy it without messing up my hands.  I am spoiled!

やっぱりここのロブスターは新鮮でおいしい! わざわざ来る甲斐があります。 Lobsters here are very fresh and tasty.  It's worth driving here!

Poirot's Best Buddy

今週末は Poirot の大親友、来福君が私達の家に泊まりに来ています。二匹とも大興奮! 二匹いると色々笑えることをやらかしてくれます。 This weekend,  Poirot's best buddy, Laifu is staying with us at our place.  These two got so excited when they saw each other.  Together, they did a lot of funny things!

庭で追いかけっこが始まったかと思うと、まずは来福君がピーッとマーキング。 They chased each other in the backyard, then Laifu peed first.

Poirot は真剣にその場所のにおいをかいだ後、 Poirot checked the spot very seriously then,

自分も同じ場所にお返し。この後も二匹が毎回変わりばんこで同じ場所にマーキング。 He peed on the same spot.  During Laifu's stay, they did the same thing every time - when one of them did pee, the other immediately peed back on the same spots.

"あの～、来福君、それ、もしかして...." "Hey Laifu, I think it might be  possibly, probably...."

"僕のローハイドだと思うんだけど....。何で来福君が食べてるの? 僕も食べたいんだけどな～..." "My raw hide, isn't it??  Why are you eating it?  I want to eat it, too..."

自分のおもちゃを来福君に取られてしまい、取り返したいんだけどできなくて、ただじ～っと恨めしそうに見つめる Poirot。普段は大威張りのくせに肝心なときには弱気で笑えます。 Laifu took Poirot's raw hide.  Poirot wanted to get it back from him, but he didn't have courage to do so and just staring at Laifu chewing it.  Poirot usually acts big, but actually he easily gets intimidated.  So funny.

Lunch at Neptune Oyster

今日は久しぶりに North End でお昼ご飯! 今回は Neptune Oyster へ行くことにしました。11時半開店なのですが、開店前から長蛇の列。2～3時間待ちはざらの超人気店です。 Today we decided to go to North End for lunch.  This time we tried Neptune Oyster, a very popular seafood restaurant.  It opens at 11:30 am, but many people lined up before its opening.   During the prime time, the wait time may often becomes 2~3 hours.

もちろん私達は早めに来て並んだので開店と同時に入店。 Of course we arrived early and waited in front of the restaurant, so we could get in as soon as it opened.

角っこのちょっと広い席をゲットできました。 Luckily, we could score the corner table, which have a little bit more space.

でも隣は知らない人。すごく小さな店なので満席になるとちょっと (というかかなり) 窮屈。パリのビストロとかと似たような雰囲気かも。 The restaurant is very small and when it is full (which is almost all the time), it feels too tight.  It has a similar atmosphere to a tiny bistro in Paris

まずは生牡蠣。かなりたくさんの種類があるのですが今回は3種類のものを2つずつ注文。カクテルソースの置いてあるところから時計回りに Wellfleet、Island Creek、Ninigret です。 First we ordered some raw oysters.   Broad range of the selections was available, but this time we chose 3 different kinds (2 each).  Clockwise from the cocktail sauce, Wellfleet, Island Creek, and Ninigret.

レモンを絞り、カクテルソースやミニョネットソースをちょこっとつけて食べるとこれが最高!やっぱり今回も私が一番好きなのは Island Creek でした。これからは Island Creek だけを注文しようかな。 We ate them with lemon juice, cocktail sauce and mignonette sauce.  Ohhh, they were so fresh and good.  Each kind had different tastes, but I still loved Island Creek the most.

メニューには日本産の生蛸があったので注文したのですが品切れとのこと。残念。その代わりに Jonah Crab という 蟹の爪を注文。 We found raw octopus (from Japan) on the menu, so we ordered it but unfortunately it was not available today.  So instead, we ordered the Jonah Crab craws.

これは冷凍してあったのを解凍したのか味がいまいち。 I think they were frozen and thawed.   Not very good to my taste.

ハマグリのフライ。身が肉厚でめちゃくちゃおいしい! タルタルソースも自家製でフライと相性ばっちり。でも夫は Clam Shack で食べたものの方が好きだそうです。私はどちらもそれぞれ違ったおいしさがあると思います。 We also ordered the fried clams. These were humongous clams – very thick bellies.   And oh, so delicious.  Not oily at all.   The home-made tartar sauce (with many pieces of pickles) were the perfect match.   But my husband said he preferred the ones we had at the Clam Shack.   I think they were both good but different.

そして、ロブスターロール。ここのロブスターロールは冷たいもの (マヨネーズ味) と温かいもの (バター味) の2種類あるのですがたいていの人は温かい方を選びます。もちろん私たちも温かい方を注文。 And also the lobster roll.  At this restaurant, two versions of the lobster rolls are available – the cold one with mayo and the hot one with butter.   Most people order the hot ones, and so did we.

たっぷりロブスターが入っていて最高。やはり人気なだけのことはあります。地元の人だけでなく観光客もかなり訪れていました。ほとんどの観光客は Mike’s Pastry の白地に青い模様の入った箱を持っているのですぐわかります。 Lots of lobster meat and it tasted very, very good.   I understand why it is so popular (but for raw oysters, I would go to Island Creek Oyster Bars as it is much more spacious, accepts reservations, and my favorite oysters (Island Creek) are cheaper there ($2.00 at ICOB vs. $2.50 at NO)).  Not only locals, but also many tourists visit this restaurant (you can easily identify tourists as most of them carry boxes of Mike’s Pastry).

その後はすぐ近くのカフェ、Caffe Vittoria へ。1929年開店の老舗です。 After the lunch, we went to the nearby cafe, Caffe Vittoria, which was the first Italian cafe opened in 1929 in Boston.

私はカフェマキアートを注文。 I ordered the Caffe macchiato.

夫はカプチーノを注文。チョコレートパウダーがたっぷりかかっています。 And my husband had the cappuccino.  A lot of chocolate powder on top of it.

そしてティラミス。私はおなかいっぱいなので一口。ほとんど夫が食べました。 And the tiramisu.  I was full, so didn't eat much.  My husband ate most of it.

カフェから出てみるとたくさんの消防車が!どうやらビルの上階で火事があった様で消防車の長～い梯子を消防士さんが上っていきました。見たところ、ホースは消火栓に繋がれていましたが、放水している様子はなく、そんなに深刻な火事ではない様です。 When we came out from the cafe, many fire trucks were on the street.  It appeared that on the top floor of one of the buildings had minor fire or something.

その後、先週に引き続き今回もまた Haymarket に立ち寄りました。 Then we stopped at Haymarket again.

ここは本当に激安です。今日はとうもろこし5本 (計 $1)、ライム8個 (計 $1)、オレンジ6個 (計 $1)、大粒のぶどう一房 (重さ1 kg、$2.50) などを購入。 Here everything is so cheap.  Today, we bought corn on the cob (5 for $1), limes (8 for $1), oranges (6 for $1), grapes ($1.50/pound), etc.

早速家に帰ってとうもろこしを食べてみると、甘くておいしかったです。このマーケットで売っている野菜や果物はオーガニックとかではありませんが (卸のお店がその週に売れ残ったものを激安で放出)、この値段なので文句は言えません。ここで買うとスーパーとかで買うのが馬鹿らしくなってきます。 We grilled corns at home, and they were very sweet and good.  Vegetables and fruits sold here are not organic or super-fresh (produce here is what the wholesalers haven't been able to sell during the week to the city's supermarkets), but at these prices, I can't complain.