Going out to eat

 

Last week, RQS came up for a mid-week visit, as she had a weekend memorial that she had to attend. Because of this, she came up on Tuesday to spend the middle of the week with me.

- - - - - -

Like most couples, RQS and I have several go-to restaurants near each others' residences.  The reasons a restaurant becomes a "go-to" place vary.  For example, the diner in Croton is my go-to place when I'm presenting as Mario.  The food is good, servings are plentiful, the staff is friendly, and the experience is predictable.  It's not a great place to eat, but it is not a bad place to eat. It's simply a pleasant experience each time we go there.  And I've eaten there often enough as Mario, that I avoid eating there as Marian.

The go-to places I have when presenting as Mario are different than those I have when presenting as Marian.  For example, I will go to one Italian restaurant in Croton over most of the others in town, as they have only seen me in Marian mode.  This makes it much easier for me, as I don't have to worry as much as being misgendered. 

And then, there are the places I can go to in either presentation.  I do not visit these places often enough to be a fixture there, and I am likely to be seen as a very occasional visitor.  One of those places is the Eveready Diner in Brewster.  Given the distance from Croton, NY to Brewster, NY, we are not likely to visit there often enough to become a fixture there.  So, I feel safe visiting in either gender presentation.

- - - - - -

As you can guess, I am a low key foodie who can enjoy both haute cuisine and junk food.  For the most part, I find good places to eat almost anywhere.  But I have also found some bad places as well.  Those bad places are few and far between, and are often found in acts of desperation.  For example, RQS and I visited Bar Harbor, ME on a cruise after tourist season ended and couldn't find a good place to eat because my go-to places were already closed for the winter.  Unfortunately, we ended up stumbling into a place with bad service, mediocre food, and forgettable atmosphere.  That's one place we will never again visit.

Yet, we stumble into more good places than bad ones.  On the same cruise where we visited Bar Harbor, we also visited Portland, ME and found a great seafood joint off the beaten path.  The restaurant was associated with another business which processes seafood destined for other other restaurants.  Yum!  Needless to say, we will visit this place again the next time we are in Portland.

- - - - - -

In the past, I'd try to go to as many meetups as possible, so that I could eat out with other people.  Now that RQS is in my life, it is just as well that I do not go to many meetups anymore. Dining out has gotten way too expensive these days. I still recoil a little when I see post-pandemic restaurant prices. So, I've become extra careful to patronize my go-to places as often as I can, as I want them to stay in business.

Second Cruise - Day 3: Portland, ME.

 

 

Day 3: Portland, ME.

After a good sleep, we awoke and took our time getting ready for the day.  Unlike Newport, where the ship arrived in port at 6:00 am, our Portland arrival was scheduled for 11:00 am.  This gave us a reasonable time to explore the port.  Better yet, this was not a tender port.  We could walk off the ship, and go directly to the shops or restaurants we wanted to go to without delay.

Once done with a quick but hearty breakfast, it was off the ship and on to a narrow gauge train ride.  The Maine Narrow Gauge tourist railroad didn’t go far, but it had some scenic views of Casco Bay.  While on the train, we met up with a couple we dined with on the ship last night, as well as meeting a young woman and her dog. (She was not on our ship.  Instead, she was a tourist from Florida who was working remotely.) It’s too bad that a bridge has been out of commission for years, as it would have been nice if the train ride could have crossed the water and continued its path on the mainland.

Next, it was off to find a place where we could have a good lobster roll.  RQS and I didn’t want to go back to last month’s restaurant, as we were very unhappy with the food served there.  This time, we found a little place on a pier that both serves food and delivers seafood to other operations,  This place, Luke’s is a gem that has been family operated for 3 generations, and well worth going to when in the Portland area.  I noted to RQS that I suffered a little sticker shock when looking at the price of lobster rolls.  The lobsters from the Cousins Maine Lobster truck come from the same region, taste just as good, and are several dollars cheaper.  Although neither of us had any complaints about the restaurant, we realized how lucky we are to have a good food truck visit our area from time to time.

Now that were done with the restaurant, it was time to go back to the ship and rest for a while before going to the specialty restaurant on the ship.  We had booked dinner at the on ship steakhouse when we embarked on this cruise.  And we looked forward to having this meal from the time this cruise was booked.

As expected, dinner at the steakhouse was very good.  We ordered differently than we normally would, and we were impressed with the lamb chops and filet mignon.  NCL’s specialty restaurants never cease to impress me with their quality and service.  Too bad that we can’t eat this well on a regular basis.  But then, RQS and I would be sharing our own unique zip code….

Thinking of a street in Portland, ME.

 

About a week and a half ago, we were exploring the shore front in Portland, ME, and we came across the above sign.  Unlike my past trips to Portland with my former cruise partner (FCP), I was able to take the lead with RQS and found a street which time left alone enough to have a pleasant, unique character.

You'll note that the street is unevenly paved with cobblestones, and that there are old buildings with an excess of character on both sides of the street.  I'd never have gotten to explore this street had I been with FCP.  But, with RQS, we had a great time exploring this street on our way back to the ship.

 

 

One can easily tell that the above is an old building left from the days when Portland was a major seafaring town.  This street is way too short.  But for its length, it has more character than many old streets in NYC.

 
I didn't bother taking too many pictures here, as I'd have needed more time to plan my shots, and we wanted to get off of our feet.  There was a "coffee shop" on this street near the above establishment that RQS captured on her camera.  (The "coffee shop" is a hybrid of a coffee shop and a "medicinal" cannabis dispensary.)  I didn't think the place was too interesting, and I didn't want to disturb the privacy of people wanting to enjoy their time at the shop.

Hopefully, we'll be able to go back to this street soon.  There were several places where we could get a good lobster at a reasonable price.  Who knows, maybe we'll get a prescription at the coffee shop the next time we visit.

Day 08 - Portland, ME

 

One of these days, I'll get the chance to take this tourist train. Like most of these trains, the ride is overpriced. But the money goes for a good purpose - to keep the history of passenger railroading alive.

- - - - - -

Neither of us wanted to get up early enough for the "sit down" breakfast. We ended up heading to the buffet for another large breakfast. (We’ll both need to diet after this trip!) While at breakfast, I decided to send a bag to the ship’s laundry, as I didn’t want to wash both a load of whites and a load of colors when I returned home. After breakfast, we ordered some photos of the two of us, and returned to the cabin to wait until we reached Portland. While in the cabin, I stuffed a bit of dirty laundry into the paper bag and asked the room steward to take care of it.

When we reached Portland, we did the compulsory meeting with US Immigration Service before leaving the ship to explore the shore front. We walked along the main drag and found a tolerable place to have some clam chowder. (We should have skipped the nachos we ordered with the chowder bowls.) Then, we walked back to the ship to rest.

After our nap, it was off to the Hibachi Specialty restaurant on the ship. This was a mistake, as we've had better Hibachi on land. If we had thought about things, we would have visited this place one night later, as both of us were too full from lunch to enjoy this meal properly.