Eating Local in Maine and Vermont

My husband and I were in Maine last weekend for a wedding. We'd been to Maine only once before and really like it. We stayed outside of Bangor in a very remote cabin.This part of Maine is pretty rugged, and I'm not outdoorsy at all, but it was so nice to get away from things and disconnect for a few days.

I wasn't really thinking about the eating local challenge, but I realize that I did get lots of local food while we were away.  First there was all the great, fresh seafood. I'm not crazy about shellfish, but my husband had a Maine lobster, and on the way home, we stopped at a road side stand and picked up 2 quarts of Maine blueberries. They're a little smaller than the ones you see at the store and VERY sweet! The best part about these was that there was no one manning the stand. It was in front of someone's house and asked that you leave payment in a little box, totally on the honor system. Actually there were lots of road side stands, with blueberries, of course, but also squash and sweet corn. Who knew that sweet corn grew so well that far north? And several stands weren't manned either, they were just in front of people's houses with boxes for you to deposit your money or make change if you needed. I was so impressed and surprised that people would have that much trust in other people.  I think I need to get out of my cynical part of the country more often!

So it was a 15-hour drive from DC to Maine (painful!) and on the way back home, we decided to break up the drive into two days. We stayed overnight in Burlington. This was my first time in Vermont, despite the fact that I used to live in Boston, and I loved it! It was so pretty, with Lake Champlain right there and a view of the mountains beyond it. We ate a place called Leunig's in the center of town, and there were lots of local wines and cheeses on the menu. We ordered a bottle of Louise Swenson from East Shore Vineyards, located just outside of Burlington. It was similar to a Sauvignon Blanc and went perfectly with the cheese. The cheese was called Chin Clip and the waiter described it as tasting like havarti. It came from a cheesery (?) near Stowe Mountain. Loved it!

I've decided I'm in love with Vermont and want to retire there. They've got wine, cheese, and the Ben & Jerry's factory, which of course we toured. I think it may be heaven.

I'm now finishing off some blueberry pancakes and procrastinating going out to clean up the garden...

I hope you're having a lovely weekend!