The Maine Lobster Festival---finally!

This is the day--we have been talking about it and thinking about it and planning for it and FINALLY, the day has come!  THE MAINE LOBSTER FESTIVAL!!!!!  We woke up this morning with anticipation--we got ready, had breakfast at the hotel, got in the car, and we're on the way!  We purposely stayed aways away from the Festival because everything within a radius was like $300 a night. On Google Map it looked pretty close, but Augusta is a long winding road and about 45 minutes away.

The drive there was a constant changing of speed limits as we wandered through small towns and past lakes and junctions.  The road was mostly shrouded with thick forests of deciduous trees--not quite what I was expecting.  But we drove right up to the designated parking ground and was immediately picked up by an orange school bus to shuttle us downtown to the Festival.

We paid our $16 admission annnnnnnd we're in!  We made a quick survey of the layout.  I see mostly food vendors--lemonade, root beer, chicken fajitas, brats, your deep-fried candy bars, and just about anything else you could think of eating.  There are large tents with jewelry, artwork, ceramics, Maine blueberries, etc.  But where are the lobsters????? 

We finally find the main tent and all of the food we were looking for.  It's 11am and time for lunch!  We walk right in, and order the triple-lobster dinner ($34) and get started.  They gave us a few eating tips, but we were pretty much on our own.  Its not like when you go to a fancy restaurant and order lobster.  We're outside, under a tent, and they give us a plastic bib with a picture of a lobster on it.  They tell us to grab the tail and twist it off of the body--then rip of the back fins? of the tail and stick you finger in to push the tail out of the shell.  Hey--it works!  (Scarf down one tail, slathered in butter of course.)  Next twist off the arms, including the claws and twist off each knuckle of the claw.  In no time at all, the whole lobster is eaten!

I eat mine and Maridee eats hers, and there's one left to fight over.  We quickly dismantle it and its gone too.  That was--the best lobster I've ever eaten.  It was just very plain and steamed and dipped in butter.  Cruise ships overcook them.  They're usually not as fresh as these, so they might "smell" a little bit.  These were perfect--very fresh smelling, very tender, very good.  So Maridee says, "I need more"!  So I go back and now the line is out the door and down the street!  How about a plate of mussels?  We also scarfed those down in no time at all.  (I was very proud of Maridee eating those).

After we finished eating we walked alittle and said, "What else"?  "We're done!"  So we drove around the area awhile and ended up back in Rockland again to try one more tradition--lobster rolls. Maridee thought they were like sushi rolls with lobster in them but not so.  Everybody sells them, including McDonalds and Arby's.  But we did some research to find the best and settled on Nancy Bean's Lobster Rolls.  It's basically  some chunks of lobster with a little mayo, on a hotdog bun.  It was OK but didn't compare to what we already ate.

Well, it was a long drive home--the same 45 minutes.  Now we can finally say we're done it.  It will always be a pleasure to remember the Maine Lobster Festival.

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