So the wife and I are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary and are headed up to Boothbay, for the first time, this weekend (Sat - Mon) Skipping Portland this trip, the ride up looks like this: Maine Beer Co. in Freeport (some tastings and what not) Lions Pride in New Brunswick (some beers and little lunch) Oxbow Brewing in New Castle (pick up some growlers) Then to Boothbay to check in and find a place for dinner. Looking at the tavern attached to the Boothbay Brewery. Any additional places we should check out while we are up there? (bars, bottle shops, attractions) TIA
Bet's Fish Fry on the common in Boothbay is worth a stop if you seek a massive portion of fried haddock.
If you hit up Oxbow you might as well drive over to Rising Tide (granola market) in Damariscotta. They often have Prairie and Marshall Wharf.
Newcastle Publick House - beautiful place, twelve taps. Exit right from the parking lot and travel the River Rd. into Boothbay. The Watershed's a neat spot, well worth the visit, and The Botanical Gardens, not far from the Watershed is impressive. If out at night in Boothbay Harbor maybe try to find Danny "The Hinge" Beal playing piano somewhere. A drive out to Ocean Point and a loop around Southport's pretty cool too. Lobsterman's Wharf in East Boothbay. And Cabbage Island Clambake, if still operating this late in the season, is a must do when in Boozebay Harbor. Also, consider lunch at Red's Eats in Wiscasset on your way back home. Pricey but delicious.
I've stayed at the Boothbay Resort and Brewery several times and loved it - the owners are great people ! The last time I was there, the Watershed Tavern wasn't open yet but I expect nothing but great things.
Sorry. Ya I like when people give a run down of what they did after being given good advice. Let me gather my thoughts. brb
Ok so Saturday was the most beer related and pretty much ran has planned. Maine Beer Co. Shared a sampler of the Pilot 3 (session IPA) and Pilot 4 (Red Ale) Both were tasty. Brewery looks amazing! (shitty pic) Lions Pride Great pub with a great tap list. I had a couple of sours and a quad. I wish I wrote them down specifically. It's typical at Mr. Lively's establishments that I have to just point to the beer menu since I can't pronounce even a third of what is on there. I may be able to dig these up in my Hads. Speaking of Mr. Lively (who I only know from pictures and BA), he was hard at work to get that beautiful copper brewery up and running. The wife and I had burgers and fries that were quite enjoyable. Oxbow In the middle of no where, we completely blew right by it, but the GPS got us back on track. What a chill atmosphere. Quite a few people had taster size glasses just hanging out at the numerous picnic tables around the grounds. You can't get a full pour and I believe the tasters were $2. I tried their whole lineup for the day, the farmhouse pale, oxtoberfest, a grissete, and a saison. All delicious. The smokiness of the oxtoberfest caught us by surprise but once my taste buds acclimated it was a great brew. Grabbed a growlette of the pale ale and oxtoberfest and grabbed a bottle of the BA farmhouse pale ale. I would drink the FPA daily (ok, maybe weekly) if I had easier access to it. We never made it to the Boothbay Brewery. Went to the Botanical Gardens on Sunday, which I'm not ashamed to say was pretty impressive on a sunny warm day. The rest of our long weekend was spent touring around the miles and miles of coast line. Some great drives. Last but not least, the view from our room. We were treated to this each night. P.S. Sorry for the bad photography, poor grammar, spelling, and fragmented sentences. Trying to spit this out and get back to work. Thanks all!
