Where Brooklin at? Where Brooklin at?

        Brooklin, Maine is a small coastal town near Blue Hill.  It's the home of Wooden Boat Magazine, E.B. White, boat builders and artists.  My boyfriend is currently living at his family's home there to work at the Brooklin Boat Yard.  It is a gorgeous little town that I have pretty much fallen in love with.  

         I went and visited this past, beautiful weekend. Once the fog lifted on Saturday, it was perfect coastal weather.  It was hot, but there was a cool sea breeze that kept you from noticing.  Thanks to the combination of a storybook town and an amazing boyfriend, I was spoiled with another amazing weekend.

Driveway at High Head

A boat that Matt is helping to get summer-ready

View from the launch at Wooden Boat

My most favorite driveway in history

A view from the top of a hill

Caterpillar Hill in (I believe) Brooksville, ME

Matt and Me

The Cockatoo Portuguese Restaurant

Best mussels I've ever had!

Deer Isle Bridge

Me after I found a shrink gun

        I got out to Brooklin later than I anticipated on Friday.  It was a rainy night, so we didn't do anything except eat delicious food (thanks to Matt's mom) and watch the Devils make it to the Stanley Cup.  It's a good thing we rested up that night, because Saturday was packed full of things to do.
        On Saturday, we must have biked around Brooklin for nearly four hours.  The weather started out alright and got better and better as our ride went on.  We went all over the place and stopped at some beautiful places.  First, we went down to the Brooklin Boat Yard so that Matt could show me where he works.  I can tell her loves it there.
        Next, we biked to an awesome little place called The Cave.  There, we enjoyed  macchiatos whipped up by a barista named David.  He roasts his own coffee which he calls Bucklyn Coffee. He was very humble and kind and his macchiatos provided some delicious fuel for our bike ride.
        After that, we biked to a dozen other place. We saw Wooden Boat, the yacht club, some cool little un-named places, the cemetery and a wicked cool farm.  All we're enjoyable, but nothing compares to my favorite part of the bike ride.
        There is a private driveway in Brooklin that I had been dying to see the other end of.  It is a well maintained, dirt driveway that has a bunch of old trees lining it on both sides.  There's always the perfect amount of sunlight peaking in, and the lawns on either side are always lush and green.  It is simply beautiful.
         Well, I don't really condone trespassing, but sometimes you've just got to do what you've got to do.  While biking by, we noticed that the gate was up... We took that as a sign that no one was there and that if we were discreet, we could just take a peak at what the end of the driveway looked like.  So, we biked around the gate and headed down the long, fairy tale looking driveway.  It was gorgeous.  There was a huge, stone covered water tower in a clearing on the property.  It looked like a tower that was taken off of a mid-evil, Irish castle.  At the end of the driveway, I saw what I expected; huge houses (not just one) on a hill with a view of the ocean.  I'm just glad that I was finally able to satisfy my curiosity.
     
        That night, we headed out early for our dinner reservation at The Cockatoo Portuguese Restaurant.  On our way, we stopped in what I am pretty sure was Brooksville, at a lookout spot called Caterpillar Hill.  There, we had a gorgeous view of the hills and ocean.  Then, we jumped back in the good 'ol Volvo and headed to Deer Isle for The Cockatoo.
       After driving on a couple of dirt roads, we finally came to a clearing and saw the restaurant.  It is a cute, lodge-like building with an incredible view. It was the day after their season opening, and besides us, there were only two other tables in the restaurant.  It was a comfortable environment and the whole staff was wicked friendly.  We think the maitre 'd might have been a retired, James Bond-esq spy. He was cool.
       There wasn't anything there that wasn't extraordinary. We shared the most delicious fried calamari I have ever had.  It was garnished with banana peppers and rather than marinara, it was over a runnier sauce that had a sweet, slightly spicy kick to it.  I loved it.
        I ordered mussels, my favorite dish anywhere.  They were hands down the best mussels I have ever had. They were fresh and oh so delicious.  They didn't need any extra flavoring except for the perfect amount of garlic they were cooked with.  Every time someone came over to ask us how everything was going we had to be sure to keep from geeking out at how much we were obsessing over the food.  "Everything is really good," was repeated over and over again.  I didn't think it was appropriate to tell everyone there that I was having a foodgasm with every bite.
       After dinner we forced ourselves to share a piece of chocolate cake.  I'm glad we did, because it was incredible.  Then, we hopped back in the car and enjoyed the beautiful sunset on our drive back.  I don't know why I have been getting so spoiled with luxurious weekends of relaxing and eating (first Portland, now Brooklin!), but I sure could get used to it.

        Until next time my little ocean creatures.