Beauty and the Beasties

Being a coastal area, seafood is a big deal here, in both catching it and selling it. Being as I may never have an Apalachiacola oyster again, naturally I'm interested in all things oyster up here. One name you see displayed on restaurant menus is Glidden Point oysters, which appear to be the gold standard. I didn't know if what we had a couple of weeks ago were Glidden Points or not, but when Phil and I got the yen for briny goodness on a shell a couple of days ago, we decided to go on a quest for whatever kind that was.

Phil knew where the Glidden Point oyster farm was located...well, not the farm exactly, which is located in the river, but the buildings. He'd never been there before. Off we went down River Road, a very perfect two-lane road, lined with woods and plain old wonderful homes and barns and glimpses of the Damariscotta River, to find the place.

There it was! A good sized, but not ridiculous, house, with an outbuilding and then a little garage looking building with the doors wide open, all painted a cream color, crisp and fine, with a beautifully trimmed yard. Not fancy, just...clean looking. We went up to the garage like one and realized it was a little store. A store for oysters and clams. One side held bi-valve type paraphernalia - t shirts, shucking bibs (embroidered with motto -  "You don't win friends with salad" - which made me like the place even more than I already did. On the other wall was a simple two door glass refrigerator, with buckets of oysters on one side and clams on the other. The only odor in the air was of the trees outside.

The oysters were in buckets assorted by size. Yep, these were the babie monsters we'd had before, except these were even fresher. Even more extraordinary was the fact that it was run on an honor system! Really. There was the scale, the little box for money (an old check book box). Prices were clearly marked. A guy came in who worked there and we talked awhile while he bagged our two dozen select - we were feeling greedy - and he told us a little bit about the operation, which is family owned. You can read about it here.

Another sign I liked was one explaining how to use the honor system. Across the top in shocking yellow on a black 'white' board runs the line - Sorry we are open. I looked at it once, then twice. The guy said the family went on a holiday in Mexico and saw the sign everywhere, so they decided they wanted to use it...that if no one was there, they'd still be open, on the honor system. It's a beautiful thing.

And if you like oysters, you'll think these are beautiful too. If not, move away from this page immediately, because beauty, in this case, really is in the eye of the beholder. Here, I'll even give you a chance to leave, by putting up a photo of the female ruby throated hummingbird. Fair warning!

Alrighty then! Oyster lovers, prepare to drool.

Just so you get an idea of scale, this plate is bigger than the ones at Susie's restaurant!

We had to take a couple of hours time out after the first dozen, which we ate over the sink, using the 'you open one, I'll open one' method, except that Phil opened most of them  - opened with the newly purchased oyster knife. And we still managed no stabbings! The second dozen went onto plates and were savored in a more civilized manner...

Ok, on the half shell dislikers, you can come back now. Because the ruby throated hummer came back and gave me one more good shot of her lovely self.

Today we are off to the country. I'm hoping to see an old friend of mine who has a place up here in Maine (I'm wondering if everyone does). As I've seen this guy in settings from Jost Van Dyke in the BVI's, through island to Stateside boat deliveries, from Spain where I worked first mate on a boat to his captain, to Florida and North Carolina, where he had a place 20 minutes in the woods away from my brother's cabin, it figures he and his wife are also in Maine. Another state, another Frank sighting. Ayup!

Is it Tuesday already?