GARDEN UPDATE: our tomato plants have been producing a ton of fruit this summer! they seem to love the heat and their new placement in our mailbox planters. our two mailbox plants have produced more tomatoes than we’ve had in years! we often pull them a little early and let them ripen in the windowsill.

– ryan & gub

someone got into the cookie jar! as expected, clementine totally loved her delicious treat from alon’s bakery!

– ryan & gub

after talking about it for ages, i finally cooked some popcorn in bacon fat with our whirly pop stovetop popper. i have to say, it was quite amazing! it was not an overwhelming bacon flavor, but it was definitely there and added a lot.

just throw a little salt on top and serve with cold beer or cocktails, highly recommended! bring some to your next olympic party and you will be a big hit!

– ryan

– don’t forget to try bacon fried pumpkin seeds as well!

a big staple of our holden beach trips is eating lots of seafood, especially local shrimp! we generally have a low country boil on at least one occasion and often have seafood for other meals as well.

we were very excited to discover capt’n pete’s seafood on our recent trip! it’s on the island, so you don’t have to go far, and it has a restaurant and a dockside seafood market, both of which are outstanding. it quickly became one of our new favorite places!

our meal at capt’n pete’s seafood restaurant was very nice! gub had the best shrimp & grits she’s ever had, and my fried north carolina seafood platter (shrimp, oysters & flounder) with homemade fries was superb. here is the menu!

we also bought fresh north carolina shrimp from capt’n pete’s seafood market on numerous occasions! they had all sorts of wild caught seafood available, from flounder, snapper & grouper, to pre-made goodies like crab cakes and hush puppies for baking at home. you could order entire fish or just filets and everything was very affordable. they also had various seafood spices and accessories available and a great selection of bottled sodas, including ibc root beer and mexican coke.

we will definitely be heading back on future trips! you should do the same if ever visiting holden beach.

– ryan & gub

captain pete’s seafood

103 south shore drive
holden beach, nc 28462
910-846-9988 – restaurant
910-842-6675 – market

although clementine was a little fearful of the ocean and sand at holden beach, she was definitely a huge fan of eating watermelon in her kiddie pool!

go figure!

– ryan & gub

another picturesque boardwalk & beach town to visit in maine is old orchard beach, which is just north of kennebunkport and york beach. there’s lots of kitchy places to explore along the boardwalk and pier; from clam shacks & pier fries to awesome souvenir and gelato/ice cream shops. the old wooden pier is really awesome as well, although it was raining during our visit so i didn’t get photos.

there is also an old fashioned beach amusement park called palace playland. it’s been open since 1902 and looks reminiscent of coney island!

we’d love to stay at a bed & breakfast or a beach cottage in old orchard beach some day!

– ryan & gub

old orchard beach

old orchard beach, me 04064

if you are looking for a good old fashioned steak house on your travels out of boston, be sure to stop by hilltop steak house on u.s. 1.

besides serving great steaks since 1961, hilltop also has this amazing vintage sign out front that is worthy of the vegas strip!

here is their menu.

– ryan & gub

hilltop steak house

855 broadway
US 1 south
saugus, ma 01906
781-233-7700

a big part of any new england trip is eating lots of fresh seafood, preferably from a shack right on the dock! while in freeport, maine, we highly recommend heading down the road (3 miles) to south freeport for some delicious fresh seafood at harraseeket lunch and lobster company.

this dockside restaurant might not look like much, but it has some amazing food and offers great views of freeport harbor while you eat. you can order lobster fresh off the boats, or go with a delicious fried clam roll and seafood chowder (filled with lobster, haddock, scallops and more) like i did!

check out their menu and our previous post from a couple of summers ago.

– ryan & gub

harraseeket lunch and lobster

36 main street
south freeport, me 04078
207-865-4888

we recently went on another maine adventure, this time bringing clementine along for the ride! we flew into boston and then made our way up the coast via us 1, stopping along the way for some fun side trips.

one of the first places we generally stop on our maine adventures is newick’s lobster house in dover, new hampshire. this great seafood shack has been open since 1948 and offers scenic views of lobster fishing on great bay while you enjoy fresh local seafood! the sterritt’s have been going to this dockside restaurant for ages.

newick’s offers all sorts of options for trying fresh lobster. this includes steamed lobster, stuffed & baked lobster, lobster pie, lobster rolls, fried lobster tail, lobster stew and more. they also have a great draft beer selection and all sorts of other seafood treats, so you should definitely try and eat here if traveling to maine.

here is newick’s full menu.

if you ever find yourself in the new hampshire area and have time, you should also drive through historic portsmouth, new hampshire, which is only a few miles from newick’s. this beautiful seaside town and has the look and feel of an an old english town and is totally worth visiting!

keep checking back for more new england travel posts!

– ryan & gub

newick’s lobster house

431 dover point road
dover, nh 03820
603-742-3205

our tomatoes are getting huge and starting to turn red! yay! we didn’t do our full garden in the back yard this summer. instead we planted some tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and some basil in our front yard. our tomatoes are actually doing better than they have in a few years in our mailbox planters next to the street. we think it’s too close to the road for squirrels to want to mess with them!

– ryan & gub