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

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

when traveling in maine, you should save at least an afternoon to visit downtown freeport, the adorable little town filled with great shops and restaurants! most of the businesses are in renovated historic buildings, ie. abercrombie is in the super old library, so everything still has that old-timey new england feel. freeport is also home to the flagship l.l. bean store and other boutique shops like the abacus gallery, where we found lots of great treasures!

– ryan & gub

abacus gallery

36 main street
freeport, me 04032
207-865-6620

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

i recently had d.b.a. barbecue for the first time, albeit take-out, and was quite impressed. i went with the dry spare ribs and they were amazing, easily up there with community q.

i really liked d.b.a.’s ordering options. you could go with spare ribs, baby back ribs, or rib tips and order them dry or wet. all of your bbq preferences were covered, which is nice for a change. i may have found my new favorite in-town rib shack!

– ryan

d.b.a. barbecue

1190 north highland avenue, suite b
atlanta, ga 30306
404-249-5000

i just read that woody’s famous philadelphia cheesesteaks is now serving sweetwater 420 on tap! eating a cheesesteak or super sub with a 420 draft on woody’s huge wrap-around porch sounds like the perfect spring afternoon!

be sure to check out our previous post on woody’s.

– ryan

woody’s famous philadelphia cheesesteaks

981 monroe drive northeast
atlanta, ga 30308
404-876-1939

clementine recently sampled her first grits and waffle from the waffle house! it wasn’t her first trip to the wahoo, but now that she’s eating everything in sight, we thought she’d like some southern diner food. clementine totally loved watching the wait staff call out the orders to the cooks as well!

– ryan & gub

have you ever been to henri’s bakery? it’s a deli & bakery in buckhead that’s been open since 1929. my sandwich didn’t knock my socks off, but the deserts looked very tasty and i loved the neon sign. i would definitely go again if i was in the area, especially to try some sweets!

– ryan

henri’s bakery

61 irby avenue northwest
atlanta, ga 30305
404-237-0202