The Maine Thing

I'm still sorting photos and all that goes along with that, but I wanted to jump on and post because it's been a long time and I'm just feeling antsy to get working on this blog again!

The first few photos are some of my favorites from OOB, Maine. There's some amazingly beautiful sunsets on the east coast, I can tell you. This surprised me, since the sun sets in the west, so I wasn't expecting the sunset to still be reflecting over the ocean waters...but as you can see in the pics (click to enlarge), it does so, and wonderfully. Our Christmas tree was a beauty, such a comforting sight on a cold winter night...but it was dwarfed in size by the OOB tree that overlooks the ocean! It was probably 25-30 feet tall, and seeing it the night I took this photo, in the snow, was a sight to see for certain!

This was the snowfall in a matter of 4 hours one afternoon. It began with light flurries around 8 am that morning, and quickly turned to fat, fluffy flakes (say that 5 times fast! lol) by noon. By the time the sun had set around 5 that evening, it was piling up quite well. It was a gorgeous site to see, a White Christmas after 20+ years in Southern California, where all Christmases are green. Everything was layered with a thick coating of marshmallow fluff :)

One of the many places we visited was the LL Bean village. I was expecting a large store, to be sure, but not an entire village! There are half a dozen LL Bean stores surrounding a courtyard that, for the holidays at least, was decked out in brilliant, colorful lights, anchored by a huge brightly lit tree. It was a site to see, for certain. And, they're open 24 hours!

We did a lot of driving while we were there, up and down the coast. From Bangor to Penobscott Bay, from Kittery to Kennebunkport, from Portland to Boston. As I get through the photos I'll post a few more here and there, but two of my favorites were in a single location: Cape Elizabeth. Just outside of Portland, Maine, this quaint area boasts some spectacular views. Especially lovely is Two Lights State Park, where you can see the two Lighthouses in the photos above. I can't wait to go back and see them in the summer when they're surrounded by sunshine and greenery...but they are absolutely breathtaking in the winter I assure you.

Now, I know I haven't mentioned much in the way of food...I will, don't worry :) I'll post about some of the places we ate, and I have a couple pics of someo of those too. One thing I can tell you right now: I was surprised how many pizza places there were! When I think Maine, the first thing that comes to mind is seafood: Lobsters, Clam Chowder, etc. And, to be certain, there was plenty of that. But there were more pizza places than I know of here in San Diego!

This post is a little all over the board, and I'm sorry for that. I guess I'm still sorting through my brain as well as my camera! lol But I'm glad to be posting, glad to be back. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that 2009 proves to be a joyful, prosperous year for you all!!

Pat & Oscars....revisited

The Festa Italiana, Pat & Oscar's Style...

Anyone who's been to Pat & Oscars will know how it works. You can get a combo meal for 2, 4, or more people, and it will include some combination of ribs, chicken, pizza, pasta, and salad. For a limited time, however, Pat & Oscars has been offering something they call the Festa Italiana, which is what we decided to try on our recent visit. There are several San Diego locations, we chose the once closest to us, in Mission Valley, just north of Mission Valley Center mall.


Like almost all of the meals at Pat & Oscars, we started with breadsticks and salad. You can choose a Cesar salad or a Greek salad. As you can see in the photo, we chose the Greek because my husband and daughter both are feta fiends! The breadsticks are almost always served hot and fresh and tasty with their little sprinkling of garlic salt on the top. The salad, though a little ice cold for my tastes this time around, is tasty, with pepperoncinis, kalamata olives, tomato, red onions and feta cheese...and of course, romaine lettuce!

After the breadsticks and salad, the rest of the combo meal comes out. Meatball pizza, and spaghetti & meatballs. Now usually my daughter begs for the tomato-fredo penne, but even she enjoyed the meatballs served in the spaghetti and on the pizza. You can choose the pasta shape and sauce at no extra charge, so if you're not into spaghetti, you can order the penne instead with the marinara, meat sauce, or tomato-fredo...with or without the meatballs. We stuck with the original combo, and enjoyed it. The pizza featured sliced meatballs, sliced roma tomatoes and fresh basil. The first one came out (on the left) and wasn't quite cooked all the way, but that was quickly remedied and a fresh pizza made and brought to the table. Rich with gooey mozzerella cheese, and full of bright, fresh flavors, it was worth the extra wait, though we'd have preferred to have it done right the first time! All in all, it was a good meal, and there was plenty of leftovers to take home for the eldest manchild to take to work for lunches for a couple days.
Mangia!