Grilled Lobster Tails or is it Tales......

The world is my Lobster     
          -Henry J Tillman

One of the most common questions people ask us at Ogunquit Beach Inn  is where to get the best lobster. My reply is: lobster can be served so many ways! Living in Ogunquit you learn to live with lobsters. They are everywhere: in the ocean, in restaurants and in a lot of dishes that people serve. From macaroni & cheese with lobster; to risotto with asparagus and lobster, and of course the magnificent lobster roll...We even have a five mile race on the beach called the Lobster Dash!
Lobster is truly king here in Ogunquit, and when people visit they want to sample this north Atlantic crustacean...

Another way to serve lobster is on the barbecue! With summer here, we like  to fire the grill up and throw the "catch" or "purchase" of the day on the grill!

 But remember, like steaks, lobster should not be overcooked!

This is what you'll need
-Six 6-7 oz. lobster tails
-Stick of butter
-Garlic clove
-Lemons
-Salt & pepper to taste
-Chopped Parsley

Cooking Instructions:

1. Defrost tails and par boil for no more than 3 minutes & cool.
Plunge tails into a bowl of cold water or ice to stop the cooking
process.

2. Place tails shell side down on a cutting board and take a sharp
knife or a pair of kitchen shears and cut from one end to the other.
Be careful not to cut all the way through. To keep lobster tail from
curling during cooking, crack upper shell so tail is flat. Brush tails
with garlic butter (see below).

4. Grill tails on medium heat for 2-3 minutes on a clean, well oiled
grate to prevent sticking. Baste lobster meat with garlic butter.
Cooking lobster shell side down will keep the juices in the shell,
keeping the meat moist. Grill on the meat side for no more than a
minute. DO NOT overcook.

5. Garnish with parsley and serve with garlic butter and lemon wedges.
Garlic Butter: Melt the butter in a small dish in the microwave, or
warm in a small pan and remove from heat. Mince the garlic or use a
garlic press to mince the garlic and add to warm butter. Whisk one
tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice.

This grilled lobster recipe  was served up by my friends at http://www.lobsteranywhere.com/

lobsteranywhere.com has shipped the finest Live Maine
lobster, lobster gifts, and chowders to satisfied customers
coast-to-coast. Test the waters and give them a try. Enter OBI at
online checkout and get $10 off your first order.

Point, Click & Crack http://www.lobsteranywhere.com/

Blogger Greg is innkeeper at Ogunquit Beach Inn.

Beach Roses on the Marginal Way

I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: no good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.   -Eleanor Roosevelt

The Marginal Way is truly a special place. Some say it is the piece de resistance of Ogunquit Village.  The Marginal Way is always changing. Twice a day tides crash into the sedimentary rocks. Sea and land birds occupy the Marginal Way as well as many other forms of wildlife.
During today's morning run on the trail, my eyes and nose were in for a treat. The Marginal Way was a splash of color with the sea roses in full bloom with a fragrant odor....

The 1 1/4 mile trail that meanders the craggy coast of Ogunquit offers spectacular views and scenery. I tell my guests to take their time exploring the Marginal Way, even though I run the path in morning, I try to savor an afternoon walk on the old trail. The path is not a race, and visitors should enjoy the beauty. Take time to smell the roses, the beach roses.....

Beach Roses were introduced to Maine from travelling seafarers that brought them back from the Orient. The ornamental plants grow best along the coast in sandy soil. The beach roses of Ogunquit are extremely tolerant to seaside salt spray and north Atlantic storms....

The suckering shrubs develops new plants from the roots, which turn into hedges. The hedges line the Marginal Way and create a unique border along the coast. The end of the Marginal Way is Perkins Cove. The "Cove" is dotted with fishing boats, artists, and restaurants. One restaurant, Barnacle Billy's Etc was the site of the former Whistling Oyster.  Eleanor Roosevelt would frequent the Whistling Oyster and admire the wild roses on her trips to Ogunquit. Mrs Roosevelt and entourage would stay in Ogunquit on her way to Campobello Island for the summer.

The Marginal Way is awash in red, pink and white Rosa Rugosa. Its truly an amazing sight to see. Its only a three minute walk from Ogunquit Beach Inn



Mrs Roosevelt noted in her diary about visits to Ogunquit (Click here to read).

Ogunquit Museum Of American Art 2010

It is never difficult to see images – when the principle of the image is embedded in the soul.

-Marsden Hartley, 1932

Another favorite pastimes of mine is visiting the Ogunquit Museum of Art . I have always enjoyed museums. As a child, my dad would take me to the Harvard museums. I was fascinated and in awe with the vast collections. The Ogunquit Museum of American Art is located past Perkins Cove on Shore Road.  The museum is now open for the season.

The grounds are spectacular, the museum is surrounded by gardens and a reflecting pool. Craggy inlets along the Atlantic, showcase the Ogunquit Museum of Art . The site is the former property of Henry Strater. Strater built the museum where artists painted en plein aire. Its easy to see why the artists painted here. There is an abundance of subject matter: dramatic tides, sailing vessels, scenic coves and layers of rocky strata stretching out into the Atlantic....

The museum showcases the works of: Henry Strater, Charles Woodbury, Antonio Mattei, Rockwell Kent, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Joseph Davol, Walt Kuhn, and many many more. The grounds of the museum are surrounded by modern sculptures, gardens, and amazing views.

Vistas of Adams Island, Perkins Cove, and the wooden draw bridge have been "drawing" artists to this location for generations!

The exhibits are always changing. There are over 1600 pieces in the permanent collection, focusing on American modern art.

The museum is currently showcasing the collection of Selma Koss Holtz. Holtz was a fixture in the New England art scene. She was a curator, and art historian. Her collection included works by Winslow Homer, Alex Katz, Rockwell Kent, Ernest Lawson, Michael Palmer, Fairfield Porter, Neil Welliver,  Charles Woodbury, and many more. Holtz donated over 58 works of art to the museum in her lifetime.

The Details:

Ogunquit Museum of America Art

543 Shore Road Ogunquit, ME 03907

207- 646-4909

http://www.ogunquitmuseum.org/

Hours Mon to Sat 10 - 5pm Sundays 1 - 5 pm

Open May to October 31

Admission $8 Seniors $7

Plenty of parking, spectacular gardens, bring a camera. Restrooms and Gift Shop on premise.

Located past Perkins Cove 3/10 of a mile on the left hand side.

Remember to bring a camera. Photos are not allowed in the museum, but there are plenty of photo opportunities on the museum grounds.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Blogger Greg of Ogunquit Beach Inn Enjoys the Ogunquit Museum and frolicking on the rocks!

Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre of Ogunquit

Audiences are the same all over the word, and if you entertain them, they'll respond ~ Liza Minelli

There is nothing like an old movie house. Most towns in north America had a movie house. A place to go an escape and be entertained. Ogunquit still has such an institution, the Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre. This big wooden theatre was built in 1923. Its owned and managed by the Clayton Family. Maureen sells the tickets, Peter works the concession stand, and their son, Max entertains patrons with his band before the start of the film. This is not your "Big Box" multiplex on the highway. This is the movies like it was 50 years ago. Its one of my favorite pastimes for a summers evening....

The Leavitt theatre showcases first run films; tonight was the Ogunquit premiere of "Sex and the City Part II". The movie was entertaining: Stanford & Anthony get married in an "over-the-top" gay wedding. It's really a gay wedding when Liza Minelli officiates the ceremony, and does a musical rendition of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" with two male back-up dancers dressed as Liza Minelli. The movie was pure escapism and fun. You know its really a gay night, when you're in Ogunquit to see "Sex and the City II", and Carson Kressley is there also.

 The Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre is a trip back into time. The movie house still uses the vintage tickets from yesteryear.  There is one screen, and one theatre (as opposed to multiple rooms). There is usually one showing per night. Most patrons walk to the theatre, easily located in the village centre.
The Leavitt is filled with happy memories, nostalgic images and ephemera from movie legends.

Max Clayton plays guitar and brother Ian serves faux Cosmos for the opening of Sex and the City II
The Details:

Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre

259 Main Street Ogunquit, ME

207.646.3123

http://leavittheatre.com/  Join Them On FaceBook

Free Parking across the Street

One showing per night @ 8:00 pm

Matinees on rain days

Price $9, ( cheaper for seniors and kids)

Concession stand with Pop Corn & Candy.

****

Thumbs up for Sex and the City, it may be a "Chick Flick" but its worth seeing, pure entertainment and over the top. Worth seeing! We give it "thumbs up"

Solar Energy

Watch a sunrise at least once a year. 

From "Life's Little Instructions" by H. Jackson Brown

Its amazing how the sun energizes me. The sun in Ogunquit is brilliant in May & June. I was on the beach at 4:30 this morning listening to the sounds of nature as it prepares for the upcoming day. A dawn chorus of birds cast a symphony of sounds, as the tide gently rolls in. At about 5:09 am the sun peaked above the horizon on the east, and a blaze of red illuminated the sky. Its great how unspoiled the beach is at low tide during a sunrise. There are more birds than people at 5 am. An Ogunquit sunrise is a fresh beginning, a new start.....a fresh breath to a new day!

Its a simple pleasure that should be enjoyed. Watching the sun rise above Ogunquit beach. Something I try to do, at least once a week in the summer.

The artists that have been painting in Ogunquit for over 100 years are mesmerized by the brilliant sunlight as it dapples over the Atlantic.

A tired (and unshaven Greg) enjoys the first sunrise of the summer season.

Greg lives and works in Ogunquit Maine, co-owns Ogunquit Beach Inn with Mike and two Cocker Spaniels

Start of Summer?

Summer: A period of fruition, fulfillment, happiness or beauty. 

When does summer start? Its a question that children always ask (at least I did as a child). Memorial Day weekend?  Meteorological  summer, June 1st? When school is finished for the year?
 Here in Ogunquit, summer season starts this weekend: warm days in the 70's & 80's. Visiting Canadians celebrating Victoria Day weekend,  most businesses are open, and the Ogunquit Musem of Art opens for the season! Memorial Day may be next week, but the town is busy with beach goers, sightseers, and chirping birds....

I went down to the beach for a bit this afternoon. There was not a cloud in the sky. I think this definition from Dictionary.com sums up summer:

The period of finest development, perfection, or beauty previous to any decline: the summer of life.

The rain in Maine falls not so gently on the Coastal Plain.....

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.   -Dolly Parton

Its springtime in Ogunquit, Maine. The weather is dramatic and always changing. One day 70 degrees (21c), and the next day ( or hour) 49 degrees (9 c) with 25 mile and hour winds. That's the weather for today. The rain on the seacoast is dramatic. The wind whips the rain into a frenzy as the waves crash against the rocks.

Perkins Cove is an interesting place to "watch the weather".  On the Atlantic side, the waves and the wind is dramatic. On the sheltered "cove" side where the boats are moored, its placid and peaceful.

Depending on the moon and tides storms can be quite intense. Today's rain is just rain, with a little wind. Its been a nice spring thus far, so an inch or two of rain is needed for the plantings.

The Marginal Way and Beach are great spots to view the tides and watch the crashing waves while it rains not so gently on the seaplain....

Blogger Greg (aka Gorio). Lives and works in Ogunquit Maine

The Last Phone Booth......

The telephone book is full of facts, but it doesn't contain a single idea.

                                                                                -Mortimer Adler

The 20th century is more than a decade ago, and certain objects from life in the last century are disappearing. There are virtually no phone booths in New York City, there may be two or three left in Manhattan. Before strip-plazas dominated the American landscape,  general stores, filling stations and farm stands were the norm during mid 20th century.  On Route One in Ogunquit about a half a mile north of the village sits a small micro-mall called Brewster's. This tiny filling-station/general store/Western Union,  has the last phone booth in Ogunquit.

When we bought our first house in Ogunquit during the 90's, people used the last four numbers of their telephone number to call each other. Everyone in the state (even today)  has the same area code of 207. The exchange for Ogunquit and Wells is 646.
Today on my morning run, I realized that, the lone phone booth on Route One standing there like a bright beacon of communication is the last phone booth in Ogunquit, complete with a phone book. Will phone books be obsolete in the near future?

Lilacs in Ogunquit....

Spring is natures way of saying "Lets Party" - Robin Williams

The scent of the sea is always omnipresent in Ogunquit, however in the month of May,  the town is awash with the fragrant smell of lilacs! This year the lilacs have bloomed early. Lilacs usually bloom in late May around Memorial Day Weekend, this year it was early May, about three weeks earlier than normal. Lilacs are one of the first smells of spring.

There have been lilacs in Maine for over three centuries. The British introduced them to New England. They originally came from Asia via Turkey. The Lilac shrub/tree can live for over 100 years and are quite hardy. The common lilac in Maine is the purpler Syringa vulgaris.
On east side of  Ogunquit Beach Inn, a  forest of  lilac bushes stands up to 12 feet tall.  The flowers are so heavy that they hang down from the tree.

The early bloom of lilacs signals us that it is time to plant the annuals, window boxes and hanging baskets! Mike spent the morning planting and  preparing the hanging baskets.