One of our favorite pastimes is listening to live music. It doesn't really matter what kind, as long as it is done right. So on Friday and Saturday night we visited two different bars, had two different experiences and had fun at both,
Our first stop on Friday night was Ginko Blue,a great little intimate club playing live blues music on this particular night. Located on Fore Street, this Bar has a real modern interior with great lighting and a beautiful bar. Unfortunately, in designing the furniture, sight lines were not taken into consideration. Very tall chairs and round tables block the view of the very small stage for all but a very few customers. Add to this the $12, yes you heard correct, TWELVE dollar martinis and $6.00 local beers and you have an expensive night. But the band was smokin, Poke Chop and the other White Meats, and we had a young crowd sit with us and it was a fun, (but expensive), night none the less.
On Saturday night we went to a totally different kind of bar. The Big Easy could nicely be called a "dive" bar. Located below street level, on a particularly dark side of Market street. At first glance you wonder if you should enter, but please do. Once inside it is very dark but there is a ton of room and a really huge stage.The bartenders are really friendly, and the drink prices, DIRT CHEAP, don't expect fancy pants martinis here but they have a great selection of beers and a couple rounds for you and the missus wont even cost you a $20 spot. The band this night was the Tone Kings. I like them but the wife, not so crazy about their music, a bit too mellow for her taste. BUT, suddenly a guest guitarist came out of the audience. Younger guy from England, if I remember correctly. WOW, this guy was sensational. All in all, a great time was had by all.
If you are in the Portland area, I would suggest both of these bars. I give Ginko Blue a B, because the sight lines to the band are not great and the prices are high. I give the Big Easy an A, this would be the kind of great place I would hang out if I lived here.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Maine Foodie Tours Review
One of our absolute favorite activities is to take a walking tour of the area we are visiting. And if the walking tour includes, history, food and alcohol we are in TOTAL heaven. For our trip to Portland we booked a foodie tour of the old port area. Staring at 10:30 am at the Old Port Wine Shop (what a PERFECT starting point for us two), This a great little wine shop with some very eclectic wine. You should definitely make a stop if your in the area.
Our first official stop was Vervacious, right next door, http://www.vervacious.com/. This is a great gourmet shop of flavored salts and vinegars. We had a really nice sampling including Anise salt sprinkled on apples YUM and chocolate balsamic vinegar and a nice mead wine. Some pics of Vervacious and the walk to our next stop.
From there we walked to a great little mixed use market with several different vendors sharing the rent on one building (pizza, sandwiches, beer store, cupcakes) and our stop was for a selection of great local Maine cheeses. We continued our walk and went next to Stonewall Kitchens, http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/, now a giant food emporium but originally started by two people to sell homemade Blueberry jam. And what else to eat but fresh baked blueberry scones topped with the now world famous jam. Heres a quick pic;
After another walk, (good thing we were able to walk off some of these goodies), through the historic old port area, we were in a locals only fish store, the Harbor Fish Market, http://www.harborfish.com/about.php. This is the exact kind of store I would visit every week if I live here. Tons of extremely fresh fish, the boats deliver at the back of the store, that FRESH. We tasted some incredible smoked fish made in Maine and we ended up going back later and buying three packs.
From there it was off for chocolate, YUM!! We stopped a a teeny, tiny little shop called Dean's Sweets, http://deanssweets.com, making incredible truffles. The ginger/wasabi was to die for. From there, time for some more sweets, over to the Two Fat Cats bakery, http://twofatcatsbakery.com/, for one incredible whoopie pie. And our final stop, liquid refreshments at the Shipyard Brewery, http://www.shipyard.com/, While I am not a huge fan of Shipyard beers, this was a fun and informative stop. Last set of pics;
Our first official stop was Vervacious, right next door, http://www.vervacious.com/. This is a great gourmet shop of flavored salts and vinegars. We had a really nice sampling including Anise salt sprinkled on apples YUM and chocolate balsamic vinegar and a nice mead wine. Some pics of Vervacious and the walk to our next stop.
From there we walked to a great little mixed use market with several different vendors sharing the rent on one building (pizza, sandwiches, beer store, cupcakes) and our stop was for a selection of great local Maine cheeses. We continued our walk and went next to Stonewall Kitchens, http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/, now a giant food emporium but originally started by two people to sell homemade Blueberry jam. And what else to eat but fresh baked blueberry scones topped with the now world famous jam. Heres a quick pic;
After another walk, (good thing we were able to walk off some of these goodies), through the historic old port area, we were in a locals only fish store, the Harbor Fish Market, http://www.harborfish.com/about.php. This is the exact kind of store I would visit every week if I live here. Tons of extremely fresh fish, the boats deliver at the back of the store, that FRESH. We tasted some incredible smoked fish made in Maine and we ended up going back later and buying three packs.
From there it was off for chocolate, YUM!! We stopped a a teeny, tiny little shop called Dean's Sweets, http://deanssweets.com, making incredible truffles. The ginger/wasabi was to die for. From there, time for some more sweets, over to the Two Fat Cats bakery, http://twofatcatsbakery.com/, for one incredible whoopie pie. And our final stop, liquid refreshments at the Shipyard Brewery, http://www.shipyard.com/, While I am not a huge fan of Shipyard beers, this was a fun and informative stop. Last set of pics;
This was an incredible walking tour, one we would highly recommend. I give Maine Foodie Tours an A Plus.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Hampton Inn, Portland Waterfront
As last week was the dear wife's birthday, and as I got to go to Fort Lauderdale on a business trip, and as the wife had not been out of the state in a LONG time, I decided to treat her to a weekend away. Since Maine was celebrating its restaurant week and since we both loved our last trip to Portland, it was decided, off we went. perusing tripadvisor, I was surprised to see that the Hampton Inn waterfront was number one for hotels in Portland. And since they A) had very reasonable pricing with breakfast include and since B) they were on Fore street which is where one of our favorite restaurant in the whole wide world is located, (shockingly called Fore Street), our room for the weekend was decided.
Upon arriving the first thing you notice is, woah, this is a brand new building, last time we were here it was a sausage factory (two years ago). next you see that it is valet parking only, ($15.00 a day), so factor that in when you price this hotel. Very nice lobby with alot of room for seating, breakfast is included, (standard breakfast, premade eggs, sausages, potatoes, some pastries, standard free hotel food, buy HEY its free). I had reserved a king bed room, no view, (we were planning on being night owls). When we arrived into are room A) they aren't kidding, view is a parking lot and B) king rooms unbeknownst to me have no tubs, showers only. As the wife loves soaking in a tub , this is a problem. So back to the front desk I go and the receptionist is extremely helpful, there are no king rooms available with tubs in this hotel, (something to remember), but she switches us to a double queen with a view of the ocean for no extra charge, YEA. Here are a few pics of the room;
As always the pillows at these chain hotels SUCK, all air and no substance. But the bed was comfy, the room pretty quiet, (why are doors shutting so loud in hotels?) and there is a brewery attached to the hotel, (how convenient). And as always, location, location,location. You can easily walk from here to any spot in the old port area in only a few moments. AND our favorite restaurant in the whole world, Fore Street, is only a block away, (complete review coming soon).
In conclusion, if you are visiting the Portland, Maine area, I would strongly suggest you stay here. Strong points, include free breakfast, free wi-fi, great location AND a brewery attached to the hotel as a sort of extra bonus, Weak Points $15 a day parking, poor pillows and a bit noisy inside. Overall I give the Hampton Inn Portland Waterfront a solid B+.
Upon arriving the first thing you notice is, woah, this is a brand new building, last time we were here it was a sausage factory (two years ago). next you see that it is valet parking only, ($15.00 a day), so factor that in when you price this hotel. Very nice lobby with alot of room for seating, breakfast is included, (standard breakfast, premade eggs, sausages, potatoes, some pastries, standard free hotel food, buy HEY its free). I had reserved a king bed room, no view, (we were planning on being night owls). When we arrived into are room A) they aren't kidding, view is a parking lot and B) king rooms unbeknownst to me have no tubs, showers only. As the wife loves soaking in a tub , this is a problem. So back to the front desk I go and the receptionist is extremely helpful, there are no king rooms available with tubs in this hotel, (something to remember), but she switches us to a double queen with a view of the ocean for no extra charge, YEA. Here are a few pics of the room;
As always the pillows at these chain hotels SUCK, all air and no substance. But the bed was comfy, the room pretty quiet, (why are doors shutting so loud in hotels?) and there is a brewery attached to the hotel, (how convenient). And as always, location, location,location. You can easily walk from here to any spot in the old port area in only a few moments. AND our favorite restaurant in the whole world, Fore Street, is only a block away, (complete review coming soon).
In conclusion, if you are visiting the Portland, Maine area, I would strongly suggest you stay here. Strong points, include free breakfast, free wi-fi, great location AND a brewery attached to the hotel as a sort of extra bonus, Weak Points $15 a day parking, poor pillows and a bit noisy inside. Overall I give the Hampton Inn Portland Waterfront a solid B+.
Jet Rock Bar and Grill
OK, admittedly reviewing a restaurant located in an airport is weird, But with more airports bringing in higher quality food, I thought it was time . So my trip home from Fort Lauderdale took me through Philadelphia and with a two hour layover, I did a little shopping, (wife's b-day in two days), and then went looking for a place to eat. I could of gotten a meal at Legal Seafood's, or at one of many fast food joints, but I kept looking and eventually stumbled onto Jet Rock Bar and Grill. Sort of a pub and food place with over 40 different beers on tap. I sat down at the bar as my usual and was given a menu and beer list. After perusing the very large list I ordered a purple haze and since I was in the city of brotherly love , a Philly cheesesteak.
And here is where things went down hill, my server was dealing with some jerk at the end of the bar who wanted his meal cancelled cuz it was taking too long and was giving her a real hard time ( jerks in airports making everyones life miserable, hope he got strip searched by TSA). OK, it happens, if your in the service industry you will have to deal with this at some point, but the problem was she proceeded to deal with it by becoming everyones worst server ever, surly, non responsive, dismissive, HEY LADY, I wasn't the jerk. Anyways the beer was very good, the sandwich was OK but the service ruined the whole meal. Go here to get yourself a great brew and a pretty good sandwich and hope you don't have my server.
And here is where things went down hill, my server was dealing with some jerk at the end of the bar who wanted his meal cancelled cuz it was taking too long and was giving her a real hard time ( jerks in airports making everyones life miserable, hope he got strip searched by TSA). OK, it happens, if your in the service industry you will have to deal with this at some point, but the problem was she proceeded to deal with it by becoming everyones worst server ever, surly, non responsive, dismissive, HEY LADY, I wasn't the jerk. Anyways the beer was very good, the sandwich was OK but the service ruined the whole meal. Go here to get yourself a great brew and a pretty good sandwich and hope you don't have my server.
Food, 2.5 OK sandwich, your average airport food.
Beer and Wine, 4.0 Nice beer and wine selections, best I have seen in an airport.
Service, 2.0 AWFUL, if you can't shake off a bad customer, find a different business to be in.
Service, 2.0 AWFUL, if you can't shake off a bad customer, find a different business to be in.
Ambiance, 3.0 Its a bar and loud but for an airport it's OK.
Price, 2.0 Airport pricing, enough said.
Overall 2.70 If not for the server, I would of actually liked this place. If I am stuck in Philly again, I would go here. Hopefully my server will be gone.
Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the VERY long hiatus. Karen and I decided to try something new and we purchased a repossessed house through an online auction. We then spent our summer flipping it. Turns out it was fun, frustrating,creative, relaxing, nerve wracking and even more adjectives!. But after all was done we sold it to a great couple who will be a wonderful addition to our neighborhood and actually came out ahead (didn't look good there for a while).Will we do it again? Remains to be seen, is it a new career choice, NO, way too stressful. Now Fall is here and we are ready to visit some of the new restaurants that have popped up since the last time I wrote. You will see a huge flurry of posts, all of them very old, but they are written so I will publish them all in the next couple of weeks and after that a more current rotation of restaurants and food items we have tried at home. Thanks for your patience and here is the first batch of posts.
Thanks,
Andy
Sorry for the VERY long hiatus. Karen and I decided to try something new and we purchased a repossessed house through an online auction. We then spent our summer flipping it. Turns out it was fun, frustrating,creative, relaxing, nerve wracking and even more adjectives!. But after all was done we sold it to a great couple who will be a wonderful addition to our neighborhood and actually came out ahead (didn't look good there for a while).Will we do it again? Remains to be seen, is it a new career choice, NO, way too stressful. Now Fall is here and we are ready to visit some of the new restaurants that have popped up since the last time I wrote. You will see a huge flurry of posts, all of them very old, but they are written so I will publish them all in the next couple of weeks and after that a more current rotation of restaurants and food items we have tried at home. Thanks for your patience and here is the first batch of posts.
Thanks,
Andy
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