I am going to need twenty pounds of butter for this
Whoa. This has been quite a journey and a pleasure for the Diners.org team. For five days (August 3 to August 7), we made our way up to Boston (Massachusetts), Salem (Massachusetts), and finally to Lobsterfest in Rockland, Maine. It was an extraordinary trip and we are thankful to all of the people we met on the trip for their hospitality and friendliness.
First off, the Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston, Massachusetts. It is near the outskirts of Boston, but is accessible by subway. No need to be modest about your reasons for going: there was a city worker shouting out directions to the brewery right at the turnstiles. In hindsight, we should have tipped him.
You know what to do.
Hidden among the residential houses is an oldstyle building surrounded by wooden barrels that we are confident believe to be beer. After paying the tour fee, guests are allowed to sample new brands of Samuel Adams beer and then vote on them.
Samuel Adams takes their awards seriously.
Yes, vote. The brand with the most votes will be produced for consumption in the following year.
(To the regret of the Diners.org team, we forgot which brands we sampled. Or how many. MOVING ON.)
Box ol' booze
Inside we are introduced to the methods behind the magic:
65 barrels worth of Samuel Adams
The filtration process.
Then we get to see the barrels where the beer sits:
Truth in the name.
Please keep your Donkey Kong jokes to yourself.
Finally, we get to the fun part. The sampling room:
Classroom chalkboards wish they had this much attention.
Unlike the outside patio before, this wasn’t a ballot for future lines of beer. This was fresh batches of draft beer fresh from the manufacturing line.
The drinking glasses handed out are pretty nice too.
All Thursday mornings should start like this.
Afterward sampling three different brands of Samuel Adams, the tour is over. The Diners.org team stayed in Boston for the rest of the day where we dined at a few excellent restaurants. One of them is “Legal Seafood” which was so amazing, we forgot to take pictures.
We were serious when we told you they are called "Legal Seafood". No, we were not served by lawyers.
Situated on the Long Wharf on Boston’s waterfront, the Diners.org team enjoyed excellent tea and seafood delivered by a very friendly staff. Check them out at this link. But all of this would pale to the 20,880 lbs of lobster being cooked up in Rockland, Maine (keep that number handy as you continue reading).
During the drive north, we did a small pitstop in Salem, Massachusetts. On one hand, members of the team want to check out the Salem Witch Trial museums. On the other hand, we found a drink call the “Helltini”.
Drinking this might hurt.
The Helltini is a drink offered by the Rockafellas restaurant on their menu. They also offer a variety of other specialty drinks relevant to the town, but we were only going try our luck once that day.
This is an omen.
Since we have at least one member of the team who is not a driver or backup driver, Diners.org took on this challenge. Waiver signed and pumped up with adrenaline, our “fearless” team member grabbed the martini glass and…
…chugged it.
One emergency glass of cold water later and our Diners.org team member is awarded his t-shirt. Mints shortly followed as the team realized we will have to drive with him burping in the car all the way up to Rockland, Maine.
Ah, Rockland's Lobsterfest. How full of... seafood you are.
There are no words to adequately describe the experience of eating at Lobstefest. So we’re going to let photos and captions do most of the talking.
Just in case you didn't know where you are...
The tents where the magic happens!..... Eating folks, I mean eating.
View of the harbor from the eating tent. Puts a smile on your face knowing there is a fleet of ships out there harvesting seafood for you to chow on.
All you can eat Blueberry pancakes for breakfast!
The awesomeness starts with steamed lobster, corn on the cob, bread, melted butter...
... smoked shrimp, smoked scallops, smoked mussels...
... and of course more lobster.
Somewhere along the way to over 20,000 pounds of lobster being cooked.
Rockland's Lobsterfest parade. Go Rockland go!
As if eating tons of seafood wasn't enough...
... there are carnival games...
... and more games and food.
Live band for the festival!
Ah, that was good. For the curious, three lobsters with fixings only cost $18.40 at Lobsterfest. Naturally, the cost drops the less you eat lobster. Steaming starts at 11AM but from 7AM to 11AM there is all-you-can-eat-pancakes… for $6.
Amazing isn’t it? We hope you enjoy the photos and perhaps we will see you at Lobsterfest next year!
Diners.org also has video of the Helltini drinking. We will post that in another article once it is ready.
Now, please excuse me as I hit the gym to work all this extra weight off.
