Road Trip to Maine

Both getting out of the city and seeing my brother had been long overdue, so a road trip up to Bangor, Maine, was just the thing this weekend. Also those little blueberries, moose, and whoopie pies, + 70 mph speed limits and Acadia National Park, made it extra just the thing. We planned the trip with stops in two of my favorite cities: New Haven, CT, and Portland, ME. Tasted some delicious foods. Andrew did all of the driving and I did all of the sleeping. (I did try really hard to stay awake—something about being in the car [as a passenger, not a driver!] lulls me to sleep instantly, though, and it’s a constant struggle, ahem, losing battle.)

In New Haven we ate my absolute favorite pizza at Zuppardi’s Apizza (apparently pronounced a-BEETZ), with house-made sausage. Yum.

Many hours later, we stopped in Portland, ME, at Duckfatfor  kale salad with smoked duck, crispy duck skin, and other vegetable things + poutine and craft beer.

My brother is a health coach and an inspiration to me in healthy eating and in remembering to spend my time doing what is important to me in life. (It’s hard to remember that sometimes, right?) His diet is gluten free, dairy free, and very low sugar, with an emphasis on fresh vegetables, grass-fed meats, and healthy fats like avocados, coconut, and nuts and seeds. I enjoy all foods in moderation, but I do feel pretty healthy when I adhere, for the most part, to this model. We developed a few recipes together and had a feast. The recipes are coming in next week’s post! We had Coconut-Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes, Baby Turnips with Bacon, Spiced Meatballs with Walnut Sauce, and Buttery Zucchini and Turnip Greens.

In Bangor, my brother and his friend/partner-in-crime, confusingly also named Rebecca, took us to Blaze, where we had grass-fed beef-pork-venison chile and a burger topped with a fried duck egg. I was so eager to dig in that I didn’t get any great photos! On Saturday, they took us out to beautiful Acadia National Park, and despite a little rain, it was completely beautiful.

On our way back to Brooklyn, we stopped at Tim Horton’s (!!!!! you thought it was only in Canada but you were wrong!) for a breakfast Canadian Maple donut.

In New Haven, in the evening, we took a break from driving in the pouring rain to have a snack at the Beer Collective: some delicious chorizo nachos and, since it was literally us and four staff members in the bar, some of the new charcuterie and cheese board that the staff was tasting. Yum.

It’s good to be home, but I’m already missing all of the Maine nature. I’m definitely feeling more committed to healthy eating after the trip (despite all of the pizza, fries, and donuts!), and I can’t wait to share our recipes with you next week!