Congratulations Frates Drive-In Restaurant!

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Hey Taunton, Hey South Shore,  Hey visitors to our town! We have a really special restaurant right here in Taunton! Not too long ago I gave a shout-out right here to Frates Drive- In Restaurant because they were voted the Best Ice Cream in New England.

Well, they almost did it again. They were runner-up in the voting for the best Hot Dog! Not bad. This isn’t just a town thing…this is all of New England. This is NECN’s Baby you’re the Best contest.  Recently I tried the hot dog  and sure enough, they have my vote too.

Now I have to admit that I am partial to good seafood and I’ve had their fish sandwich and their fish & chips…both are A+ in my book so New England, can we make them #1 for seafood?

As you can see they were doing a steady business when I was there for my hot dog.

Look at the smiling face on one happy customer! 🙂

And the Ice Cream is still the best!

Frates Drive -in Restaurant is located 1423 Somerset Ave, Taunton, Ma. Stop in and try them out for yourself and if you are on Facebook why not give them a thumbs up with a
“Like”.

I want to thank the young lady and her family for allowing me to use her picture in today’s post. See what nice people eat at Frates! 🙂

Bar Harbor, walkin’ the walk

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Bar Harbor is a beautiful area sitting like it is in the heart of Acadia National Park.

Acadia is a bit different from most of the National Parks. It’s a patchwork made up mostly of land  and islands that have been donated for preservation. As I understand it, no more land is being accepted into the park although there are other preservation projects that may be available to potential donors.

The eastern portion of the park includes the 27 mile long loop road and 45 miles of carriage roads. The carriage roads are closed to automobiles but you can take a horse-drawn carriage ride or walk the well maintained roads.

We started our day with a traditional Maine breakfast at the Great Maine Breakfast. The traditional breakfast is the lumberjack breakfast, meat and potatoes, eggs and  pancakes. They had a jar of Berrylicious native blueberry jam on the table too.

Oh so good but neither JR or I could finish  our meal. It was a shame too because they were the best pancakes I’ve ever had in a restaurant…no offense to Denny’s or IHop.

After breakfast we (I anyway) waddled out to the car and picked up the cameras. I was hoping I’d see  a fellow we’d spotted the night before when I didn’t have my camera. He was providing me with my “kitty fix” for this trip. He had a pretty white and black cat that he was walking on a lease. I really wanted to take their picture but I didn’t see them this morning.

We moved the car to a better parking spot near a little park on the waterfront and began to explore.

There was a trail that reminded me of the Cliff Walk in Newport.

It ran along the water on one side and large homes and Inns on the other. I think it was about a mile long. We took our time taking plenty of pictures along the way.

Back at the car we decided to find the marina with the boat for the Puffin Tour. It looked to be too far to walk when we checked the map which is why we had the car this morning. It turned out that it would have been quite a hike.

From there we found our way to the visitor center at the park.  I forgot my National Park passport book in the room but I can get the stamp when we come back.  We picked up loads of handouts and information about the park, the trails and the activities. By then it was time to drive JR back to town where he planned to explore while I went looking for some funny little birds called Puffins!

First Night in Bar Harbor

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Leaving Breakwater behind we took the “scenic “ Rt 1 the rest of the way to Bar Harbor. We crossed the Penobscot Narrows on a what looked like a brand new bridge.

It was a 2 lane bridge with a center “spine”. It was a really neat bridge . I commented that I wanted to stop right there in the road and take a picture. JR didn’t think that was a very good idea and as if to prove it another car pulled onto the bridge behind us.

The other interesting thing was that the old bridge was still standing right next to the new one. As was once said on a show from the 60’s/ 70’s…Veeeery Interesting!

A little bit farther on was a scenic pull out where we could see the bridge and satisfy my need for a picture.

Back on the road we found the scenic RT 1 to be ok but there weren’t any spectacular vistas so it was a bit of a let down.

We made our first mistake just before we got to the motel and had to go around the block. Not bad for a drive of over 300 miles. I guess my GPS works ok.

The motel , The Anchorage, was so retro 70’s it was funny but the room was clean and the folks running it were very nice.

The air conditioner worked and there was a shower and bath. We checked in and unloaded our stuff. Our room was a corner  room on the 2nd level.

We had a map from the front desk and decided to walk down to the center of town to find a place for dinner.

About 3 blocks down we came to a little town green. There was a bandstand like so many bandstands on little town greens but this one was different. It had a band. Of course being tired from the drive neither JR nor I were carrying our cameras. (I know better too. Never go out without your camera!) The band was quite good. I’m sure if it hadn’t been so late and we so tired and hungry that we would have enjoyed sitting in that little park and listening for a while.

As we crossed through the green and moved on down the street it got busier with lots of souvenir shops and restaurants. Eventually we settled on the RT 66 restaurant. I was wearing my Rt 66 sweat shirt so it seemed appropriate.

For the 2nd time that night I was sorry I didn’t have my camera. The restaurant was adorable. It was filled with RT 66 memorabilia but the best part was the little model train that actually ran on tracks above our heads. The waitress was fun too. She was friendly and outgoing. I was surprised when she said it was her first night and that she had never waited table before. She will do well.

My dinner was really good. I’m ashamed to say I don’t know what JR ordered. ( Fine food reporter I am…NOT) except that he ordered something called potato planks or something similar. It was thick sliced potatoes with cheese similar to potato skins. We ended up splitting the order. They were really good.

My main course was baked scallops in white wine and garlic sauce with a side of mashed potatoes. A side salad came with the meal. Now you can see why I wasn’t paying that much attention to JR’s meal. My mouth was watering over my scallops! We both had a drink with our meal. I enjoyed a house chardonnay. After all we were on vacation. By the time we wandered back to the Anchorage I was ready for a good night’s sleep.

The Puffin Cruise was on the agenda for the next afternoon and I wanted to be well rested for that.