We'd been told about Local 188 by Gourmet Biker (first restaurant recommendation of the New Year) and since we couldn't check into The Regency until 2pm (first hotel check in of the New Year) we decided to take a stroll (first walk of the New Year) and find breakfast (first meal of the New Year). We celebrated our hangovers (first hangovers of the New Year) with strong coffee (first coffee of the New Year), Caribbean hash and eggs (first hash and eggs of the New Year) and a build your own omelet (first omelet of the New Year). Truly a historic day of firsts (squinting, nodding, staring off into distance).
Local 188 is aces in my book. I highly recommend this place to anyone searching for powerful coffee, large portions and reasonable prices. My dish - the Caribbean corned beef hash - was delicious, huge and only about $6.50. The Lovely Girlfriend's omelet was similarly enormous and also well under ten bucks. They've got a full bar at Local 188 and while we didn't indulge a couple of girls seated next to us slugged down a handful of large orange-ish cocktails. I think they were Mimosas but they could have been Screwdrivers. Either way the girls were a little wobbly when they left so while I cannot directly recommend any drinks to you I can tell you by the looks of it they pour em strong. I can also tell you that they serve a Sazerac which is a sure sign of a bar inhabited by serious drinkers, another good sign. Since Portland is a favorite spot (read that as the only spot) of the Lovely Girlfriend to visit when in Maine I'm sure we will return to sample their libations at a later date.
When our room was ready at 2pm we realized The Regency was absolutely worth the wait. Great fuckin hotel! Plus, once again thanks to The Lovely Girlfriend's points we got the room for a meager $15.00 per night. After some extra curricular activities (first hanky-panky of the New Year... well, not the first now that I think about it. First in that hotel room. Truly a historic day of firsts) we checked out their spa and made our plans for the evening. The Spa at The Regency is a little small but it's got everything you'd want. Gym, hot tub, sauna and steam room, lockers and a little lounge with a flat screen plus none of those b.s. fees for usage. The Lovely Girlfriend got a massage from some foreign dude that she seemed a little too satisfied with so I put a call into INS. He should be receiving his deportation papers any day now.
We had dinner at The Grill Room and if I could have eaten the next days breakfast, lunch and dinner there I would have. We ate at the bar because the joint was very busy. Our bartender was extremely friendly, handed out a few samples off their extensive cocktail menu and otherwise kept us entertained. This was an Amazing Meal. Perfectly cooked 37 ounce (you read that correctly, 37 ounces) porterhouse steak. Grilled asparagus, mushroom risotto and roasted beets as well as poached sweetbreads for a starter. I would have licked the plates if I hadn't been in polite company. We ended the night with a slice of carrot cake damn near the size of the plate it came on. I am already looking forward to our next visit.
We decided to catch a movie after dinner and while I would like to tell you that Young Adult was as good as either of our meals or our hotel I can't. This is one lousy movie. If you haven't seen it and you were planning to don't bother. If it didn't interest you in the first place, your judgment is better than mine. Without ruining the ending for any of you that are still foolish enough to throw down your hard earned money on this stinker I will just say this - it doesn't end. Sure the credits roll and the lights come up but the movie doesn't end. I'm sure the excuse the screenwriter, director and producers would give you is "that's how life is, life doesn't just end." To that I say it's a fuckin movie, asshole! Give me a beginning a middle and an end. I understand that big things in life don't typically get resolved in two hours but in movies they do. In songs it takes about three and a half minutes, in books it around 300 pages but they still fucking end! Otherwise you are wasting my time. Screw you for wasting my time. Look at that, first movie review of the New Year. Truly a historic day of firsts (squinting, nodding, staring off into distance).
Day two at The Regency had me headed out looking for a bar to watch the bowl games. Gritty McDuffs is by no means a sports bar but as it happens it was open and that was more than most of the other bars on Fore street could say. Gritty's is a brewpub and I think it may have been the first one in Maine twenty plus years ago at the start of the whole brewpub craze. Amazingly, while at the bar a guy sitting next to me recognized me from this blog. I'll call him Berry Pond Rock Star. As it turned out we had met back in the early ninties and had several mutual friends in common. He was fortifying himself with a bit of Dutch courage before heading out to buy an engagement ring. It tried to talk him out of it but from what I understand he went through with it. Kidding, I never tried to talk him out of it. I congratulated him and told him marriage is something everyone should do at least once. More than anything I was thrilled to run into a follower of the blog. PBRS went on and on about how brilliant of a writer I am. How I'm an inspiration to everyone. you know, the usual.
We didn't eat the Gritty's, instead we headed to Warf St and The Merry Table. Reasonably priced french food is hard to come by and often times something to be wary of but that is not the case here. Most dishes were in the $12 - 17 range. I had the cassoulet, the Lovely Girlfriend had a gigantic salad. All together the bill came to around forty bucks with drinks and tip. The cassoulet was filled with some kind of outstanding sausage and came with an entire roasted duck leg on the side. The big salad was just like it sounds - a really big salad. We didn't order desert but we did see some extravagant crepes being served at tables nearby. We'll have to add that to our next trip as well.
The next morning at around 4am I took the Lovely Girlfriend to the airport. At the time we were a month away from this whole ordeal being wrapped up and on the road to getting our life back to normal. We are now about eighteen days away from that moment. Hopefully we can kick that off with another travelogue. This time some place warm. I'm thinking Vegas.
Local 188 is aces in my book. I highly recommend this place to anyone searching for powerful coffee, large portions and reasonable prices. My dish - the Caribbean corned beef hash - was delicious, huge and only about $6.50. The Lovely Girlfriend's omelet was similarly enormous and also well under ten bucks. They've got a full bar at Local 188 and while we didn't indulge a couple of girls seated next to us slugged down a handful of large orange-ish cocktails. I think they were Mimosas but they could have been Screwdrivers. Either way the girls were a little wobbly when they left so while I cannot directly recommend any drinks to you I can tell you by the looks of it they pour em strong. I can also tell you that they serve a Sazerac which is a sure sign of a bar inhabited by serious drinkers, another good sign. Since Portland is a favorite spot (read that as the only spot) of the Lovely Girlfriend to visit when in Maine I'm sure we will return to sample their libations at a later date.
When our room was ready at 2pm we realized The Regency was absolutely worth the wait. Great fuckin hotel! Plus, once again thanks to The Lovely Girlfriend's points we got the room for a meager $15.00 per night. After some extra curricular activities (first hanky-panky of the New Year... well, not the first now that I think about it. First in that hotel room. Truly a historic day of firsts) we checked out their spa and made our plans for the evening. The Spa at The Regency is a little small but it's got everything you'd want. Gym, hot tub, sauna and steam room, lockers and a little lounge with a flat screen plus none of those b.s. fees for usage. The Lovely Girlfriend got a massage from some foreign dude that she seemed a little too satisfied with so I put a call into INS. He should be receiving his deportation papers any day now.
We had dinner at The Grill Room and if I could have eaten the next days breakfast, lunch and dinner there I would have. We ate at the bar because the joint was very busy. Our bartender was extremely friendly, handed out a few samples off their extensive cocktail menu and otherwise kept us entertained. This was an Amazing Meal. Perfectly cooked 37 ounce (you read that correctly, 37 ounces) porterhouse steak. Grilled asparagus, mushroom risotto and roasted beets as well as poached sweetbreads for a starter. I would have licked the plates if I hadn't been in polite company. We ended the night with a slice of carrot cake damn near the size of the plate it came on. I am already looking forward to our next visit.
We decided to catch a movie after dinner and while I would like to tell you that Young Adult was as good as either of our meals or our hotel I can't. This is one lousy movie. If you haven't seen it and you were planning to don't bother. If it didn't interest you in the first place, your judgment is better than mine. Without ruining the ending for any of you that are still foolish enough to throw down your hard earned money on this stinker I will just say this - it doesn't end. Sure the credits roll and the lights come up but the movie doesn't end. I'm sure the excuse the screenwriter, director and producers would give you is "that's how life is, life doesn't just end." To that I say it's a fuckin movie, asshole! Give me a beginning a middle and an end. I understand that big things in life don't typically get resolved in two hours but in movies they do. In songs it takes about three and a half minutes, in books it around 300 pages but they still fucking end! Otherwise you are wasting my time. Screw you for wasting my time. Look at that, first movie review of the New Year. Truly a historic day of firsts (squinting, nodding, staring off into distance).
Day two at The Regency had me headed out looking for a bar to watch the bowl games. Gritty McDuffs is by no means a sports bar but as it happens it was open and that was more than most of the other bars on Fore street could say. Gritty's is a brewpub and I think it may have been the first one in Maine twenty plus years ago at the start of the whole brewpub craze. Amazingly, while at the bar a guy sitting next to me recognized me from this blog. I'll call him Berry Pond Rock Star. As it turned out we had met back in the early ninties and had several mutual friends in common. He was fortifying himself with a bit of Dutch courage before heading out to buy an engagement ring. It tried to talk him out of it but from what I understand he went through with it. Kidding, I never tried to talk him out of it. I congratulated him and told him marriage is something everyone should do at least once. More than anything I was thrilled to run into a follower of the blog. PBRS went on and on about how brilliant of a writer I am. How I'm an inspiration to everyone. you know, the usual.
We didn't eat the Gritty's, instead we headed to Warf St and The Merry Table. Reasonably priced french food is hard to come by and often times something to be wary of but that is not the case here. Most dishes were in the $12 - 17 range. I had the cassoulet, the Lovely Girlfriend had a gigantic salad. All together the bill came to around forty bucks with drinks and tip. The cassoulet was filled with some kind of outstanding sausage and came with an entire roasted duck leg on the side. The big salad was just like it sounds - a really big salad. We didn't order desert but we did see some extravagant crepes being served at tables nearby. We'll have to add that to our next trip as well.
The next morning at around 4am I took the Lovely Girlfriend to the airport. At the time we were a month away from this whole ordeal being wrapped up and on the road to getting our life back to normal. We are now about eighteen days away from that moment. Hopefully we can kick that off with another travelogue. This time some place warm. I'm thinking Vegas.
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