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Serendipity Of The Black Squirrel

by Brian on October 13, 2010 in Food & Drink, Washington DC

We took up residence near this little guy in Freehold, NJ. Having never seen a black squirrel before, and being naturally inquisitive, I Googled “black squirrel” to see if they are the same creature as the grey ones we’re more used to seeing (they are). But as luck would have it, the second link on the Google page was to the Black Squirrel Bar in Washington, DC, our very next stop. Even more fortunate, the Black Squirrel is just a couple blocks away from our favorite Korean restaurant, Mandu, where we had already planned to meet a friend for dinner. Another sign? Without question.

The Black Squirrel calls itself a “gastro pub,” which I guess is supposed to mean they have good food. We didn’t go there to eat, but we did sample a calamari and vegetable appetizer dipped in tempura batter and served with chipotle tartar sauce. It was a little salty, but certainly better than the standard pub grub. They also claim to serve Belgium’s best wheat beer, (it’s not). Fortunately, they have plenty of other options on the menu, including some fantastic beers made by Great Lakes Brewery in Cleveland, Ohio. We’d never heard of Great Lakes before, but a helpful bartender introduced us to them, and now we’ve added another place to stop on our to-do list.

Yale Beats Harvard

by Brian on October 11, 2010 in Connecticut

There are few things I care less about than college football (golf, maybe, but that’s beside the point). So while the title of this post has football connotations, my meaning has nothing to do with sports, but rather with college towns. And in this regard, Yale’s New Haven, Connecticut, dominates Harvard’s Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although it is true that we didn’t really spend enough time in either destination to fairly compare, what else are covers for if not to judge books? So we judged, and declared New Haven the winner.

New Haven just felt more to us like what a college town is supposed to be, with its open greens and Gothic Revival architecture. It is a stark contrast to New York City, where Shannon and I both went to school. We decided it would be nice to enroll here and study something pointless, like Romance Languages or Art History. But that is too much of a commitment. Instead, we availed ourselves of their free museums and Frank Pepe’s pizza, reportedly the originator of New England style thin crust. So in the end, we spent the day learning some irrelevant facts and downing a large amount of pizza, just like a regular student.

Two For The Road

by Brian on October 9, 2010 in Maine

Maine has such a large concentration of craft brewers that it wasn’t possible to visit them all. So as a departing gift to ourselves, we picked up some brews from places we didn’t get the chance to visit, and ones we aren’t likely to see elsewhere. We’re going to miss Maine, but these will go a long way to easing our sorrow.

Mount Battie

by Brian on October 8, 2010 in Maine

Our camping fees at Camden Hills State Park also included free access to the toll road leading to the top of Mount Battie. It is a drive we almost skipped because of lack of time and spotty weather. We’re glad me made the effort. The drive is a short one, and the views are surprisingly good. From atop a medieval looking stone tower, one gets an unobstructed 360 degree panorama of Penobscot Bay in one direction and mountain ranges in the other.

Camden Hills State Park

by Brian on October 6, 2010 in Maine

One of the things we’ve discovered is that some places are better suited to visiting in an R.V. than others. We’ve found large cities to be particularly challenging given the logistical difficulties of day tripping from somewhere on the outskirts. Getting an in-city hotel room for a couple of nights might be a good solution, and one we’ll have to explore in the future.

On the flip side, small cities, towns and rural locations are ideally suited for R.V. travel. And one of the best places we’ve stayed thus far is Camden Hills State Park. The park put us right at the doorstep of 30 miles of hiking trails, and within minutes of quaint Camden, ME. Our camping fees also granted us free daily admission to the state park, which is one of the highlights of the area. There’s nothing like waking up every morning in the heart of your sightseeing destination.

The hiking trails in the park all connect, allowing you to hike for as long, or as little, as you want. We combined the Maiden Cliff Trail and the Scenic Trail to do a loop of Megunticook Mountain, and catch these great views from the 800 foot cliff overlooking Megunitcook Lake.

On our descent we spent a long while watching what we thought were several birds of prey circling the valley, including this guy, who may or may not be a bald eagle. On further investigation, though, we discovered that most of the birds in question were turkey vultures; possibly the ugliest birds on earth. As for what they were circling in the valley (less fortunate hikers?), we didn’t discover.