Try a clambake on a Maine isle
CABBAGE ISLAND, Maine - What could be finer than lobster on a summer day? Add a boat ride to a small island for an afternoon of fun and games, and you've got the clambake at Cabbage Island, which opens for the season this week.
The three-to-four-hour experience begins with a sail in Boothbay Harbor aboard the 149-passenger Argo. Lobster lovers arrive about 45 minutes later at 5 1/2-acre Cabbage Island in Linekin Bay. There you will meet the Moore family, who have been putting on these bakes for 52 years.
The clambake is cooked outdoors, covered in seaweed and rocks. Each visitor gets two 1-to-1 1/4-pound lobsters, along with chowder, steamed clams, corn, and new potatoes (from Maine, of course). Dessert is blueberry cake with coffee and iced tea.
After such a meal, which can be eaten outdoors or in the 150-seat hall of the island lodge, you may want a nap. But there is much to do: fishing from the dock, horseshoes, volleyball, badminton, and strolls about the island (where you will find no cabbages because the island was named for its cabbage roses). If you insist on resting, there are lawn chairs.
Cabbage Island Clambakes run through Labor Day for $52.95, including the boat ride. 207-633-7200, cabbageislandclambakes .com. Monday-Saturday, departure is 12:30 and return is 4:30. On Saturdays, there is an extra bake from 5 till dark. Sundays 11:30-3 and 1:30-5. Chicken is available by advance request. Sailings are from Pier 6 at Fisherman's Wharf, Boothbay Harbor.
RICHARD P. CARPENTER 