We were in Wells, Maine over the weekend. We got up there on Friday afternoon, went to dinner Friday evening with a friend, ran the judging area for the Maine State chili cook off on Saturday, and came home Sunday. This is one of my favorite chili trips. We go to dinner on Saturday with the organizer of the cook off. We eat at a restaurant called Joshua’s in Wells. It’s a nicer place, but the food is always wonderful. We’ve been going there for years. And we always have a good time with Eleanor.
The weather was perfect on Saturday. Sunny, but not too hot and with enough of a breeze to keep it comfortable. That’s the kind of day you want for the cook off in Wells. It’s not perfect beach weather so the crowd at the cook off tends to be bigger when it’s not as hot and baking sunny. Every time I looked, there were lines waiting to taste chili at all the booths. That is good for the charity benefiting from the gate, in this case the Wells Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Fund. We always stay at the same place in Wells, the Carriage House. Many of the cooks stay there, also. The owners, Bob and Sally, are great and they don’t mind having a bunch of crazy chili people take over the place for a weekend. We have been doing a potluck supper after the cook off on Saturday for a few years. It’s what makes this one of my favorite cook offs. During the event, I don’t get to really talk to many of the cooks and others because when I have time to stroll around, the cooks are busy setting up and getting their pots started. And once the judging starts, I am busy until the end of the cook off. So, the potluck gives us all time to just relax and socialize. Oh, and eat. And drink. And just have fun!
On the way home, we stopped at Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery. We try to get there at least once a year. It’s your basic New England clam shack- fried seafood, lobster rolls, clams, all that good stuff. But the food is really fresh and delicious, fried stuff is never greasy, and they get your order up pretty quickly even when they are busy. And they do get busy!!
So, we are home for this week and then on Thursday of next week, we fly out to Des Moines, IA for the Worlds Championship cook off. We haven’t been to Worlds in a few years and I am looking forward to going. Of course, all of this means writing time is going to be cut short but hey, that’s how it is sometimes. I will get my time in this week and as much as possible until we leave. We will have the laptop with us, so who knows? I may get a bit of work in while we are gone. Maybe. And that’s what’s been going on and what’s coming up here. I hope your week is a good one!!
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And So On... 