Operation: Lobster Dock

One of our main goals in Maine was to see if we could actually get sick of eating lobster. It was hard not to get enthusiastic about eating one of our favorite crustaceans when everywhere we looked there were restaurants with Lobster in the name.

Or lobster traps just taunting us.

So we tried eating it a lot of different ways:

Sometimes boiled, which was delicious.

Sometimes in a lobster roll. Also pretty delicious.

Other times, we opted for the lobster stuffed lobster. Again, Delicious. Although we did feel a little sorry for the lobster, it just seemed kind of undignified. Long story short . . . we are not sick of lobster.

Cameron Frye

The Maine House had a lot of "art",  a lot of knicknacks, a lot of just general stuff, everywhere. This one painting really, really gave us both pause. I mean, look at this thing!

A little closer . . .

Wait, let's take an even closer look:

We have so many questions for the artist . . . unfortunately, the painting appeared to be unsigned.

Soundgarden

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens features a "Garden of the Five Senses." For the auditory portion, they have these large "sound stones" where you place your head inside a hole in a rock and listen to the humming.

It's supposed to be quite soothing.

Look how relaxed Erik is.

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

We saw a lot of beautiful flora in Maine (sadly, not as much Fauna as we would've liked, besides what we ate). And the Botanical Gardens in Boothbay did a really impressive job of showing you everything the state had to offer. Honestly, a gorgeous place totally worth exploring.

These orchids were a definite favorite of Mrs. Burg and the people responsible for the gardens.  And I get it, they're pretty cool. Except for the name . . . Lady's Slipper? Really? I know there are over 20,000 varieties of orchids in this world, but somehow I think we could've found a better name.

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Look at this crazy tree. He clearly had a rough night out with the ferns.

They also had the ACTUAL tree that inspired LEGO's. Who knew those plastic guys were based on real life ? ? ?

This guy was found hanging out in the children's section of the garden. Creepy Yes? Child appropriate? Maybe? The Burgs are not the best judge of what's child-friendly . . .  both had moms who thought Jaws was a fine film for a 5-year-old to enjoy.

Billy Beer

At the house in Maine, there were many tchotchkes, knickknacks and baubles scattered about to give the place a little, you know, character. Among these, was this artifact from 1976:

Yes, an unopened can of Billy Beer! The beer was named for then-President Jimmy Carter's little brother and carried his ringing endorsement: "I had this beer brewed up just for me. I think it's the best I ever tasted. And I've tasted a lot. I think you'll like it, too."

Erik fought the urge to abscond with the priceless relic for two reasons: 1) Stealing is wrong and 2) There was a good chance that the antique could've exploded in our suitcase on the plane-ride home, staining our clothes and other valuables with 35-year-old Billy beer.
That doesn't wash out...no matter how much bicentennial-era Borax you use.

The Burgs go to the Country Again.

When you live someplace so, ahem, high energy, you occasionally want to get away for a little while and find someplace bucolic to cool your heels. A trip to the country is a welcome respite to the hustle and bustle so nice they named it twice.
At least, that's what the Burgs have found. Last year, it was Connecticut. This year, we went to Maine.

Here's Karen kicking back at the dock. Yes, we know there are plenty of docks here too.
It's a different kind of dock.

15 minutes of blinding chrome.

There's an Andy Warhol statue up in Union Square temporarily.  Our feelings are mixed about the man, sometimes we think he's brilliant, sometimes we think he might be the most annoying person who ever lived. Fortunately, the statue can't talk, so we're enjoying it, for now.

Abandon ship!

Karen spotted this today on her way home from work. Our favorite local tiki bar,  Zombie Hut, favors this sail as part of the garnish for the "Gilligan" (our favorite cocktail at this establishment.) Looks like maybe somebody opted for the traveler . . . we didn't even know that was available!

Cat Fancy

As we've mentioned before. There are a lot of random odds and ends abandoned on the sidewalks in this city every weekend. Erik found a fine example of one of these objets d'art on a recent walk. It took a lot of energy from Karen to convince him we did NOT need this in our apartment.

Here's a closer look to help you capture all the glorious details.  On another note, we toyed with calling this post many things, Catmopolitan, Good Mousekeeping, Vanity Fur (all real magazines available for purchase) But we finally settled on the mother of all cat magazines:

 
You're welcome.