We had rare flexibility on a Friday afternoon to take advantage of an unseasonably warm March day.
It’s “Locals’ Season” around these parts so we took our dog along for a long stroll on Crane Beach. Dogs (and horses) are allowed on the beach only until March 31, so we thought we’d better get to it.
Afterward we headed to the patio at True North Ales In Ipswich. The patio tables were already full at 3:30, but a lovely couple with the cutest baby shared their picnic table with us. Their sweet little one was entertained by our dog. Our dog was on super good behavior as they had food from the food truck. Win-win. I enjoyed a Holy Schnitt! helles and my husband had a Shear Hoppiness hazy IPA. A warm pretzel with mustard did the job as a snack.
My husband reports that the True North taproom itself is airy and inviting but I never made it inside. Remember, I had a dog to supervise and a tiny table mate to help amuse.
Then off to Woodman’s in Essex for an early dinner of fried clams while the light was still with us. Dogs are allowed at the picnic tables out back, which also let us feast our eyes on a gorgeous, moody view of the marsh. Sun was getting lower in the sky so we were glad to have dressed in layers.
No pictures in this report because our hands were full with the dog.
P.S. On the way back home, I noticed that the Clam Box was open though no picnic tables outside yet. Also it’s three more weeks until Down River Ice Cream opens, according to the sign out front.
Love playing hooky (which I haven’t gone in far too long).
We have enjoyed a couple of visits to True North (I think I took B there for Fathers Days a few years ago). It is indeed a bright and airy place. Hope you can stick your head inside one of these summer (?) days.
A wonderful way to spend some quality time before the crowds. Thanks for the Down River opening info. Also, Farnham’s is open, picnic tables are out (drove by - no time to stop (sigh). Did check for outside seating at Essex Seafood totally rebuilt and open after a devastating fire about a year ago (?). Maybe 6 picnic tables at the very back of the building. Did not order any food as they fry lobster now, cross contamination too risky for allergic to lobster me. Good thing there are other options in the area.
So my dream food crawl on the fried clam superhighway (LOL) would consist of fried clams from Farnham’s and onion rings from Woodman’s. A woman can dream, can’t she?
Another pre-season day trip to Cape Ann yesterday, so we could take advantage of relative warmth before this rainy weekend. Woodman’s had a just few picnic tables set up overlooking the marsh out back even though it’s before outdoor dining season. That’s where we had a late lunch with our extremely hopeful dog sitting beneath the table.
Afterward we stopped in at the rebuilt Essex Seafood to check out their offerings. They are a dine-in spot and have a small fish market—a counter, really—with a few items on offer. I’ll let you know how the scallops we bought cook up.
Then it was off to Crane Beach for a walk with the pup in the off-leash area. No dogs allowed after March 31 so we three made hay while the sun shone. Room to run! Other dogs and their people were so pleasant. We felt as if we’d lucked into an alternate universe of joy, if only briefly.
Though we feed the pup before an outing, she has an expensive taste for seafood. Can confirm she received bits from my fish sandwich (kinda boring, not pictured) and a French fry or two.
Also Biscuit may have charmed a couple of other dog owners at Crane out of treats. Her attentive sitting and paw-giving skills are hard to resist. She knows it.
The scallops from Essex Seafood did prove to be legit dry scallops with the muscle still attached. No grit. (FWIW, I still don’t have an inkling about why some scallops contain grit that isn’t present on the surface.)
I made sea scallop succotash. And now I can’t wait for summer vegetables because frozen ones aren’t the same in this dish.
Which is why I try to buy at least 2 dozen ears of corn from my local farmstand in the summer and strip the kernels from the cobs and freeze both the kernels in Ziploc bags and the cobs to make corn stock at a later date. Not quite the same, but as close to COTC (corn OFF the cob) as I can get.
Oddly enough - there was corn on the cob at Market Basket this week . . . .WAYYYY too early for corn (no idea where it could have come from) but it was there. A few more months to go, but corn will be here soon enough!
