That's him in the shed facing the camera, Mistah Taylaaah (OK OK... Mister Taylor). You might very well ask who in the hell is this Mistah Taylaaah. Well, if you were to look up the definition of a "Mainer" in the dictionary - you could very well see his picture.
He and Mrs. Taylaah live on the outskirts of Bah Harbah, about a mile or two into the wooden countryside. Becky and I first discovered them on our first way home from Acadia National Park. Coming out of the park you will see a series of hand painted signs along the highway...."Clam"....."Mussels"....."Lobstah"...."Fresh Eggs". And finally the "Turn Here" sign pointing the way down a washboard, dusty, windy, hilly road that disappears into the woods. It really only takes three or four minutes on that road but it is a series of bumps the whole way. Every couple hundred yards you'll see a sign, I'm sure meant to give you encouragement to continue...."clam ---->". CLAM.... I'll jump ahead for a second before I forget. About our third time there I mentioned to Mistah Taylah that he should add a "S" to his CLAM signs, ya know, plural CLAMS? His only response was..."Why waste the paint!". Point taken for sure.
Well anyways, this last trip out to buy some CLAM and Eggs, we were with some good friends and former neighbors from Padre Island, Jack and Linda. Linda is the photographer by the way. She was taken by the chicken coup there and the whole experience of meeting Mistah Taylah. By the way.... I have no frikkin idea what his first name is and it doesn't matter, he and his lovely wife will always be Mr. and Mrs. Taylaah to me.
You can't help but get into a conversation with him, with him doing most of the talkin' and the more he talks the more you grow to respect him, his property, and his lifestyle. I mean the first time there I innocently asked him where he gets the little neck clams - I wasn't looking for specifics but he took it so and after a bit of deliberation he told me - specifically. He's one hard working Mainer - during the wintah, probably among other things he hasn't discussed yet, he is paid to plow snow from that washboard road - about two, three miles of it. He plows a dozen or so driveways as well. They do have neighbors on that road be they few and far between. He also sells, delivers and stacks the firewood he cut and quartered earlier the year before. He goes "clammin'" year round but only goes out once a day during the wintah.
The rest of the year this guy goes clammin' twice a day depending on low tides, runs a string of lobstah pots and collects and cleans mussels about every clammin' trip. They sell lobstah, mussels, soft shell (spitter) clams, little neck clams and eggs from their shed pictured above. He also provides clams to a couple of restaurants on the Island. He is always doing something, falling trees, cutting, and quartering, stacking, clammin', running his lobstah pot string, delivery wood or clams or plowing driveways on that washboard road he lives on. In short he is one hell of a worker and although I never got into a political discussion with him - I have a very vivid ideaah just how he feels 'bout things.
Becky and I are really taken with him and although they are out of the way and perhaps a bit more expensive than a dozen places closer and far easier to get to, we prefer to buy that stuff from him. In a recent email to Linda, Becky mentioned that we need to visit the Taylaah's to get some eggs. In her reply, Linda reminded Becky what Mr. Taylaah said the last time we were there with her.... "Too Dry...The Chickens Ain't Layin' Worth A Shit This Summaah".
Well, should you find yourself on Mount Desert Island and in need of any of that stuff, just watch for the signs, or ask directions to The Taylaahs.
While visiting, we had a few picnics with Jack and Linda. Our first picnic was at a roadside rest area, on Fish Cove which is where I do my clammin'. After dropping everyone off at the rest area, I went up the road a few miles to "Tracey's Lobster Pound" and bought us each a Lobstaah Roll. Tracy is another Mainer and subject of another post but that's a different story. Another picnic we had was at one of Acadia's Parks... smoked trout, aseago cheese, a baguette of bread, some of Becky's homemade bread and butter pickles and some local brew.. Bar Harbor Ale (not a bad micro brew).
Our last meal with Jack and Linda was a Lobstaah Boil right here at the trailer - well, outside of it as you can see.
This boil included 7 "pounder new shells", 3 pounds of mussels, 3 pounds of little necks corn and potatoes.
Jack and Linda got a kick out of the quantity of food in that roasting pan but it pales in comparison to the meals that Linda serves up. And Becky HATES it when I include pictures of her in this blog but what the hell, I haven't been in trouble in quite a while so here's one of her!
As for left overs... I created a new, one of it's kind, original dish which I am calling "Lobstah Boil Leftover Cakes". The leftovers from this boil only yielded enough for four cakes but they tasted like a fried lobstah boil!
Try as I may, I simply cannot seem to lose any weight up here in Maine - I guess I don't need to make an appointment with a dietitian to figure that out do I? In addition to the walking I do daily, I think I need to add one more form of exercise to my routine - pushing myself away from the dinner table!
