Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

On our recent trip to the northeast, we stopped in a place called “Foster’s Clambake and Catering”.

Based on the name, I thought there might be a “family special” for us.

We were served an entire lobster sitting atop a plate with mussels and clams beneath it plus an ear of sweet corn.

The dinner started off with a steaming hot bowl of clam chowder.

Pretty good!

Then the huge plates with giant red lobsters were brought out but not until we all had ample supplies of melted butter distributed.

Now, I do like lobster but all of my previous lobster meals were simply the tail with the shell cracked and the meat easily accessible.

Someone did come to our table to offer some tips on eating this meal and we all looked pretty fashionable with our big plastic bibs around our necks.

I enjoyed the feast but I’m of the opinion that eating a whole lobster is too much like work…for me.

It was similar to my recent Alaskan adventure when I ordered a whole crab dinner.

Again, tasty but labor intensive.

The clams and the mussels?

Meh!

The ear of corn steamed in its’ husk was the easiest part of the meal to eat.

For a meal that years ago was served to prisoners due to the ample supplies of the lobsters, the price today would not pass the budget limitations of the prison system.

The highlight of the trip was the time we spent in the White Mountain National Forest.

I’m sure in the winter months the snow would make the White Mountains’ name appropriate but this time of year, the region is anything but white.

I have never seen an area with so many brightly-colored tree leaves.

Combined with bright, sunny skies, the views were spectacular.

Shimmering and vivid.

We had lunch at the Griswold Inn, highly recommended by Bruce Fogg, the best man of our wedding many years ago.

The “Gris” is in Essex, Connecticut and first opened its’ doors in 1776.

It is listed in Patricia Schultz’s best-selling book travel book, “One Thousand Places to See Before You Die”.

My wife and I can now say, “Been there. Done that”.

Whenever we travel, I like finding little “hole-in-the-wall” bars and eateries to grab a bite and sample a local brew or two.

They were abundant on this trip.

We did a whale-watching excursion out of Plymouth, Massachusetts on Cape Cod Bay.

We viewed dozens of whales frolicking in the water, flipping their tails at us.

We had one whale swim closely past our boat and someone ask, “What’s that brown stuff in the water?”

“Whale poop!” the naturalist declared.

Shouldn’t be surprised as he earlier told us they eat up to 3,000 pounds of fish her day.

One of our other neat trips was on the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad with the rails just two feet apart instead of the 4+ feet norm for most trains.

We got to see Plymouth Rock where legend would have us to believe it marks the spot where Pilgrims first set foot on land in America.

That’s bit of an early “urban legend”myth.

Still the rock had to be fenced off from tourists who would chip off pieces as souvenirs, proving you don’t have to be smart to visit historic sites.

We also spent parts of two days at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut where you could sit before machines with lots of flashing lights and colorful displays to lose as much money as you’d like.

We stopped in Vermont to see Quechee Gorge which that state claims is the Grand Canyon of the northeast.

It’s not.

We took a cruise on the Connecticut River aboard the Becky Thatcher riverboat and we saw a home reportedly owned by the inventor of :The Clapper” as well as the “Chia Pet”.

Lots of eagles nesting in the trees.

In the ocean, there’s no shortage of lobster pots bobbing in the water.

Traffic in and around any decent-sized city in the northeast is next to impossible.

Its call “rush hour” but t here’s not much rushing taking place.

It’s like trying to stuff 10 gallons of trash into a a 5 gallon bucket.

In my opinion, nice places to visit but I wouldn’t wat to live there.

It was nice to be back home in Indiana.

s