Costal Weekend

Erin and I took an impromptu "tour of the coast" a few weekends back. We were offered a free cottage on the beach in Salisbury, MA (thanks kara) and although the gloomy summer weather may not scream beach to most, erin and i were up for it! We opted to check out nearby Newburyport since it was a rainy drizzled filled day. The town was literally five minutes from the cottage and it was a quaint as we imagined. We walked around for a bit in and out of fun little shops. It reminded us alot of a smaller downtown Portsmouth. Quickly our hunger (and thirst) took over and a sign for "$1 oysters" drew me into Ten Center Street Restaurant & Wine Bar. If it weren't for the sign I think we would have passed right by, but I am glad we didn't. This place is off the main street and doesn't really strike you as anything special from the outside. That changes the minute you make it past the host stand.

The bar was so warm and welcoming. It's two floors with brick walls and two fireplaces on the lower level! Perfect for a rainy day. They also have a great selection of specialty beer and wine, as well as a full bar. The food looked delicious too. Erin tried there Lobster Chowder (super fresh and creamy) and of course I went with the Oyster special!

I enjoyed my beer by the fireplace at one point and we had to take a picture of the great beer glass erin used: (it reads: nice beer: if you can get it)
This was the perfect space to enjoy the summer/rainy weather. We checked out the upstairs bar too and saw that they have live music at night. I would highly recommend this place to anyone in the area!





Our travels then took us to the Cape to visit erin's moms friend from high school, Diane! She has a beautiful house that she opens up to us every summer to come visit. Its so nice to be able to head to the cape, yet stay away from the super tourist areas! Erin had been craving "fried seafood" (this is a smell that pretty much begins the minute you are within five miles of a beach town in New England) so Diane recommended we try out a local joint: Spanky Clam Shack. This place was right on the water and had a great patio to dine on. Erin got her fried scallops, while I enjoyed some mussels!

Finally I must mention another amazing dish I had while beaching it...we went over to Clay and Paul's gorgeous new house (Paul is Diane's son) and they had out a great spread of fresh veggies/hummus/fruit and of course cocktails! Then they cooked up some fresh kabobs and a homemade rice. SO DELISH.
After some Wii and laughter Clay whipped up this incredible desert. He started by toasting his own pecans with some liquor of sorts. Then he grilled up some fresh pineapple and served it all together with some Haagen- Dazs Pineapple -Coconut ice cream. HOLY YUM. It was the perfect portion/flavor combo of deliciousness. Thanks again guys!

Some other eats that I didn't take pictures of :(, but HIGHLY enjoyed were: Diane's homemade blueberry pancakes, Mark's famous hot wings and of course erin's margaritas...I guess we will just have to head back soon so I can get pictures this time!