We made two stops on our Maine Roadtrip that don’t exactly fit into any of the town posts. They are the stops in the middle that make driving OH SO worth it!
A “must stop” is Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro on Rt. 1 (you have to take the coastal route from Portland to Acadia, but it’s good enough to add a bit of travel time). Moody’s Diner began in 1927 when they built a few cabins to offer cheap lodging and soon expanded to a cute little diner. That cute little diner still looks like it belongs in 1927 but with some modern touches.
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My dad has talked about Moody’s cinnamon buns for as long as I can remember and it was a routine stop for him when he was going to college in Maine. They are usually sold out by late morning in high season, so I had never experienced these wonders. This time, however, we were there during the very first weekend of the “season” (before it gets busy), and we managed to secure one right around lunch time. It was DAMN good, but it had the unfortunate experience of having to be compared to the cinnamon bun from Five Fifty Five from just a few days before. It wasn’t quite as delicious, but it was still quite delicious.
Mike went for the turkey club. He voted it an exceptionally good turkey club.
I went with the old fashioned Yankee Pot Roast. I was quite concerned about this choice because good pot roast can be great but there ain’t nothing worse than bad pot roast. This… this was FAN.FREAKING.TASTIC pot roast. It looked so humble… but it was just so good.
Overall, Moody’s diner does home cooked comfort food right. They don’t get too artsy with their food styling nor do they make anything trendy. They just make great diner food. Really great diner food.
Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10
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Another stop on the stop was Young’s Lobster Pound in Belfast (we hit this heading back south from Acadia when we were heading to Camden). My family stumbled on Young’s years ago and I couldn’t wait to go back. It’s a very authentic lobster pound that pulls their stash in right from the water.
(Side Note: Belfast as a town wasn’t exactly a shopping destination last time I was there, so I was excited to see that it has become a total artist destination.)
They have their lobster in big tanks and sell a 1 & 1/4 pound lobster plus steamers and potato chips for less than $20. Awesome.
They supply a good deal of lobster beyond just their restaurant… so they have a lot of tanks.
Mike saw Moxie in the fridge and decided to try it. Unfortunately, neither of us knew it tasted like root beer… and neither of us like root beer. Oh well! Now we know. (As I’m writing this with Mike sitting next to me he saw the picture and reiterated, “Moxie is disgusting”)
It took far too much time to get our food… though any time I wait for fresh cooked lobsters and steamers while waiting on a beautiful doc is too long!
Again, I think it’s pretty hard to screw up steamed lobster, but the steamers at Young’s just set this one apart. The lobster couldn’t be fresher, of course, and then you have the scenery…
Overall, Young’s is just too good to drive right past (even though it’s easy to miss the sign to show you where to turn). A must stop.
Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10
