A Newburyport Getaway Weekend (30 Nov - 2 Dec 2001)

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Lynn and I escaped for a weekend up to Newburyport, and it turned out to be a record-breaking weekend, weather-wise.  We've had some unseasonably warm weather the past few weeks (putting up outside Christmas lights in a tee-shirt last weekend was an experience), but Saturday was unbelievable.  December 1st, when the average high in Newburyport is 42 degrees (f), and the record high was 64 (set in 1975).  That record was shattered on Saturday; it was in the 70's most of the day!

We headed up Route 95 around 4:00 pm Friday in the usual Friday rush-hour traffic (a last-minute change of plans; we had originally thought to head for Cape Cod).  We had heard that Newburyport was a nice place to visit, and Lynn had done a little research on B&Bs in the area, so we decided to wing it and headed up cold, in the Friday afternoon gloom and fog (it had been drizzling for two days).  We called a few B&Bs while we were on the road, and decided to stop and try the Clark-Currier Inn right in Newburyport.  We wanted to find a central place so we could get around mostly by walking.

The Clark-Currier Inn turned out to be a great choice; warm and friendly atmosphere, lots of character, and within walking distance of most of downtown Newburyport, including the four billion restaurants that can be found there!

We walked around as much of Newburyport as we could manage, and I think we visited every shop at least once, maybe twice!  Lots of fun, good exercise, and the weather was great! Click here to view a  large (108kb jpeg) or small (34kb jpeg) digital image of Lynn at the front door of a Newburyport shop - I don't remember which one.

We also tried out some of the local eateries with varying degrees of success.....

Black Cow Tap & Grill (Very Good)
54R Merrimac Street
Newburyport MA
(978) 499-8811

We went here for our Friday night dinner, and the food was excellent.  I had a gorgonzola-topped filet mignon with garlic potatoes and asparagus.  The combination of flavors (earthy gorgonzola, silky rare filet) was wonderful.  Lynn had a grilled salmon filet in a lemon-pepper sauce which was also excellent. They have a number of beers on tap, more than the usual restaurant, including the two that we had; a Moretti pilsner from Italy, and a Stella Artois from Belgium.  The atmosphere was pleasant, but a bit noisy.  There was a birthday party going on for a dozen 11-year-old girls (??) and they were noisier than I would have liked.  They were also obnoxious in the bathroom - so much so that we had to complain.

 

The Starboard Galley Restaurant (Pitifully Mediocre - even the web site is mediocre)
55 Water Street
Newburyport MA
(978) 462-1326

We stumbled across this restaurant down by the Tannery Mall just about lunchtime Saturday, and we both had been talking about fried clams, and there they were on the menu. We probably should have expected something was up when we noticed early-on that we were the youngest patrons in the restaurant, by about 20 years!  It went down hill from there.  The waitress was on a different planet, not even bothering to give us a full set of silverware (we had to butter our dull and lifeless commercially-baked rolls with the handles of our only utensils - spoons).  I had a bread-bowl of clam chowder and a clam roll.  The clam chowder was thick enough but lacking in clam flavor.  The bread that made up the bread-bowl was white wonder-bread style, similar to the blah dinner rolls.  The fried clams were chewy and tasteless, with a non-descript batter coating, and the cole slaw had far too much mayonnaise and not enough flavor of any kind.  Lynn's salad was revolting, with brown lettuce and other over-aged greens.  Her clam plate had the same problems my clam roll had.

 

Rosie O’Sheas Irish House (Fine Food - Casual Dining)
84 State Street
Newburyport MA
(978) 499-0606

Our Saturday dinner plans had initially included an eclectic restaurant called Scandia's, which got rave reviews from a number of sources, but as we were standing outside reading the menu, we decided that it looked absolutely wonderful, but neither of us was very hungry at that very moment.  So we switched gears on the spot and walked up the street to Rosie O'Shea's and had a bread-bowl of Irish beef stew (delicious, thick and tasty - lots and lots of tender chunks of lean beef in a thick sauce with vegetables) and a couple of Guinness' (served too cold, but that's easily rectified by letting it sit a bit) each.  I think we missed out on a great restaurant, but I don't think we would have enjoyed it as much as if we were hungry.

 

The Landing (Fine Food - Great View)
81 Front St.
Marblehead MA
(781) 639-1266

We headed home Sunday morning by way of Marblehead MA, and stopped in here for lunch.  Old Marblehead out on the point is an amazing maze of twisty narrow streets and one-way alleys.  It was difficult to maneuver around in December - it must be impossible in July.  We were the first in the restaurant, but we sure weren't the last.  They were serving brunch, and lots of people showed up.  Mimosas and Bloody Marys seemed to be the drinks of the moment.  We had a great table by the window, which looks out over the harbor between Marblehead and Marblehead Neck.  I was not too hungry, so I had a cup of clam chowder which was a bit peppery but very rich and creamy with good clam flavor.  Lynn had eggs benedict, and they were also quite good.  We did have a serving mess-up which was rectified very quickly - both of our meals were delivered lukewarm.  We sent them back and received piping hot replacements and profuse apologies.  A great location and fine food.