142 weeks... Massachusetts

World Tour Self-discovery... to eat is to taste the land.

1. Fore Street [Portland, ME]

2. J's Oyster [Portland, ME]

3. Union Oyster House [Boston, MA]

4. Clambake [Boston, MA]

Boston, Massachusetts

The World Tour so far has traveled about 128.2 miles with a welcomed stay at Boston, Massachusetts, the home to "America's oldest restaurant" [est. 1826]. I am not sure if that fact will help discover Massachusetts cuisine, but it definitely makes it as a World Tour food-by bike destination. So I continue my curiosity for food.

I ask myself again that subjective question, "what food is the state of Massachusetts known for?" [And can it be discovered in Boston?] I'd think with Massachusetts also being a New England state it would have a similar cuisine portfolio. So seafood seems a given [lobster, fried clams, cod, and crab cake]. Besides that, my foodie intellect is drawing a blank. So I'll have to read on for some culinary clues. My search leads me to Visit Massachusetts.

I am sorry, but Boston baked beans leaves me a little flat, and the Macintosh apple, well, makes me think computers, not Massachusetts orchards. I foodie hope to find more than fish and chips, although, it's good feeding the multitude (and I've had my fair share of fish and chips). Nothing I read speaks culinary life, maybe that's because Boston has so much else going on for it, like for its intellectual reputation. Harvard, and the Social network (Facebook birthplace) for starters. This I think heightens my food experience expectation, for at least what Boston is known for; even if it is "hot roast beef sandwiches served with sweet barbecue sauce on an onion roll", or even bulkie rolls.

"... bike to a clambake"

So I'll bypass the food trivia, and seek out some food-by bike savory restaurants. So I read, read, and read. Okay, I will continue to read, but then start comparing how easy visit Maine got me craving it as a foodie destination. Sometimes it takes some knack to search engine up what your looking for. No real taste of Massachusetts cookbooks (but found this cookbook listing of interest). And Yelp for my online social ranking to see what the locals are saying about Boston, let's say got me feeling apprehensive. This quote sums it up, [Boston Globe] "If Bostonians had a dime for every time someone scoured our city for a stellar waterfront seafood restaurant, we’d have enough to, well, finally build one there." As for the Union Oyster House, I know will be touristy (with such a title as being the oldest American restaurant, that hype draws in the crowds), so maybe foodie wise to limit menu selection to what their known for "chowda", and purely soak up the nostalgia [even Neptune Oyster as more Yelp reviews, and 4.5 stars].

All this high foodie intent got me not so savory inspired. Then I think maybe I am getting restaurant hype. So I say to myself "to bike is to feel the land. to eat is to taste the land." The savory image of a local, and sustainable clambake speaks... bike to a clambake outing. If not able to crash one, then at least try some culinary self-discovery. So let's eat good.

As my focus slowly shifts from Boston, I again think about an imported food experience from Massachusetts. That is, to food-by bike locally to maybe find a Massachusetts influenced savory restaurant. Not one of my foodie haunts, but obviously a Boston Market might seem subjectively fitting. Then it hits me, the most important imported from Massachusetts food experience, the Thanksgiving dinner.

World Tour Mileage...

[Portland, ME to Portsmouth, ME 59.7 miles

Portsmouth, ME to Boston, MA 68.5 miles

Boston, MA to Providence, RI 48.9 miles]