Interstate Adventures

I escaped cleaning up after my daughter’s graduation party by going to Salisbury Beach campground. After living in the same place for 25 years, I knew the mess could wait for a rainy day. The route to the beach involves going a few exits on the highway and then a couple of miles on a busy road dotted with strip malls and a few restaurants. I never notice anything that could draw me in like a vegetable stand or a fancy grocery store for last minute supplies.

Two nights turned into four when Bruce joined me. Since we had one of our cars, I thought it would be fun to leave the campsite. I decided to hunt down fresh, seasonal food for dinner. I was sure there wasn’t anything good nearby. I knew if I headed into Newburyport I could assemble a dinner with something from the fish market at the Tannery. 

I bought scallops from Gloucester and a caper, lemon butter compound. I started to see a campfire dinner coming together.  I asked the shopkeeper where I could find local asparagus. He sent me to Colby Farm Stand not far away and then told me to go to Annarosa’s Bakery in Salisbury. I easily found farm-fresh asparagus at the vegetable stand. Then I made my way to the bakery. I followed the directions from the fish monger, “Turn into the shopping plaza on route 110 with the big discount store that has anything that could fall off the back of your truck.” There it was, barely noticeable, next to a tanning salon.

As soon as I walked in the woman behind the counter welcomed me. Even though the shelves were nearly empty, the store smelled like freshly baked bread. I let a customer who had just come in go ahead of me because I was still deciding if I should buy the last two cannolis for our dessert. She started listing off cinnamon rolls, chocolate bouchon, croissants, none of which were on the shelves. I was confused and she looked at me and said, “You need to order ahead of time. They sell out fast.” Then she said, “You have to try the chocolate bouchon with a little bit of vanilla ice cream. It’s heaven.” Another lady that came in behind her was nodding in full agreement. I got the last two cannolis before anyone else could and two pistachio butter cookies. I said, “I’ll be back.”

Rather than rush back to the campsite to cook, I slowed down enough to notice a sign at a turnoff on the main road for Pettengill Farm. I think I will check that out next time.