Excursion to Newburyport!

As a going-away present, my friend Liz decided to take me on a day trip/food excursion to my location of choice. What a cute and sweet idea! I didn’t want to go anywhere too far as Liz was driving, so we settled on Newburyport. I had only been once back in May 2008 when I went deep-sea fishing for my cousin’s bachelor party. That was an experience I never want to relive. Thankfully that wasn’t in the cards for Liz and I.

I met Liz at the Newburyport commuter rail stop so we could begin our day of food and fun! The first stop of the day was Fowle’s for a bit of breakfast, per the suggestion of my lovely friend Ashlie. I cannot even tell you how happy I am that I took Ashlie’s advice. This place was absolutely divine! Part news store, part diner, Fowle’s encapsulated local New England charm at its best. The food wasn’t half bad either 🙂

Liz had a delicious lemon and raspberry french toast. It looks magnificent and tasted just as good! The flavors of the lemon curd and raspberry were sweet enough to enrich the dense base of bread.

Liz was quite pleased with her selection.

I went for something a little bit different, the Irish Eggs Benedict. I am a guy that absolutely adores eggs benedict, so I will scoop up any chance I can get to try a different kind of eggs benny. Two poached eggs smothered in hollondaise sauce on an English muffin and a bed of hash….who could ask for more?

After we devoured our breakfast and had girl talk over a couple of cups of coffee, Liz and I were ready to hit downtown Newburyport! I didn’t realize that there were so many beautiful and unique shops around. The weather was absolutely beautiful for our sojourn to the North Shore so we were able to comfortably bop around here, there and everywhere. I think we even got a little bit of a tan!

I think the highlight of the day was stumbling upon the most amazing antiques market I have ever been to in my life. Liz and I were innocently strolling by the water, chatting about the weather and local events when we beheld this GEM: Oldies Marketplace. Make no mistake, this building was absolutely gigantic. We walked in and were greeted by beautiful pieces of furniture, jewelry, clothing, vintage china (vintage everything, really) and a plethora of other antiques-hungry tourists such as ourselves. We literally could not contain ourselves. Liz and I wanted to buy everything in sight, but I settled on a town map of Westford from 1875. What a great find! Here are some of the other treasures that Oldies had on display:

We were a bit peckish after all of that intense shopping, so we felt that a spot of lunch would do the trick nicely. I was hankering for a lobster roll, obviously, so we went on in search of the perfect place where we could get martinis and seafood. Ask and ye shall receive, Mr. Gemmellaro. The Thirsty Whale came to our rescue and answered our alcoholic prayers.

We sat in a cozy nook by a window and prepared ourselves to enjoy some tasty seafood and libations. I probably could have eaten one of everything on the menu because it all looked SO delicious. Liz and I ordered (dirty Grey Goose, straight up, duh girlie) martinis.

Liz got a delicious-looking fish sandwich and, like I haven’t mentioned a million times in this post, I got a lobster roll.

One cannot have lunch without dessert, so we went with a homemade pumpkin bread pudding. We were assured that it was homemade because our server’s grandmother makes it from scratch. It warmed my heart to hear that. How precious! I’d go back to The Thirsty Whale in a heartbeat. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was comfortable and casual and the staff was so warm and friendly. This was a great find.

After lunch (and some pretty discouraging news via text), Liz and I walked off our lunch and poked around in a few more shops.

This day trip away from the city was exactly what the doctor ordered. I highly suggest taking a day and heading up to Newburyport before the summer’s end. Once this rainy weather is behind us I am definitely going to consider a trip back up. I really just loved the atmosphere and cozy feel of Newburyport, especially since I got to share it with a great friend!

For a complete album of pictures from my day in Newburyport, friend me on Facebook!