(last edited on April 29, 2014 at 1:28 am)
I spent the weekend in Waterville, Maine for Creative Retreat North. This is a somewhat-annual event that illustrator Brad Fitzpatrick holds at his home; it’s basically an excuse for friends to come up and hang out. This year it was Brad, Duncan and me. We all used to work at ActiveEdge, so it was great to see everyone together again.
Of course, what was even more important was getting to eat this:
Anyway, the idea of the Creativabe Retreat is to catch up on what we’ve been doing. We’re all in the same general industry, plotting our plots and scheming schemes, so it’s good to get together and share what we’ve learned over the past year. CRN 2006 did not disappoint; I came away with tons of great ideas and a renewed sense of mission.
I’ll write about the ideas later; first I’ll just get the pictures out of the way.
The Host: Brad Fitzpatrick, illustrator! Not the guy who founded LiveJournal.
I was going to kick his ass at Quake 3, but we never got around to setting up.
The Facility: Brad’s wife runs a day-care center in the basement of their house. It seemed very fitting…we don’t really feel too adult to begin with.
Brad’s custom sign kicks ass. I totally want a sign! But what would I put on it? And where would I put it?
Big G’s serves really big portions at really reasonable prices, and is an area institution, part of Brad’s childhood. Brad even made the sign that you see at the top of the counter, and it’s quite attractively laid out. You can tell that he had “the mojo” even then, when he was but a callow signmaking youth…
I had “Egg’s Benedict with Hash”. The photo you saw earlier in this post showed HALF the portion. It was enormous. Oh, and that piece of toast, just so you know, was approximately one square foot.
They do everything big at Big G’s. Duncan got one of them whoopie pies. Normally, whoopie pies are demure little snacks that nestle comfortably in the palm of your hand. But that’s just what the flatlanders do! Note the one-dollar bill in the picture, added for scale.
Here’s a closer shot. Up in Maine, Whoopie Pies apparently have to be the size of your head to be worth eating. I heartily approve.
When we left the restaurant, we noticed this dog staring at us from behind the glass. Eerie.
» We had several ideas regarding business and kicking ass too; check them out!
6 Comments
Holy crap! Is that the whoopie pie making a reappearance in the last photo?! It’s like a giant hamburger! Robert must never learn of this place. :)
——-
Yes, that’s the whoopie pie! The photo is offline right now because I’m making sure it’s OK to post ‘em.
And Americans wonder why there’s so much obesity…seriously, that’s just obscene and it’s part of the problem.
Hey Stu, I’m pretty sure we know why we’re fat :-) I agree though that there’s a general attitude that “more is better” here, and it is kind of obscene. In the best cases it leads to charming things like “The World’s Largest Ball of Twine”. In the worst cases it means that going to the beach is a rather eyeball-scalding affair. A friend of mine was visiting from overseas and was shocked at how much food is in an invididual serving. Plus, the food itself usually isn’t very good, when it comes down to it. I was sorely tempted to buy a whoopie pie, but not having my own family of four to share it with, decided not to. A minor triumph in the war against obesity! :-)
I love Maine, especially Downeast. I am jealous. The Eggs Benedict says it all if you ask me.
I had a chocolate dipped whoopie pie this weekend – granted, it was only about 1/4 the size of that monstrosity above, but it was pretty good.