A "For Real" New England Clambake

Rob and I got invited to a clambake by Paul and Nancy Dredge (Stan and KK's friends from their Harvard days)! It was hosted by the Arlington Ward (we belong to the Cambridge 2nd Ward, so we didn't think we'd know anybody there...) on a Saturday afternoon.

Despite my years in Connecticut, I had never attended a clambake so we didn't really know what it was. Both of us were excited to experience this traditional New England activity. It was held out at this beach about an hour northeast of Cambridge.

If you want to know what a real clambake is, Wikipedia does a great job
explaining...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_clam_bake

As you can probably see from the pictures, Saturday dawned a little bit overcast and pretty chilly but Rob and I headed up to the beach anyway. We drove through really cute old-fashioned seaside towns with beautiful scenery. When we finally got to the beach we ran into a friend of mine from high school who is living in MA for the year with her husband while she is applying to med school! We also ran into a friend of my sister's from BYU who is now married and going to MIT. AND our friend who goes to Harvard Law School who we met out in Utah is in that ward, AND another Harvard Law Student and his wife are in that ward. So, we ended up having a fun little reunion! It really is a small world!

This is Paul Dredge--Stan and KK's friend from Harvard. He invited us and gave Rob and me each a lobster! He and his wife, Nancy, have great memories about their "Good Ol' Harvard Days with the Ellis'"

Anyway, they cooked all the seafood (lobsters, clams, mussels, etc) in these huge metal drums. They had great cornbread, hot dogs for those who were a little more squeamish, and other great side dishes and desserts. Rob and I feasted on the lobster and clams. We discovered that I actually liked the clams more than the lobster (Rob definitely disagrees). All in all, it was a very fun New England-y Saturday!

Oh, and on the way home we stopped at an apple orchard that had AMAZING apple cider donuts! If you ever get a chance to have some, they come highly recommended.

And that is me eating a clam. Yummm :)