This weekend I took a trip up to Bath with Alexa and Andrew (A1 and A2?). I had an expiring Groupon to the Maine Maritime Museum and both of them had never been. Field trip!
Most amazingly, this was a field trip planned during football drinking time- and then we actually followed through. Yes, love it.
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| Here's A1 charting our course in the tugboat wheelhouse. |
After lots of educational material on Maine's boatbuilding history and culture, we of course, needed some provisions. A2 is more knowledgable about the Bath area than us-who-never-leave-Portland, so he led us to Byrnes Irish Pub on Centre Street.
Save for a guy who came, sat, chugged a beer and left, we were the only clientele in the bar. The walls are covered in "if He doesn't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles, so we will know them by their limping," style Irish blessings, countdowns to St. Patty's Day, and general indicators that these people know how to party.
Expecting traditional bar food (that is to say, not very impressive), I was pleasantly surprised with our nachos ($6.99) turn out to be so beautiful and delicious. We opted to order Cashelmole, a signature blend of guacamole, Cashel blue cheese, and sour cream. It was good, but was also slightly reminiscent of guacamole dip from the refrigerator section of the grocery.
I enjoyed the relatively unique toppings of shredded carrots and lettuce, but was slightly confused by the lack of salsa. Regardless, the nachos had really good cheese and diced jalepenos, which was a nice touch.
A1's salad, an Irish chef salad, was described as "crisp romaine lettuce and mixed baby greens with garden vegetables and topped with turkey, ham, cheese and hard boiled egg $8.99." Kind of meh, right? But I regret not taking a picture, because you need to see it to believe it. It was a beautiful display of vegetables and sliced meats and egg.
Add in some Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPAs, and I was sold. I recommend Byrnes Irish Pub as a great place to settle in with friends if you find yourself in the Bath area looking for some cheap, quality eats in a cozy bar.
And while it doesn't hold a candle to ours (ahem, A1!), I love that the Bath City Hall is lit up with red and green steaming lights—boat nerd alert!!