Anyone for Sunday Brunch?

Waaaay back when The Big Guy and I were newlyweds (I know, I can barely remember it myself), we lived Up North. In Maine they call it DownEast.

I called it the End Of The Earth.

We were very close to the Canadian border, on the coast, and would drive to Canada routinely, just because we could. We found this great buffet at a hotel named The Algonquin.
Can I just tell you- click on the link, and then picture The Big Guy and I at this place.
Remember Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation??? How did they ever let us in???

I can remember clearly the very first time we had brunch here. We had heard it was a nice place, and the brunch was excessive.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I walked into that morning. I will never forget it as long as I live.

Walking through the gilded entrance, I was confronted with two round tables, the type you see at weddings which seat 6-8 people.

And they were covered with lobsters.

The table on the left held cold lobsters. The table on the right held warm ones.

In the center of both tables was a coffee urn, which I thought was odd, until I saw somebody use one.

They were filled with butter.

The two round tables were just the beginning, my friends.

Beyond them were lines of long tables set end to end, covered with every single possible seafood dish on this Earth.

I was rooted to the floor. I'm sure my jaw was resting comfortably on my boobs. I paid it no heed; I had other concerns.

Like my hands.

Which started to shake uncontrollably.

We still laugh about this. When I walk into a buffet, we check my hands to see if it's a 'good one'.

I walked around that room for over half an hour with a plate in my hand. I scanned. I sized up. I took stock. I planned my strategy.

There was no way to taste every dish. No way.

Every bite had to count.

It took me over 4 hours to satisfy my curiosity, and in the end my stomach gave up. I did the best I could, but probably only got to taste half of what was there. I had one bite of half the dishes at that brunch, and I thought I was going to explode.

It remains, to this day, the best brunch I have ever attended, and I'm not sure the title will ever need defending.

We went back a few months later, and discovered that the weekend we had attended was a special seafood brunch, only occurring once a year.

The second brunch was wonderful, but it was a standard brunch, not the Spectacular seafood wonder.

We later heard that they also do a special Chocolate one.

The Big Guy will not allow me to attend. No good can come of it, he says, no good at all.

I go along with it, because I'm sure he's right.

But I imagine it.

I see it in my dreams. And it is Spectacular.

Reminder: the Coveted Yarn Contest ends Wednesday, July 29th.