It was a glorious June day with bright sunshine, surf crashing on the ledges, roses blooming profusely on the shore, and the iconic Cape Elizabeth Light (aka Two Lights) winking over our shoulders as we sat down to our first Maine lobster roll of the year. Make that our first since 2019. Since we live in Massachusetts, Maine barred us from crossing the border until recently. But we were chasing a story that took us to the slate shoreline at the southern entrance to Casco Bay. When lunchtime rolled around, the Lobster Shack at Two Lights (lobstershacktwolights.com) was right there. The lobster roll was ‶market price,″ which translated to roughly $20. No matter, we were in heaven.
A brief rant interrupts this idyll
As we’re writing, live lobster in New England has dropped to around $11 per pound, which means fishermen get around $4. That’s almost enough to gas up the boat and pay the insurance, which is a big change from last year when prices dropped so low that fishermen could barely give it away. We’re happy to pay, in part because one of us used to be a lobsterman and in part because we’re lucky enough to be able to splurge now and then. We liken it to buying produce from the local farm. It might cost a little extra, but you’d like to know that the farm (and the farmhands) will be there next year and the year after and so on. Eating local means being responsible to the community.
It’s easy enough to look down at those chunks of lobster meat in a hot dog bun topped with a dollop of mayo and accompanied by fries and slaw and wonder, ‶What’s the big deal?″ Look at the photo montage just above this paragraph. The big deal is the financial burden of that boat that went out before first light to haul traps, the work involved in banding and holding lobsters in a tank of seawater that changes constantly, and, of course, the cooking and assembling. If that means ‶market price″ on a lobster roll adds up to $20, all those hardworking folks along the way have earned it.
Besides, what price can you put on joy? Drop the mask and let the juices run down the side of your mouth. Smile. Repeat until it’s all gone and it’s time for homemade pie.
