Cabbage Island Clambakes provides visitors with an authentic Maine experience that includes a ferry ride and a traditional Maine feast. My husband has been to Maine dozens of times and this is one of his favorite Maine memories.

Our Cabbage Island Clambakes Experience:

Sunday’s adventure started with an hour long boat ride to Cabbage Island. The boat left from Boothbay Harbor, and took the scenic route to Cabbage Island.

The boat’s Captain told us the history of the area and as we cruised past lighthouses. It was a gorgeous day to be on the water, and the harbor was full of sailboats.

Once we arrived at Cabbage Island, we grabbed a picnic table. I paid a visit to our chefs who told me about how the meal was prepared. A traditional Maine “clambake” is a meal of steamed clams, lobsters, and vegetables.

At Cabbage Island, a metal structure over a fire is used to cook the meal. Large metal trays are filled with 30 gallons of salt water. Then stacked on top of that, is another tray holding the food. A layer of seaweed goes down first, and then either the lobsters and clams are added (the seafood and vegetables are cooked separately), or layers of corn (in the husk), potatoes (wrapped in aluminum foil), onions (with the skins), and eggs (bundled together with cheese cloth) are piled on top. Another layer of seaweed goes over the top, and then it is covered with burlap.

You might wonder why this meal is served with a hard boiled egg. The reason for this is that when the eggs are hardboiled, the meal is ready. Now the hardboiled egg is served with the meal to carry on the tradition.

If you make your way out to Cabbage Island, arrive hungry. They fed us a lot. We started with fish chowder. Then we had the traditional steamed meal of 2 lobsters with melted butter, clams, an onion, a ear of corn, a potato, and the hard boiled egg. For dessert we had very generous portions of blueberry cake (I would kill for that recipe). [sidenote: my brother doesn’t like posing for photos]

After lunch, Cabbage Island visitors can play badminton or horseshoes. I chose to take a nap in the sun. After about 3 hours on the island, we headed back to shore.

The boat took the direct route back to Boothbay Harbor, so we made it back in about 15 minutes. Everyone in my family had a fabulous time, and it is an easy trip if you plan to visit Boothbay Harbor. There aren’t many companies that offer daily clambakes, so this was a good find.