The Harbor Deli

Friendship, Maine - All Original Photographs

At any harbor deli, one can feel almost immediately at home. They are their own genre, familiar in their patterns and menus.

1. Accessible by Land or Sea: Cars or dinghies can pull up.

It used to be that all cruising guide books would have icons denoting pay phones on land.

2. Independently Owned.  Yet they are more similar than fast food chains.

3. The Big Board:  Handwritten, with dozens of options. Locals still place custom orders.

4. Open Food Prep: Has that Soviet vibe of standing in one line to order, one line to pay, and then still waiting around until the food is ready.  One milestone is when they know your name without asking, then when they know your order without asking.

5. A Full Range of Customers: Where else can Ivy League professors and CEOs stand in line with dock repair people, quarry workers, and tourists?

6. Egg Sandwiches: Often the best around.

7. The All Important Tip Jar: The workers at the harbor deli are over-qualified, and one suspects that the ratio of tip money spent on pre-med text books is higher here than almost anywhere else.

8. The View:  The view is often much better than the premium residential real estate nearby, but no one seems to notice it, except on Sunday mornings.

9: Local Events Posted: The social justice bulletin board.

10. The Free Papers: While waiting for food, there are always free papers, from predictable to bizarre.  There are also copies of WSJ and NYT, which are technically for sale, but everyone flips through those as well while waiting.

11. Postcards:  But few seem to buy them.

12. Drinks:  The refrigerators seem to be the C.E.S. of the beverage world.  Bring your sunglasses. And caffeine permutations abound.

13: The Desserts:  While the grownups may plan to just get a quick sandwich, the youngsters have much bigger ambitions for their haul.  Baked desserts are either made on the premises or locally and delivered.

14.  Miscellaneous:  Each deli has its own seasonal, regional, or just bizarre specialty items.

15. Dogs. Outside the door are three or four dogs, waiting for their masters.

(The owner's dogs are, often enough, inside.)

16. Outside Eating Area:  Small, and can be the subject of plenty of zoning disputes with neighbors.

17. Ice Machines:  The real detail that distinguishes a harbor deli from simply a deli that happens to be near the water is the ice machine, the lifeblood of any trip.

To a sailor, this is a picture of an ice machine.

18. Food to Go. In parts of the world, the art of origami and other paper folding has flourished.  In coastal New England, this art form has been monopolized by the lunch packers, who individually wrap dozens of food items per order to survive the obstacle course of being thrown, dunked, left in the sun, and flattened, before being inevitably given to the wrong person.

Part of the Deli Order Obstacle Course: Must Survive Being Tossed From Launch