Who’s up for a Friday night haddock fish fry? Friday, March 22, Ebb Tide will again open its doors to the public for their grand reopening.

The celebration will last all weekend, with drawings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for free fish sandwiches and $10 gift certificates.

“We’re giving away 10 free fish sandwiches and five $10 gift certificates to customers,” Owner Peter Gilchrist said.

The work is nearly completed, with the wooden booths shining from their multiple polyurethane coats and new tiles gleaming on the floor after four coats of wax. 

The new wooden paneling on the wall opens the whole room up, and the most important decision left is what color to paint the “Ebb Tide” letters that hang on the wall.

Ebb Tide has been closed since early this year, and in that time owners Peter and Nancy Gilchrist have been hard at work doing renovations.

“Over 200 boxes of stuff went upstairs before we even started this project,” Peter Gilchrist said. 

“Flatware, dishes, salt-'n-pepper shakers, pans, everything had to come out,” Nancy Gilchrist said. “We needed bare surfaces everywhere.”

“Anything we didn’t pack away got ruined,” Peter Gilchrist said. “I left a box of trash bags, figuring we’d need them. Ruined, full of dust and unusable.”

“The dust from construction was unbelievable,” Nancy Gilchrist said.

Now the kitchen is nearly completed and every appliance shines like new. All that’s left is to scrub the floor, especially around the fridge. 

The Gilchrists also had fun this winter with an idea to bring in new out-of-state customers.

There are trees all over the United States, each one over 1,000 miles from Boothbay Harbor, that have a very special notice on them. They are each good for one free peach shortcake from Ebb Tide restaurant.

“Colorado, South Dakota, Arizona, Florida, west of Indiana, they are all over the place, all at least 1,000 miles away,” Peter Gilchrist said.

While the Gilchrists were working, a couple stopped in from Rhode Island hoping they were open for business. 

Joyce Tomecko and John Appleton were looking forward to a slice of peach shortcake, and though the Gilchrists didn’t have any, they were able to offer them some fresh-baked St. Patrick’s Day cookies.

“I made them for the math team at the school,” Nancy Gilchrist said. “We coach the team. Well, Peter coaches, I make snacks. But I made too many.”

Tomecko and Appleton both have homes in Rhode Island, and Appleton also lives on Westport Island.

“In the winter, I drive up. In the summer, I come by boat,” Appleton said. “I’m 73 years old and I’ve been coming to Boothbay Harbor for 73 years. And I’ll be back when you’re open again for some of that peach shortcake.”

The Gilchrists are also gearing up for their annual Ebb Tide treasure hunt, taking place the week after the open. No luck on finding out where they were hiding the token, so good luck hunting.

Katrina Clark can be reached at 207-633-4620 or katrinaclark@boothbayregister.com. Follow her on Twitter: @BBRegisterClark or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BBRegisterKatrinaClark.