25 - In My Footsteps Maine Trip - Day 6

Initial Impressions Maine

Day 6 - October 6, 2010

1.  This was my 'go home' day from Maine, as always 5-Hour Energy was the key to getting my mind ready for the 4 plus hour drive.

2.  I forgot to mention from my trip to Lubec yesterday that I went to a gas station that had their prices in Canadian dollars.  It was a bit confusing.  The lady also told me I could pump first then pay which I had not been able to do in years, since gas prices got jacked way up.  I asked for $20 worth, she charged me like $19.10, so I got 90 cents of free gas, don't know how far that got me but hey.

3.  How about this for bookends, it rained on my way up to Maine, so naturally it had to rain on my way home.  I had 4 stops planned, the rain came during the first stop in Freeport.  I got through that one soaked and canned the rest of the stops and headed home.

4.  I did get to go to the Desert of Maine in Freeport which is like someone dumped a beach in the middle of the woods.  Even on a cool, cloudy day it was an awesome sight.  There is a house buried under the sand too, must have sucked to spend your time building it only to have nature come and dump sand on it, yay.

5.  I guess the best way to sum up the Desert of Maine is that there was a farm there but the people did not know how to farm so they ruined the soil which eventually became basically beach sand.  No offense to the descendants of those farmers but they should have looked for another line of work.

6.  Oh yeah and nothing says ‘desert’ like 54 degree temperatures and rain.  However, nothing could stop me from getting my photos of the mama and baby camel statues,even at the risk of soaking my camera.

7.  There are tons of outlet shops on Main Street in Freeport, like a mall only outside.  Too bad that I spent my time running to a couple of historic homes and shooting a photo before running again while getting soaked.  Thanks Mother Nature you really did me a solid there, ass.

8.  I would love to go back when it is nicer, they have L.L. Bean, Nike, Reebok, and other huge companies with shops on the street.  I could see myself losing tons of money shopping there, so maybe it was for the best that it was rainy.

9.  In Freeport they actually had a Chinese food cart along the roadside, normally it is for hot dogs or things like that.  Nope here we have crab rangoons and beef teriyaki at a cart.  Pretty swanky little town huh?

10.  I had to make a stop over in Portland to the Allagash Brewery to pick up some booze drinks for my pal Rob Blake.  His instructions?  ‘Here’s $40, just get the most expensive beer they have.’  My answer, 2 bottles, each $19, they’d better be good.  Oh and I helped myself to an Allagash sticker as compensation for the extra toll I had to pay getting back on the Maine Turnpike.  Turns out the lady did not charge me for it so it was a win-win for me and Rob.

11.  One good thing about the crazy amount of rain is that it sets me up for a future trip to Portsmouth and Rye, New Hampshire since I had to skip both.  Probably a day trip though, just over 2 hours drive for me.  I would have tried to stop even if it was only showers but man it was such crazy downpours I would have needed several changes of clothes for each stop, not happening.

12.  I was surprised by how many people still found it necessary to go insane speeds on the highway as the torrential rain and wind made it impossible to see.  I felt like I was driving a sailboat at times.  No better feeling than nearly being blown off the road and knowing you still have more than 2 hours to go.

13.  Also, be careful when driving alongside an FW Webb 18-wheeler, they decide that it's cool to drift into your lane in the wind and rain as you try to pass.  Hey, FW Webb, you need to hire better drivers, these ones suck.

14.  I can’t believe it costs three dollars to cross the Tobin Bridge, no wonder I choose to set my GPS to the ‘avoid tolls’ option. It would have been cheaper to drive my car through the water, good old 'Tax-achusetts.'

15.  Thought about taking a detour near Boston so I could snag me some Panda Express, but the rain told me don’t stop.  Also there is a place in the Cape Cod Mall with all of the same stuff so the Panda will have to wait for another time.

16.  So that concludes my week in Maine.  The most fun I have had during my travel writing adventure.  Thanks to Steve Davis for allowing me to use his home in Owl's Head, it was amazing and I am so grateful.

Photos of the Day:

Cows at Wolfe's Neck Farm

Panoramic View of the Desert of Maine

Desert of Maine camels as the rain started pouring.

21 - In My Footsteps Maine Trip - Day 2

Initial Impressions Maine

Day 2 - October 2, 2010

1.  Glad that it was a bright and sunny day, and yes the sun did wake me as I had hoped.

2.  Birch Point State Park is absolutely classic Maine with the pine trees on the rocks.

3.  The best view so far is from Owl’s Head Light, I have never seen a lighthouse at the top of stairs on top of a hill. 

4.  There was a guy in an orange shirt who basically shadowed me at Owl's Head Light, he took every shot I did in the same spot.  He saw my skills.

5.  I saw a DeLorean today too, had to pull off the road to take a shot of it.  I wonder if it was for sale?  I wanted to take it and drive 88 mph and see if I could go back in time.

6.  I love it when I put a location into my GPS and the GPS brings me round in a circle to almost the same spot, one way streets will do that.  I could have just walked.

7.  The Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse was awesome, granted it was a mile walk out but I got to go up in the lighthouse.  That is the lighthouse that shines through the window as I am trying to sleep.  Oh yeah and got some awesome shots of the light from a dock, too bad it was rolling from the waves so much that I felt sea sick!

8.  Of course there was a golf course next to the lighthouse, I’ll bet some of those holes have crazy views.  I wonder if after a hospital and maybe police station the towns all decide where a golf course could be built?

9.  Rockland has a great Main Street, one way but that’s all right.  It is even cooler driving through it when it's dark, there was an awesome sign for a diner which had the word E-A-T on different signs and each lit up one at a time.  Don't know why that interested me.

10. They have raspberry Fluff at Hannaford, do they have that anywhere else?  Don’t know why this interests me so much also.(By the way they do have it elsewhere, bought it at Shaw's when I got home to the Cape.)

11. Popped my Walmart cherry, yeah I had actually never been in one until today in Rockland.  I only went to the Dunkin’ Donuts inside though, so I still haven’t bought anything from them yet.

12. Thomaston seems like an average little town except for the fact that they have a “Museum on the Streets.”  It’s like a scavenger hunt trying to find the historic plaques in front of the historic places.  It was so much fun except for running back and forth across the streets and also pulling over quickly which did not please some of the locals.  Hey, what do you expect?

13. Camden Hills State Park is one of the best spots I have seen yet.  I got tons of amazing photos from the top of Mount Battie.  Although it’s only 800 feet high it actually helped because you can still make out homes and other buildings below.

14. There was even a tower much like Scargo Tower up top, I basically saw all of the places I am going this week from that spot, well not all of them, but you get the point.

15.  I stood by and listened to a husband and wife argue as to which direction south was from the top of the mountain.  The husband was right, but I figured it would be better for him if I did not confirm this to his wife.

16.  Camden is every bit a classic ski town.  The only trouble was visiting it on a Saturday meant that the main streets were clogged and it took way too long to drive short distances.  Again it would have been easier to just walk.

17.  I had been driving up and down Bay View Street in Camden trying to find the best view of Curtis Island lighthouse only to discover that it was shielded by trees no matter where I looked.  Even on top of Mount Battie I could only make out the very top of it.  Damn trees!

18.  Finally defeated that damn fly, I know I swatted him at least 3 times, but finally he went down.

Photos of the Day:

Owl's Head Light at the top of the stairs.

Delorean in Owl's Head

Rockland Breakwater Light

The town of Camden from Mount Battie.

20 - In My Footsteps Maine Trip - Day 1

Initial Impressions Maine

Day 1 - October 1, 2010

1.      1.  Beat most of the heavy tropical rain as I drove 260 miles north to Owl’s Head.  Google Maps said 4 hrs. 40 mins. but I did it in about 4 hrs. which was not to shabby.

2.       2.  Sucked it up and paid the tolls on the way up, the Piscataqua River Bridge which connects New Hampshire and Maine was the best part of the initial drive, since I see a photo of it on My Network TV every night during The Office!

3.       3.  Lot of really nice towns I passed, most I will not see again, a few are on my list.  Not too far after Portland Rt. 1 became just a regular road, just with crazy hills and dips, like a rollercoaster.

4.       4.  The house is amazing, the view is amazing, Rockland Breakwater Light is to be conquered tomorrow.

5.       5.  Did battle with one solitary fly and have been unable to take him down.  Damn thing keeps landing on my stuff to torment me.

6.       6.  My GPS decided it would be funny to tell me my destination was actually 5 houses down from the real place.  It must have looked good as I crept around this guy’s deck thinking it was the house where I was staying.  Damn GPS, it’s like my best friend and arch enemy all at once.

7.       7.  I like adventures, but the adventure of finding the house key that I lost was not fun.  Dropped it in Hannaford and had to go all the way to get it in the lost and found.  It would have been fun spending my first night in Maine sleeping in my car like a bum using newspaper as a blanket.

8.      8.  Went to 2 restaurants to check out, first was called ‘Oh Bento,’ it was closed.  Next was called ‘Chinese Jade,’ also closed, so it ended up being a KFC night.  Don’t know why I’d want to eat at a place named after one of the most foolish people I have ever met, gladly I did not have to find out how it tasted.

9.      9.  Nothing is cooler than sitting on an enclosed porch at night and watching the lighthouse light go round and round, soothing, and then slightly annoying as it kept shining on the walls of the house as I tried to sleep.

10   10. I had fun watching some crazy local tv including a random high school football game.  It literally had no commentators and no scoreboard so I had no idea who the hell was playing and what the score was, useless!

11   11. I am trying to find the video of this used car salesman guy in Bangor who is nuts in his commercials.  The guy screams and dances and looks like Chris Farley but he sells cars.  I laughed every time I saw it and wish I could remember his name.

12   12. Slept on the couch so that the sun would wake me up.  Eventually I had to switch ends so that the lighthouse light would stop shining in my face.

P    Photos of the Day:

The couch where I slept.

The view from the porch.