23 - In My Footsteps Maine - Day 4

Initial Impressions Maine

Day 4 - October 4, 2010

1.  Woke up really sick, headache, stuffed up, plus it was rainy, almost thought about postponing the rest of my trip.  It came down to asking myself if I could deal with being sick, or if I could deal with missing out on so many things in Maine I had been dying to see.  That changed my mind really fast.

2.  It was an hour and a half to get up to Bar Harbor today from Owl's Head, it rained much of the way.  It gave me ample opportunity to make an excuse to turn around but I sucked it up.  Lucky for me the weather and my head cleared up right before I got there around noon.

3.  As it has so many times before, 5-Hour Energy helped me through my driving.  I will keep on name dropping them and asking them until they sponsor me or send me a Cease & Desist order.

4.  Just seeing the signs for Acadia National Park flipped me out, ever since seeing Ansel Adams’ photos of it when I was in high school I have wanted to go there, got my chance today.

5.  The only chain restaurant on the entire Mount Desert Island is Subway.  You want McD’s?  Got to drive 15 miles back off of the island to find one.  Didn't want their food that badly to do so.

6.  Mount Desert Island ended up being much bigger than Google Maps made it seem.  Wanted to check out Bass Harbor Head Light on the other side of the island, it took me 25 minutes.  It was worth it though.  Scaled down into the rocks by the water to get shots of the lighthouse from underneath.

7.  A recurring theme for me on this trip was how many people from out of state and out of country were there wherever I went.  I though driving up from the Cape was far but then out on the rocks at Bass Head Harbor Light was a young Asian couple asking another guy to take their photo with the lighthouse in the background.  The world really is smaller now.

8.  Bar Harbor is very Cape Cod, sort of like a Chatham on steroids where their main street (Cottage Street) is filled with quaint shops but it's much larger.  It was crowded on a Monday in October, but that could have been due to the Norwegian Cruise Ship docked in the harbor.

9.  Oh so I ended up getting Subway and was hit on by a very obvious transvestite with 5 o’clock shadow.  When he/she asked me if I was from around there I said I was from Cape Cod and going back home tonight! 

10.  My motel room had no shampoo in the bathroom but there was a bottle opener/cork screw on the wall. So I could not have clean hair but I could open a beer while brushing my teeth.  Who the hell was the person that came up with that?  A serious alcoholic I'll bet.

11.  Was hoping to see a moose or a bear at Acadia, no such luck though I did have a deer run past the car ahead of me.  I am surprised I didn't swerve off of the road, every time I passed any body of water I was scanning for moose and bears, then yelling at them for not being there.  Damn it moose!

12.  It was really cold 1800 feet up on Cadillac Mountain to watch the sunset.  There must have been 40 people up there to watch as well.  One of the best things I have ever seen was this sunset.  You could see for so many miles, it was worth the 15 years I had waited to visit Acadia.

13.  I was so excited to see that sunset that I didn't even mind the know-it-all jackass that was giving a class on how to be a great photographer behind me.  The funny thing is for all of his yapping I never saw him take a single shot, I mean talk is cheap man, show us, and shut up while you're at it.

14.  The Thunder Hole at Acadia was something unbelievable.  It’s basically a small cove where the water rushes in and rumbles off of the rocks in a thundering noise.  The waves at times come crashing up over the platform where people stand to see it up close.  I shot a video of it because my words won’t do it justice.

15.  I did happen to get a shot just as a wave was hitting a few kids that were standing and waiting on the platform, I was glad I got out of there when I did, plus I could laugh and they wouldn't know.

16.  It was one scary ride coming down Cadillac Mountain after sunset.  A few spots only had a couple of rocks between the road and a nice drop.  I did get to watch that Norwegian Cruise Ship exiting Bar Harbor from way up which was really cool.

17.  Wanted to try this Chinese place in Bar Harbor for dinner but the roads were packed as they had been during the day.  I could not find a spot within a half mile and was not feeling walking all that way.

18.  Went to Hannaford instead rather than try Subway again.  It is very small, like it is straight out of the 60’s.  Wanted some chili, of course there was none left, stuck with a premade sandwich and a piece of cake which was good.  Have eaten so badly over the past few days gonna have to correct that once I am back home.

19.  Got to watch the Patriots whip that Miami Dolphin ass which made my trip even sweeter if that was possible.

Photos of the Day:

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

Bar Harbor Inn

People about to get soaked at the Thunder Hole.

Sunset from atop Cadillac Mountain.

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.