The Pine Tree State. The “Thumb.” Home of lobster everything, including ice cream. The beginning or the end of the Appalachian Trail, depending on your direction of travel. By some measures, the 4th longest coastline in the US at just under 3500 miles. Home of Downeasters and the glamour vacation destination for thousands of Québécois. Fascinating stuff. But remember, this is where settlers moved when they decided it just wasn’t cold and miserable enough in Massachusetts. This is the place with dozens of coastal communities that basically have big KEEP OUT signs from Labor Day to Memorial Day. Nothing is open, anywhere. The other thing about Maine is it’s not on the way - to anything. No one has ever said “You just drive up through Maine to get to ______”, unless the answer is “nowhere”.
The southernmost town in Maine is Kittery. My original plan was to ride up from Boston, cross the bridge, find the nearest motel, and then get the hell back to civilization. When I ended up driving through much of the south, I saved a lot of time and decided to go through VT, NH and ME before heading to Boston. I was still going to just go to Kittery until I took a look at the calendar. With some encouragement from my daughter, I realized that if I adjusted my route a bit, I could meet her for dinner last night. She is in school in Lewiston but there wasn’t any way I was going to make it that far up, so we compromised. I found a motel just south of Portland and she came down and picked me up for dinner. We drove back to Lewiston and met a handful of her crew teammates for dinner. Members of the men’s crew team that have just completed a practice can pack it away! There was not a scrap of food left on the table. Plates were being passed down and the waiter was not able to clear them until they were more or less licked clean. I think if he had tried, he would have lost his hand. It was also interesting to note that the pub fad from 40 years ago of tying knots in cherry stems is still alive and well with today’s generation.
I ended up riding about 90 more miles than I had planned in Maine. For her part, Claire spent nearly 3 hours in the car driving back and forth to pick me up and drop me off. That’s a trade I’d make every time. As long as she’s up here in school, I’ll go out of the way to Maine any chance I get.
Finally! The Atlantic Ocean. I’ve been near it since Virginia but haven’t seen it until today.
Nothing says beach town like a tired old amusement park with a rickety roller coaster
Not sure if Cher was actually performing here in Olgonquit, Maine. She is certainly old enough to fit in.
Another worthy entry on the list. I smelled the char-grilled burgers at Wild Willy’s in York, Maine from across a 4-lane highway. I nearly got killed trying to cross the road to get there. 100% worth the effort and risk.
Another bridge and another panic attack. This wasn’t so bad with a nice, clear bike lane the whole way across.
From the left: Riley Young, Emily Everett, Will Conway, Charlie “Cherry Stem” Berman, Isaac “The Inhaler” Levenger, me and my daughter, Claire. A true treat for me to spend the evening with and feed these great adult-lites.
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