Seaboard Chronicles: Day 1

The long-awaited excursion up the coast of Maine, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island has finally begun!    The day started early; I pulled into the driveway to pick up my favorite traveling buddies at 4:20 AM and my internal alarm bells went off - the house was pitch dark.  I should have known.  They were in the driveway, bags lined up and ready to go.  Did I mention they're my favorite traveling buddies?

Great flights - I started reading Atlas Shrugged and that made the time fly.  It's been a long time since I got that thrill that comes from cracking open a book and realizing it's a really good one and you're going to have a hard time putting it down.  Looking forward to this...

First things first, lunch in Portland at Duckfat.  Divine.  Literally.  Carrie reserves her highest praise for very few establishments and straight up, this one gets it all the way.  The place is tiny and oh so hip (lots of comments from traveling companions concerning said hipness and probable political views) and I wanted to order literally every single thing on the menu.  I settled for poutine (Belgian fries fried in duck fat, topped with homemade cheese curds, duck gravy and a farm-fresh egg, and they aren't kidding on that one) and a caramel sea-salt milkshake (the. best. milkshake. I. have. ever. eaten.).  My very gustatorily conservative papa ordered a beef tongue reuben (which he liked!) and he and mom accompanied their fries with truffle ketchup and an incredible lemon-herb mayo.  I know I'm gushing, but seriously.  Amazing. (And for the record, yes, I wholeheartedly support green, sustainable and local.  Bite me! :D)

Being thus fortified, we headed north, to Freeport (home of the L.L. Bean flagship store and a pottery store that screamed Tune - had I been a richer lady she would be receiving a tremendously large shipment of pottery very soon) and then up the coast, through Wiscasset, Rockland, Camden, Belfast, Ellsworth, and finally down to Bar Harbor.  The sky was pretty overcast (hence the lack of quality in pictures - sorry) but it was still a great run.  This is new country to me, so I kept quite busy gathering impressions.  Probably the single most striking factor during the whole drive, the one that came up over and over, was the architecture.  The crisp, tidy saltbox houses (even in the less picturesque parts) and old Victorian mansions with their lush gardens and shapely trees were like balm to eyes made weary by endless mobile homes and shabby strip malls and scruffy bahia shoots.  The sense of history here is palpable; each town we passed through seemed to have been founded earlier than the last.  I think the oldest settlement we passed through was founded in 1736.  That's 40 years before we gained our independence!  Oh, and the seashore, with its sailboats, old railroad bridges and lighthouses, not to mention that hauntingly beautiful gray meeting of water and fog, was just exactly what I imagined Maine to be.

(Yes, that's Starbucks!)

See the lighthouse in the distance?

(This bridge was really cool, architecturally speaking)

Along the route, we stopped at the North Edgecombe Cemetery to have a look-see.  What a lot of history in that little plot - Civil War veterans, sailors lost at sea, small children, husband and wives, young and old, men and women; born as early as 1740 and as late as quite recently.  Honestly, it was very thought-provoking, wandering among the final resting places of so many people there on that quiet, green hillside, thinking of the lives that each of them lived, of the countless number that had stood on that very spot in years gone by, laying their loved ones to rest, and of those souls that have gone on to face their Maker.  Sobering thoughts, and ones that turn the mood rather introspective.  Our time is short, really; in the blink of an eye, our days pass and are gone, and when one stares that stark reminder of the sands of time in the face, one longs to draw close and cling to that Unchanging Hand, never wasting a moment, and never letting go of the only One who can steer us safely into harbor.  Anyway, I got so lost in thought, I had to be reminded that I could make a right turn at a stop sign and actually get moving again LOL!

Interesting...

We arrived in Bar Harbor around 7 or so, tired and hungry.  We checked into the West Street Hotel (great recommendation) and hopped across the street to the West Street Cafe (anyone want to guess which street we're on?) for...drumroll please...wait for it....LOBSTER!!!!!  This is Maine, folks, land of lobster dinners and lobster rolls on literally every corner, and that is no exaggeration.  Clam chowder, lobster, fries, coleslaw and blueberry pie, all for a very reasonable price, and all served in a most efficient manner - these Mainers (is that how you say it?) have mastered the science of pulling tourists in, stuffing their bellies with the local bug and sending them on their way, and a very good job of it they do.  Delicious food served by a friendly waitress in a warm, well-lit restaurant with cozy, low wood ceilings - a wonderfully satisfying end to a long day.

Tomorrow, it's on to Acadia National Park.

P.S.  The high today?  I think it was 68.  Yeah.