July 10 Augusta, capital of Maine

The drive up to Augusta had a few little detours.  First we drove to Bar Harbor lighthouse.  Maine has over 60 lighthouses, but not all are easy to reach.  This was the 2nd official lighthouse that we saw.  Now we know why Portland Head Lighthouse is the most photographed one.  the others are not that much to look at.  However, I think there's something romantic about the lonely lighthouses that kept so many ship crew safe over the years. 

Everywhere we went, I'd ask people who might be "in the know" where blueberry fields/ blueberry patches were.  Unfortunately, the blueberries would not be ripe for another 2-4 weeks, depending on who you talk to.  So when we stopped at a gas station near the town that was supposed to have a "pick your own" farm, I asked for directions.  The first place we came to, didn't have the right "year".  I guess they rotate years between producing and growth.  I learned that in Maine, they cultivate "wild" blueberries. The bushes are very low to the ground and the berries are rather small.  But the taste is very sweet.  I never got a chance to pick any blueberrries, but I did get finally get a chance to take pictures of a genuine, Maine blueberry patch.



Once we got to Augusta, we went to the State History Museum.  We were racing against the clock to get there before it closed.  Fortunately, we had one hour to tour it.  It's amazing to see all what was involved in this great state. As we toured the musum, it almost reminded me of a Smithsonion type of collection. Here's a sampling of the exhibits:

July 9, Acadia National Park

As with many national parks, this is one of the most beautiful places we've visited.  This is in the top 10 of the most visited parks.  Today was much more crowded than yesterday evening. Russ found a guided tour on a CD. It is recommended to do it in 2 -3 hours.  We took all day. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I think for today, I'll just load up photos of our day.

Bar Harbor, Bar None

July 8, Sunday. Traveling Day

We got up, and left then arrived.  OK, There is a bit more to the day than that.  But we did do a lot of driving.  Russ did the driving, and we rode along, and slept and were amazed by the outdoor "movie" passing by.

In a nutshell:

• Jonathan and I got up early to go window shopping at L.L. Bean.  It was not a cheap trip!
• Drove and drove and drove.
• Stopped at Moody's, a diner that was supposed to have great blueberry pancakes.
• Tried "Moxie" a drink that is well known by Mainers, but is almost controversial in taste.
• Arrived at Bar Harbor
• drove a few miles through Acadia National Park to see what it's like.
• Got 2 WHOLE lobsters along with other meals and took it back to the hotel room to dine on.

Since L.L. Bean is open 24 hours, we decided that if we got up very early, we could look around and see if there was any small camping things Jonathan could find for his Boy Scout camp next week. He actually had his eye on a mini solar powered lantern which we ended up getting for him.  The trouble with getting up so early, is that we're still on Western time, and not getting to bed before 1:00. Jonathan had to almost push me out of the bed! A few other little things later, our shopping bag a little fuller and we were on our way back to the hotel. Russ and Chris were just waking up.

With that, we said good bye to Freeport and drove the tree lined, highway towards Bar Harbor.  If you look at a map, you'll see the coastline of Maine with many parts of it jotting in and out, and islands along with peninsulas in abundance. Although it added more milage, it also added more beauty with water features of rivers, lakes, and of course, the bay.

Along the way, there was a diner that Russ heard of that was known for it's delicious blueberry pancakes.  Served all day long.  I was surprised that it was an unremarkable building, almost in the middle of nowherel When we arrived at "Moody's" there was a line out the door, and many cars in the parking area. Obviously, people came from somewhere to this little nowhere place.  While we waited to be seated, we went to the little gift shop next door.  I've been searching for toothpicks from Maine, as they were one of the largest suppliers of toothpicks.  Later we found out the last toothpick factory closed in 2003.  Jonathan's research book had some out of date information.  We saw that they sold Moxie, a soda in an unmistakable orange can, that was unique to Maine, maybe even just this area. We thought, it was time to try one can, and each take a sip.  No one gagged, or coughed, or even made a funny face, but none of us would buy it just because we like it.  Here's our thoughts:

1. Russ- First taste was root beer, followed by a chemical taste.
2. Chris - First it tasted like root beer, than it reminded him of those candies that were supposed to taste like soda, but didn't quite.
3. Jonathan - Also thought it tasted like root beer and didn't think it was bad, but then the after taste came.It was a bit bitter, with an unpleasant lingering taste.
4. Peggy - I actually liked it.  I too thought it tasted like root beer, it was sweet, and the aftertaste wasn't unpleasant for me, just not rootbeer.  If I was offered only this, I would drink it. Maybe I can become a Mainer?!!

We finally arrived in Bar Harbor around 4:00.  The town we drove through looked like many other small towns - a little like a Norman Rockwell town - old fashioned style facades, and many people walking and milling about. There were also a lot of flowers and flags - American flags and other kinds of colorful flags flying form most little stores, or buildings. Flowers were often hung in those baskets with a chain off the sides of their buildings or in flower boxes.  I wish we could have walked up and down the streets, and looked into every window!  However, I have to remember there are men in our family, and that's not high on their list of fun things to do. We did decide to go into Acadia National Park, and look around to scout out what we may want to see tomorrow. By this time, it was past 5:00 and the park entrance fee was waved, as no one was in the pay booth. We walked to sand beach, and kept our eyes open for any Moose that may come out in the evening. Later we learned that it's rare for Moose to be seen, but we had fun looking for them. We did see a deer, but we can also see that in Yosemite and other parks in California.

By this time we were hungry for dinner, so we headed back to our hotel. Just up the street from our hotel was a place called The LobsterPound. You had to walk up to the window, and order your food and you could eat on picnic benches outside, or inside a small room.  We opted to take it back to our hotel room, after all, how messy can it be?  We ordered two whole lobsters (around $12 each) and a sandwich for Russ, and a clam roll for Chris. I watched the whole process from the drop to the boiling water, to the cracking to make it easier for us to break open.  It was fun to eat, as this was the first time we had to crack it open to eat. Some parts of the shell, when cracked, popped out and squirted on us. It was definately time to do laundry.  IThe lobster was very tasty and tender.  However, I still think in "real life" I like salmon and other fish better.  I'm sure Russ is glad I have a cheaper taste too.

July 7, Meeting the Bushes!!!!

I wanted to title this: 5 "L"s; LL Bean, Lenny, Lighthouses, Lobsters and Looky-Loos" but was voted down. However since I'm the blogmaster, I can put it in here.

First, happy Birthday to my sweet mother-in-law, Margot Allsman, and also to my dear aunt, Gundl Jouili.  We've been thinking of you today!

In a nutshell:

• L.L. Bean 100th Birthday Celebration
• Lenny the lifesized Chocolate Moose in a candy shop
• The Lighthouse at Portland Head
• Going the Bush's summer home in Kennebunkport
• Eating real Maine Lobster at the Maine Diner, another DDD

We still feel like we're on West Coast time. Just can't seem to get up early or leave when we plan. We! went to the LL Bean 100th Aniversary Festival in downtown Freeport. The festivitites had already begun but we still found a great parking spot right behind the store. There were craft booths and vendors booths all lining the main street in front of the store. I love my men. Looking at every booth is not their thing. they would much rather go to the one booth that sold the kind of food they like, and be done with it. But they waited patiently (some of the time) while I meandered through and looked at all the jewelry, and craft booths ... just looking, not buying. well, not much.

 

From there we went to Portland Head LIghthouse. This is one of the most photographed lighthouses... not sure if in Maine or in the USA. But it was very beautiful either way. I'll upload some pictures as they say more than my words can.

 

I'm finding myself enjoying and looking for "Americana" roadside attractions. These are those kitchy, larger than life statues and things that are solely there to attract your attention. Lenny the Chocolate Moose is one of those. When Jonathan was doing his report, he came up. I imagined him outside, wondering how chocolate can withstand the elements. But he was standing in a candy store in Scarbrough, ME. And we like the other tourists took our picture with it. He also had three little bear cubs in the area - also made out of chocolate.  While there, Russ and the boys had some ice cream, I had a couple of pieces of dark chocolate, and Russ tried some Blueberry Pop.  Of course we all tried it and it became our favorite!! Later, we would find it in a grocery store for about half the price, and bought a 4 pack. Nothing like having desert first and then having lunch.  Lunch would be at another DDD place.

Before lunch, we decided to look in on our friends, the Bushes.  Ok, now the real story.  We did look in on them... literally.  From across the small water area, we looked at the summer home of  George and Barbara Bush.  what a thrill that was!  We didn't actually meet them, but there was someone walking around, probably a secret service man.  The three flags were flying: a very large American flag, and two smaller ones: one from Maine and one from Texas. There was a plaque dedicated to President Bush, from the people of Kennebunkportnext to an anchor and chain. It stated that he was an anchor for American people. Indeed he was. It was fun to meet other wonderful people who just wanted to get a picture or a glance at the Bushes.   A steady stream of people stopped by. They shared stories of their encounters with him and their political views.  Like I said, they were wonderful people.

 So now it was time to eat, and thanks to Russ' research, we went to another DDD place called the Maine Diner. I had seen this episode on TV and even Russ' mother told us about it and recommended it to us. I was excited to try the Lobster Pie. Even though it was around 3, we still had  wait a bit...  Finally we were seated by a very nice waitress.  Jonathan had stuffed shrimp, Russ had a turkey dinner with sausage stuffing, and Chris and I shared the "Triple D": Lobster Pie, Seafood Chowder, and a Codfish Cake. The Lobster Pie consisted of large chunks of lobster in an oval dish, with butter and a topping of seasoned breadcrumbs.  I really enjoyed this.  Pure lobster. I realized that I'll be able to save our budget a lot of expense because I like salmon and other seafood much better.

Finally we made the hr drive back to our hotel.  As we neared, we saw and heard fireworks exploding in the sky. It was the culmination of the almost weeklong celebration of LL Bean's 100th year anniversary. I had asked them if they had a big 4th fireworks show in Freeport, and an LL Bean representative told me it was only a small one, as they were saving the big ones for today.

The Maine Event

We're heading to Maine today!!  This was the main reason for our trip out East, but first we had some other things on our agenda before we left Massachusetts. 
In a nutshell:

• Bunker Hill
• USS Constitution (Old Iron Sides)
• Lexington and Concord
• Minutemen
• Old North Bridge
• DDD Lobster Shanty
• arrived in Maine

July 6 - Our plan was to catch the subway, the "T" to ride it to the station nearest Bunker Hill.  We had seen it from the Duck Tour, and it didn't seem too far away.  From there we would walk to see the USS Constitution, also known as "Old Ironsides"  We looked at a map which seemed to indicate it was over 10 blocks to each place, but guides said it would only take 10 min.  However, when Chris woke up, he was feeling a bit under-the-weather, and we thought it might be best to get the rental car early and drive there.  Russ and Jonathan took the shuttle while I waited with Chris. How glad I am that we got the car.  I think the 10 min. referred to driving... besides the distence, there were more hills there to climb up and down. 

As we walked up to see the monument on Bunker Hill, I'm always amazed at how history seems to be more real.  I copied this from the Internet to remind me of the significance of Bunker Hill in the Revolutionary War.:  
The Battle of Bunker Hill (more accurately Breed's Hill) constituted the first major battle of the American Revolution (1775-1783). Although the British accomplished their objective, they did so at a heavy cost. This moral victory united the Americans in their opposition to the British. Also Colonists throughout America realized that the conflict was no longer restricted to Boston and or Massachusetts, and Bunker Hill became a rallying cry of the patriots in every contest of the war. Together with Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill also demonstrated that American militia was capable of standing up to the best that the British could offer
       In front of the obelisk is a statue of Col. William Prescott,  one of the heroes of Bunker Hill. During the battle, according to popular stories, he coined the famous Revolutionary War phrase, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes".

This was actually the end marker of the Freedom Trail, but we still needed to go see "Old Ironsides".  So another 10 min. drive. I thought this was just an anchored old relic, but I was surprised to see that servicemen from the Navy were guarding it as though it were fully functional.  We all needed to go through a metal detector and our bags and packs were all searched.  We learned from the Duck tour that the Constitution got its nickname "Old Ironsides because when a cannon ball was shot at it it seemed to just bounce off. It is in fact actually made of wood.

From here, we drove about an hour out of Boston to Lexington and Concord to the Minute Man National Historical Park. One new fact that I learned from our Duck Tour was that most of the beautiful tree covered area we see today was mainly fields and hills, and when the British battled the Patriots here, they just marched up to each other and fired.  No trees to hid behind or retreat to, just open land area.   We walked to the Old North Bridge where "the shot was heard 'round the world."

So with all this history swimming in our brains, it was time to eat.  We drove to another DDD place called "Lobster Shanty" in Salem, Massachusetts.  This place is known for its Warm Beer, Lousy Food, Surly Waitresses, Rude Bartenders, Cranky Cooks, Rowdy Regulars, and Nervous Lobsters. We were looking forward to this place as we figured it was just a gimmick.  The place seemed to sit on an outdoor mall for artists. Most of the seating was outside, which we chose to sit in since inside had no airconditioning. The food was very good, Jonathan and I shared a lobster roll (pieces of lobster cut up  and with only butter, put in a hot-dog style bun. It surprised me that this smallish sandwich was so expensive, and afterall, this wasn't Maine, yet. Chris had a crab roll, and Russ, not having developed a taste for seafood, enjoyed a delicious burger. It seemed that the only one who took their slogan seriously was our waitress.  She just was .... well "surly". 

Finally, we were on our way to Maine.  From Salem, it was less than an hour that we passed through New Hampshire and made it to Maine. As soon as we crossed the border, I noticed that it seemed to have much more trees, so many that we couldn't see anything else except for an occasional exit or town pop up.  It was beautiful!! Too bad our boys were sleeping  as they missed all this beauty.  It was just as Jonathan had written in his report. He reported that much of Maine was forests, which is why lumber and paper products was a big manufacturing business. However, that was what the resource books said. As we talked with people, later in our travels, looking for real Maine toothpicks, we found out that this buisness is shrinking due to the environmentalists having their way.  In Jonathan's report, he also discovered that Maine was the leading manufacturer of toothpicks.  Alas, this honor now goes to China.   By the time we reached the hotel, it was  too late to do anything by this time, so we called it a day and relaxed.

Pictures to follow!

The best Italian food EVER!

The Italian Express, a restaurant featured on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives"

July 5th  Our evening ended with a 3/10 of a mile walk to a Triple D place that hasn’t even aired yet. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Food Network show, “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”, the host, Guy Fieri, goes to places that are largely unknown to everyone but the locals. The food is often “out of bounds” and reasonably priced. Most of the time everything is homemade, from the bread, to the tortillas, to the sausages…. At this place, “The Italian Express”, the specialty was as the name implies Italian. But it brought back memories of the time my own family lived in New York, and at our family gatherings, where we had wonderful Italian fare. As we walked in, we were warmly greeted by the co-owner, Jonathan, who told us to sit anywhere. The decor and the authentic Italian music made us feel we were in for a different experience. We later found out that we sat at the very table that Guy sat after the cameras stopped rolling and finished his meal. He told us the things that Guy featured on the show, and described some of the other meals we were interested in. Jim, the owner, learned from his Nonni,(Italian Grandma).all the recipes and meal planning. She also helped him with the restaurant. . We got such personal attention and felt as if WE were long lost family!! Jim kept returning, and talked some more even as more customers came and went. We ended up ordering Rolled Eggplant Menino (named after the mayor who loved these so much) as an appetizer, and Haddock Margarita Pasta, and Famous Cheese Pizza with homemade meatballs. As we were waiting for our meal Jim brought us bread and a free sample of their huge, handball sized meatballs. THEY were “out of bounds”. Soft, but not mushy, flavorful, but not overpowering, and the marinara sauce was perfect – not too acidic, with just the right amount of spices. With every compliment we gave, we got another story (where they got their tomatoes, or how Jim goes 6 mornings a week and chooses the fish from the dock as they’re laid out, or how the recipes evolved.… The Eggplant was so flavorful and moist, and none of us had really ever developed a taste for eggplant before.  The pizza was light, and DELISH, and we noticed there was no grease floating on top. The haddock was tender, flakey, and laying on a bed of ziti pasta smothered in the delicious light wine and lime sauce. We all agreed, this was the most fun DDD experience we’ve had. It was also the best Italian food I’ve ever eaten. Jonathan and Chris agreed, but for Russ, it tied with Donatelli’s, a DDD place in Minnesota.