6/25/16,
“From End to End”
Fort Kent,
Maine
We have
spent the entire day today, seven hours including stops, driving Maine from end
to end. You can’t drive any further
north into Maine. This picture from
where I’m sitting? That’s Canada. Right across the river is the Canadian
province of New Brunswick. Next weekend
I will be in a different part of New Brunswick (along with Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island), but we did not bring our passports with us today, so we
will just be gazing off at Canada before we turn around and drive right back
down until we get back to Ogunquit tonight. We are at the northern terminus of
US-1. We could drive this road straight
to Key West, if we were so inclined. Why
do I go to Maine this weekend every year?
It’s for moments like this.
2013,
this Saturday, I was at West Quoddy Head, and I saw the sunrise from the
easternmost point in the continental US.
Everyone else in the continental US was to my west at that moment. 2014, I climbed Mars Hill to see the first
sunrise of the summer. I saw the sun
rise that morning before anyone else in the continental US did. Last year was less interesting when I drove from
Augusta, Maine to Hancock, New Hampshire, but I was able to stop along the way
to meet up with an old friend I hadn’t seen in a very long time. Today, I am as far north as you can drive in
Maine without getting into Canada. Next
year, who knows what Maine 2017 will entail, but I can be sure it will epic
again.
After I closed last night, I had
trouble falling asleep, and it was past 7 AM when I woke up, which meant it was
likely this site would be our only activity for the day. There were some other National Historic
Landmarks I wanted to see, but this was the one that was most intriguing, in no
small part due to its geographical location at the north tip of Maine. My friend went down to get breakfast, as I had
no appetite, and I took care of checking in formally to the hotel. I gave him the keys, and we got on the road,
almost immediately getting on I-95 N.
If
we followed I-95 N all the way, it would bring us to New Brunswick, which was
the route I took when I was here in October 2014 to see Fredericton. Instead, we would be taking US-11 to Fort
Kent. I rested while my friend drove,
and, after a couple of hours, I opened my eyes to the familiar tree-lined
roadway. I asked my friend if the view
had changed. It had not.
We soon stopped for a bathroom break at a
roadside diner called 95 Diner, which had all sorts of highway signs inside for
the décor. We got some chicken fingers
and blueberry crumb pie. After the
chicken fingers, we lit up our cigars, a Herrera Esteli TAA exclusive for me,
and a Leaf for him. Meanwhile, we played
Disney music for the drive. After the
TAA, I had some of the crumb pie, which was as delicious as it sounds. I then lit up a Fuente.
We stopped again for gas about an hour from
Fort Kent, and we soon arrived. We came
across the Canadian border, which was next to the mileage marker for the
beginning of US-1. We took some
ceremonial pictures there and enjoyed the vista of Canada.
We opted for the diner for lunch, and I got a
double bacon cheeseburger and onion rings, along with some coffee, which is
actually more of a typical Maine meal than lobster is. We could see Canada from the lunch
table.
After lunch, we walked down the
road to the eponymous fort, the main reason we drove up here in the first place
(besides the geographic reasons). It is
a National Historic Landmark, and the fort was built in the mid-19th
Century during a bloodless border dispute with Canada, called the Aroostook
War. It led to border between Maine (and
other states) and New Brunswick (and other territories) being drawn at this
river, the St. John’s River. I had lit
up an Hoyo de Monterrey as we walked, and we got some souvenirs at the little
gift shop. We took our ceremonial
pictures at the fort before we walked around inside.
We then walked back to the car, and I got my
laptop before heading back to the riverbank, where I sat down and proceeded to
write this entry, which I will now close, while my friend walked around the
riverbank. We have a long drive back to
Ogunquit, and it is my turn to drive.
Dinner in Ogunquit will probably be our next and last stop of the day.
Ogunquit,
Maine
I suppose
there is not much to report to close out today’s entry, otherwise than a boring
drive back from Fort Kent and one of the best meals I’ve ever had in Maine,
which is saying a lot, since I’ve had quite a few great meals in this state
over the course of my many trips here.
There is nothing like Maine lobster, and eating it in Maine, in whatever
form it takes, is always a special experience.
While this trip has been a very familiar experience, to my friend, it is
full of firsts. It is the first time he
has been to New England, the first time he’s eaten lobster, the furthest north
he’s ever been. That last bit surprised
me the most, since we were actually south of Seattle even at the northernmost
part of Maine. He had never been. We weren’t even north of Paris, but furthest
north in Europe he had been was Turin, Italy.
I believe most of my readers will be surprised to learn that Rome is
actually south of New York City. The
entire geography of Europe is significantly further north than similar climates
in the United States. Miami, which is of
a similar climate as Spain, is actually at the same latitude as Dubai. As I have mentioned, today we travelled Maine
from end to end, slightly more than equivalent (in terms of latitude and
distance) of driving from Rome to Milan and back.
It was a simple drive, I-95 and US-11 (not
US-1, as I previously thought, which actually loops around the exterior of the
state) most of the way. It is New
England’s largest state, but it is dwarfed by four other states in the
mid-Atlantic area (New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina). The difference is, those states are arranged
east to west along their longest axis, while Maine’s longest axis is north to
south. That was what we did today when
we drove end to end.
After I closed overlooking
the river, we drove back towards Ogunquit, and I lit up a Four Kicks, followed
by a Jaime Garcia, then a Tattoo. I was
worried we’d be unable to find any place to get lobster upon a 10 PM arrival in
Ogunquit, and my friend was unable to confirm any restaurants that would be
open at that hour, not to mention I was not sure I even wanted to wait that
late to eat.
I suggested instead we stop
at the capital for dinner. He found a restaurant
inside the appropriately named Senator Inn and Spa, and it was opened until 9
PM (and right off the highway to boot).
We were fighting both gas and time to get there before they closed and
without running out of gas. We barely
succeeded on both accounts, and there was a gas station next to the hotel.
It was to be an epic feast. All of the seafood we ordered was right here
from the state of Maine. We each got an
oyster and a crab cake to start, followed by lobster for our main course. I got the lobster ravioli, while he got the
regular lobster, enjoying struggling with a lobster for the first time, as part
of the adventure. I was quite satisfied
with my ravioli. I also got a Lobster
Ale, since he would be driving from Augusta to Ogunquit, which was really,
really good. I might need to pick up a
six-pack to take home.
We then got the
strawberry-rhubarb cobbler for dessert, along with some coffees. There was not a single bad part of the
meal. After dinner, I lit up a VSG, and
we drove back, listening appropriately to a band called The Maine. Once we got to the hotel, we settled in, and
I went outside to the same spot from last night, where I sat down, lit up a
Davidoff Special R, and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close
so that I can publish and maybe upload some photos before I go to sleep. We don’t have much planned for tomorrow, but
it’ll be good to get an early start.
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