6/24/17, “Lobster and
Blueberries”
Millinocket, Maine
What is about Maine that brings
me back, year after year, every summer?
Is it the lobster and blueberries?
Is it the rocky shores and open bays?
Is it the woods and waters? Well,
I can get the same lobster rolls and blueberry pies around the corner from my
office. I just spent a week on the
islands of fire and ice seeing rocky shores and open bays far grander than the
ones in this state. Woods and waters are
to be found wherever I go on my travels.
Why Maine, then? Why is Maine my
favorite state east of the Mississippi and one of my top ten favorite states in
the country? Surely it has to be more
than just lobster and blueberries, right?
The simple truth is, it’s not.
It’s about the memories of all the trips I have ever taken to
Maine. It’s about lobster bakes as a
teenager and about lobster omelets and blueberry pancakes in my twenties. It’s about watching the first sunrise of the
summer from the easternmost point in the continental US one year and watching
it the next year from atop the mountain that sees the first sunrise of the
summer, just as much as it’s about lobster rolls. It’s about seeing the rocky cliffs when I
finally made it to Acadia National Park, just as much as it’s about blueberry
ice cream. It’s about memories old and
new, just as it’s about the part Maine played in my developing my love affair
with The North. But all of it, it all
comes back to lobster and blueberries.
After I closed last night, I fell asleep almost as soon as I published,
and we woke up around 8 AM. Breakfast
was standard Hampton Inn fare: waffles, eggs, potatoes, and sausage, along with
their too-small cups of coffee. It was
good as always, and I very much do enjoy the flavor combination of a fluffy
waffle and a piece of sausage. It was to
be a heavy day of eating, as Stu was insistent on trying every food item he
found listed as being a specialty of Maine.
We headed to the amusement park, Funtown Splashtown USA, and were a
little concerned that it had started to rain, but it stopped by the time we got
there. We arrived right as they opened,
and it was practically empty. It must
have been a combination of it being a small park, early Saturday morning, and
the weather, but we never had to wait on line, so it went quickly. We first went on the wooden roller coaster
called Excalibur, which was Camelot-themed.
That as the highest thrill ride, so Stu wanted to do it first. It was rather thrilling, and we then went to
the swinging ship called Sea Dragon, which was Viking-themed. It was more thrilling than I expected, as it
swung back and forth ascending to a 90-degree angle by the end. After that was the log flume, which was of no
interest.
We then got an early light
snack, as Stu wanted to try Red Snapper hot dogs, which they had at the
park. We each got one, along with a
fries to share. After that, we went to
this light show inside a tent, for which we were placed on swinging seats. That was rather boring.
Then came the tower called Dragon Descent,
which was Chinese-themed, and I found it curious that they had Camelot, Viking,
and Chinese-themed, but I guess it made sense, since it is considered a “theme
park.” That was pretty scary, as it went
up to the height of a skyscraper before dropping us and bringing us up and down
a few more times. It was as we were
ascending that I asked Stu my signature line, “Do you have faith in the
structural engineers who designed this ride and the inspectors who inspected
it?” He did. We survived. From there, it was the water park, but I had no interest in getting wet,
so I had an LFD in the smoking area while Stu went on the water rides. After he was done, we drove to Cape Elizabeth
for lobster rolls.
We went to Two Lights
and walked out on the rocky cliffs. Stu
found no interest in it, and he intimated that he had a fear of heights. I hope my reader catches the irony. We then went to the Lobster Shack, which is
Maine’s “most iconic restaurant” according to the Thrillist list. I had never seen the line so long, but it
moved fast. We ordered a lot, as we
wanted to try everything.
What I am
about to list is what we got for the pair of us to split, not what we each
ate. We got clam chowder, the clam boat
(fried clams, fries, and slaw), two lobster rolls, and a blueberry pie for
later. It was epic, and I think the
fried clams were my favorite part. I
will not tell my reader how much lunch for the two of us, but it will easily be
the most expensive meal we have all trip, though any meal at a nice restaurant
would have cost a lot more.
After lunch,
I lit up a La Jugada, and we drove to Portland, stopping first at the Portland
Observatory, which is a “maritime signal tower” and not a lighthouse. In fact, it is the surviving such
structure. From there, we headed to
Portland Paddle to do some kayaking.
We
were both so drained at this point, and I was still traumatized from Kentucky
five years ago, that we just wanted to get a feel for it, so we paddled out for
about twenty minutes before turning around.
Due to the current, what took twenty minutes outbound only took five
minutes inbound. After staying dry on
the water, I got soaked by a wave as I was getting ready to get out of the
kayak. After we dried off a bit, we
drove towards Millinocket, but first we ate our blueberry pie, and I lit up a Barba.
We stopped at Bangor to have dinner at an iconic sandwich chain called
Amato’s. We had actually driven past the
original in Portland, but we were not hungry then. Mr. Amato was the inventor of the Italian
sandwich, so that’s we got, along with chips and drinks. For dessert, we had the official state treat:
a whoopie pie.
I lit up an E.P.
Carrillo, and we arrived at our hotel in Millinocket right at nautical
twilight, which had ended by the time we got settled in. We checked in and went up to our room. I got resituated and headed down and across
the street to the gas station to get a local beer, a Shipyard Summer Ale. I then went to the bench at the hotel, where
I sat down, lit up my trusty Ardor, and proceeded to write this entry, which I
will now close so that I can publish and, shockingly, get a full night’s sleep.
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