Low Numbers
Low numbers are better in Maine. The lower the number the better. How do I know this? From experience actually. Something I learned this week.
Get a Lower Number in a Restaurant?
Tu and I went to a warehouse restaurant in Belfast Maine to get lobster. In this place you pick your lobster, they boil it and give you a number that they call the number when you are ready. Tu picked her lobster and they gave her a number “17”.
That was unusual because all the other people were getting numbers like “1400” and some old couple even got a number “10,000”. As we sat, we watched elderly couples pick their lobsters and get numbers. And the numbers were always high, “42,000” or “27,000”.
It was then that I figured it out. They were numbering patrons based on how pretty or ugly they were. As someone was more obese or more elderly they got a higher number. As they were prettier they got a lower number. I was on to them.
Lower Freeway Numbers are Better Too
The other thing I have learned over the years and it applies here in Maine too. The lower the freeway number, the more interesting the drive. As a general rule of thumb I will typically take the lower freeway numbers if there are alternate routes. Here in Maine that has held up too.
For example, most of the best attractions are along Route 1. If I see route 1 I know that the scenery will be more beautiful and the sites a little more quirky along the way. We always try to take the lower freeway numbers.
All the open fields are along Route 1
We got Trouble
We got trouble. Right here in River City. It starts with F and it ends in A and it’s called Fun O Rama. Oh yeah we got trouble. Oh yes we got trouble.
Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree
Maine is covered with Apple trees. They are everywhere. But the apples are sour and Tu doesn’t like them. But that doesn’t stop her from picking them everywhere we go.
It’s apple season here in Maine and in two weeks the big apple festivals will start.
There are berries here too. Blueberries on the side of the road in bushes, all along the water. We see people with boxes picking the blueberries and bringing them home. You could eat for free here in Maine 24/7.
The best part of Maine is how much coastal space there is. Because Maine is basically a thousand fingerlings of land jutting into the ocean there is so much space to build homes along the ocean. You can buy a coastal front cottage here for $500k to $600k and they are picture perfect cottages. Another great day in Maine.
Into the Wild
The chill crisp is in the air that hints of autumn but the sun comes back and warms everything up. It was a perfect day to explore what Maine has to offer. Just get in the car with no particular place to go and see what the world has to offer.
Day 3 in Maine wa about taking the back roads. We found lots of very interesting places today off the back roads. It’s amazing the sites and sounds you can see when you go where no one else wants to. We had enough of the T Shirt shops in Bar Harbor and we wanted to see real Maine.
So we went off the grid. We were so far off the roads that we didn’t have cell connection and were sometimes forced to navigate by the stars. Well we made it to our hotel in Booth Bay and it is gorgeous here. Stunning.
Into the Forest. There are plenty of them here.
Tu loves the natural settings and beautiful gardens.
A beautiful Japanese Garden.
This scene in a Japanese Garden
A lake in the middle of nowhere with Wild Turkeys running around it.
An old barn in the middle of the road.
Places like this store.
Booth Bay in Autumn.
Chowder House in Booth Bay
The view outside our hotel room
Another beautiful day.
Miles of T-Shirts in Bar Harbor
We made it up to Bar Harbor today after a gorgeous drive up the Maine coast. We were a little disappointed to discover that the village was almost entirely made up of T-Shirt shops – one after another lined up, block after block.
In any case the day was eventful and quite beautiful. Not a cloud in the blue sky and we had all day to explore.
We tried to find a great place to have lobster and found many on Yelp as we drove up through the towns on the coast. There was just one small problem – most were closed on Mondays.
We eventually found one in Belfast and it was amazing. It was called Lobster Pound because you buy lobster by the pound. Fresh lobster was being pulled off the boat as we waited and we got to choose our own fresh lobster and they steamed it away for us.
Tu decided to order the big 2 pounder lobster because she said she was worth it and she ordered corn on the side, just like she imagined in her dream. She had a dream she was eating lobster with corn and it was about to come true.
I decided to order a lobster roll with pickles and chips. Now I was about to get a proper lobster roll not one of the ones you get where it is full of the fake fish and covered with mayonnaise. This one was basically fresh cracked lobster meat on a soft bun with pickles and chips. No extras just pure lobster and it was amazing.
The whole thing was on this old warehouse type setting and it was very cool. We loved it. It was a great choice and it was not closed on Monday!
Driving up the coast of Maine is like a step back through time. Lots of quirky things you would expect to find in old sea side towns. There were so many interesting things to find and explore here. It’s no wonder that you could spend a couple of weeks driving and exploring these towns. There were tons of quirky signs that looks like they have been there since the 1950’s
And we found this old house that looks like it was straight out of an old haunted house movie. It was almost comical the way that it was caving in on itself, all contorted.
And of course we found Lighthouses!
