I awoke at 4:30 AM in the park and ride to a guy monkeying around with a truck next to me that had a big tarp covering the bed. He looked pretty weird (this coming from a guy sleeping in his car) and kept glancing over at me. I had parked away from the rest of the cars to give myself a little solace. Apparently that was not going to happen. After 20 minutes of farting around, the guy got the truck started and tried leaving, but only made it 5 feet before the truck died. A few minutes later he finally left. I was weirded out by that so I tossed my sleeping bag aside and hit the road.
I left Portland, wanting to come back sometime. It was a lot bigger than I thought (metro population of about 250,000) and had some great bars (at least that was the word on the street). After driving for a bit, I decided it was in my best interest to try and get some more sleep so I pulled into the Maine Visitor Center in Yarmouth. Across the street from the visitor center was the headquarters of Delorme. They make the maps that adorn the backseat of my car. It was just another random moment of my trip. I slept for a few hours and then headed up US 1, past LL Bean and the small towns that dot the Maine coast.
My excitement built as I crossed onto Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. I had done a little research and knew I had to go to the Park Headquarters to register for winter camping at the park, but I still went to the visitor center that is closed down for the season. After consulting a map, I followed the coast (Is it still considered coastline if you are on an island?) up to Bar Harbor. I quickly realized the town nearly shuts down in the off-season. There were at least 15 hotels shuttered for the winter and finding a closed restaurant was easier than an open one.
I registered to camp and before I went to set up camp, I asked the lady in the office where I could find a good lobster. Camping is free in Acadia after December 1, but you have to park at a gate and walk a half-mile or more to the campground and the only open bathroom is a port-a-potty and water is gleaned from a hand-powered pump on the other side of the campground. Needless to say, I had the campground to myself. Having free-range to pick any campsite can be tough because you want the perfect site. I walked around for a while before settling on a site that was elevated and had good drainage in case it rained and pitched my tent.
After getting situated, I headed into town, looking for Geddy’s and a lobster. I had never had lobster before so I figured Maine would be a good place to experience that for the first time. I found Geddy’s and a seat at the bar (I was the only one). Stacy, the bartender, found out I was from Wisconsin and immediately asked if I had any cheese curds with me. Add Stacy to the list of girls I’ve disappointed. She talked me into getting the island special, which consisted of a whole lobster, clam chowder, fries and a slice of blueberry pie. The homemade chowder was excellent (I always thought Campbell’s Chunky New England Chowder was the best you could find…), but that was just a precursor to the lobster.
The recently deceased crustacean was placed in front of me, waiting to be decimated with the help from the claw cracker by my greedy fingers. Stacy explained how to eat the lobster and I dove in. Minutes later, the beast was in my belly and all that was left was its hulking exoskeleton, quarried of the goodness inside (a shell of its former self?). The bartender said I was too clean after eating a whole lobster, and that I should’ve been covered in butter and chunks of lobster. Well, we don’t like to waste food in Wisconsin. I look forward to my next encounter with a tasty, tasty lobster.
The locals thought I was crazy to sleep outside in December. The low that night was in the mid 30’s. I hadn’t camped in weather that warm in a month or two. They were crazy for thinking it was cold outside. I had another local beer or two from the Atlantic Brewing Company and headed back to my tent. I nearly stayed for one more beer and I’m glad I thought better of it because 15 minutes after I got to my tent, it started raining, hard. I feel asleep, nice and dry as my tent deflected the deluge.
No comments:
Post a Comment