2010Maine

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Day 3: New York-Mystic-Kennebunk Beach

Day 4: Rockport-Camden

Day 6: Port Clyde-Rockport

Day 7: Rockland, Tenant Harbor

Day 8: Campobello

Day 11: Augusta

At some point, Sally, Darryl and I decided we wanted to go someplace cool in the summer. After considering Iceland and some other unlikely places, we decided on Maine. so that I could finally get around to visiting my cousin Shelby in Southport, and so that Darryl could visit Ron Rordam, a childhood friend who now lives in Virginia but whose mom and sister live in Tenant Harbor.

I had to go to New York for an AAMC meeting. Sally and Darryl came along and did their thing while I was in meetings. (Unfortunately, I think "Sally's thing" was sitting in the hotel room and working on her computer.) But they did have time shop for pink sneakers for the daughter of their dogs' caregiver in Baton Rouge.

In the evenngs, we got to go out and have fun. On the first night, we went to a dinner for the AAMC-GIA Steering Committee at the Boathouse in Central Park. It's an amazing place, and Sally and Darryl got to meet some of my AAMC pals, including Mary Sue Cheeseman from Cincinnati.

Day 9: Bar Harbor

Day 5: Southport-Freeport

Day 10: Lake Millinocket

SALLY, DARRYL AND MATT GO TO MAINE (AND NEW YORK)

JULY 2010

So who are we kidding. In Maine, it's all about the lobsters. Right?

While Sally, Darryl and I were there,
I think we got to see almost all the components of the lobster industry.

OK, so maybe we didn't actually see any lobsters in traps, but I'm guessing it looked something like this.

Every day, lobster fishermen like these guys would go out and check their traps. They sorted the lobsters into four categories: 1) too old (throw them back); 2) too young (throw them back); 3) adults (keepers!) and 4) shedders. A shedder is a lobster that has recently set its old shell and is in the process of hardening the new shell. Since these lobsters don't require hammers and other hardware to open, they're the ones that are most valuable.

After a retail experience or two, the lobster becomes the guest of honor at an outdoor activity called a lobster bake.

Ours (at the home of former Congressman David Emery and Judge Carol Emery) looked like this. (Dave was especially proud of the "lobster lights" he strung on the trees.)

I don't want to accuse anyone of false advertising, but no baking goes on at a lobster bake. As you can see, these lobsters are being boiled by Dave and Carol's son, Bert, who, by the time you read this, will be a first-year medical student at teh University of Vermont School of Medicine. The only seasoning in the pot is seaweed. Go figure.

If your baker/boiler has done his job correctly (as Bert has), you'll have a tasty dinner of shedders and corn on the cob. Thanks, Bert!

THE "MAINE" THINGS

So while the trip was "Mainely" about friendship and visiting people we like a lot, there were a few things that I (and most people) associate with Maine that I'd like to discuss in this column.
They are lobsters, blueberrries and Stephen King.

Maine is also very proud of its blueberries. Perhaps, inordinately so.

But they do dress them up nicely. My favorite "blueberry experience" was having breakfast at Just Barb's Diner (see above). The blueberry pancakes were awesome. Thanks, Just Barb!

At one point in our travels, we came across Wild Blueberry Land, a shopping experience like no other.

I'm not really sure where they were going with the idea. It looked as if they were trying to do for blueberries what Willie Wonka had done for chocolate.

They definitely had some interesting ideas about retailing. Despite two rather conspicuous pies sitting in a display case, the lady at the counter said they didn't sell pies.

If you're looking for ways to embarrass me, ask Sally to show you the photo she took of me sitting on the throne of the Wild Blueberry King.

I just thought it was strange that a place called Wild Blueberry Land would have a Drive Thru--especially if they don't sell pie.

When we were doing what little planning we did for the trip, Sally put on her "bucket list" taking a picture of ourselves at the gates of Stephen King's house in Bangor. My cousin Shelby, after looking at the list, asked, "Why would anyone want to do that?"

Oh, Shelby. Have you NEVER met me before?

One of the cool things we did together in New York was go on a walking tour in the area between Chelsea and Midtown that was conducted by the director of New York's Skyscraper Museum. (That's her in the photo, facing Darryl.) it wasn't a long tour, but we did get to see a variety of styles of skyscrapers and hear explain what made them unique and different. It was terrific.

That night we went to see Promises, Promises with Kristin Chenowith and Sean Hayes.

Friday was all about food as we drove from
Manhattan to Rockland, via Mystic, Connecticut,
and Kennebunk Beach, Maine. In Mystic, we
ate pizza at the legendary Mystic Pizza (see
Sally and Darry leaving above.) We drove on to Kennebunk Beach, where we checked off one of the items on Sally's bucket list by having dinner at the White Barn Inn. It was terrific. Since it was our first meal in Maine, Darryl and I had lobsters for our appetizer AND entree courses. Dessert (at right) was so wonderful that I felt compelled to take a picture of it. The round thing sticking up is chocolate covered ice cream.

Sally had never been on a sailboat before, so we took a two-hour cruise on one from the harbor at Camden. As you can see from the smiles, there are probably more cruises ahead in her future. (I kept trying to get a surreptitious picture of the captain of the boat with noodles caught in his beard.)

After the cruise, we had dinner at a place in Camden called "Cappy's" (right) that Barbara Austin had recommended.

Usually, Barbara's taste is impeccable, but Cappy's kind of stunk. Maybe it was just a bad night. (But at least we had the best seat in the window!)

On Sunday, we drove down to Southport to visit my cousin Shelby, and her husband, Al Keider. (Yes, that's his real name.) They have a lovely home (below left) that looks out over Love's Cove. Shelby and Al say that sometimes they can't get out of their driveway because some artist has decided to park there while painting the cove.

After a gourmet lunch, they gave us a tour of the neighhborhood, highlighted by Sue and Mike Pitt's house in nearby East Boothbay Harbor. It was a wonderful day.

The wonderful day continued into the evening as we drove into Freeport and spent three hours shopping at L. L. Bean. We didn't buy much, but I do now have a pair of orange walking shorts that I'm very proud of. (Note to L. L.: Get some spatulas!)

Recognize this lighthouse? Yep, it's the one in Forrest Gump, where Forrest completes one of his cross-country runs.

On Monday, Miss Betty Rordam (I assume her first name is "Miss". Everyone called her "Miss Betty". She's at the far left, below.) arranged a picnic lunch for us at the Port Clyde lighhouse. Miss Betty is the mother of Rordam, a childhood friend of Darryl's, who is currently the mayor of Blacksburg, Virginia. Ron's sister, Carol, is a judge in Maine, and is married to former Congressman David Emery.

The book on which the movie and
television show M*A*S*H was based
by a Rockport resident named Richard
Hooker. (Not surprisingly, the original
character of Hawkeye Pierce was much more conservative than he would be portrayed on screen. Maybe Alan Alda just isn't that
good an actor.)

Anyway, Mr. Hooker passed away recently,and some
of his effects were put up for auction by his family on
Rockland. So we went. I understand that the family
kept all the "nice" pieces before the auctioneers got
hold of them. I'm glad to know that because the stuff
at the auction was pretty trashy. (Right.)

Tuesday started ominously as Sally said, "Hey, Matt, let's go for a walk. Outside the hotel was a lighthouse at the end of a jetty. It looked like a pleasant walk, but from the hotel, we really couldn't tell that the jetty was made of rocks that we'd have to negotiate. Nor could we tell that it was FREAKING LONG! The two photos at left were taken from the same place. That sucker had to be a mile long. When we finally got to the lighthouse, the only people there were a family who were speaking French. I told Sally, "I think we've walked to France!"

After we finally staggered back to the hotel room, things picked up coniderably. That evening Dave and Carol Emery hosted a lobster bake at the beautiful home in Tenant Harbor. (See details at left.) It was a magical evening. Thanks to all the Emerys and Rordams!

Wednesday was a day for driving around Maine as we traveled from Rockland to Campobello Island and back to Bar Harbor. We had breakfast at Just Barb's Diner (above left) and stopped on the way back at Wild Blueberry World. In between, we saw FDR's home on Campobello Island. What fascinated me the most (I'm almost sorry to say) was the ginormous megaphone (below) that Eleanor used to call the kids to come into the house (right).

Even the souvenirs at Wild Blueberry World are creepy.

As far as tourist traps go, Bar Harbor is probably one of the nicer ones. We spent three nights there, and on Thursday, we went to the top of Cadillac Mountain. (That's Bar Harbor, as seen from the top of the mountain at right.)

Later, Sally decided we needed to walk again. You'd think that I would have learned my lesson after the jetty fiasco, but no, we decided to walk--I mean "hike" to see Bubble Rock. (BTW, it's listed as an "intermediate" hike, so it was definitely a hike. I was feeling pretty good about myself until I saw a young lady headed up the mountains in high heels.

To get a taste of the North Woods of Maine, we drove three hours to a place called Lake Millinocket, and were taken on a guided tour by Ray (His granddaughter Danielle runs the gift shop.) Ray's a former Navy Seal whose been around the lake practically his entire life. He's probably a pretty good guide, but he couldn't find any moose on the trip we took with him.

The photo at left is the last one I took before my batteries went dead. (It sort of made not seeing a moose more bearable.)

Rocks.

Lots and lots of rocks.

Apparently there is no real soil in Maine, so there's just rocks. Lots and lots of rocks.

If you're going to travel with political people like Sally and Darryl, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THE STATE CAPITOL.

In Maine, the State Capitol in Augusta was practically the last thing we saw as we headed to the airport in Portland.

In a final to salute to Maine, Darryl is wearing his lobster claw hat.

Final Note to the People of Maine:

We liked your state, but would it kill you to open the State House on Saturdays?

I'm sure you're wondering what was
on the CD compilation for the trip. Generally speaking, I stuck to songs about places we'd been before--Argentina, California, etc.

But for a change of pace, I added
some "bonus tracks" from the
original cast recording of Promises, Promises that we saw.