Maine vacations, little time, lots to see when you live in Vacationland.
Lucky to live in Maine and whenever there are a couple days here and there, it’s time to explore. Because Maine has four seasons, the same location is so different depending on the calendar spot you visit. So mini, instate Maine stay vacation time. Taking in Maine four season beauty in bite size segments. This past weekend, decided it was time to take in a Maine Black Bear ice hockey game at the Alfond Arena in Orono.
Maine Black Bear Chilly Cheering Section In The Alfond Arena, Orono ME!
I am a college alumni of the University of Maine Orono campus.
Meg too along with most of my and her family members. The Harold Alfond Arena was just a parking lot when I joined Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity across the street on College Avenue in Orono. I was the treasurer of the fraternity house. Lived there year round working in the Bangor broadcasting market during and after college at the University of Maine at Orono.
Black Bears Need Polished Sheet Of Ice To Play Ice Hockey! Zambonis Remove The Carved Skate Grooves.
Seeing your Maine university college team in the frozen four for the nation year after year was awesome for U-Maine system.
“The Starting Line Ups… For The Huskies, The ME Black Bears Tonight….”
Had a little bite of Mexican food at Margarita’s in Orono ME before the Black Bear ice hockey game.
Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant In Orono, MMmmmm Tasty Meals! Pats Pizza Another Favorite Next Door.
You can’t hoot, holler on an empty stomach when you go to a University of Maine Black Bear ice hockey game at the Alfond Arena.
Pat’s Pizza’s flag ship location, the Mother of all Pat’s Pizzas is close by Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant in downtown Orono, ME in Penobscot County. After filling the pie hole at Margarita’s with “South of the Border” menu items food, we headed to the Alfond UMO ice hockey arena. Parked in the steam plant parking lot, by the river. Put on the mask, hoofed it with Meg to the hockey game between Maine Black Bears and UNH Huskies college teams.
College Hockey Games, University Of Maine Black Bear Goalie Hydrates Between Periods. Minding The Twine, Guarding The Net Is Hard Work To Deny Opposing Hockey Team Goals.
Walking home to TKE fraternity during my University years at 370 College Ave Orono ME, I remember watching the Alfond Ice Arena being built.
One board, cement pier at a time put into place. Lots of roof slopes in the design and the kind you can run hard and climb easily wearing sneakers not dress shoes. To overlook the river and reflect on the four year college education bubble experience.
Lines Coming And Going. Using The Two Bench Doors Or Usually Sliding Up And In/Out Over The Alfond Ice Arena Hockey Boards.
We had a Dan Sweeney from Buzzard’s Bay MA in our TKE fraternity house who was a Maine black bear hockey player.
Our intramural hockey games had really crazy ice times because that arena gets used round the clock. Day and night. Every season of the year. It was not uncommon to set your alarm clock, get up at 3 AM and walk over next door to the Alfond ice arena for a college recreation hockey game.
Our biggest rival was Phi Eta Kappa fraternity at UMO.
There were quite a few jocks in each fraternity that competed heavily but also made sure to be at each other’s house parties. Not sure if that qualifies as a love hate relationship or not. Let’s just call it a spirited competition and leave it at that. My Dad was in BETA fraternity at UMO.
Maine Black Bear Hockey. Got Seats Behind The Black Bear Bench, Watched The Squad Play The Second Of Two Games With UNH.
Had two boys who played Maine high school hockey and all the games with Old Town, Orono were at the Alfond arena in Orono.
And as any hockey parent knows, in high school, the sport continues year round. Summer hockey games every weekend at UMO’s Alfond Arena happened. And the parents in their shorts and short sleeves come inside out of the warm summer sun.
To watch, run the clock, announce, man the penalty box, to control the flow from the bench out onto the arena ice. To perform whatever chore at the ice arena and then in our case travel two hours back home to “The County”. All uphill heading North. Excited when you see the I-95 sign for “Benedicta ME” on the return home.
You know you are crossing the county line into Aroostook when you see Benedicta that only got one Interstate 95 exit.
A Camp Or Maine Cabin Near Baxter, Mt Katahdin. Priceless. Lots Of People Flock To The Less Traveled Vacation Options In Maine Like Baxter State Park.
Everyone Wants To Drive The Zamboni. UMO Black Bear Hockey Games, Fun Way To Speed Up A Maine Winter.
After the Maine Black Bear ice hockey game, Meg and I headed over to the other side of Orono. Bagging ZZZzzz’s at the Black Bear Inn right off the Stillwater Ave exit.
We got up early on Sunday to head down to Acadia National Park. Visiting Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Bass Harbor lighthouse.
Every little town along the way as you drive the hilly, snaking highways that weave in and out of the coastal villages and towns. Neat coves, amazing rock formations and harbor views that excite.
Sheer, Dramatic Rock Formations Surround You Driving Around Acadia National Park Roads.
It’s all a difference experience in a Maine winter.
We’ve blogged about returning to a Maine community vacation destination but in a different season. Like this blog post on Cape Porpoise, Old Port, the Maine coast. No or very few tourists, no bumper to bumper traffic or waiting in line. The peace and quiet replace the crowds of tourist seeking to sample Maine on summer vacation.
Not as many places open during the “shoulder season” or “off season” but the local operators are more laid back, friendlier and not so busy.
Closed For The Winter Season. Take Out Lobster Pounds In Maine Are Pretty Quiet In The Winter Months. What Would You Order If This Roadside Take Out Joint Was Open?
Rates are cheaper for everything off season in a Maine winter tourist attraction except for ski and snow sledding resort areas.
Look Mom, No People. Bar Harbor In The Dead Of A Maine Winter. Quiet, No Traffic, No People. Not Having To Share The Eye Candy In Winter.
Walked around Bar Harbor, shot some blog post images.
Then traveled on to Acadia National Park. Paid the entrance fee and took in the sights on what was open around the perimeter road. Big Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, checked out Bass Harbor Headlight. Saw Egg Rock Lighthouse too and had covered that area from boat in an earlier Maine instate stay vacation.
Egg Rock Lighthouse Off Bar Harbor Maine, Mount Desert Island (MDI).
The pathways, rocks covered with new white fluffy snow and hidden ice make it be better go slow and be super careful.
Watch your step folks. Fresh air, cobalt blue skies, a few tourists dressed warmly and wearing hats, gloves. Some strap on removable ice grips. Weather in Maine, we are outdoors year round. Just dress a little different in the exercise and sight seeing when in Maine.
Rock Bound Maine Coast Line. Not A Lot Of Topsoil But Plenty Of Cadillac Mt Pink Granite. Pretty Impressive Places Hidden Here And There.
Someone put a lot of work into the trails, the preservation of the wildlife habitat, plants, trees.
The Sights, Sounds, Smells Of Being Outdoors On The Maine Coast. Priceless Experiences Outdoors Year Round In Maine.
You see families, a few with pets as you travel to the open areas of Acadia National Park on MDI in Maine in winter.
Granite, Nothing Taken For Granite At Acadia National Park’s Stone Walk Ways.
Lots more open areas in Acadia this trip compared to last year when most areas were shuttered and closed up to the public.
Always thinking of seafood with the fresh air stimulating the taste buds. After taking in all this eye candy, your hunger for local Maine seafood only increases. Sure we can get lobsters, mussels, clams and crab meat at our local Maine Piggly Wiggly groceries. Or from a pick up with a box truck cooler on back that can fish you out just about anything sea food wise.
But nothing like tapping the source and knowing what you dine on was swimming in the sea not long before the same day direct from the harbor pound.
Bass Harbor Me Lighthouse, The Skinny On This Seacoast Navigational Guide.
Today’s cell phones do a decent job taking images and capturing video loops.
But we have camera lust. Use them everyday in our job as Joe Maine Real Estate Broker. The Sony with the telephone lens cost more that two and a quarter books of green stamps. But so so worth zeroing in on the action. Whether a hockey game and up in the stands. Chasing the orange ball around the courts. Or on land, looking out at what’s parked off shore and up in or among the trees.
Bambi Crosses The Winding Coastal Road Right In Front Of Us. Quick, Pull Over, Pull Down That Rear Window. Hurry!
Another lighthouse in Maine is the rear attraction along the coast of Vacationland though.
Needing A Little Paint, The Metal Work Around The Top A Tad Rusted. Bass Harbor Headlight Shot Up From Among The Snow Covered Granite Strewn Rocks And Rubble..
Some Maine lighthouses you need a lobster boat ride or sight seeing tour to access.
Others are a sea kayak on a smooth windless day easy peasy to paddle out and back to see. Bass Harbor lighthouses in the summer when lots of other tourists had the same idea as you. It is way way easier to just park your car. Unhook the strapped on back bike to pedal in and out because parking spaces are as rare as four leaf clovers. Or live show tickets to Bob Marley, Maine’s comedian.
Bass Harbor Headlight Is Needing Some Paint, Attention.
Lots of friends of all the Maine lighthouses.
Some Maine lighthouses have associations stronger than others to preserve, promote and protect. A few lighthouses in Maine private residences now or rented out for vacations for tourists visiting the Pine Tree State. Looking for something different for a location smack dab front and center on or off the Maine coastline.
Providing Light, Sound, Navigation For Sea Captains Plying Their Boats Off The Rock Bound Coast Of Maine. Winds, Salty Sea Air And Low Winter Temperatures Are Hard On ME Lighthouses.
After spending hours around Acadia National Park, venturing over to Bass Harbor Headlight, we just continued on our way back to Bangor Maine for the night.
Decided to sample some Geaghan’s BBQ wings and lay the head in the bed Sunday night in Bangor because Monday was President’s Day, school vacation too. There are many times just too busy to sneak out of town to see some new surroundings living in Maine full time as a native, local insider.
The Harbor View In Maine Coastal Towns. No Two Village Harbors Quite The Same If You Look Close. Visit them different seasons.
Maine instate stay vacations.
Have you been to Maine and where? Is it time for a re-visit to unplug, unwind and recharge? It’s winter but that does not mean nothing is open in Maine for vacation, instate staycation options. Until next time, already have ideas what to serve up in the next few blog posts about anything Maine that’s fair game. Thank you for following our Maine blog!
Maine small town pride, every local is an ambassador.
Nothing is stronger than the heart of a community volunteer. The spark that ignites is everyone in the village feels they have a part. Because they do. Only so many people and lots of parts to
Lucky To Live In Small Town Maine!
perform in creating the community flavor.
The kids in a small Maine town create the catalyst for the home town pride.
Rallying around the school sport teams, supporting anything kid related is something all small Maine town people do.
Regardless if the teams win or lose, the support from the locals is huge in the small Maine town.
Besides the cheering section sitting up the rows of the uncomfortable
bleaches. other locals are in the snack shack. Serving up local split open steaming baked Maine potatoes, with all the ways to dress them up available. Or pizza from the local small Maine town store donating them. Or at least offering a discount got the fresh out of the oven pizza pie.
Someone helped raise money for the new warm up uniforms and added the small Maine town player’s family name across the back.
There is a raffle coming through the door. A 50-50 split for some local worthwhile cause in the small Maine town. Maine has way over 400 small community towns, villages and even unorganized settlements of sorts. Only a handful of population clusters that are big enough to earn city status.
Here’s senior night at a small Maine town, Danforth in the tip top of Washington County.
And check out a Maine Soap Box Derby video on a specially engineered hill built in one Aroostook County community.
Every community video, you see, feel, hear, sense that these small Maine towns love their children.
Check out a small Maine town parade, and sense the swell of pride.
That all the community members join together to create the event.
Not buy a ticket to attend and then head home.
Working behind the scenes for months year after year to put it on one of many small town community events.
Farmers markets in small Maine towns are a big deal too.
So are small Maine town 4th of July parades.
Even the kids do to earn money and learn work ethic.
Some small Maine communities celebrate the change of each season with special events.
Like a winter is over and look at the water run off she created to provide the fun, fast, Maine spring canoe race.
No matter what the season in Maine, small towns rally around them and celebrate collectively.
Dressing differently and learning to layer the clothing.
But pretty much being outside everyday and filling the lungs with clean, fresh air and not wall to wall people.
Come, we’re going skiing on a small Maine town winter mountain slope.
Heck, a snow storm in Maine does not stop the show must go on.
We don’t hibernate, not going to stay parked on a couch and veg out watching television.
Everything is outdoors, prepared for what ever the Maine weather forecast contains for the day.
Parked on a gym bleacher seat and hollering, chanting, hooping it up to support the old team.
At home games or following the Maine small town sports team on the road.
Sometimes the local event is something from the World stage held locally.
And the small Maine communities band together to provide the open house welcome to the area.
Every community member is a small town local ambassador.
Or taking months to create a small Maine town play production.
With not much of a budget but the whole community helping in so many ways to pull it off without a hitch.
Maine small town pride.
It’s oozes, amplifies, is obvious in every single small Maine town community event. Where so many locals are involved year after year in the planning, implementation and creativity. Is it like that where you live, work and play now? Hope your like the heavy on video, show and tell them what it is liking living in Maine. No one enjoys a wall of words with scarce number of images salt and peppering it right?
Maine, the way life should be. Maine small town pride, every local is an ambassador.
Instate vacations, Cape Porpoise, Old Port, Wells Beach ME.
When you are lucky enough to live in Maine full time, Vacationland is your playground. Ready to tap. Short trips, instate vacations are quick and easy when you already live in the state of Maine.
This blog post more of a photo log about a three day trip from Northern to Southern Maine and back.
Anything Maine to cover is fair game right for this blogging post channel right ?
Cape Porpoise Harbor Maine
Had a little Maine winter snow storm change the instate vacations weekend plans just a tad.
Because a foot of new fluffy white stuff arriving in the weather forecast last Friday, Meg and I decided to head out a half day earlier. This Maine snow storm started north and headed south so we got on Interstate 95 Thursday afternoon to stay ahead of it. Pushed along during daylight and just warmer temperatures, light rain happening outside the car.
Good cruising to git while the getting was optimum. We both knew the weather was influx, it was going to change. If we sat still or waited getting “out of Dodge” for harder travel conditions to change to match the current forecast. .
Thursday night staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in the Old Port where we could walk to some place new to eat.
Staying In The Old Port ME, The Hilton Garden Inn One Where To Stay Lodging Suggestion. Stayed One Trip At The Portland Harbor Hotel An Early Runaway From Home Mad Dash.
No reservations, no need for calling ahead when it’s during a snow storm or in the middle of winter during your instate Maine vacation.
The winds picking up and change over from icy drizzle to a snow crystal like sugar. You don’t have to be an Eskimo to know about the 50 kinds of snow. Living in Maine, because of her sheer size and many weather zones, you get a chance to experience it all. More than the eyeballs see what is developing. You can taste, smell, sense weather change in the Maine air any season.
Old Port ME During Ice Storm.
Back in Aroostook County, over a foot of just white, fluffy light snow landing to blanket the Earth.
While in the Old Port region of Maine, the accumulation was under four inches of a different kind of snow. Granular, more ice than light airy snow flakes. A lot like sugar, sand and hardening up like compact cement to make it harder to plow or shovel.
We ate at Scales in the Old Port.
Scales, Old Port ME Restaurant. Fresh Fish On Ice.
Maine seafood… Meg got the scallops, I worked on a pot of steamed clams.
Nothing Fresher Because Swimming In A Salt Water Holding Tank At Scales Restaurant, Old Port ME.
More whole belly fried clams after that.
When in Maine, on the coast, it’s seafood the choice of many. Because it was probably swimming in the sea earlier in the day.
Not caught, hanging around, shipped eventually to all four corners of the World.
Maine Scallops Cooked Just So At Scales, Old Port ME
The neat thing about staying in an Old Port Hotel is the car is tucked away for the night.
Steamed Maine Clams in The Iron Pot At Scales, Old Port ME
No windshield to scrape. No snow to clear off the hood, roof and everywhere else after a Maine snow storm wraps it up.
Our winter jacket hoods were up like the zippers and braced for the Nor-Eastern seacoast winds. You could see even the Portland Harbor chopping, ice chunk water and swells forming as the winds picked up.
The plan on this trip was to re-visit and old familiar haunt, Wells Beach Maine.
The Old Port region of Portland ME’s waterfront just a bonus lead in stop for Thursday night.
Winter Surfing In Cold Air, Icy Water Temps On Wells Beach ME!
The next morning, it was breakfast at the Hilton Garden Hotel lobby.
We could leave the car in the hotel parking garage until 3pm when we would be on our way to the next instate vacation stop at Well’s Beach Maine. Meg wanted to walk to Whole Foods to see her Nature’s Circle Farms produce display at that nearby location.
The yellow potatoes looked great, there were red beets there too. Whole Foods a really neat store and supportive of locally sourced farmers, fishermen, everyone in one neat display.
Exploring the shops up and down the hillside leading toward the Old Port harbor, we wandered in and out to sample the wares.
Landing at Market Square Jewelers to check out the estate pieces. Low key, no expensive oriental runs covering the floor that you don’t want to mess up with slushy feet.
No pressure and had fun locating a few pieces to celebrate the approaching Valentine’s Day and Meg’s birthday this past weekend.
Organic ME Farm Produce, Nature’s Circle Display At Whole Foods Portland ME Store.
All that walking, and knowing how much great Maine seafood is waiting to try at new venues, we trudged back down the slippery sidewalk slowly to wander into Gilbert’s Chowder House.
The seafood chowder was loaded with lobster, clams, shrimp, scallops, haddock.
There was not much room in there for the potatoes but those and onions showed up for the lunch date too.
These instate Maine vacations mean more food, working up an appetite to sample local dining fare and no diet worries.
Night Or Day, Sunny Or Stormy. The Old Port ME Is A Neat Instate ME Vacation Retreat!
But life is short, you and I need to take a break right?
The local restaurant and hotel lodging owners in Maine during the winter months are much more laid back. Not so summer tourist season hurry scurry.
No, because the Portland area weather was becoming more difficult to drive in, Meg and I decided to saddle up, to get on the road to Well’s Beach, Maine.
Wells Beach Maine, Local Instate Vacations Are Cheaper, Less Hassle In Winter, The Off Season.
Six accidents along the road, most were single car and just off the road without damage.
We did not speed, we live in Maine and have experience on driving in snow and ice. To keep the shiny part of the vehicle on top.
Old Port ME, Gilbert’s Chowder House Worth A Stop!
Stayed at Misty Harbor, ate at Veranos in Wells Beach ME .
Loaded To The Gills With Fish Of All Kinds, All Maine. Gilberts Chowder House, Old Port ME.
Saturday we walked two hours down Mile RD to wander from Wells to Moody Beach, ME.
Saw some surfers braving the stiff breeze, blue skies, sunshine and low temperatures. They had a cheering audience and we snapped a few shots and video to use in future blog posts that always sample the many facets of this state called Maine.
Old Port ME, Ice In The Harbor Hunkering Down During A Maine Snowstorm Stay.
Had to hit a favorite store, Reny’s to see if anything was on the shelves for the loved ones back home.
Grandchildren are fun to shop for and give back so much enjoyment when they get a gift. We had some hours to spend before the dinner bell rang again on our coastal instate Maine vacation.
The extra half a day going in really made the time go slower, more enjoyably.
Let’s go to Cape Porpoise and see if we can snap an image of the harbor, of Goat’s Island lighthouse.
Old Port ME During A Winter Snowstorm. Pretty Nice Place To Explore, To Be Holed Up And Hunker Down!
The usual trip up Ocean Avenue in Kennbunkport, Maine part of the re-tracing familiar steps in this coastal section.
After seeing another Goat Island ME lighthouse to add to the collection, we noticed a couple going into a buoy covered hideaway.
At first glance thought the restaurant overhead was shut down for the Maine winter. Like many places that are not open or will re-open in March, it was a surprise to go into “The Ramp” part of Pier 77 located upstairs.
Cape Porpoise Harbor, The Ramp Hideaway Down Under.
Lots of New England sports memorabilia filled the pub and met a nice couple from the Boston area.
Sneaking away for a mini vacation like we were doing. We are all part of the same Red Sox Nation right? Decided the starter for tonight’s meal would be sampled here in the Cape Porpoise Harbor.
Steamed clams that never go out of style or fail to hit the spot. But this second dose of shell food was switched up to star steamed mussels instead of clams.
Old Port ME Becky’s Diner For Breakfast Sunday Morning On Way Home To “The County”.
We worked our way back to Wells to the Misty Harbor Motel.
The Verano’s meal stop for Chicken Marsala for Meg was not possible the night before due to the storm causing many places to not open for the evening.
We trudged to nearby Shop and Save to gather what we needed to dine in and the little apartment efficiency kitchen worked like a charm. While catching up on the day of winter Olympic events from the other side of the blue and green spinning marble.
Downunder In “The Ramp” Cape Porpoise ME Pub Eatery.
Hope you enjoy the images salt and peppered in this Maine blog post today.
We ate at Becky’s Diner in the Old Port on the way back up to home in Aroostook County Sunday morning.
Earlier, the Maine Diner was the breakfast venue the day before on our instate Maine vacation. Lots of snow greeted us on our return and no vacation, no matter how long, short or in between goes unpunished.
More Fuel, More Food. Part Of The Instate ME Vacation Fun At Becky’s Diner Maine Instate Getaway.
Maine instate vacations.
Always a rush trying to get away and out of town. The adjustment to get back into the routine on the return but oh so so worth it. Where are you planning to head in Maine for your instate vacation next?
Meg and I will make sure to let you in on where we head out to sample and share on this blogging channel!
Sea Legs. Fresher Fish Is Only What’s Swimming In The Sea. Maine Fish, It’s What’s For Dinner!
Hunkering down and snowed in somewhere new in Maine is an adventure.
The Winter Olympics were on and we caught the highlights between lots of meals, plenty of exercise. On our much anticipated Maine instate vacation trip down to the southern coastal regions of the state.
Desoto car goes through thin ice, not designed for driving around on top or the bottom of a Maine lake.
The brand new car parked, still in drive, at the bottom of East Grand Lake near Greenland Cove was a Desoto. The Desoto brand car manufactured by Chrysler from 1928 to 1961. Until that was all she wrote.
Ralph Black Drove A New Shiny Desoto Firedome, Always Kept Showroom Polished.
I remember seeing a few Desoto flavor cars in my hometown of Houlton Maine.
I think Mel Jackins had one, I know he drove a bird’s egg blue colored 1954 Buick with the distinctive side bullet hole trim markings on each side. It was winter stored for years in my Maine family homestead farm barn.
One Desoto spied at a lawn job I inherited from one of my brothers.
Ralph Black the sole driver of his red and white color scheme Desoto. He drove a beige rear engine Chevy Monza Corvair after that, then a same shade 1966 Pontiac Tempest with a six cylinder, vinyl floor and no frills. Ideal clone for a GTO but needing that 389 power plant up front and a four speed transmission installed. But talk about maintenance on his cars, anything he owned. Second to no one else in that department.
His wife Marjorie never got her driver’s license and walked everywhere in my small town to get where she wanted if Ralph was at work.
Ralph a book keeper, a bean counter for Almon H Fogg company, a local hardware, sporting goods store. “Marj” worked at Cary Library. The pair blessed in many ways but not in the children department. No kids, no storks flying over with blue or pink blanket bundles to drop off by parachute. The Maine home with green asbestos siding on a knoll they had built slowly with the Fogg’s employee discount for materials. Kept to perfection.
I was taught the right way, only way to mow the lawn and trim the grass using an Excello turquoise color reel self propelled mower at Ralph and Marjorie’s intown Houlton Maine home.
And a yellow silent push one for under trees and bushes that was sharpened yearly. You can not neck rein and swing the reel type lawn mowers around like you can the rotary ones. No scalping though and it’s why golf courses use gangs of reel mowers to clip the grass blades just so around the greens and fairways.
The 1954 Car, A Buick With The Portholes, Painted The Same Robin’s Egg Blue & Snow White.
Each week, it was up to me to peddle my banana bike into 5 Franklin Avenue from a couple miles out in the county to the green one owner ranch home.
To mow religiously without missing a beat. And if rain was happening the day planned for lawn care, I had to mentally reschedule without prodding from my parents, the Blacks, anyone else. $5 dollar bill awaits and an ice cold can of White Rock nlack cherry or Canada Dry Tahitian Treat, or Fresca that just hit the market. The latter removed from the shelves when problems with laboratory rats hit the news headlines.
Ralph kept the Desoto spotless, showroom quality long after it rolled off the car lot’s showroom floor.
He was a World War 1 survivor wearing pieces of shrapnel for life in his back. With a hint of respiratory distress, a little cough and a hitch in his breathing. Like I noticed I do on visits to Colorado where one son lives in Leadville and the snow is high, the air is thin.
Ralph’s breathing irregularity not because of high elevations like in the Rockies.
Caused instead from mustard gas exposure in the battle trenches in France fighting for the King and Queen. Ralph and Marjorie were Canadian citizens hailing from Woodstock New Brunswick like many who are blood related on both sides of the boundary line in a Maine border town. They both studied to become US citizens and made Houlton Maine in Aroostook County their new home.
Ralph liked dulse, salted dried seaweed. Marge had a sweet tooth and the candy dish on the top of the living room built in bookcase was rounded over with pink peppermints “from over home”
Easier To Access Ice Traps Using Snow Sleds These Days.
from the Farmer’s Store eh?
But back to the blog post headline about the Desoto in the dark depths of East Grand Lake.
The automobile bought and registered to Bernard Esteys. Taken for a spin with Bernie, the single driver and two couples out for a winter drive. And only showing a few odometer miles since recently leaving the Allied Motors’s North Street sales lot. The model year for the Esteys’s Desoto was 1959. Only two more production years for Desoto before shutting down the line.
This Maine lake outing was the very first weekend the rolling iron was on the road.
Local mechanic at Allied Sales on North Street, Gene Ross shared he just serviced the Desoto for the new owner “Bernie” Esteys. Wearing a ten day plate, that Desoto car went through the thin ice. Ended up resting in a permanent watery grave at the bottom of East Grand Lake.
The Houlton Pioneer Times almost needed to place an ad for a new newspaper editor. It all depended on the outcome of the East Grand Lake event. Whether the guy behind the wheel of the Desoto made it out alive or not. The headline could have been “Desoto Car Goes Through Thin Ice, Newspaper Editor Loses Life On East Grand Lake.”
Local attorney Forest Barnes told me at a Rotary meeting this week that his parents were in that Desoto.
So were George and Jean Roach. When the front end of the Desoto went through the ice of Greenland Point at East Grand Lake. Driving on the ice is not uncommon and it’s one way to get to your ice fishing shack on a Maine lake. Or to visit someone that drags one on and off the ice to fish. Many folks fire up the wood stove to heat their lake camps during ice fishing season. No Tik Tok to entertain you on a home device so let’s tool around Norway Point, see what’s shakin’ on East Grand Lake.
Forest said his Dad always told him if you have two inches of frozen lake ice, it would hold up a team of woods or farm work horses.
Ones used to harvest the ice back too when refrigerators were top loaded with a big hand sawn cooling square. Delivered with tongs by the Ice Man. (Not the one in Top Gun.) Using trucks not F-14 Tomcats for the mission to keep the ice box cold.
The Desoto hung up on ice, nose down, providing just enough time to not have to swim up and out.
About 120+ Feet Of Water Off Greenland Point On East Grand Lake, Danforth Maine Where The Brand New Desoto Sank To The Bottom.
The mother crawled, got out the back window. Before the Desoto took the plunge downward. Dad develop frost bite that nipped his ears and ends of his fingers.
All five counting their blessings on their walk to a cabin. To warm up and shake off the shock of how grave a situation the Desoto car going through thin ice could have been.
Forest’s Dad would suffer from that Desoto ride years, decades later. The Maine lake ride in the back of the car with new car smell left it’s mark.
Any time he was outside in winter without a hat or gloves there was flashback ice hot sensations.
Frostbite is the ice hot gift that tingles the extremities for life. Never lets you forget.
Before our new LED digital real estate sign, changing the sign letters by hand stung the ends of my fingers.
Bundle up for safety sake boys and girls. Stay off the thin ice and know where the springs are, the open water areas.
Not so easy to detect when you leave the groomed trail and when it’s night time.
Forest Barnes added to the story this week at our local Rotary meeting. He graduated from Colby College and in 1959 was stationed in Antigua.
He received mail from his Aunt Margaret that stated “isn’t it awful what happened to your mother”. And that’s all. Leaving him worried sick because Forest was out of the loop. Hadn’t read the headline, scanned the story that local newspaper editor Bernie penned himself.
The Desoto was a lower cost brand of Chrysler, produced initially to compete with Pontiac, Hudson, Willys, Studebaker .
The 1942 Desoto had distinctive front lights hidden behind the doors that matched the paint color. The Desoto on the bottom of East Grand Lake never was recovered. The plumber named Johnson who used VW pickup trucks to install and mend pipes got the salvage rights for $500.
The Houlton plumber had divers try to locate the car and they did find and then mysterious lost the Desoto with low mileage. Johnson rounded up several 55 gallon plastic drums that would be strapped to the car, filled with air and hopefully float the Desoto car to the surface.
Over 120 feet of water makes the chore of getting it back to dry shore land a little too tricky a maneuver. Gene Ross who flew over the salvage site and saw all the lake surface boats while piloting a Cessna 172. He said he saw the red car clearly but after circling around, it was gone. Could not locate again or get a visual.
I know of a pick up that went through the ice on Drews Lake that was recovered a few years back though.
Doug McNutt or Danny Emerson, not sure but think it was Frogman Doug.
Ice Shacks In Maine! Be Careful Of Thin Ice, Open Water, Pressure Ridges. Less Dangerous When The Ice Shack Is Closer To Shore And The Water’s Not So Deep.
Who dressed up in the diving neoprene suit and mask. Strapped on air tanks to help the recovery efforts. Filling a brand new 275 gallon fuel oil tank with water and dragging it out by boat over the pickup’s location. Then lowering the water logged tank to the pickup bed.
Next wrapping it round and round with canvass tow straps and chains. More than bungie cords involved until everything secure.
Finally filling the big tank with air from a compressor tank run by a generator to remove the water.
To cause the lift needed to float the pick up back end and begin the drag by power boat back to shore. The front wheels were turned so the towing had more resistance and required more boat engine throttle action. The frog man could not turn the front wheels and the keys still locked in the rusting ignition from the hurried exit.
Where you gotta go and swim up to the bright light. To hopefully locate the same hole caused when the vehicle went through the thin ice and sunk quickly to the Maine lake bottom.
No one hurt like the Desoto car going through the ice and sinking many years earlier on 16,000 + acre East Grand Lake.
East Grand Lake is the state’s 8th largest water body. Has over 73 miles of fishable shoreline for close to shore casting off the end of your wharf or dock. If you don’t use a boat to head to your favorite fishing hole in this International lake to wet your baited line. Locals know the black open ice areas of lakes to avoid if they like to ice fish. Pressure ridges where the ice expands and contracts areas are no secret to the natives. Stay on the trails if snow sledding, cross country skiing or ice fishing Maine lakes is sound advice.
Ice shacks have to be removed from Maine lakes by a certain date. Here’s what the legislative fine print says for that end of winter move it or lose it maneuver.
Thin Ice, Not Able to Support Much If Any Weight.
Ice Fishing Shack: A person who owns any shack or temporary structure used for ice fishing:
Must remove the shack or structure (1) In any area of the State in which there is a closed ice fishing season, by ice out or 3 days after the close of the ice fishing season, whichever is earlier; and (2) In any area of the State in which there is no close of the ice fishing season, by ice out or March 31st, whichever is earlier. (Title 12, §12661).
Shall identify on the outside of the shack or structure in 2-inch letters, the owner’s name and address when the shack or structure is on the ice of any inland wa-ters (Title 12, §12661).
A person may not leave a structure on another person’s land without permission of the landowner (Title 17, §2263-A). A landowner may immediately remove or destroy a structure left on their property and may recover the costs associated with doing so (Title 12, §12661).
Ice fishing, not a fast paced outdoor winter sport in Maine.
But drilling, tending, watching the five holes bored by hand or pulling the cord on a Jiffy ice auger. Waiting for the baited orange flag lines to trip and signal “you got fish”. Maybe. Or a strike from a fish who got away with the lure.
The ice shacks often in a group of winter shanties. Like lake gypsies setting up camp when the carnival or circus comes to town. Ice fishing is just one of the many things you do while “upta camp in Maine“.
There are ice fishing derbies all winter long for prizes and bragging rights.
With a smiling newspaper and social media mug shot photo holding the landed big fish from the deep pulled up through the 5 inch hole.
Who landed the biggest salmon, bass, togue, trout, perch, pickerel or whatever kind of fish populate the Maine lake you angle is tradition.
Access by cars with plowed roadways across the sheet of ice, using snowmobiles too.
Some ice shacks are just out front of the main camp.
Or as long as you can monitor the holes, the game warden will let you monitor them from the camp picture window with binoculars. Along with someone in the fishing party giving an even closer inspection to please fish and game officials. You have to tend your ice fishing traps.
One last note, the story of the Desoto that went down off Greenland Point on East Grand Lake.
The insurance company paid up, someone bid on the salvage rights and got them for $500. But Forest said that party never exercised it’s right to hoist away and pull up the crusty prize that’s home to fish listening to the AM radio. Now there’s a story to share upta camp in Maine while playing cribbage or poker.
The Getaway, Woods Cabin In Maine. Warm, Friendly, Snug!
What’s that… something I heard trying to make out the whispering and hush hush in the audience?
Something about just hooking a chain on the Desoto’s heavy duty steel bumper or heavy iron frame? Just twitch it out like a load of tree logs using a skidder. Just winching it in? Whoa. Rocks. Big rocks, lots of them. Some you can, many you can not see but will know when you fetch up on one that snaps your recovery cable.
Remember the one road before you get to Greenland Cove boat launch to the left is named “Boulder Road” for a reason.
If you were able to reel in the Desoto dragging it along the lake bottom, you would have a lot of missing body parts, many scrapes and dents. Defeats the purpose.
Sometimes the ending of the story is not so happy.
Like the time two couples were on the same East Grand Lake one evening and broke through the ice, all four perishing. I heard about this tragedy from the town manager of Monticello at the time. Richard Ross told me he was six years at the time. His grandparents took him in and raised him up with another plate set at the long meal time table.
Visiting ice shacks on a Maine lake, driving around the iced over body of water in winter.
Be careful. Thanks for reading the tale about the Desoto car that disappeared through thin ice, but no one was hurt badly up at East Grand Lake.
Sometimes said short hand “upta camp in Maine”. When you live in Maine, trips to camp happen regularly. And some that like to hunt, fish, snowmobile use their camp to get below radar. To unplug and recharge and catch their breath.
Big steak feeds, corn boils with other happy campers stopping by from along the miles of trails surrounding your camp. They have their own small shanties used for the same purpose.
Some Winters More Snow Fall Than Others. All The Better For Snowmobiling, Skiing, To Create Snowy Trails To Explore Maine Up To Camp.
Low cost vacation up in Maine.
A change of scenery. Your best thinking happens outdoors with an endless supply of fresh air, up close up to wildlife, less distractions. A break from multi tasking and to do lists. Take a break to rest up before going back into the rat race round and round.
Water front settings are the most rewarding taking a break from wall to wall people.
Maine’s unspoiled wilderness is the ideal backdrop that guarantees your peaceful setting. You are where white tail deer, moose, black bear, fox, game and song birds call their forest home.
The trails to explore are endless when you make the time for outdoor adventure. The further you go up into Maine and away from the tourist traps along the coastal regions, the less unspoiled your natural surroundings become.
But back to the “up to camp in Maine” theme this blog post is supposed to stay aware of today. The structure for the retreat varies greatly.
Orono Bog Tree Size, Meg Helps Show How Big This Smasher Is Along The Forest Trail. Huge Trees In Maine’s Vast Timber Tracts.
Sometimes built from scratch and piece meal by you or your granddad. A group of guys you work with out of state had a hand in the camp creation. Or a Maine home that has seen better days and gone unused, unheated. But is the end of the road quiet location, a few amenities camps lack that attracts you.
The camp usually home made, a passed down family property on owned or leased Maine land.
Maybe a hand hewn log affair? Built long ago and kinda musty smelling with it’s old familiar shut up odor. Shared with mice, other critters because you are like an absentee landlord.
Sometimes the place a tad messed up inside because you left quickly the last outing. To bee line back to wherever home is to stay ahead of a weather front or something came up at home needing your immediate attention.
Snowshoes Open Up Maine Winter Woods And Lakeside Trails! Explore Maine A Slew Of Four Season Ways Up To Camp In Maine!
For out of state visitors heading up to Maine to spend some time at the woods camp, that trip back to reality can be six, eight or more hours away.
When you rise and shine on a Sunday, the nagging thought about needing to get on the road to start the travel home is strong. Unless you want to be dog tired from lack of sleep and all that white line driving fever.
The price you pay for playing hooky up at the simple Maine woods camp.
Where it’s not a second home to care for and keep ship shape. More of a relaxed, easy does it setting where the rules are different and everyone is relaxed, not too rushed.
Ice Fishing On A Maine Lake! Small But A Mini Waterfront Island On A Frozen Sheet Of Ice. It’s Out Front Your Simple Recreation Camp Up In Maine.
The usual simple backwoods camp up in Maine heated only by a wood stove.
Put another log on the fire. Can be heat using an antique cook stove on one end of the small camp. Or a parlor heater parked in the center of the usually one room sportsmen’s paradise. Some bunks tucked away in the corners, maybe a screened in front porch for overflow guests when weather allows for extra sleeping space.
Some camps around ski areas where more elevation snow happens are A-frame design.
With a loft overlooking half the living area that is cathedral ceilings. Often an addition added to the camp done by folks with a real job not using the business end of a hammer. Crafting, piecing together materials that are odds and ends, recycled from home project renovations.
Small Maine Downhill Ski Areas, Quoggy Jo Presque Isle Maine. Easily Accessed From Woods Camps, Inexpensive Recreation Cabins Up In Maine.
That camp front or side porch like an outdoor living room for talks, meals, reliving the day on the lake or out on the wood’s trails.
Planning for more of the same tomorrow when you are lucky enough to be up to camp in Maine. Or hang loose, stay sharp. The change of plans that is always tied to the weather forecast. Days inside at camp are slow and comfortable. But usually you are itching to get outside like a kid who wants to play outdoors.
It’s let’s go somewhere, do something outdoors is the standard operating procedure upta camp in Maine.
On foot, siting on a snow machine or ATV four wheeler. It is not uncommon for the owner or group of names on the real estate deed title have other Maine camps. One in TCR2 on the ITS snow sled trails, the one near Baxter for hiking. Even a fishing camp across the Canadian border into Quebec or New Brunswick for even more change of scenery recreation options.
What’s Happening Around You In Uncrowded Maine. That Kind Of News Is Home Grown, Spread More By Locals Than Media Outlets. Getting Away To Camp Is A Regular Healthy Habit.
Some “camps in Maine” are pretty ooh la la swanky.
Shock and awe. Nothing simple or one room about them when the home away from home becomes something way more substantial. Or a duplicate of the McMansion left behind. Make sure to take your shoes off, to use a coaster under that drink and all these bathrooms to clean with the tiny hard working bubbles .
What’s your definition of camping, a simple getaway up in Maine?
A gas light or solar powered Amish shed you slowly finish off the interior in knotty pine? Serviced with an outhouse privy behind it for nature calls? Yes, there is plenty of field and stream reading material. At this approach to camping, the HBO is out the front window or screened porch at a lake, river, stream or gazing at a mountain.
No 75″ flat screen TV to veg out on sprawled on a couch with one hand held high changing the hundreds of channels.
The Snug As a Bug In The Little Red Log Maine Lake Camp. Telecommuting From Maine. Not Suffering From FOMO. Happy Where We Live. Some Camps Have Strong Broadband Internet!
Up to camp in Maine where the running water is you with a bucket for a quick trip to the nearby spring.
Maybe if you are lucky, a hand pitcher pump that takes a couple up and down motions to start the siphon flow of water into the sink. Or are you thinking more along the lines of master suites with private baths and a compound fit for a President like Walker’s Point? Fully connected with waterworks, no secret service folks? Transmission lines with power, security cameras, back up generators, wall to wall Internet and 450 beamed in entertainment channels?
Maine has millions of acres to discover.
On the trails less traveled you carry a map. Often no cell phone signal because towers in township this, range that have no subscribers. A squirrel is not checking for friend requests or receiving lots of texts LOL. Camp is for cribbage and card games. I had an uncle who used a bus to be remote and able to change “wood’s camp” location.
Tying a weather balloon to anchor it on the bus’s front bumper to keep the hunting party together.
To avoid the call to the game warden because oh oh someone is lost. Don’t lose sight of that balloon over head fellas. Make your tramping circles small and always with that balloon visible to find your way back to camp.
Checking Out The Local Area, Using Your Simple Maine Camp Over And Over As A Home Base For Very Low Cost Vacations.
There is a journal to scribble in something about the weather, who got the biggest, largest point buck.
The note book outlining the latest project crossed off and completed from the list under a magnet on the side of the gas powered refrigerator. Who came in the party this particular trip to camp is duly recorded.
Up at camp, there is no microwave hurried food preparations.
The old black frying pan passed down from your grandfather is on the stove. Fired up, hot and ready, greased for a hunger satisfying breakfast of eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, pancakes, hash browns and bean hole baked beans if you are lucky.
What’s It Like Living In Maine? Owning A Simple Maine Camp Means Lots Of Vacations To Find Out As You Visit More Often Because You Don’t Need Expensive Motel Lodging.
Up at camp in Maine you are very careful with outdoor fires.
Protecting the forest fire risk, respecting the wildlife that needs the timber stand for their home. You give the animals the space they need when up to camp in Maine. Checking on the camp, a familiar excuse to pack up and head into the woods to make sure everything is fine and dandy. Vertical poles put up inside the Maine camp for additional roof support are not uncommon.
The guise of worried about your hideaway in the Great North woods is a clever excuse to head “upta camp”.
Because it’s secondary gain, after you see all is a-okay then it’s well, once we are up here let’s go check on other sporting buddy camps as a courtesy. Depending on snow loads, shoveling off the camp roof may be a good precaution to avoid a cave in collapse.
Float Planes To Access Some Remote Maine Camps. Not A Lot Of Trick Or Treaters. Most Unorganized Maine Locations, You Own Cabin, Lease The Paper Company, Old Family Holdings Land.
Camp owners keep an eye on the winter weather snow accumulations predicted in local forecasts. Roof updates with metal helped save and protect many a private woods camp up in Maine. Plenty of Maine log makers offer camps of all sizes, prices and layouts. All numbered and constructed cheaply and easily to create your cheap vacation destination up in Maine.
Back country hiking from your simple Maine camp.
Lot of easy and more challenging hills too if woods trails are not enough cup of tea for exercise. Wetting your fishing line in the many lakes, rivers, ponds of Maine another past time option up at camp. Whatever you do outside your camp in Maine, make sure not to leave a trace.
The north Maine woods are not a souvenir stop and for leave what you find.
Admire, snap a photo, but leave it be. Some camps are handy to villages where you buy a meal or two, stock up on snacks, beverages and get to know the locals. Or you meet them on the trails, heading into town for building supplies. Many bumped into here and there on the trails. Everyone stops to shoot the breeze and share their love for the Maine woods.
Easier To Access Ice Traps Using Snow Sleds These Days.
Is upta camp in Maine just for old duffers reliving their past hunting trips, their time in the service overseas?
Or to drink barely pop circled sitting around outdoor camp fires? No no, your simple woods camp or cabin is for all ages. Family members all take turns using the camp and attending the much anticipated larger gathering annual events. If your camp up in Maine is on a lake or pond, loons serenade you morning, noon and night.
Lots Of Outdoor Doors Used At Your Maine Camp.
Ducks paddle by panhandling for a piece of bread along the shore outside your camp.
Don’t forget your camera to capture what you experienced this time, other trips to your Maine camp create for eye candy. This trip just the two of you or the last one there were forty family members. Some sleeping in tents or travel campers pulled in and set up to head to for lights out shut eye. Because we’re getting up at dawn to tramp the words in search of game.
Camp in Maine is early morning coffee on the porch, out on the deck.
Feeling just like the World has stopped, like someone shut off a very loud engine. Tripped over the power cord to create heaven on Earth.
Your binoculars hanging by the dining room camp picture window.
just in case a lynx, coyote, bald eagle or some new species of wildlife shows up today. Capture a phone for the album of what wanders by that you have not spied before up at camp.Gazing out onto the lake at a pair of otters swimming together and who have a habit of showing off on the rock out front. The same one the grand children use before the float is taken out and anchored for use as a swimming platform.
There are sounds, but it’s the wind vibrating the pine needles or song birds happy to be alive just like you. Maybe the crack of swaying trees that have arthritis as they age. Even falling snow flakes and autumn leaves, the rain can be deafening when that’s all there is on the audio channel up your Maine real estate.
A wood pecker keeps perfect time with with an intensity like Bonzo beating the skins in Led Zeppelin.
There is where you do your best thinking reflection in the peace and quiet. At funerals, those who are brave enough to stand and offer a few words often mention how much the dearly departed loved being up at camp. The happy place, getting away from the day to day chasing the dollar to make ends meet as they grew old is often mentioned at Maine funerals.
All Ages Love Going Up To A Maine Camp. Pets Too!
Fishing poles up in the rafters stored for their next use.
For brook trout fly fishing using lures you hand tied yourself. Small mouth bass are calling your name out front the waterfront camp and time’s awastin’. Life jackets piled up in corner or draped over the corners of the home made bunk bed posts. A rifle over the mantel if there is a rocked attempt at a fireplace.
What the camp lacks for perfection it lays down all four acres face up for charm and memory making.
Many start small with just a couple of acres of Maine land to park the camper or RV on for one low cost vacation. To fashion an add lib camp involving the help of many.
Wildlife, Moose, Deer, Black Bear, Not People. What It’s Like Upta Camp In Maine.
A chain saw and gas can, 2 cycle oil and file in the tool shed at Maine camps.
Along with ice fishing traps, snow shovel and roof rake. A pair of snow shoes hanging on a wall spike. Cross country skis leaning into one corner and ready when you are to hit the white blanket of white power snow trails.
Lucky to have a shed at the camp. Maybe something big enough to house a four wheeler or snowmobile or two. An assortment of glass jars filled with odds and ends of nuts and bolts. An axe, hatchet, hammer and spade, farm wagon jack. Block and tackle, a chain or tow cope round out the wood’s camp DIY hardware store shed collection of survival tools.
A Camp Or Maine Cabin Near Baxter, Mt Katahdin. Priceless.
Cast offs from home, the table at camp is a metal 1950’s Happy Days variety.
Rock solid but way way outdated. Or someone used a big wooden electric cable spool as the make shift table. With a rag tag assortment of no two chairs match around it grouped for meals and card games. Photos, some of them black and whites with grinning family members that have long since gone on to the great beyond. Holding strings of fish, or standing around a hanging deer that became tonight’s dinner of venison.
Nothing to do up at camp?
Log Cabin, Cheap Maine Vacation. All You Need Is Your Own Place, A Camp.
No, there is a collection of books, you work on projects, the new addition. Staying busy but a different kind of industrious than a typical day off back home in the real World. Fire wood is always needs to be cut, split, stacked. Blow downs happen on the jeep trail coming in and out of your hidden camp upta Maine.
Getting year round use, the wardrobe not the same at your woods cabin hideaway.
I know folks that have taken a 500 dollar old B&A railroad car without the wheels and made it into a woods camp. You stumble onto those when snow sledding or plying the trails hiking, biking, skiing or just traveling in and out of camp.
The grill is a 55 gallon drum cleaned up, cut in half with a hinge, grill added to create amazing charcoal outdoor dining fare. The trails where you see a Mother black bear or deer, moose with their young that you ease by and don’t harass.
Maine wildlife. You’re on their turf remember?
And there is no HOA, maybe an occasionally a visit from a Inland Fisheries and Wildlife game warden. He or she is a major resource on what’s happening around the thousands of wooded acres since you were last here.
Providing helpful suggestions on you folks ought to try this trail or avoid that one where there is a wood timbering operation underway.
The camp location can be only accessible by float plane or canoe.
Or park here and take a couple mile trail up a walking trail to arrive at camp on foot. Not the best place to have a heart attack or suddenly need medical assistance. But if it is your time to expire, there is no better place to fade away then at your Happy Place.
Maine camp for rest and relaxation, for your mental health and to trap, shoot or catch what you put on your dinner table.
The Getaway, Woods Cabin In Maine. Warm, Friendly, Snug!
It’s a tradition and most in the family can’t wait for the next trip uptah camp.
Especially younger family members who get to come along on the next just the adults excursion.
Fun when it’s below zero or the red in the thermometer outside the kitchen window shows over 100 degrees.
The perfect back drop either extreme and in between. No electricity is fine or you fire up the Honda generator to charge up some deep cell marine batteries to run the water pump and a few lights.
Everyone Wants To See A Maine Moose. You Do, Often Off The Beaten Path Upta Camp In Maine Middle Of The Woods Location.
Sights, sounds, smells, all the senses get a work out upta camp in Maine.
The camps, cabins, cottages are not just used for weekend stints. My cousin Randy and Barbara Mooers head to their camp up at St Croix Lake in unorganized Township 8, Range 4, WELS all summer long. So do Joe and Marguerite Lawlor now that they are retired. Those St Croix Lake camps are the perfect jump off point to take a jeep ride over to see the Ghost Trains in the Allagash Wilderness Waterday. To stop for a lunch in Oxbow or Masardis before making the big circle back to St Croix Lake camp like home.
The Cabin, Camp, Up In Maine. Built Simple, DIY And Used Often By All Ages, Every Season. Maine Is Vacationland Remember?
Life is different, trapped in time, not the same each visit up to camp in Maine.
Am I preaching to the choir or do you think you need a little camp life? Too gamey for you? Grab the bar of Ivory soap and clean up, wash off in the lake or pond. Some of those Maine woods camps on leased land where you pay the personal property tax on the structure and a fee to use the spot.
That camp lease usually good for the next five years to stay the same lease amount.
Or consider buying a piece of land near that unorganized region of Maine. Like Mt Chase just outside Patten Maine that will get you so close to the north gate of Baxter State Park and the Monument and still own the land underneath your cabin “home sweet home”. Hope you enjoyed this Me in Maine blog post on life up to camp in Maine.
Ellsworth ME Bob Marley instate mini vacation run to the coast.
When you live in Maine, you are very spoiled. The long trip to get here and return from whence you began is gone. Yes, Maine is still one tall and wide state to navigate. But being a native sure shaves a lot of travel time off the trip to Maine vacation of any length adventure. This blog post about a quick and easy weekend jaunt to Ellsworth Maine in Hancock County. Ellsworth Maine is the county seat, population last head count over 7791 friendly souls.
Ellsworth Maine, Bob Marley Comedy Show At “The Grand Theatre”.
What do I know about Ellsworth Maine?
Late Afternoon On Main ST Ellsworth Maine Outside “The Grand Theatre”.
The radio station I worked at fourteen in my hometown of Houlton Maine used to get its Red Sox and CBS new radio feed from WDEA in Ellsworth. When I worked at WABI in Bangor in college, I learned that the stations newscaster Patsy Wiggins’s family owned the Ellsworth American newspaper in Ellsworth. And other than traveling down RT 1A through Ellsworth on the way to Bar Harbor Maine, that was about the extent of my knowledge. Remember Maine has a handful of cities, and over 400 small towns to keep track of whether you live here in state or not.
Anything else known about Ellsworth Maine?
Snoozin’. Resting Up For The Busy Summer Maine Coastal Tourist Season Ahead, 1A Relics Outside Ellsworth ME.
Just that Lucerne and Green Lakes get passed on the way from Bangor to Ellsworth. And remember an Oak Concert held in some gravel pit around those parts during college. We collected another empties to haul them into Ellsworth Maine to trade them in for one heck of a grilled steak supper on one camp out weekend. Taking in Oak, a hometown band in Maine on their way up.. for a while with Rick Pinette the lead crooner.
Streets Of Ellsworth, Any Coastal Maine Tourist Town Not So Crowded In Winter.
Oak’s hit “King of the Hill” reached 36 on the Billboard hot 100 record charts.
The Grand Theatre In Ellsworth Maine Where Comic Bob Marley Entertained Sold Out Audiences.
Bill Chinnock, Cherry Opera, Bootleg, Dick Curliss… lots of other great local Maine bands to cover in future Me In Maine blog posts, stay tuned. Anything Maine is fair game to blog about and share.
This trip to Ellsworth Maine to see comedian Bob Marley who sold out The Grand Theatre on Main Street.
The final stint of back to back stand up comedy shows in Ellsworth. Packing them in to the Grand Theatre wall to wall before high tailing it to Florida to do more of the same but changing into a short sleeve shirt.
The warm up comedian I totally missed his name.
His jokes centered around living in Worcester and being a janitor, I mean custodian. He looked like Mark Walberg, a little. He was good but Bob Marley was great.
When you live in Maine, the humor centered around the day to day in state ordinary events from where you hail are the funniest.
Bob Marley hit the highlights of what his family that puts the fun in dysfunction is up to these days. For 90 minutes he covered lots of topics and without dropping the F bomb. Good clean fun and we hit the middle show late afternoon at The Grand in Ellsworth.
Especially enjoyed his bit about driving on the Interstate during a snow storm. Things don’t stop with a few flakes of the white stuff falling around you when going from point A to B in Maine during the winter.
Bob shared the feeling of being out front, number one when ahead of the pack driving slower but steady she goes on the Interstate.
Maneuvering around plow trucks with big wings and flashing lights leading the charge. Traffic backed up behind you until someone pulls out to pass and attempt to take over the lead. The feeling when they pass of secretly hoping they go off the road.
The humor would be totally lost on someone who never adapted their driving to adjust to winter snow covered a Maine highway. Cousin Wayne, the Aunt on a tank who spends winters in Cape Coral Florida. They are all funny. New bits and nothing recycled or allowed to go stale. Comic Bob Marley is at the top of his game making folks laugh and feel good inside.
The Maine mini instate vacation weekend getaway included a neat breakfast the next morning at Martha’s Diner.
This place is one of a kind dishing out the best local food breakfast for miles around. Locked in the late 1950’s, early 1960’s, the malt shop like setting buzzing with locals in and out hungry to kick off their day. I asked one waitress if she was Martha. No, Martha is enjoying her day off today, I’m Paula.
Martha’s Diner Ellsworth Maine. Breakfast Never Ends, Served All Day Long In Hancock County.
We got to meet Peter, Martha’s other half who made the crab quiche that Meg said was scrumptious.
Maine lobster, clams, even mussel seem to hog all the menu time press and what about crab? Maine has local crabs. The good kind you eat. I had heard of green crab before and it seems they were a nuisance to fisherman. Invading traps of something else and seemingly of no value my first impressions. But Maine does have crabs that are stellar to consider dining on when it’s meal time. We talked with Peter who baked the crab quiche when settling up after the meal at Martha’s Diner. Peter told us crab comes in two speeds.. peekytoe or rock crab and Jonah crab.
Meet Pete, The Other Half Of Martha’s Diner In Ellsworth ME.
Peter told us Jonah crabs are a tad bigger and reddish with large black tipped claws.
Martha’s Diner, Ellsworth ME Solving Early Morning Hunger. Get Your Fill Of Local News Like Most Home Town One Of A Kind Eateries That Are No Franchise.
Maine crabs. They are found in deeper Maine coastal water.
He’s what I learned about green crab… seeking out to see if they were only good to bait other fish like lobsters that get all the oohs and aahhs when you tie on the bib and reach for the crackers and pick. It seems from what I read that green crabs are not so big but can be boiled, dined on like Atlantic blue crab. But you have to keep them parked in water for a few days to get rid of the pollutants. Then it’s take a swim in a steaming pot of water time, extract the meat and dine on them like you would clams.
Have you noticed any blog post about the Maine coast involved seafood to some degree?
Heavy on the Maine lighthouses too. Because growing up in Aroostook County, that coastal scenery was not the every day back drop although there were lots of family vacations to the Camden Maine area.
Hibernating, Pulled Back A Notch. That’s Maine Coastal Tourist Towns In Winter. Resting Up From Vacation Bomber To Bomber Traffic Eager To Sample ME.
Quick trip to Ellsworth Maine for a Bob Marley comedy show this past weekend.
Where I go and what I see is what most of the Me in Maine blog posts are all about to share the state so loved by many. Shoulder seasons are in my opinion the best time to visit the tourist attractions in Maine. The off season visits to the places you love to tour in the summer have less of a tourist crowd. Not shared with so many and you get way way more elbow room. The local business owners and natives are more laid back, friendlier when all the tourist crowds thin out and head home. Hope your New Year is underway in good shape and on course for all those resolutions you struggle to implement.
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