Author: ToadMama

You know you’re in the boonies when, at 7 o’clock at night on a Monday, you’re the only car on Interstate 95, you’re using your high beams, and every now and then you see signs like this one…

I hadn’t planned on being on an interstate highway again until it was time to drive home. Yesterday’s itinerary included a mere 328 miles. It was supposed to take 8 hours and 43 minutes. That estimate didn’t include stops apparently. By 5 PM, I’d only covered 128 of those planned miles. And I still had one major lighthouse to see.

At 5:30, with what looked like at least half an hour left to get to said major lighthouse, I had to change my plans. I knew I’d never make it to said lighthouse, which of course for me was THE lighthouse to see, before dark. And with 200 miles left to go, there was no way, driving the circuitous “coastal” route, I’d make it to Bar Harbor before midnight. So I took the quick route.

I’ll have to backtrack at some point, which is fine. Because I know it’ll be worth if it it means I get to experience sights like this lighthouse…

The Nubble light near Kittery, Maine.

Or this one…

That’s the Goat Island light just north of Kennebunkport, Maine.

Oh yeah, if it means I get to eat stuff like this, too.

I hadn’t even planned on eating. By the time I reached the spot where I’d get to see the Goat Island light, I had to pee. Bad. So I went into this little bar. It smelled like heaven. After doing my business, I couldn’t not ask what smelled so good. And I couldn’t not look at a menu.

Before I knew was what happening, I’d said, “I’ll have an order of fried clams.”

Those clams, pictured above, were oh-my-GOD good.

The fried clams I have eaten in the past were covered in a thick crust and rubbery. These clams melted in my mouth. And I am not exaggerating. I have never eaten fried seafood that was so surprisingly fabulous.

The delay was so worth it.

I was exhausted when I finally got to Bar Harbor just before 9:00. Did I mention I’d gotten up at 5:30 AM?

As a result, I slept in today. And now it’s getting late. So you’ll have to wait until later for more pictures. I have quite a few good ones to share. But daylight’s a-wastin‘. I mean, I’m in Bar Harbor, Maine. Finally. The culmination of a travel dream for me. So I need to explore.

If you’re wondering whether everything has lived up to my expectations, you’d know if you saw me driving along, all teary-eyed from the sheer beauty of it all.

It’s amazing. I’ll post more images later today. I promise.

UPDATE: see all the trip pictures on my Flickr page.

I got mixed reactions when telling people I was coming to Maine alone. Some gave me a quizzical stare. Others flat-out asked, “Why?” Not as in “why Maine,” but “why are you going alone?”

I really have been wanting to visit Maine for a long time. For some unknown reason, it’s been on my mind more and more over the past couple of years. Some times more than others. A few months ago, I started getting this overwhelming urge to head north. Which is sort of ridiculous, really. Hubby and I had the vacation of a lifetime together when we went to Alaska back in the late-Spring. Yet I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Something just kept telling me, go now. Almost like a now-or-never deal.

So I gave in. Hubby’s already been to Maine. He just started a new job, too. And I know he doesn’t have the patience to poke around exploring and taking pictures, which is what I really want to do. I want to experiment and capture some really good, memorable images. That takes time.

So here I am. There’s nothing wrong with me (that I know of). I am not trying to escape Hubby or my kids. The job isn’t driving me crazy. I’m just taking a trip. Okay? Now on to the good stuff.

DAY ONE – I decided to refer to this as my New England trip after all, because I know I’ll be seeing stuff in other states, too. The goal for today was to get from Point A (home) to Point B (Rockport, Massachusetts) as directly and quickly as possible. I’d hoped to arrive well before sunset so I could tour Gloucester, which is just east of here.

I didn’t count on the sun setting so much earlier here. It was down at 6:30!

It was some small miracle that I didn’t get lost coming through New York and Boston. There were long stretches, coming through the New York/New Jersey area, where there were SEVEN lanes of traffic on each side of the road. That’s FOURTEEN lanes total. And the road was quite curvy. Traffic was very heavy AND the average speed in the slow lane was 80 MPH. I am not exaggerating, either. And there were a couple of spots where there were TEN lanes on each side (yep, twenty lanes of traffic).

I am an experienced, confident driver. I have a great sense of direction. I don’t get rattled easily. After coming through that mess I was rattled. I was downright stressed out. There’s no way I’m going through that again. I’ll be taking the scenic route home for sure.

I made an unscheduled stop in Mystic, Connecticut. It is an historic seaport town. It was very, very cute. Just what I imagined a quaint New England seaport would look like. Old drawbridge and all.

I remember seeing it on the map when I was planning the trip. I never really considered going there. But it looked interesting.

I’m glad I went. There was a really cool seaport museum, but I didn’t want to spend that much time there. I was still hoping to reach Gloucester before the sun set.