Category ArchiveEverywhere Once |

Hurricane Hideaway

by Brian on September 3, 2010 in Maine

The bad news is that we decided to visit Bar Harbor during one of the three worst heat waves ever recorded and just before the largest hurricane threat in a decade. The good news is EconoLodge. I say that with only the slightest tinge of sarcasm. After all, what are the chances we’d find a seemingly sturdy, conveniently located, pet friendly, hotel with oversized parking spots large enough for a 35 foot motor home? I’d have guessed none. But here it is, about an hour inland from where we were in Bar Harbor.

We could have stayed put and rode out the storm. Some folks at our campground were planning to do just that, and they’ll probably be fine. But then again, they might end up needing to have their dumb asses rescued because they were too stupid to get out of harm’s way. That didn’t sound like a good trade to us. Instead, we’re making a brief, unscheduled, detour to a hotel where we plan to watch the raging storm, and previously missed Daily Show episodes, over a Papa John’s pizza and a six pack. It could be worse.

In all likelihood we’ll be back in Bar Harbor tomorrow afternoon. The nice thing about traveling permanently is that little detours like this don’t really matter that much. If we only had the weekend to work with, a good portion of it would be shot. But we were planning to spend a week (or more) in Bar Harbor and we will spend a week (or more) there, even if it means adding extra days. What else do we have to do?

Ha-ha, kill yourself, Earl.

Auntie Em! Auntie Em!

by Brian on September 3, 2010 in Maine

Welcome to Bar Harbor, Maine, home of heat waves and hurricanes. If that doesn’t sound right to you, then you must be somewhere else because it has been raging hot since we got here and it is about to get hurricaney too.

We still have more to say about Portland and will probably return to that topic in the coming days. That, of course, assumes we don’t get blown away like Dorothy. Stay tuned.

Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Where’s Waldo?

by Brian on September 2, 2010 in Maine

Neither too big, nor too small, Portland’s Museum of Art is just the right size to tackle in an afternoon. While its collection of 42,000 objects is 50 times smaller than New York’s exhaustingly large Met, we found the quality to be superb. And not just from an artistic mastery perspective. Yes, many of the giants, including Monet, Picasso, Degas, and Rodin, are represented in the small collection. But, more importantly, we found the museum to be densely populated with interesting subject mater. Maybe we were just in the right mood for a museum that day, but it seemed this museum had a higher than normal concentration of works that we wanted to linger over.

The Running of the Bulls (above) is just one example. The painting first captured my attention because I liked the depiction. I admit, I’m the kind of person who roots for the bull in a bull fight. I take a perverse pleasure in seeing people who torture and torment animals get gored. It is a decidedly deserved rough justice that occurs far too infrequently. So I stopped to admire these bulls ripping one such jerk a new one.

It was Shannon who noticed that the artist is Waldo Peirce, a good friend and traveling companion to Ernest Hemmingway. The two men traveled to Pamplona, Spain, on one of their inaugural trips. In what is likely the first ever “Where’s Waldo” illustration, Peirce painted himself and Hemmingway into the crowd. You can see Hemmingway, in the upper left of the canvas, directing Peirce’s attention to the carnage of the main event.

Art is fun. Class dismissed.

Ohh-gunquit

by Brian on September 1, 2010 in Maine

It was a rookie mistake; heading to a popular beach destination late on a summer Sunday morning. If we had planned better, or given ourselves more time in the area, we would have come here during the week. But we didn’t. And by 10:30 A.M., we were lucky to grab one of the last remaining parking spots anywhere in Ogunquit, ME.

A cloudless, ninety-plus degree day, on one of summer’s last weekends, brought out the crowds. Fortunately, we had already eaten and didn’t have to bother with the many lines gathering on the sidewalk in front of places like The Egg & I. We also didn’t plan to fight for real-estate on the three and a half mile beach that virtually disappeared beneath the hordes. No, we were here to simply walk the town and its “Marginal Way” coastal trail. And that was enough.

I can see Oqunquit’s attraction as a weekend getaway, with plenty of great looking beach resorts, restaurants, shops, and even a quality art museum. The rugged coastal scenery along the Marginal Way puts Newport’s Cliff Walk to shame. It’s a beautiful area and there is certainly enough to do here for a couple of relaxing days . . . starting immediately after Labor Day.

Masterpiece

by Brian on August 31, 2010 in Food & Drink, Maine

I can’t deny that her answer wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear. But I had asked the question for a reason, and I was determined to see it through. We stopped at Congdon’s Doughnuts in Wells, Maine, on a whim and I had just asked our cashier, Rebecca, for their best doughnut. Her response: jelly. With options like chocolate crunch and blueberry filled, how can jelly be the answer to that question? A jelly doughnut is so ordinary, so typical, and not usually my first choice. But she was the expert, or at least more expert than me in all things Congdon’s, so who was I to question her wisdom? Jelly it was.

I could tell the pastry was going to be terrific the moment I plucked it from the bag. It was plump, and pillowy, and almost impossibly fresh. Just the feel of it in my hand was something to be admired. A bite confirmed my suspicion. Holy crap these are good doughnuts. The fresh raspberry preserves still contained lumps of fruit and had just the right sweetness to complement the sugar dusted cake. Too often jelly doughnuts are sweet enough to induce diabetes, but not Congdon’s, theirs are perfectly balanced. Somehow they’ve managed to raise the simple jelly doughnut to a form of high art, a masterpiece. Thank you Rebecca!

When we’re lucky we happen upon places like this. Little, nothing-looking, road-side establishments that turn out to be memorable gems. We found out later, though, that many others have discovered Congdon’s before us. This mere doughnut shop is listed by Trip Advisor as the sixth best restaurant in all of Wells. If anything, it is probably ranked too low.