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NO GO: BOSTON AND NEW YORK CITY.
TIME TO REGROUP. CHANGE OF PLANS.
Today was good and bad. Starting with the good:
First, en route to Portland, Maine from Camden, riding through Damariscotta, Maine where author Stephen King wrote many of his thrillers (perhaps I should have stopped and blogged here, though they would be considerably darker).
Second: stopping in Wiscasset, Maine at a little shack after the second long bridge right by the river called Red's Eats for the top-billed "Best Lobster Rolls" in Maine, waiting in a lineup of 20 people for half an hour before getting to the window, ordering 2 lobster rolls for lunch, and being asked for $37.49. These better be damn good, I mean, we could have had 42 cans of Ensure for the same price. Truly, they were good, although all it consists of is a white piece of bread shaped into a hoagie but not a hoagie, stuffed with the meat from one whole lobster, with drawn butter on the side for dipping. The lobster was absolutely delicious and definitely the best and most tender we've had since being on the east coast, and actually of any lobster we've
ever eaten.
Now to the bad.
Main bad: we both hit a wall in Old Orchard Beach. Sadly (or not, in actuality) today we realized that we've unintentionally lost our connection with the simplicity of just riding the bikes for pleasure and satisfaction. Our goal on this trip was keeping the actual bike-riding at centre stage, while appreciating that the people we meet, the new places we see, and the food we eat are all enhancements to the trip. Much of that simple pleasure was lost today riding amid reams of traffic and selfish drivers who have no respect for bikes, even those from afar. Suddenly it feels like we are in a land of make believe and toy towns.
A local in Camden had advised us that Portland, Maine was a cool, hip town that appeals to the young crowd and is alot of fun. Perhaps he meant Portland Oregon? Within about 5 minutes of navigating to the waterfront downtown, neither of us had a good feeling about the place. I couldn't put my finger on it - maybe it was the run down area we drove through, or the many homeless drugged out people staggering
around, or the hoards of police cars making arrests in a 2 mile stretch, or the industrial slam of the waterfont once we got there. Neither of us felt comfortable leaving the bikes loaded with gear downtown in order to walk about. Instead, we unanimously agreed to get out of dodge and find a quieter place to spend the night. The only fun in leaving was riding over a block's worth of cobblestones. Back onto coastal route 1, the day further deteriorated. Traffic levels soared out of bounds, the seaside towns were getting tackier, and the whole area was determined to live up to its licence plate banner namesake "Vacationland". Old Orchard Beach, our ending point, may as well have been Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. More cheap tee shirt tacky tourist shops (3 tees for $6.99 gives you an idea), a poxy fairground with greasy operators littering the beach, a short, dilapidated pier with a chip shop at the end, and cheesy motel after cheesy motel stacked along the beachfront for 2 miles each direction. After a near meltdown for both of us not knowing where to stay or how we would go about deciding, we simply walked into one motel that
did its best to look cleaner than the others, checked out a room and quickly checked out of the property. Really? 13" TV? Double bed with 30 year old floral motel 6 bedspread? Vilas furnishings with kicked off corners? Pale blue worn faded in spots shag carpet? I don't even want to see the bathroom. Back on the bikes, ride past 4 more motels, check out the Normandy on the beach. Slightly better with slightly newer TV and newer floral motel 6 bedspread, and trimmed shag carpet. Neither of us at this point had any more energy to find somewhere else, so we settled. At a cost of $110. Criminal. The only saving grace was that today is Monday in early June and not very busy. It must be a gong show in the summer, and not somewhere we have any desire whatsoever to return to. Our positivity about Maine was certainly diminished.
So, time to regroup. Each laying on the two motel 6 double beds, exhausted, we hashed out our options. With no hesitation, we agreed that Boston is out. And New York. Sorry girls, no basketball jerseys. $2.33 tee instead? This trip, ultimately, was supposed to be
about riding the bikes and loving every minute of exploring on the bikes, and not being on interstates, or in crowded places. We are at our best in quiet unpopulated environments, and riding through country roads or seaside roads that we can have mostly to ourselves. Funnily enough, neither of us is particularly upset or disappointed that we won't get to Boston or New York. The excitement of seeing both cities left us this afternoon with the realization that the driving conditions will only worsen the closer we get to either city. So we are saving them for a future road trip in the car instead.
Right now, it's time to reconnect with the bikes, reconnect with the original trip plan, reconnect with nature, reconnect with peace and quiet. As for the two of us, we have always remained connected which is why the new plan feels right. To tomorrow!
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JOAN MUMBY
non-member comment
'Cleethorpes'
it sounds as if this could have been the worst day of your trip, but it saved you from a worse one to Boston and New York, so it was good that you experienced it. The price of food and lodging is outrageous, but I am glad that you enjoyed the lobster. Love and hugs Mum