Mainly Maine

After our time down in Central America, we returned to the States for a very intense 2 weeks of shows all over the Northeast (Pennsylvania, Maine, New York, Michigan and Wisconsin).

Of these two weeks, there are basically only two important things to discuss.
1) Getting to Maine.
2) Maine.

As for getting to Maine, it involved an epic drive through 7 states in the Northeast in one day: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and finally Maine. Not only were we seeing 7 states in one day (as only can pretty much only do in the Northeast), but we were also seeing these states right in the middle of Spring (May 1st, to be exact); it seemed like there would never be an end to the amazing homes and freshly sprouted greenery! Make time for a lunch and coffee stop in Connecticut and there's pretty much nothing else you could ask for...other than a dinner stop at an Indian restaurant in Portland, ME.


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But let's get to the main point of this post: Maine.

As it turns out, Maine is freaking awesome. Who knew?!

We pulled into Portland in the early evening for dinner (about 1.5 hours from our destination), and it seemed like every mom-and-pop restaurant was full or had a line out the door...with the exception of the Indian restaurant at which we ate, but maybe people in Portland just don't like Indian? I guess they probably all had hankerings for fresh lobster, and rightly so. This whole "seeing people in Maine" thing was quite surprising...I guess I just never really realized that people actually live in Maine? [Some population numbers of interest: about 63,000 people live in Portland, about 1.3 million in Maine, about 1.6 million in (just) Phoenix, and about 4.2 million in the Phoenix metropolitan area.] This thought of mine mostly stems from the fact that growing up as a kid I used to stare at a US magnet we have on our fridge at home, and Maine just seemed so far away from everything, particularly Arizona (...as it pretty much is). Obviously people lived there because it was a state. But, the youthful, romanticized vision of Maine and its people in my head consisted primarily of Brawny-paper-towel-like men in plaid, flannel shirts, chopping down trees and returning to their cabins where they lived with their plaid-clad families (one wife, one son, one daughter) by candle-light, off the grid. I'm sure there probably are some families like that deep in the heart of Maine, but Portland could not be more antithetical to this vision.

We continued our drive up to Camden after dark and weren't able to see the beautiful landscapes, but were incredibly thankful to pull up to a mom-and-pop inn (the kind where they leave your room key in a box by the front door). When we went downstairs for breakfast the next morning, it was like we weren't eating a continental breakfast in the states--they had all kinds of fresh granola, fruit pies, freshly brewed coffee, and real silverware.

The theatre was just up the road in the main portion of Camden, which appeared to be just a few, small New England-y blocks of old colonial building facades near the ocean.

After one of our shows in town, we headed to the recommended restaurant for lobster. I'm not big on seafood so I had different food for dinner (which was delicious), but did sit next to people who ordered full-on lobsters. If you've never seen someone eat a full lobster before (and I hadn't), it's quite an experience. When not used to it, there's just something so odd about seeing a whole animal sitting on one's plate...especially after its tail has been ripped off and it's just sitting there...watching its tail being eaten... (For the record, I did try the lobster, but was nonplussed--it was too fishy for me, and as I don't really like fishy taste, this is an issue.)

The most memorable part of the restaurant, for me, was the view from its deck out along the bay/harbor/waterfront (...not really sure what it's called because I'm from a landlocked state).

To me, Maine in the springtime seems like a haven for people who love the following: the color green, water, colonial buildings, cozy coffee shops, seafood, and being just close enough to civilization to take advantage of its perks and just far enough away to fully experience peacefulness-of-mind.

At one point I mentioned to a local that I was so blown away by how awesome Maine was because I just never expected it to be so incredible. She responded, "Yeah, that's our secret, and we want to keep it that way! Don't tell people or they will want to live here!"

Whoops.