Jerry Takes On Maine

Jerry’s at it again!  I love it when he wants to contribute to our blog! Thanks for joining us this week!

OUR RETURN TO MAINE!

Why are we in Maine? Let me explain…. In 2018 Susan, my incredible wife, and best friend won a sales contest and put together an all expense paid trip to Portland, Maine. The Inn by the Sea, just north of Portland, was our hotel for our stay. This hotel is incredible! It is a short walk to the ocean where we found a beautiful beach! The food was incredible. Susan was especially fond of the breakfast potatoes! 

From our hotel we drove into the surrounding areas! Everywhere we drove, the more excited we were with the scenery! The charming homes with large lots and incredible forests captured our hearts! Our hotel was a short drive to the Portland Head Lighthouse, found within Fort Williams Park! Our exploration took us into the city of Portland where we met friends of Susan’s parents for lunch at the Portland waterfront.

This couple gave us maps and suggestions on where to visit. Portland is an incredible city known as a foodie heaven! They were voted the #1 food city by Bon Appetit Magazine. We enjoyed a food tour of various restaurants along with the history of the various sites. Our tour guide turned out to be from Berkeley California, the world is very small sometimes! 

Can you say seafood? Oysters, Clams, Scallops, and of course LOBSTA! One of our favorite places was Red’s Eats Lobsta Shack in the quaint town of Wiscasset (you got to say that with a full New England accent). Back to the Lobsta Shack! We had no idea how popular this place was! It was raining, cold and close to a blizzard condition! But I braved the horrible conditions and stood in line for days/maybe weeks. While Susan sat in a warm car and sneaked into a restaurant to use their bathroom! Was the wait worth it? What do you think I’m going to say? HELL YA IT WAS WORTH IT!

As we drove around the countryside, I heard advertisements for a country fair! Well, we had to do that, and it proved to be quite the adventure! Let’s just say Susan is a city girl and not familiar with the various chores farm animals are required to perform. There were gasps and tears as Susan sighed, “the poor horsey,” and people sitting next to us said, “they’re just getting warmed up!”  Country fairs bring out the American competitive spirit in the farmers and ranchers. Like “my steer is bigger than your steer” or “my horse can pull more than your horse”! I smiled and enjoyed the entertainment.

Fast forward to NOW, we are in southern Maine, just north of Portland, in the quaint town of Freeport, glamping at Cedar Haven RV resort. Home of the “Bean”… that’s LL Bean for the uninitiated. The Bean is the hub of this city! Shopping 24/7, free concerts, and restaurants surround the Bean. So far, we have enjoyed the 4^th of July parade in a small town in the USA! A real hoot! My favorite was the Shriners and their mini go-carts and trikes that slip and slide! I’m a guy..varoom, smell the exhaust!! 

Let’s check some boxes! Check, we went back to Red’s Eats. Say it with me, Wiscasset!  We were in line before the Lobsta Shack opened! No rain and there are bathrooms! Now that’s progress!

Red’s Eats is famous not only for its food but has been on many food shows and visited by many celebs! The owner gave us the 411 on that latest celeb visit from the show Somebody Feed Phil, a hilarious eating show around the world. All of the celebs have stood in line with the rest of the ordinary peeps with the exception of one! Yup Top Gun himself! No lines for me baby! “I feel the need, the need for speed” Ok check that box! Lobsta from Reds! Lobster is not cheap. After four days of eating lobster we decided to curtail our feasting or find jobs to feed our habit! 

Keeping track of what we repeat from our 2018 expedition. Moving on we reached out to our friends that live here and asked if they would like to get together for a meal! They informed us of the latest covid infection rate and passed on getting together! We didn’t hold it against them. They are older and should take care of themselves! “That’s all I have to say about that!” Ala Forrest Gump.

Susan and I took a trip down south to Fort Williams Park and Portland Lighthouse. It is just as beautiful as our first trip here in 2018. We stopped at the Inn by the Sea and walked in like we belonged there! We strolled out to the beach and picked up shells. Look mommy what I found! Susan booked a date and time for breakfast and confirmed they still served her favorite tators. If you are keeping track of how many things we have to do to fully fill our 2018 agenda, there are two left; country fair and visit Portland.

We thought about booking a food tour of Portland again until they told us the price! YIKES! Skip that! We are hoping to find a country fair and enjoy all Maine has to offer. How long do you have to stay here before you can call yourself a Mainer? Our dream is to have a place to call our own in Maine and visit during the agreeable spring and summer months. The weather has been perfect with no humidity!

We looked at a few houses, to get an idea of what the market is like. We were working with a real estate agent until she called us to let us know she caught Covid! We all know the next variants are here. We are set up for another booster and will continue getting boosters as this bug mutates. Hey, remember the Flu. Seems we changed the Flu for the Covid. 

When we leave Maine, our stay here will be the longest of any State! Yes, we love it! The scenery is beautiful, from the ocean to the rolling hills with endless forests! We have ventured into towns around us for farmers markets, festivals, and chasing our favorite oyster farmer Emily’s Oysters from Bath. We have visited oyster festivals and today we will go to the annual Clam Festival in Yarmouth. 

One of our favorite towns was Harpswell. It is only 25 minutes from the campground. It’s right on the water and incredibly beautiful. We met a couple who just moved to Maine a few months ago. It was great to hear their story of why they are in Maine. We enjoyed lunch together with them at Erica’s Seafood right on the harbor. Yes, we had to have another lobsta roll. We waited long enough, it was time to indulge again.

A fun surprise happened this past week: a visit from our friend Judy. Judy lives in Brentwood, CA where we lived before we started this journey.  We actually met Judy through an RV club when Susan asked a question online. Judy answered the question and we found out we were a few miles from each other. Judy has been RVing for many years. She lost her husband last year and had decided to sprinkle his ashes across the country. Judy is traveling solo in her class C RV.  She came to visit for a few days and we were so happy to see her.  Judy enjoyed Freeport, and of course we took her to one of our favorite seafood shacks!  

So, what is it about Maine that speaks to us? The weather, people, food, scenery, …all of it! It will be sad when we pack up and head south. We will have great memories, along with lots of video and pictures to remind us of our great adventure here in Maine!  

Full time living is not for everyone, a massive amount of planning and strategizing is required. We have to drive on routes that are RV safe, while planning stops at various locations along our route to our next long term stay! The task is handled by Susan, the concierge, tour guide, trip planner, route manager… you name it! This adventure would not happen without my pookie! I am the luckiest man on the planet!

Just One More…trip to Maine (I have a feeling we will be back)

Make sure to check out our latest YouTube Video Below!