The Space Between Bookends

My journeys to and from Maine both included my mother. The first time was miserable because she didn't want to leave me; the second time was joyous because I was coming home, and because we took a mini-vacation in the days leading up to our drive down south. It was so nice to be able to share places I had loved with her, putting Maine in a totally different light than the dismal, tear-filled one it began with.

Day 1: Cape Elizabeth & Enough Lobster to Last a Lifetime

Forever enduring as a favorite place in Maine, I had to take my mom to Fort Williams Park. It has always so fully been what I expected Maine to be like.

A good hardy Mainer swimming in the bay

Light keeper's house

We drove from Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth up to Thomaston for a real lobster roll. As someone that does not enjoy seafood, but really enjoys cultural experiences, I had saved the momentous occasion of partaking in the lobster roll for my mom's visit. I also didn't want to pay for it. As a typical Maine lobster shack/pound, the restaurant was located right next to the water, had picnic tables to dine at, and was BYOB.

View from the dining area

some clam diggers

Lobster.... I never need to eat it again. Following dinner, we made our way up Route 1 to reach Bar Harbor where we would be spending the next two nights. We stopped at Owls Head Light just before the park closed. I was so happy to have seen that cute little light house!

We continued the journey up the coast, passing through Rockland, Camden, Belfast, and other charming towns, all with an orange moon hanging heavy and full in the sky. We reached Southwest Harbor and the Kingsleigh Inn fairly late in the evening. The bed and breakfast came recommended by a friend who had stayed there with her family. It was absolutely wonderful. I could not be more grateful for having gotten to stay there.

View of the full moon off our gorgeous balcony

Enough port wine for a night cap for two, plus two hand-rolled truffles. YUM.

We drank our wine on our balcony and marveled at the now silver moon shining over the glittering harbor.

Day 2: Jumping for Joy

The Kingsleigh Inn starts each day with a three course breakfast; yes- a three course breakfast, including a yogurt course, a savory or sweet main course, and a dessert course. To drink, a freshly juiced breakfast shot and unlimited beverage buffet. We ate our breakfast on the inn's wrap-around porch in the cool New England air, fully appreciating that we would not feel air so crisp until October in North Carolina.

The Inn in the morning light

look at that unlimited beverage bar!

Indoor dining area was bare, of course.

Course One

Course Two

Course Three

Following breakfast, we drove around Mount Desert Island, enjoying its awe-striking scenery, and made our way to Bar Harbor to meander about its tacky but fun shops. We had a bit of time to wander as we waited for our whale watching tour to begin. As I have been whale watching twice before, I felt I knew what to expect out of our trip- a few tail flips in the air, and that's it. Before we left our inn for the day, I read the following passage of scripture as our prayer for the day, and HALLEHLUYER, AMEN, it surely was so:

"You will see and be radiant,
Your heart will thrill and rejoice,
Because the abundance of the sea will be turned toward you." - Isaiah 60:5

 

Our ship

missed the first splash!

ahhh!

Hard to believe we saw this

HE WAS SO HAPPY!

We were pretty zonked after our three hour tour, so we headed back to the Kingsleigh Inn to freshen up before dinner. Another lovely feature of the B&B? An evening wine & cheese hour. Bliss. After the little happy hour, we went to dinner at Seafood Ketch in Bass Harbor where we hoped to sit on the deck overlooking the harbor, but low tide made that an impossibility. I ate an 8 oz hunk of beef there that was so succulent I forgot I was poor.

Day 3: Acadia - Take 5

I can hardly believe I was able to visit Acadia National Park five times while living in Maine, each trip offering its own distinctive weather, season, and feeling. This trip was pure Maine summer: clear, crisp, blue, spectacular.

Famished from hiking, we went into Bar Harbor to have lunch at an Irish pub I was dying to eat at for its ideal people watching/sun basking/beer drinking location. It did not disappoint on any of these fronts. We drove back to Lewiston that evening. 

Day 4: Farewell to Lewiston

It was a tearful goodbye to my church that took such good care of me as a homeless stranger, even before I was actually living in Maine. I got to sing for my last Sunday, the pastor made an announcement to everyone that is was my last Sunday, and following the service, there was cake that said, "We'll Miss You, Jessie!" I wept at the beauty of the love I felt.

They gave me the piece with my name on it.

To say goodbye to my friends, we met at Gritty's for lunch by the mighty Andro-scog. We sat on the back porch of the restaurant and enjoyed each others' company. I was too verklempt to have an appetite. Being the good friends they are, following lunch, they came over to help load up my little three door car with the 10 boxes and bags that comprised my possessions. It was an hour long game of Tetris to arrange said possessions before my mom and I could begin the journey to Connecticut, our 33% stop for the night. We stayed in the same hotel we stopped at on the way up. The remaining 66% of the journey lay ahead for the next day.

The first place we ever hung out was Gritty's

I started in this house and ended in this house despite a apartment departure midway.

It ended in the same fashion it began, so profoundly parallel it can only be called divine. The events the occurred in the middle are a span of perfection that I have not yet fully appreciated, as I'm still unraveling its lessons. Peace is two bookends firmly fixing my first year out of college as this wonderful thing that happened to me between two long drives. 

Selah

JB