Adventures in Maine: Bar Harbor & Augusta & Portland

I’m calling it right now: this post is going to begin with the intention of being a semi-professional and helpful travel guide and then end up meandering into a photo dump and a collection of thoughts roughly centered around what I did in Maine. With that prediction made, ALL ABOARD FOR

BAAAR HAAAARBORRR

(said loudly in that classic train conductor voice)

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Acadia National Park

Have you ever seen one of those “advice from a blank” lists? Off the top of my head, the one I remember seeing on Pinterest the most is about pineapples: something like be sweet and always wear a crown? Which I feel like can be pretty misleading advice.

First of all, I agree that pineapples are sweet. But, sometimes they’re also that type of sour that makes my tongue feel weird, like the teeth rubbing against coarse chopsticks feeling. Kiwi does the same thing. That description might be totally wrong. It’s based off my last memory of that happening, which feels like a long time ago, and as Malcolm Gladwell shows (shameless plug for the greatness of podcasts), memories can be very finicky things.

I would also like to note that pineapples are prickly.

Jordan Pond, the first pond I think I’ve ever been to. It was a good one too.

Anyways, the point is that inside the visitor center, there was an “advice from a blueberry” card, and two of the lines on it made me laugh: “be well-rounded” and “it’s OK to be a little blue.”

At Acadia, we (the parentals and I- that’s what I mean whenever I say “we”) started off by going on the basic car loop thing that goes around the park. Then we went to Cadillac Mountain, Jordan Pond, and the Wild Gardens of Acadia.

A pose stolen from the “girlfriend leads photographer around the world series.” You should check them out, they’re cool.

The day we were there it was really foggy. That’s why it might seem like the picture above was edited with maximum exposure and contrast- at least I think that’s what it looks like? But it’s not edited at all. Turns out fog is an organic filter.

The picture doesn’t convey it that well, but some of the trees looked like they were dancing.

Me trying to take advantage of the wind and make it look like I had an awesome cape blowing behind me- didn’t exactly work

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Jordan Pond House

I’m pretty sure Jordan Pond House is the only place to eat in the entire national park. I got a sandwich and this salad that was too healthy. Question: why do so many ham sandwiches have so much ham in them? When people make sandwhiches at school, I’ve don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone put multiple slices on their sandwhich, but when you buy one, there’s like a huge hunk of it.

Also, the waiter gave us a free popover because I guess the food was taking longer than usual. A popover is like a pastry similar to croissant but not as flaky and has egg on the inside. It came with jam and butter. I was excited to try it because I had seen it mentioned as delicious on a blog, but it was just okay.

Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound

I personally don’t like the taste or texture of lobster. But, my dad is a fan and my mom, who is heavily swayed by recommendations, had been told by her friend that lobster and Maine is like Wisconsin to cheese or Idaho to potatoes or Texas to BBQ (not those exact words, just the general gist), so eating at a lobster place was bound to happen.

Where the lobster was cooked

When you order at this place, they open up this large cooler look-alike box filled with live lobsters and you literally get to choose which specific lobster you want to eat. Okay, that sounds a little morbid. Anyways, my dad got too excited and asked for two, which ended up being too much.

While my dad was paying, I was shocked with how much it cost. It wasn’t because Trenton Bridge was trying to scam tourists- from the prices restaurants near the hotel gave, $15 for a pound of lobster was a good deal. Even though I already knew in the back of my head that lobster was expensive because of books and looking at restaurant menus in general, I was still surprised. Which leads to another thought- I wonder how many of the social cues I know are from reading?

Augusta

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The capitol 

At first, we accidentally joined this private tour for a group of Russian tourists that was going on, which was when I took the following picture. I’m glad to see that some person working for Maine’s government appreciates puns as much as I do.

We also went to something along the lines of the Library Archives Museum across the street. It was the kind my parents like- a lot to see and read and look at, but not particularly that interesting. There was a lot about this Stark couple (at least I think it was this museum), which made me think of certain superhero every single time.

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Red Curry Thai Restaurant

No picture for this one, oops. You know, I have a newfound admiration for food and travel bloggers. Remembering to take pictures of everything is hard. Notable points: My portion of rice came in a heart shape, and there was a husband and wife eating there that we saw while walking around at the capitol the next day.

Portland

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Longfellow Books

They had gently read non-fiction and fiction shelves which was awesome. I found My Brilliant Friend on the fiction side and bought it. In my opinion, My Brilliant Friend is another one of those “take over the internet” books. From the reviews it also seems to be dividing one- a book where people either love it or hate it. I wasn’t either. I read it because it seemed like a good book to have read, but I still think I would have finished it even without that push. But I did not like it enough to read the next three books in the series- I just looked up spoilers.

I also stopped by in a store called More&Co but didn’t get anything.

The coolest (and only) lighthouse I saw in Maine.

Portland Museum of Art

The type of art at art museums that I always find myself drawn to

Dude, look at those waves! (Haha, that sentence sounds out of place here.)

Wadsworth-Longfellow House

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a writer I had heard of before, but I didn’t know what exactly he famous for. I wasn’t even sure if he was a writer or a poet- he’s a poet. This is the man who made Paul Revere famous with “Paul Revere’s Ride.”

You know how museums and stuff have don’t touch signs? Well, this house did too, but instead of basic messages like “please do not touch,” there were these small, snarky warnings scattered throughout the rooms. I thought they were hilarious and took pictures of all of them. Here’s a couple to show you what I’m talking about.

On the piano: Trust me, no one wants to hear you play Chopsticks on this piano. Hands off, buddy.
On a chest: I don’t always touch the artifacts at museums, but when I do, I am usually asked to leave.
On a table: Taking a selfie with me is way more flattering than being photographed for the PEOPLE WHO TOUCH THINGS WALL OF SHAME.
On a bed: Were you thinking of lying down on this bed? Let’s put that idea to rest.
On a chair: “No one should ever sit on this furniture. It’s not even comfortable. Trust me.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (probably)

I love that someone took the time to do this.

This house is also where he wrote the poem “Rainy Day.” I’d never heard of it before visiting the museum, but I like it.

“The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.”

We also visited the McLellan House and the Victoria Mansion.

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Tandem Bakery

I got a sandwhich and a molasses cookie. Both were fine. To my ears, the description of “fine” for food actually sounds worse than neutral. But from me, it’s really not a negative adjective at all. For me, restaurant food falls into one of three categories: good, not good, and fine. Off the top of my head, I can think of two meals that I would put under the not good category and five for good. I would label everything else, which is the overwhelming majority, as “fine.”

Holy Donut

And finally, the famous potato donut shop. When I asked the guy which one was their most popular flavor, he said Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt and Fresh Lemon, but that when it’s in season, Maine Blueberry sells well too, if not as well. Which is what I ended up getting. It smelled really good, but this goes into the fine category too.

Oh my goodness, I think this might be the longest post I’ve written. Okay, I’m going to try and keep this postscript short. First of all, I’m planning on writing about the other states I went to (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire), so if one of those posts comes out in October, I did not skip school to visit one of the original thirteen colonies. That would kind of weird.

Now, the actual questions:
Do you like lobster?
Poem recommendations?
What donut flavor would you have chosen? Pomegranate sounds interesting too.