Weekend in the sticks

Kate and I headed up to Maine this weekend for a little escape from the hustle and bustle of the world. My father owns a hunting camp in Wellington, ME (Population: 253). Wellington is north of Skowhegan, the closest notable town that has any sort of urban quality. My father offered up the camp for us to use so we might take advantage of many "outdoors" opportunities that are within such close reach.

Before heading up we had a delicious pot roast dinner with my parents, and they got me a birthday cake for my "31st". My actually birthday came on the ninth when Kate also had bought me a cake and took me out for supper.

Following supper with my parents Kate and I dropped by a Blockbuster Video to rent a couple of DVDs to take with us for the evenings (TV reception is limited to CBS and NBC in Wellington).

It was raining pretty good on the drive up. Upon arriving at the camp (trailer pictured below) there was a large, hairy, spider greeting us on the wall directly in front of the car. Kate wanted me to try and smack it, although I suspect it intended us no harm. However, I was equally creeped out so I caught my wits, grabbed my Maine atlas an gave it a good "wop". We are pretty sure it escaped unscathed because there were no guts, and it was not to be seen anywhere on the ground. I tried to find out what type of creature it was, and it may have been a "wolf spider", although this thing was 3 inches across and they only list those as being 1-1.5 inches. We are kicking ourselves for not taking a picture.

Exhausted from the night's adventures I plopped down inside as soon as we were unpacked and I had fired up the water pump and electricity.

We slept pretty good, and took our time getting on the road. Around 11:30 we headed to the town of Harmony and got a couple of Italian sandwiches for lunch before heading north to Borestone Mt.

On the way we had to stop for a moose crossing. There were two moose, a bull and a cow. Both took their time crossing the street and stared at us for a few minutes before finally heading off into the woods.

After arriving at the Borestone Audubon reservation we began a hike. While it wasn't a long hike, the terrain was steep and primarily made of makeshift stone steps which could be precarious, especially on a descent. Maps were thankfully made available of the trail system at the entrance. The hiking trails were well marked, and maintained. The Appalachian trail goes through the park and there are a series of waterfalls, canyons, and gorges that can also be visited.

Near the top of the mountain the terrain becomes so steep that metal rebar was driven into rocks, cliff face, and the trail strategically to give foot and hand holds. In one of the pictures of Kate above you can see a hand railing behind her.

Following our hike we drove further north to Greenville which is located on Moosehead Lake. Moosehead is the largest lake in Maine, and also ranks amongst the country's largest. What makes it particularly unique is that it is largely undeveloped, and will likely remain that way for many years because much of the land surrounding it is either state owned, or owned by paper companies which enable the conservation of this other worldly environment. The coast of the lake is rocky like the coast of the ocean, and the waters are cold year round. A famous old steamboat called The Katahdin is moored in Greenville's harbor. It was built in 1914 at Bath Iron Works, where my father is employed today, and 4 generations of my family worked up until me, the first to break this unintended trend. Kate an I had a nice supper at The Black Frog in Greenville. The Black Frog has been involved in locale controversy due to a menu item that you can reportedly get for free if you are willing to strip down nude, run through the restaurant and jump off of the dock into the lake. If the menu item had involved lobster, and it had been summer, perhaps it would be tempting.

"Skinny Dip: Thinly sliced prime rib served in a baguette roll with au jus on the side for dipping. If you run down the long dock naked and jump in the lake, the sandwich is free......10.95"

The menu of "The Black Frog" is very entertaining and worth a read. Check out the link. My only criticism is the lack of comprehension of veganism..... but hey I don't really get vegans either so who am I to be picky.

After having a filling meal we headed back to the camp, after stopping at the Greenville grocery store to pick up junk food of course. Kate is trying to decide amongst her options. Myself, I chose to have a Twinkie and a beer. Mmmmm mmmmm.The next day Kate and I decided to stop at the Empire Grill in Skowhegan. The Empire Grill is actually part of the set of the movie "Empire Falls" based on Richard Russo's book. The film was aired as a mini series on HBO and starred Paul Newman, Ed Harris, and Helen Hunt. I read the book back when I first met Kate, largely because I learned that she was reading it. It was a good slice of life book with a very "Dickens" like tragedy that transforms the protagonists of the story. The book actually inspired me to read many of John Irving's books who was said to be a influence on Russo.

Kate suggested stopping there and we were glad that we did. The food was good and the atmosphere was great. It was pretty busy when we first arrived, however we were late for the brunch rush and things cleared out before we left. I took the chance to snap the photo of the diner bar with Kate's camera.

After eating we stopped in to Sabattus to say bye to my parents before heading off into the fog and rain to return to Boston.