Maine - Day 9 - going back south

Sunset Point RV Park, Lubec
Thursday, 9 August 2018

today's route

As you can see, I went from one side of Maine to another, and it took a little longer than in VT or NH - 235 miles, which took me 8 hours, including rest stops.

For about half of the trip I used roads I'd traveled before, which I hated to do, but I knew that those roads were mostly decent and I knew I had a long day ahead of me so decided to give myself a break.  People at my last campground told me that Rt. 11, which is the westernmost public road, was partly paved and partly gravel, which likely meant I'd be going 30 mph, and I just couldn't face it.

Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel

A short way down the road from Grand Isle is a village the map says is Notre Dame, and I'm guessing it's because of this museum, which almost certainly used to be a church.

Note the name.  Some of the businesses have signs in front that are entirely in French.  It really is a different world up in this part of Maine.  I think even those from other parts of Maine would be surprised at the extent of the French culture.

I've been forgetting to take a photo of a Maine license plate, but here one is.  It took a while for me to realize these aren't specialty plates but the official one - I'm not used to anything like the cardinal and pine branch they have being an official plate - it looks so Christmas-y somehow.

This time as I went through Presque Isle I saw a sign at the University of Maine at Presque Isle that said, "North of Ordinary."  I'll bet other Mainers don't know about that either.

Not only was I passing fields of potatoes and unspecified grain but also fields of sunflowers.

At Mars Hill I noticed a sign for the "Ancient, Free & Accepted Masons," and I don't remember seeing that "ancient" before.  Farther down the road I saw the same sign at other towns, so I got curious and looked it up.  If you're curious too, here's a link that explains it as well as it can be, I suppose. ancient_free_and_accepted_masons

I heard on Maine Public Radio that eels are selling for $2000/lb, but that not many are allowed to be harvested.  Who on earth would want those bizarre creatures so much they'd pay that kind of money for them?

Grand Lake

I passed again by the Grand Lake where I'd camped earlier in the week and found this scenic view.  I guess it's hard to tell, but that's only part of the lake, which really is pretty big.

Because we were going such a long distance today, I tried to take frequent rest stops - every hour and a half or so - and I guess we'd come about halfway in terms of miles after the first 4 hours, but the road didn't get any easier and I was getting tired.

We started getting coastline when we got to Calais, which they pronounce like that "GAL is" dumb.  I'm so used to thinking of "Cal-LAY" in France that I have to remind myself before I open my mouth here.

Anyway, it certainly is a very picturesque drive.

This is my first view of Cobscook Bay off the Bay of Fundy off the Atlantic Ocean.

My new campground is right on the water and is double the size of the one in Grand Isle: a full 26 sites, all with a water view.  Very pleasant and, at $35/night, one of the most affordable on the Maine coast.