Any New England travelers here?

[Thumper]

I lived there for 6 months back in the VERY early 70's (like 1971-1972) and ran all over New England, but my agenda was a bit different when I was 19 years old! ;)

Lynn has been to New England, but only for business ... basically, fly in, attend meetings, and fly out. We're going to hit lobster season and eat ourselves silly. We'll be staying in Portland, Maine ... but will have a rental car, so we're not tied down to that area, although we'd have to be within "day-trip" distance to go anywhere. Anybody know of any must do/see areas up that way? Any killer restaurants that us foodie types would come home and brag about? I'm sure Lynn is putting together a list of her own (that's HER job, I just go along for the ride), but if there's some killer place that's a bucket list necessity, we're open.

Gonna be leaving a week from Sunday (6/5) and returning Thursday, so it's only a 4-day visit.

[Big Muddy]

Yep, been to Portland only once, but it was a great trip....we only ate at a couple of restaurants because the street food was so much better and less expensive....stop and eat at every street-side crab and lobster shack you see....they know how to cook their seafood, and I tried it all....I even ate crab cakes with my scrambled eggs for breakfast....the lobster rolls are to die for !!!

[BarryBobPosthole]

I've done some visiting in New England but have not been to Maine. I'd sure like to spend some time there some day. And being on the coast and eating those big bugs would be one of the things I'd wanna do.

Maybe you should butter up your prostate before you go. Think that'd help?
BkB

[Thumper]

Man, I HOPE this is cleared up by time we leave! I think the docs (and myself) are leaning toward some sort of urinary tract infection as it appears the antibiotics are helping. Either that, or I'm getting used to it and am better able to predict when I'll probably need to make a run for it! Time will tell.

Yep, my most recent visits to that area were while I was driving my truck, but like Lynn's trips, I was too busy working to actually call it a "visit". Back when I lived up that way, there were 2-3 buddies and myself who were out every weekend either chasing wimmins, camping or site-seeing. One thing about that area, you can drive for an hour and go through 5 states! (although Maine is a pretty large state) One of my most memorable Maine stories are when a couple buddies and myself were out in the middle of nowhere just exploring the back roads and planning to find a place to camp for the night. I have NO clue where we actually were exactly, other than "Northern Maine". We were driving up a twisty mountain 2-lane when we passed a tiny sign on the side of the road that said "Tea Party" and it had an arrow pointing down a small gravel lane. We all looked at each other, totally clueless (WTF is a "tea party"?), so we found a place to turn around and went back to check it out.

We turned down this very small gravel lane the arrow pointed toward. We were driving a brand new Pontiac Grand Prix, so it was a slow crawl as the lane lead us down into a grassy valley shaded by various trees. There were all sorts of make-shift tents and shelters as well as quite a few small "campfires" burning. VW "Hippie Vans" seemed to be in abundance as well as a couple of old school buses that looked like they came straight from "The Brady Bunch". The place was crawling with hippies! And here we were with our close cropped (obviously military) haircuts feeling totally out of place. We were trying to figure out how to gracefully back-track and ease back out of there since we felt like we'd just crashed a party we hadn't been officially invited to! BUT ... a small group stood up, walked toward us and welcomed us with open arms, then invited us to stay and visit. We were a bit uncomfortable (felt totally out of place), but after a few joints got passed around and we slipped into fun conversation, we felt right at home in no time flat.

It was surreal really and probably one of the quietest, most peaceful settings I've ever been in. And the wimmins!!! Wow! The typical long, light, flowing dresses ... bare feet or sandals and flowers in their hair. We thought we were in a movie ... so "stereotypical". There were quite a few young kids ... all running around buck naked ... but it seemed so natural and peaceful at the time ... not at all abnormal. We heard some laughing and loud voices below the little valley and asked what was going on. We were told it's the swimming hole and were invited to go check it out if we wanted. Whoa! There was a small creek that opened out to a large "swimming hole" and EVERYONE there was buck naked. There was a big rope swing, a few old inner-tubes and everyone was having a great time. We were immediately invited to join in, but we declined and returned to the main camp. After a bit of convincing, we set up our own camp, sat around talking, smoking pot, laughing and finally found out all about the "free love" movement we'd heard so much about! It's a wonder I wasn't converted to a Liberal right then and there. :D

I ended up with a cute gal who was there with her cousin and we really hit it off. I don't even remember her name. All I remember is she was from Hampton Beach (New Hampshire). A really, REALLY fun, interesting time and a fond memory of my "growing up" years.

Although I've been all over the state of Maine, THAT is my most vivid memory and ... to be honest, I can't even recall anything else I ever did in Maine ... although I spent a LOT of time there! ;)

[BarryBobPosthole]

We call those "Watermelon Busts" here in Oklahoma. Throw a watermelon on the fire and eventually it'll swell up and bust. Then everybody goes in the bushes and gets a piece.

(okay, that's a really old one)

BKB

[Chicken Dinner]

I've been to Portland and coastal Maine further north. But, it's been 20+ years. As I recall, Portland had a pretty cool old/historic area that I bet is a foodie heaven these days. Lots of cool little towns in the way north Camden and Castine are two we stayed in in our way up to Bar Harbor. I don't recall how far from PortlNd they were.