When we met, I had an idea that I was going to Maine. I was going to get in my red 1990 Jeep Cherokee, get an atlas, and drive. I didn't have a clue as to what I was going to end up doing there, other than take a picture of Stephen King's house since at that time I was a big fan of his fiction. When Maria found this out, she asked if she could come along. Of course, we were in that "pair bonding" stage of our relationship, where we couldn't think of anyone or anything but each other, we were in "love". It must have been love, because I'm writing about it today.
This was the summer of 1993. We loaded the Jeep and trekked through Canada and back into the United States at the New York border, it was the quickest route. The East Coast is beautiful. From the mountain ranges we drove through, to the sprawling blue of the Atlantic Ocean on the coast, the quaint towns spread out in between were a feast for our eyes. Since Maine was our destination that's where we headed after crossing the border, with a time frame for vacation we wanted to squeeze in as much as we could.
This was tourist season, probably August (my old brain gets a little funny with dates sometimes), we really lucked out finding our little yellow cabin, equipped with small kitchen, a bed, bath, and was just perfect, because it was the last one! We rented it for four nights in Bar Harbor, just outside the city. This was our home base. Here's a picture, yes, Michigan's plates were that boring!
We trekked through a *flea market, this was where people bought antiques, and collectibles, pre-ebay (*for those of you scratching your heads in wonder and confusion). We found a set of Whales carved out of wood, which still hang in our house, every house we've lived in, for that matter. Inside one whale is a male and the other a female. It was a little corny, but they were decorative and the price was right, we purchased them. I could go into some symbol of our future together and where our lives would take us based on these carvings, but I won't.
We spent some time on the Atlantic in Acadia National Park, a beautiful view with sandy beach and a loop designed to take tourists around nature's attractions, afterwards, we walked through the tourist town of Bar Harbor. Maria purchased a pewter wizard, it was the first of my pewter collection that would be added to in the years to come.
Next on the agenda was "the King", yes Stephen King. We stopped at a welcome center before entering Bangor and asked two eccentric little old ladies where Stephen King's house was. They willingly gave me the directions to the old, "infamous" is how they phrased it, Victorian home, that he lived in. We pulled into the front of the house, Maria, donning her 35mm Canon, took pictures, and then we waited, deep down hoping that we'd see him pull up or see his wife Tabitha, or some sign of an author's life. There was nothing. (side note, mid 2000's we sold a tea leaf green set of china, plates and tea cups to Tabitha King on ebay. I confirmed the address that it was getting mailed to and it belonged to the King's.)
We had a lot of fun, exploring, hopping on a Cessna plane and taking the cheapest tour circle over a bay of the Atlantic and Bar Harbor. We didn't see whales, it wasn't mating season is what we were told, after the tour. Cessna's are bumpy, almost equivalent, in my opinion, to getting on a riding lawn mower with wings. This one shuddered and shimmied, and the pilot was talking quietly over his mic. Maria was freaking out in the backseat, thinking that we would run out of gas, she later admitted. She was trying to get my attention, as I sat cramped in the co-pilot's seat, and I ignored her, laughing obnoxiously inside. I found out afterward that the flight was a test,created by Maria, to see if I'd freak out, it backfired, because she was very uncomfortable. I knew how to swim, I was good. We laughed about it later. Maria, amidst her panicking, took pictures because she was in awe of the beauty below us.
The trip eventually had to come to an end, and we decided to head back home, this time through the states. We wanted to take a peek at Old Orchard Beach, one last stop before we exited Maine, checking out more of the Atlantic, getting some beach photos and enjoying the sunshine and pier. We then drove through the Poconos, and headed out of New York, Pennsylvania, eventually into Ohio, we were on a mission to get home. Here's one of a very young me, we never had the opportunity to see whales, but we found a skull at a nearby museum.
On the way home we were scraping to the bottom of our barrel with our budget, had overspent, a theme of our life to come. We stayed in the back of the Jeep in a rest stop in Ohio, before entering Michigan. I was crimped in a fetal position, due to being six foot five, and our backs were tore up from an amplifier and the wheel wells. We hobbled into the rest stop, brushed our teeth and refreshed as best we could. We had just enough money for a couple more meals, a night in a hotel, near Detroit, prior to getting back to Maria's parents, and enough for some fuel. That was it. Bare bones. It worked though, and we got back without fail.
This was the beginning of our travels, laugh at my long hair and baby face, if you want, it was in style. Please enjoy the blog, click the link on the right to subscribe to YouTube---Dark Nest Travels, if you want some videography at its not so finest, and keep coming back for more reading, don't forget to follow us on Instagram (link also to the right). Thanks, again!