20 SEP 05 - Heading to the Maine coast

On our way out of a rainy Skowhegan, ME, we asked about the Empire Grill depicted in the filming of the HBO miniseries "Empire Falls". Apparently the movie producers rented a local restaurant for 2 months and installed an indian head sign above its door. After production finished, the original restaurant owner kept the movie name and sign. We thought about breakfast, but were told the food was not particularly good. We went to see for ourselves and its menu was absolutely boring. The restaurant had no souvenirs unless we wanted to wait a day for a tee-shirt. Mike again had thoughts about getting into the commemorative pin business. Next, we headed to the Chamber of Commerce and they had no pins, so we motored on to the Town Office. The Town Clerk was out of pins, but the Chief of Police gave us departmental shoulder patches. Book 'em, Capt. Mike!


Heading southeast in our rain suits towards the coast, we stopped for fuel (and lottery tickets) outside of Waterville. OJ remembered a college friend whose family was in the scrap biz nearby. We passed a junkyard and the proprietor knew of OJ's friend and where to find him. Less than 10 miles away in Clinton, Maine, OJ re-united with Alan W at his family's new steel business. Apparently the old business ran into some problems with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) over some mercury spilled by vandals. After introducing Mike, we chatted for about an hour before Alan sent us on our way to the Maine coast with a better map.

As usual, we rode the back roads which provided several butt breaks to relax and enjoy the serenity. The Maine seacoast is damp and windblown enough to promote lichen-covered tree trunks and enticing wildflowers.

Near the Maine coast, Mike's "Road Food" guide pointed us south of Bath, ME towards the Five Islands Lobster Company at the tip of a seacoast crag called Georgetown. Maine has hundreds of these peninsulas and each one tends to have a single winding road, often saddled by the majestic ocean and coming to an abrupt dead end at the ocean. Five Islands was such a rocky and wave-swept point, but unfortunately, the restaurant was closed until the weekend due to the slow, post-Labor Day traffic. Not a problem, "Road Food" pointed us to another lobster haven, two peninsulas further south.

Bailey Island is the last of three islands leading to Lands End, an appropriate name for this part of the world. Approaching sunset, we crossed the one-of-a-kind crib stone bridge, quite the old time engineering feat. On the left side of the road was the cozy Bailey Island Motel where we checked in for the night. It was a little pricey, but definitely the nicest lodgings so far on our trip.

On the right side of the road was the "Road Food" recommended Cook's Lobster House. Could our lives be any easier? The restaurant was on a little spit of land and we hiked to the ocean's edge to ratchet up our appetite a notch. This was the place, the Shangri La of Seafood, the Grand Prize of Lobster Lotteries. No chowder or clam strips for us: Mike sentenced a 3 1/2 pound sea roach to a boiling death and OJ was hardly kinder to a 2 1/2 pounder. We laughed when Mike couldn't get his cracker around the vise-like stumps posing as claws and he sent the behemoth back to the kitchen for a good hammering. There was no dessert that night as we slithered back to the motel in our drawn butter haze, but there was a lot of stomach gurgling and gas.