So yeah...knocking on the walls. Sounds fun right? I was in a lovely mood after that although I was doing my best to keep it in check. After our lovely breakfast buffet we all piled into the car and began the drive to our next stop in Rockport. We took a marvelous little route that Gerald (our Garmin) mapped out for once once I realized that I can pick other options than the most direct (and usually not so pretty) route. We drove through the town of Ellsworth and then through Belfast, over rivers and lakes, across a pretty amazing looking bridge and eventually hit the shore and followed that through the town of Camden and then headed on to Rockport and our stop for the night "Ledges by the Bay".
Online, Ledges looked like the perfect midpoint for the trip. With pretty rooms and balconies overlooking the Penobscot Bay I figured it would give us a little downtime after our double tour day yesterday. We were close enough to Camden and Rockland for food/town life but the hotel itself is out of the way so I was hoping that we'd all get some much needed naps.
We pulled into Ledges at around 12:30 which we figured was too early to check in but hoped that we could take care of the paper work and get a recommendation for lunch. Let's face it - by 11:00 both parents were starting to whine about being hungry and were starting to grumble and sigh so I definitely needed to get them fed and put them down for naps. (And probably put myself down for one as well although I never actually get cranky....yeah.....shuddup....). The lovely woman at the desk recommended Bayview Lobster in the town of Camden so we made the 5 mile drive back to town and proceeded to battle the traffic for parking.
I found a municipal lot after making a few wrong turns (and making one small threat against my father's life if he did any more backseat driving) and was able to park with relative ease by New York standards anyway. Greeted by one of the prettiest harbors I'd ever seen dotted with sailboats I knew we had made a good choice stopping here. We slowly meandered up the street looking for Bayview with my gentle father barking out "Why don't we just go here?" at every restaurant we passed. My hands clenched tightly into fists and my mother laughing at my tension we finally found the place (and then realized we'd actually walked passed it but no one was telling Dad that....). We settle down, order drinks and zero in on what we're having. Mom and I are going for Lobster Rolls. Dad who has never been a huge lobster fan before veers off and orders a burger. The food arrives and this had to have been the best lobster roll I've ever had.
Seriously. Not kidding. Huge chunks of lobster meat overflowing the buttery toasted split top bun. I can pick out claw and tail. No filler. No mayo. Just pure cold lobster meat from a 1 pounder with drawn butter on the side and a pile of crinkle cut sweet potato fries. Even the cole slaw with a light vinegar based dressing was fantastic. We dove in voraciously and finished it off with a giant cream puff topped with some seriously wicked chocolate sauce. During dessert it began to storm over the harbor so we had a long sit waiting for the storm to pass.
Once the storm ended we left the restaurant with the aim of wandering through town a bit but everything was uphill compared to the restaurant and where the car was and I could see Dad starting to hit his cranky again. Not to mention another storm was beginning to blow in over the harbor with some pretty cool lightning and thunder. So we headed back to the car and back to Ledges. Of course, by the time we got there the storm clouds had passed and it was sunny and beautiful over the Bay. But it was really for the best. We got our room keys and settled in. Dad and I had a margarita on his balcony (skinny girl - we were being virtuous) and then I came back to my room to read for a while and finally, Dad settled down for a nap and Mom nestled up on the balcony to read her own book.
The view from Ledges is spectacular. Looking out over a really quiet portion of the Bay with a small sailboat and some houses dotting the other side it's a perfect respite. I wandered down across the lovely manicured grounds and found a staircase that led to a little beach. I was the only person down there and the silence was amazing. Left alone with my own thoughts I wandered the rocky shore a bit, then realized me, not being the most coordinated, should probably not venture too far as when I fall and break an ankle no one will be around to carry me back up the rocks. So I sat for a while, took some pictures and then headed back up the hill.
Trudging up that steep hill I felt that lobster roll and butter and cream puff very keenly. Suddenly my 33 years were all pulling on me and I could feel myself huffing and puffing a bit. I thought of two things. One that the second we get home I'm going back to the gym and eating nothing but salads. Two was that a nap sounded great. I got into my room, peaked out on the balcony at which point I heard "So are we going to dinner?" It was 5:00. I was still full from that lobster roll. Determined to drag this out as much as I could I just asked for time to change. I got a 15 minute lie down but no nap. Sigh... Oh well.
We got another recommendation for dinner and headed out just passed 5:30. But, by the time we got to town, parked, walked to the restaurant and stopped for the requisite photos with a giant bear outside one of the shops and stopped to look at the water front (and let Dad pick out which boat he wanted to get when he wins the lotto) enough time had passed that yeah, I could eat again. Dad, after his nap seemed to be in a spectacular mood with more energy then I'd seen all day which I believe inspired all of us a bit. We had a lovely dinner of haddock for Mom, scallops for Dad and Cioppino for me and then shared a giant soup bowl full of wild blueberry cobbler. I may look like a blueberry when this trip is over.
We got back to the room with final instructions that they should a) go to breakfast whenever they were hungry and b) not knock on the wall to tell me they were going. If I go looking for them and they're not in their room I'll assume that (as long as the car is still here) they just went to get breakfast. If the car is gone well....then I'll worry a bit. But being left being to hang out in Maine for a while wouldn't really be all that bad.
Survival Tip: Naps are not just for the young and the old. Take em where you can get em!
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