Day 67. Brunswick
65 miles 3,586 feet
Just as when Captain William Clark wrote these words, considered the most famous of the Lewis and Clark journals, I have actually not yet seen the ocean but rather a tidal river—the Androscoggin at Brunswick, a few miles from where it empties into the Atlantic. Tomorrow I'll see the real article, but I won't conclude my journey until Bar Harbor in 3 days. Still, I have reached the other coast so that is worth a minor celebration.
I started out with an excellent food cart breakfast in Bridgton. None of the restaurants were open Wednesday, and in any case the food cart breakfast sandwich was likely better than anything a restaurant could offer. The man running the food cart is a solo operator. He has 3 kids and this is his work. He starts at 4:30 am, closes at 2 then has to buy supplies and prepare for the next day, He hopes to expand soon and has a tip jar to raise money to which I contributed. He's working hard and doing a great job. There was a line at 7 am.
Maine is as advertised: Lots of work with ups and downs, but it is gorgeous, and though this is a worn word, idyllic. I keep thinking of the Robert McCloskey children's book Time of Wonder. The ACA route passed by many beautiful lakes, some with swimming beaches full of families and some with small boats. The forests are a mixture of conifers and hardwoods. The roads varied from quiet small roads to protected bike lanes to busy state highways with heavy traffic (but never US 1). There was too much of the latter for my taste.
I finished in Brunswick in my functional but not fancy motel on impressively crowded US 1. I walked into town to a Colombian street food restaurant which was excellent. Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College so has more to offer than some small Maine towns.
Two more full days moving up the coast and then 20 miles in to Bar Harbor on Saturday!
Just as when Captain William Clark wrote these words, considered the most famous of the Lewis and Clark journals, I have actually not yet seen the ocean but rather a tidal river—the Androscoggin at Brunswick, a few miles from where it empties into the Atlantic. Tomorrow I'll see the real article, but I won't conclude my journey until Bar Harbor in 3 days. Still, I have reached the other coast so that is worth a minor celebration.
I started out with an excellent food cart breakfast in Bridgton. None of the restaurants were open Wednesday, and in any case the food cart breakfast sandwich was likely better than anything a restaurant could offer. The man running the food cart is a solo operator. He has 3 kids and this is his work. He starts at 4:30 am, closes at 2 then has to buy supplies and prepare for the next day, He hopes to expand soon and has a tip jar to raise money to which I contributed. He's working hard and doing a great job. There was a line at 7 am.
Maine is as advertised: Lots of work with ups and downs, but it is gorgeous, and though this is a worn word, idyllic. I keep thinking of the Robert McCloskey children's book Time of Wonder. The ACA route passed by many beautiful lakes, some with swimming beaches full of families and some with small boats. The forests are a mixture of conifers and hardwoods. The roads varied from quiet small roads to protected bike lanes to busy state highways with heavy traffic (but never US 1). There was too much of the latter for my taste.
I finished in Brunswick in my functional but not fancy motel on impressively crowded US 1. I walked into town to a Colombian street food restaurant which was excellent. Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College so has more to offer than some small Maine towns.
Two more full days moving up the coast and then 20 miles in to Bar Harbor on Saturday!
Wolfie's food cart for breakfast. The best, and popular.
Lunch at one of the many lakes I passed by.
Homes and architecture in Maine are wonderful.
Crossing over the Androscoggin River.
The irony here is that the hazy sunset is due to fires in Quebec, due to climate change, due to greenhouse gas emissions from cars like these!
