What I Did on My Summer Vacation.....Part One

*This is the first in a series of posts about our summer vacation saga.  WARNING-Lengthy rambling ahead!*

I made my first trip to Maine in the summer of 1980.
It wasn't for pleasure but for work.
I had been accepted as an intern for the summer season at the Brunswick Music Festival Theater, located on the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine.

 *The Picard Theater building from the back.*
It's now called the Maine State Music Theater.  Here's their Website.

I spent the bulk of my 1st summer in Maine in the windowless basement of the college's theater building constructing costumes, wardrobing shows and doing a bit of acting..not all at the same time obviously.
At night I'd dragged my exhausted sleep-deprived carcass the 4 blocks to the wretched old beer soaked carpeted frat house where us interns were housed.  I shared a 3 room shotgun suite there with a dancer gal from NYC called Betsy and a native Mainer college student named Brenda.

Brenda and I became good friends.
And Brenda had a car.
Brenda showed me around that part of Maine on our few and far between days off and on a student's cash strapped budget.

We hit the touristy places, but more importantly I got to see the places off the beaten path too, where the tourists don't go.  And I hung out with Brenda's family too.
And yes, I made a few trips to FatBoys....

Ah, the menu hasn't changed since 1980. Literally, it's the same SIGN!....Fat Boy Burgers anyone?

This place is/was across the road from the local Air Force base runway.  Legend has it that Bill Clinton would jet up in AF1 and have some grunt run over to FatBoys for a sack of burgers every now and again, but I digress....

Over the past 30 yrs.....good gawd!?!?....has it been that long?....I've kept in touch with Brenda.  And I've visited with her sporadically over the years though she's never taken me up on my offers to stay with us here in Pennsyltucky.  I guess coal slags, strip mines and underground mine fires aren't her thing.

And after Hubs and I married, I dragged him to Maine on numerous vacation trips.
The 1st time, he will tell you, stands out in his memory because I left him to wander the streets of Brunswick Maine for an entire day alone.
Why?
Because we visited the theater where I had worked and the Costume Designer I had worked for years before was employed that summer again, and was struggling to get the costumes ready in time for opening night of Evita.  They needed extra help, so I was talked into spending one day of my vacation sewing costumes for the show in that windowless basement room again.
Of course, this time, I was free to leave at the end of the day and didn't have to collapse in the frat house, and I earned a nice little paycheck for the day's work, along with a pair of balcony seat tickets to the opening night of the show. ;-)


In spite of that trip, I dare to venture that Maine has become a place near and heart to Hubs heart as well.

For the first time since we had kids, we were able to take a week ALONE so we headed back to Maine last week.

First off, let me state that we don't vacation like typical tourists in Maine.
We don't stay where they stay.
We don't do what they do.
We don't even get to Maine like they do.

You won't find us driving up I-95 through Portsmouth, NH over the bridge to Kittery ME.
Nah, nah, nah!
Now we sneak into Maine through the local backroads across NH.
That way we avoid the parking lot of I-95 and the Mass Turnpike in the summer, especially on weekends.


Two years ago, we traveled to Maine along with #2 son.  We also took the BIL and the nephew just for fun.  We rented  a couple of RVs set up in a campground outside of Bangor Maine.

Bangor Maine is not listed in many people's book as a tourist destination.....unless you are stalking Stephen King....

*#2 son and nephew pose with Stephen's batty gates.*


Or you have a Paul Bunyan fetish....

*#2 son and nephew w/the World's Largest Statue of Paul Bunyan.*


So why stay in Bangor?
Well, 3 reasons.
1-It's not crowded with tourists.....heck, it's not crowded with ANYBODY!  Sluggy does not like crowds.
2-It's only a short drive away from the coast and on the Penobscot River so you are close and accessible to lots of local fresh seafood.
3-It's cheap.  And even better, an RV set up in a campground is a very frugal alternative to a motel room and alot easier to find available at the last minute("last minute" meaning 2 months before you plan on visiting).

Unless you are in one of the larger cities or one of the real bigtime touristy hot spots in Maine, there are not alot of chain motels/hotels.  Most of the places in Maine have small or family owned motels, b&bs, housekeeping cottages or campgrounds.  There are a ton of them but they book up fast and often the same people come back every year for YEARS so rooms never actually come available as visitors rebook for the next year as soon as they arrive for the current year.
There are also people who rent out their homes or own guest houses to rent to the vacationers but usually these are NOT a frugal option, often going for $900-$3,000 a WEEK.  Plus you have to stay a week in the same spot and we like to move around a bit.


So we booked 4 nights in the RV in that campground outside of Bangor.
Not only is it a fair price for lodging that could accommodate 4 people, but you have the woods right outside your door so your He-Man can satiate his primal need to burn stuff....

*Hubs communing with nature and enjoying his campfire.*

To Be Continued.....

Sluggy