We started Day 5 with all eight of us meeting for breakfast at the restaurant at Merrill Farm Inn. Breakfast was made to order, which was a nice way to start another travel day before loading everything back into the cars.
As you can see no one left hungry! Everything was delicious.
But before we get to today's adventures, apparently I have a little unfinished business from yesterday! 😂
While everyone was reading yesterday's blog this morning, we discovered there was a picture I had never received. Mark thought he had sent it to me, but apparently it never made its way to my phone. So, better late than never, here is one more moment from yesterday's ice cream stop that was just too good not to share!
Susan and Michael had already put their heads through the Red Barn cow cutout, and we were trying to convince David and Grace to do it too. David was quite confident and said, "Oh, Grace won't do it."
Consider this the photo that missed yesterday's deadline! 😂🐄🍦
After breakfast, we loaded up and headed toward Maine. Of course, first things first — we needed a Dunkin stop so everyone could get coffee or whatever else they wanted for the road.
At this point, I think Dunkin may qualify as an unofficial sponsor of the Crazy 8 road trip. 😂☕️ - We may have stopped at a couple more during the day too.
Unfortunately, the rain had settled in for the day and pretty much stayed with us ALL DAY LONG. ☔️ We had been blessed with some beautiful weather so far on this trip, so I suppose we were due one rainy day. It certainly wasn't going to stop the Crazy 8!
Our first sightseeing destination was the World Traveler Signpost near Bethel, Maine. The sign points toward Maine towns with some very familiar names — Norway, Paris, Denmark, Naples, Sweden, Poland, Mexico, Peru and China — along with the number of miles to each one.
Who knew you could travel around the world without ever leaving Maine? 😂
Unfortunately, between the rain and the traffic, there really wasn't a good way for us to stop and get our own picture. We did get to see it as we went by, though, and I found a picture online so I could include it here and show everyone what we were looking for.
📷 Photo courtesy of Atlas Obscura
As we made our way through Bethel, another sight caught my eye through the rain — a wildly colorful building. David snapped a couple of pictures, but at the time I had absolutely no idea what it was but Mark researched and the mystery was solved!
It was The Gem Theater, and that colorful exterior isn't just a paint job. It's a huge community mural created in 2021 by Maine artist Ryan Adams. The mural covers nearly 9,000 square feet, used more than 200 gallons of paint and took about six weeks to complete. Local middle-school students even helped develop its message: "We Go Together, We Grow Together."
Pretty neat considering all I knew at the time was, "Look at that building!" 😂
We continued east across Maine, with our next plan being lunch at Kennebec Cabin Company, home of the Maine Cabin Masters.
Well...that was the plan. 😂
As we approached, we could see cars everywhere. Even with the rain coming down, the place was absolutely packed! There were tents, umbrellas, people and cars filling every available space. We didn't even attempt to park. We took one look and kept right on driving!
So much for lunch with the Maine Cabin Masters. 😂
Luckily, we found Two Maine Guys Restaurant instead.
If we couldn't have the Maine Cabin Masters, apparently we'd settle for a couple of Maine Guys! 😂
Five of us decided that since we were finally in Maine, there was really only one appropriate choice for lunch — lobster rolls! 🦞 Wayne, Michael, Freida, Susan and I all ordered them. Three were tossed with mayo and two were served with butter, so we managed to cover both sides of that very important Maine debate. However I failed at picture taking at lunchtime only1 photo and it is of my lobster roll. 😕
Grace went with fried shrimp, Mark had chicken tenders and David ordered a burger. Our original lunch plans may have gone out the window, but Two Maine Guys turned out to be a pretty good Plan B.
Our travels also took us through Augusta, Maine's state capital, where the dreary weather certainly didn't stop me from noticing some of the colorful murals along the way. I managed to snap a few pictures through the rain-covered windows as we drove through.
We also made a stop at Sheepscot General Store, thinking we might find a little shopping to do. Once we got inside, though, we discovered that it really was exactly what the name said — a general store! 😂
It was much more focused on food and everyday goods, with only a few little trinkets and gifts. It wasn't quite the kind of shopping we had in mind.
I did a little google research and found out later that there's a reason for that. Sheepscot General is part of a working farm and has become a gathering place for people in the rural Sheepscot River Valley. So there we were looking for tourist shopping in a place that's really designed much more for the people who actually live there! 😂
Eventually we reached Searsport, where we found a much more important stop — ice cream! 🍦
We stopped at Splendiferous Sweet Shoppe, and it turned out to be much more interesting than just an ice cream shop.
Again after a bit of online research I found out the shop is housed inside the former National Bank of Searsport, built in 1891. It operated as a bank until the mid-1970s, and the original bank vault is still inside. When the sweet shop opened, the owners put that old vault to very good use — filling it with candy and treats! The shop also has a whimsical Alice in Wonderland theme, which explains its wonderfully unusual name.
Only the Crazy 8 could go in looking for ice cream and accidentally get a little banking history along with it! 😂🍦
From there, we continued toward the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, another sight we had planned to see along our route.
By then, Mother Nature was still giving us everything she had. The rain was coming down, the sky was gray, and the low clouds and fog made the bridge look almost eerie as we crossed it. Parts of the tall bridge tower seemed to disappear right into the sky.
The bridge itself has an interesting story. It was built to replace the old Waldo-Hancock Bridge after serious corrosion was discovered in that bridge's main cables. The replacement moved remarkably quickly, taking only about 42 months from concept to opening, and the new cable-stayed bridge opened in 2006. Its tall towers have an obelisk shape inspired in part by the Washington Monument, which contains granite from nearby Mount Waldo.
We certainly didn't see the bridge under ideal conditions, but those raindrops all over the windshield tell the story of our day perfectly! ☔️
From there, we continued on toward our home for the next few nights. After a long day of driving across Maine — mostly in the rain! — we were definitely ready to get there.
When we finally arrived, the house is beautiful and looks absolutely brand new! We got everything unloaded, got ourselves into the house and started settling in.
Of course, eight people staying together in one house means we needed a few supplies. 😂 Everyone started putting together a grocery list, and then David, Wayne, Mark, Michael and I headed back out to Walmart to stock up on some goodies, coffee and breakfast things so everyone can have whatever they want in the morning.
Once we got back, that was pretty much it for the Crazy 8. After a full day of driving, sightseeing, lobster rolls, ice cream, rain, rain and MORE RAIN, everyone was ready to wind down and get some rest. ☔️
Tomorrow we start exploring this part of Maine, and I think the plan is to head into Bar Harbor in the morning. After that? Well, I'm not entirely sure yet — and I've learned that's probably half the fun of traveling with the Crazy 8! 😂
Day 5 is in the books! Maine, we're finally here — now could somebody please turn off the rain? 😂☔️🦞🍦
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