Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Boston to Bangor

Which looks like no big deal on a map, but it is just a bit farther than one would think. After landing in Boston at 7:30, we finally made it to the hotel in Bangor at 2:30. We were tired, but decided to try to stay on Maine time as opposed to California time, so we went for a drive in the rain looking for a place to have a late lunch/early dinner.

Along the way, we passed this statue as Bangor claims to be the home of Paul Bunyan, though so does Bemidji, Minnesota, but I'll leave that for them to sort out.

Bangor is the undisputed home of horror fiction author Stephen King, who is so brave that he allows his home and office addresses to be published on the internet.

After finding nothing besides the usual chains and a couple of others, we were tired so we opted to eat at the truckstop, Dysarts, next to our hotel (which the desk clerk assured me was "fabulous"). It wasn't. In fact, it was the worst meal we can ever remember having together. I got a haddock filet in crumbs and grease and an underbaked potato. Hubby got the worst fish and chips on the planet bar none. Since our schedules were way off and all we'd eaten all day was an egg mcmuffin we decided to go all out for dessert have coconut cream pie. Also horrible.

I realize that we live in a place that is in the top 25th percentile for food in the world and we are spoiled, spoiled, spoiled. (Here's where we grabbed a bite last night before we drove to SF to catch the plane.) But really people, Maine is renowned for her seafood and all we got was Gortons, a rare baked potato, TARTAR SAUCE FROM KRAFT IN PRESEALED PACKAGES, and a bit of raw broccoli. Plus, the service was terrible, from the minute we asked if they had beer or wine (Oh those hedonistic Californians......LOLOL........... Tomorrow, Bar Harbor, where we've heard there is good seafood and good sightseeing.


5 comments:

Diane Perin said...

Oh, dear-- but maybe you can make your way to a Legal Seafood when you're in Boston, and/or a Bertucci's (wood oven fire pizza, pasta, etc). And of course you'll find wondeful Maine lobster eventually. Have a grand time and enjoy the leaf peeping for me! I SO miss New England after living in New Hampshire for 11 years...

Hedgehog said...

Oh, so sad!! Hope you find good food while you're in my home state. Not sure of your itinerary, but happy to send you suggestions! You'll definitely do well in Bar Harbor!

Nancy Near Philadelphia said...

Oh, DEAR! How awful. When we were in Maine many years ago, our favorite lunch was a lobster roll, quite yummy of an August afternoon. Hope things improve.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes the best laid plans.........go awry!
Last October I was in Massachusuetts for a week and had the best clams, lobster, raw oysters and scallops. Get to the right place and surely you won't be disappointed.

Have fun..... blow New England a kiss from me. I love the place!

Mo
xoxox

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear you arrived safe and sound - sorry to hear about the horrible food :-( Don't you wonder about people's tastes when they tell you someplace is fantastic and it's not...?

I'm sure it'll get better from here on out - looking forward to the full report!

Becky