The Road To Alice's Restaurant - Day 8, Off the Cape And Up The Coast

Provincetown is a party town, and as a result, we slept in a bit longer than we wanted. We spent last evening at several clubs with some friends, and then walked back to the hotel along the beach under the boardwalk. It got foggy after sundown, and remained foggy for much of the morning, so leaving as early as we'd hoped would have been difficult anyway. As it was, when we left just before 10am, after a nice breakfast on a sidewalk cafe where our friends walked by just as we were finishing up so we had a chance to say goodbye again, we were still in a bit of hazy fog riding out of Provincetown and down the Cape towards Boston, though it was surprisingly warm.

We set our sights on Bangor, Maine, which would be nearly 400 miles from Provincetown. In order to make that distance, and get through Boston, we'd have to spend a fair amount of time on freeways, so we'd be able to take the scenic route through Maine up the coast on US-1. Normally both Tony and I despise freeways for a number of reasons, but it's best summed up by a line from the Disney-Pixar movie "Cars", which has my vote for best movie of last year, as they discuss the merits of the old roads vs freeways..."People didn't use to drive the road to make good time, they drove on it to have a good time." Well, today we drove the freeway to make good time so we could drive the old road to have a good time later -- a bit of a trade, but worth it. Our late departure also allowed us to miss Boston traffic, as we hit the city about 1130, and ducked into the BIG DIG, otherwise known as the Thomas P "Tip" O'Neil tunnel. I have to say it was pretty cool, and we saw the skyline of Boston rise up before us, then sink into the tunnel for several miles, only to rise up again and see the city skyline in our rear-view mirrors.

We picked up US-1 right after coming out of the tunnel and followed it through North Boston and into New Hampshire. You know how out in in Seattle there are Starbucks coffee houses on every corner and sometimes on multiple corners? Well, in the north east, Starbucks are spotty, but Dunkin' Donuts are EVERYWHERE, and we found several places where they are on multiple corners. I have to ask if people in the Northeast navigate by Dunkin' Donuts like we in the Northwest navigate by Starbucks? "Go down the road, turn at Starbucks, then go three blocks, turn at the next Starbucks..."

The fog lifted as we got through Boston, but it was replaced by a couple of spotty showers that were strong enough to get us damp, but not strong enough to warrant pulling off and getting the rain gear on, and it stayed quite warm as well. Maybe the heat and humidity combination are what make Boston area drivers the rudest I've ever encountered.

This part of New England is dotted with small towns that still have the remnants of the early factories that started the industrial revolution -- mills that are along the waterways that powered their machines. Most of these places now house antique businesses, which again begs the question, where in the world does all this old furniture come from? However, it makes for nice scenery while riding, as these old roads dip and weave and move with the land, as did the old railways and canals. However, there are so many abandoned factories and buildings and rail lines it seems like this part of the country is in the depth of the 1930s depression. Indeed a common theme when talking with people is the lack of good paying jobs in this part of the country, which is why the west is so booming I imagine.

We only spent a few miles in New Hampshire before crossing over into Maine. Every state has a motto or saying on the signs designating the state line. Maine's is "Maine -- The Way Life Should Be." I think Connecticut says "The Birthplace of President George W. Bush -- We are So Sorry".... We had hopped for a nice ride along the rugged coast of Maine, but unfortunately where US-1 crosses into the state, it isn't so rugged, and is lined with outlet stores by the dozens, motels, "resorts" and lobster shanty restaurants. We hit a 10 mile stretch where our average speed was 20mph because of all the tourists and traffic to the beaches. We also observed throughout this trip that chainsaw carved bears are NOT unique to the Northwest, as we seem to see them everywhere, except along the coast, where, just like in Washington, they morph into yellow rain-slickered salty old sea captains, who look like they popped off a box of Gorton's fish sticks.

After Portland, ME the road got quiet again and we started to see the coast just like we thought it would be. However, the fog started to roll back in, and summer disappeared just as quickly and we had to get out our leather jackets! The delay in south of Portland also meant we wouldn't make it into Bangor, and we'd miss much of the coast in the dark, so when we rolled into Rockland, ME and saw a big new Hampton Inn with a multi-plex theater next door showing Harry Potter, we decided to stop for the night after rolling up a tad over 300 miles.
Tomorrow we'll continue up the coast to Bangor, which will be our furthest North-east point on this trip. We'll then turn west towards home on US-2, at it's starting point in Bangor and which, if we followed it all the way, would indeed take us home as it ends in Everett, WA. However, we'll cross over into the White Mountains of New Hampshire and then into the Green Mountains of Vermont, before heading south again towards Philly.

From Rockland, Maine..
Gary and Tony