Big House, Little House, Back House Barn

T & I headed out to Brooks for breakfast at Ralph’s Café. We ran into the folks that are renting T&L’s old farm. They grow Garlic. Brooks is a blink in size but so-very-cute. We drove up the road to Jackson and the farm. There is a style of conglomerate architecture here that is described as “Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn.” The name says it all. We then drove to Monroe to meet up with their friend Gregory. G is a cabinetmaker and lives in a big old house that reminded me of the old hippy-houses we all lived in at one time or another. Old tablecloths for curtains, shells and rocks and pinecones shared the counter-tops and tables with teapots, jars of rice and potted plants. Friendly dogs and cats climbed on and off my lap as I warmed my back by the old cast Iron stove. It is so refreshing to meet a well-educated and creative back woods guy who is not concerned with who wants to take his assault weapons from him. Further down the road we passed through “Harvey-Town” where one could imagine arsenals of said assault weapons hidden in every unkempt barn and falling down doublewide. The lots were strewn with old cars, bathtubs, toilets and toys. “Prepare to Meet your God” signs reflected the presence of a huge Pentecostal church [the size of an airplane hanger] down the road. T says it is filled to overflowing on Sundays.
We stopped to fetch Liza and drove south through coastal villages along Penobscot Bay. Northport, Ducktrap, Lincolnville, Camden, Rockport, Glen Cove, Saint George, and Tenants Harbor lead the way to Port Clyde at the end of the peninsula. The ferry to Monhegan leaves from here. Port Clyde is a post card of lobster fishing society. Traps and buoys are everywhere. I mean everywhere. Driving through these tiny towns I had to ask, “does everyone here trap lobster? The answer was “pretty much.” The downside of this excursion was staring us in the face but we didn’t grasp it until we stopped for my lobster dinner. All the traps were out of the water. There were no lobsters. It was too early. The architecture of Knox and Waldo Counties is as charming as you could imagine. I fully get T&L’s desire to buy, restore/update, and sell here. Everywhere I looked I saw homes that needed some TLC. The sun came out late in the day and it warmed to about 70. We returned to Belfast in the early evening spent from a well-spent day.