Singing The Blues

It is wonderful to wake to a blue sky and although the air has a cold edge we get an earlier than usual start as we’ve gained an hour (Atlantic to Eastern Time). We’re riding Hwy 1 down the coast of Maine enjoying the shoreline whenever it’s visible and the ambiance of New England. There are many beautiful old houses and it is much more populated than our Maritimes but the beautiful scenery is similar.
With true New England economy every other town has incorporated the word “port” into its place name. The highway is more of a commercial strip than a thoroughfare as the majority of the homes are also businesses providing every service or product imaginable. We decide if we ever decide to open a home-occupation business we will come back here for ideas. Needless to say this is a road for leisure travel only, Barry is practicing his slow riding techniques and being ever so vigilant for all the drivers who are making left-hand turns across double solid lines! The Maine Turnpike, I-95, parallels the coast highway and we concede that the toll would be well worth it if we were intent on reaching a destination quickly.
We particularly enjoy the awesome new bridge over the Penobscot River at Verona and the area around Belfast. As we get closer to Camden the traffic thickens and we crawl through the town. The next town, Rockport, also has a traffic snarl and Hwy 1 winds through a number of very poorly signed one-way streets. We get all turned around and end up on the wrong highway, a harbinger of what is to come!
The further south we travel the worse the traffic gets and after we crawl through places like Wiscasset we ride the by-pass around Portland. We encounter the inevitable roadwork and are shunted onto a detour around Biddleford that not only takes us miles from Hwy 1 but then confuses us so badly we end up inland 15 miles from the coast! We’re grateful we had a great fish/shrimp lunch earlier and we’ve allowed lots of time for this sight-seeing trip.
As we approach Kittery, Marlene starts to get excited as this town is known for its expansive outlet mall. A brief glimpse is all she gets, however, as this community is a motorist’s nightmare, so crisscrossed by turnpikes, etc. that it has lost all its integrity as a community. We stop not once but twice for directions to augment our maps and still barely find our motel. Interestingly our second stop is at Kittery Town Hall where even they have no idea where our motel is and have to get out their huge detailed community maps to help us.
To make matters worse, when we finally arrive at this very poorly-signed Rodeway Inn, across the street from the new Fire Station, we wish we hadn’t found it! It should not be operating as it is undergoing renovations. In addition to being dangerous, it is the worst motel we’ve encountered on this trip and definitely a black-eye for the Choice Hotel chain. Our decision to stay reflects how defeated we’re feeling and that we’ve missed the cancellation time. A further dismay is that we have to get back on the bike and ride to find something to eat. It’s ironic how a day that began with such blue skies and promise has just left us singing the blues.