A Meh Day

Today was one of the rare meh days here on Quantabacook. You wake up after a restless night of fitful sleep. It’s humid outside and a bit warm, almost sticky. Yes, I’m aware that practically everywhere else in America you have it much worse than we do, still the weather forecast was calling for upper 80’s with humidity. We have been spoiled by decidedly lower humidity as well as lower temperatures. Both Pam and I were out of sorts. We put very little thought into our adhoc plan to get some breakfast at Fraternity Village. After eggs and bacon we decided to drive into Camden to see if I could pick up some cheap fishing gear at Reny’s. No such luck. Instead, I found some ridiculously overpriced fishing gear at Maine Sport. Serves me right for hooking more limbs than fish of late. Anyway, as we were walking to the parking lot Pam says to me, “Let’s go to Camden Hills State Park and walk on the Shore Trail.”

It is one of our favorite and most beloved spots in the Mid-Coast area. In fact, a scene from my second novel, Saving Jack, takes place there. Like so many other spots around here it is filled with magic. We arrived at 11:00 and had the place literally to ourselves.

From the parking lot you enter into thick woods of towering pines. There is a stairway made from rocks and pine needles that you follow. In the distance you can hear the ocean and each step you take, the briny air from it becomes more dominant. Eventually through a break in the trees you see Penobscot Bay…

The first thing we noticed was the cooler temperatures the closer we got to the water. There was a great mixing and swirling of the winds above us, a fresh breeze from the direction of Mt. Battie with the powerful winds from the bay. Then we made our way down the great stone steps to the rocks below. They call the town of Camden, Where the Mountains Meet the Sea. The only other place where this happens on the Atlantic Ocean is in South America. It is quite a sight to see, especially when you’re having a meh day. 

I took the following picture once I had climbed down the rocks to the place where the waves were crashing. When I turned around I saw Pam sitting on a rock. The enormity of this place makes you feel so small…

Its hard to describe the sensation that comes over you the first time you break through those trees and see the sparkling blue waters of the bay, the massive rocks and the waves crashing against them when just a few minutes before you were walking through a forest. So, what was Pam looking at?

We sat down together on that rock. After a while I laid back and closed my eyes. After thirty minutes neither of us were ready to leave but we managed to get to our feet and head back to camp. On the way back through Camden we stopped to buy slices of Raspberry and Blueberry pie from the Camden Deli, then a bit further down the road, some sandwiches from the 207 Eats food truck.

So much for a meh day.