Tag Archives: Camden

The BCB.… and Camden.

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In case you hadn’t guessed our recent scenic drive up the coast wasn’t random, it had a particular destination in mind.

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The often heard of, always praised… BCB.

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It didn’t fail to impress.

The place is huge.

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As advertised… it’s a giant chicken barn with the bottom floor devoted to a multi dealer antique store and the top floor home to over 200,000 books which sounded like pure heaven to me .

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We entered the building and turned left, happily strolling in and out of treasure filled booths. Husband is obsessed with old glass water jugs, but he already had this one and reluctantly put it back.

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I saw Benjamin Franklin… complete with kite.

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And the type of vintage crank phone I’ve been wanting for the man cave/Barn Mahal… though this one was in terrible shape… so there it stayed.

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The downstairs seemed to go on forever but when we were through with the left side of the barn and returned to the middle entrance to peruse the right side, the temperature started rising. ( Husband is seen here examining a wooden egg crate, but we already have 3… so I said no ) This old building has no air conditioning and it being the middle of summer… things were starting to get downright uncomfortable. For some reason the farther right you went the hotter it got so I was basically speed walking through the stalls trying to work my way back to a cooler section.

And because I don’t need any more vintage wooden crates for my vinyl record collection?

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A veritable mountain of vintage wooden crates for my vinyl record collection.

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And this … because a big chicken barn needs a randomly placed big chicken.

I’m ashamed to report I did not have the stamina to peruse the books. I climbed the large staircase, reached the top and literally couldn’t breathe for the heat. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say the temperature rivaled the surface of the sun. Okay, maybe that’s extreme… but honestly, it was unbearable and everyone who ascended to the second floor came right back down. I wish I’d known this before we came, I would have planned a fall or winter visit.

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We took a different route home and drove through one of the prettiest coastal towns in the state, Camden.

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We thought about lunch but the downtown area was packed solid with wall to wall tourists so we just breezed on by….

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With me wanting a hobbit doorway under our porch like this one.

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😊

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Farnsworth Part 2…..

 

Continuing our stroll around the museum, we found abstract landscapes…

 

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A necklace challenged woman…

 

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And a large amount of love.

 

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The husband still had that  what the hell am I looking at  puzzled look on his face… and read all the detailed descriptions in hopes of enlightenment.

 

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And speaking of light….

 

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While I’m generally not a fan of realism, the play of light and shadows in this piece were spectacular.

 

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And now?

Behold….

 

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I found a rock!

 

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As well as a nude on a mushroom.

Bet you’ve never seen that before.

 

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Upstairs we found the Maine gallery.

 

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Which welcomed us with bloody fish guts.

I’d have preferred an apple martini, but whatever.

 

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There were Maine scenes.

 

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Including this melancholy piece of women waiting for their men to return from the sea.

 

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There was an extremely long panoramic of Main Street, Rockland in the 1800’s.

 

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Did you know it’s known as the Lobster Capitol of the World?

You do now.

 

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There was a model ship, which after those amazing examples we’d seen in Virginia…. looked like a 4 year old had built it.

 

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Btw… did you know it’s bad luck to say the word pig on a lobster boat? I’ve known fisherman who won’t even bring a ham sandwich on board…. though no one could ever tell me where that started.

 

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What does this have to do with Maine? Other than the fact it’s made with seashells, I have no idea.

I’ve certainly never seen a lobsterman wear one.

 

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I’ve also never seen one wear that.

For which I am quite thankful…..

 

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Done with the museum, I picked a restaurant on the Camden waterfront.

 

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It had a nice view.

 

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And a tasty Maine sipper.

 

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But the husband wasn’t satisfied with the small lunch menu, so we just had clam chowder….

 

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And wondered when that eagle was going to swoop down and snag a piece of fish.

Though I suggested a few other places to eat, the husband opted for Chinese take out…

 

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Which was disappointing, again. It seems no matter how many places we try, they’re always awful.

My shrimp lo mien? Tasted like soap.

The beef and broccoli? Like they used Alpo for sauce.

Blech!

Head for the coast…

 

When it’s hot in Maine? You head for the coast where the sea breeze cools the temperatures considerably.

So that’s what we did on the July 4th weekend.

We battled the tourist traffic on Route 1 and headed north with a cool and calm demeanor.

 

 

Seriously….. there’s a reason we call you people Massholes. You’re not going to find a barista on every corner in this state, please go back to Boston.

Boothbay Harbor was packed, so we kept going.

 

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Through downtown Rockland where they clearly wanted us to eat something. Hopefully not the building itself.

 

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And through downtown Camden where the cows are always smiling.

 

 

Camden is a gorgeous harbor town with lovely old homes lining both sides of the main street.

 

 

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This one always catches my eye…

 

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Not your typical New Englander to be sure.

 

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We wanted to stop for a drink and a bite in Lincolnville….

 

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But sadly the Whale’s Tooth Pub didn’t open till 4:00pm.

 

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So we ended up in Belfast, down by the harbor.

 

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Which is always a good choice.

To be continued…