notes from mainecation 3

Guys. There is truly nothing like an autumn Maine day.

Like I said before, there is a sense of joy and nostalgia that comes with the fall here. I’ve never been here in the fall. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced a fall day quite like this.

But enough about fall. Esteemed subscriber Vic Dong and I got an early start to get going on two of the most popular trails in Acadia National Park: the Precipice Trail and the Beehive trail. This would not be my first time on the Precipice Trail. The last time I was here in 2023 with the boys I cajoled everyone into hiking it and with the exception of esteemed subscriber Stephen Davis we all seemed to have a pretty good time!

This time was no different, but somewhere along the way Vic and I picked up a medical student from Texas (the state) and we got to chatting. We guided each other over the rocks, chit chatted about TV shows, and took pictures for each other. And it just kind of reminded me that if you have a nice positive attitude and a willingness to put yourself out there, good things will find you. Not trying to say that Vic and I were the good things but it was just so nice to see that positive vibes are still alive on the trails in national parks.

The Precipice Trail itself was fairly fun. Lots of rungs, hanging out over some edges, and some absolutely gorgeous south-facing views of the park. To see the sea of red and orange leaves just tumble into the ocean is something I hope everyone can experience. There were so many times where I just stopped moving on the trail just to take in the glimmer of the ocean before my not-so-subtle fear of heights took hold over me and propelled me to finish the hike.

The Beehive trail was not as successful at inspiring such fears. It’s definitely more of a friendly trail, with minimal rung work and much more flat steps. But I think there is merit in doing both — the views of the Beehive trail seem to be a bit better but there is just not as much of a sense of adventure from completing it.

We finished our day a little early and got some lobster ice cream (just butter ice cream with lobster bits inside) and some great blueberry ice cream. Honestly would skip the lobster ice cream next time because newsflash lobster is not good when it is frozen! The blueberry ice cream, though, was quite elite.

To return to one of the recurring themes of this newsletter: the lobster ranking. I initially thought it would be some sort of lobster roll ranking but the financial toll of that pursuit was starting to show. So instead we have decided to expand the ranking to all lobster-related things! And here we go.

1. Claws lobster roll. Just a great lobster roll and a good value for the money. I feel like I got as much lobster as I would have gotten from a real lobster except that it was all extracted and cut up and presented to me in a little bun. AND it came with fries. Clear winner.
2. Adel’s lobster (from yesterday). Nothing beats eating an actual lobster and it just had so much lobster and it was so fresh (steamed in seawater from the bay!). Great value here as well.
3. Highroller Co. Lobster Roll. It was definitely great, but lacking the freshness of Claws or Adel’s. I do enjoy the modern twists on it but I think the other two were just far superior experiences. Also side note fries are pretty cheap in this state!
4. Lobster Ice Cream. Out of all the lobster-related things I have been eating this is by far the worst. I could not taste any lobster and all the little bits were frozen. But like that old dude in line said: “who the hell would want to eat that!”

Dinner today did not have any lobster. As one could probably tell, we were a little lobstered out — the crustacean somehow had us firmly in the grip of its deadly pincer and we needed a way out. Leading us back to the world of land-based food was Sweet Pea’s Farm. A sort of farm-to-table deal that had a great outdoor eating space despite it being quite chilly today. Yes we had some oysters, but all the land-based food was so fresh and the pizza was admittedly pretty good. 

None of that mattered under the glorious radiance of the apple cider. We happened to be here on a day where it was on the daily special menu and thank god it was — the entire meal was pretty decent but this cider definitely elevated it to be a fun time. Also we were able to stave off the cold a bit so that helped as well.

As always, we ended the day back at the AirBnB. Took a little walk around, went back and rotted for a bit, and then finished with some good old stargazing.

That’s all for Maine. I just know that I’ll be back soon — something about this place rejuvenates me and I think it kind of shows in my writing. See you guys on the next trip — hopefully soon!