Breakfast time, and of course it was three courses! Pan-fried blueberries and peaches with mascarpone, a huge croissant, and then crab cakes with poached eggs. The food was lovely, but so rich, but the guy owner serving it looked quite disapproving when the plate of fruit wasn’t empty, so for the next two courses T and I did a bit of 'rearranging' between our plates when his back was turned, so it didn't look as though I had left everything... If they had only said what was coming I would have politely declined, but just as we thought that was it they would bring out another plate of food. If big breakfasts are your thing, you would be in heaven here!
The heavy rain beating down outside would not make for a leisurely scenic cycle along the coast. Instead we drove, thinking we would pick up the track from another spot if and when the rain subsided. After an hour, and the rain having stopped, we came across a sign to the track and parking, but on closer inspection it turned out you needed a permit to park there, and with no idea how or where to get a permit from, we drove on. The second spot we stumbled upon the route, we got out of the car to have a look, and overheard a local runner asking a dogwalker for their mosquito spray as he was getting eaten. If even a hardened local was getting munched, we would be toast!
Getting peckish mid afternoon, we looked out for local bakeries in which to buy bread or sandwich, but maybe that’s more of a European thing (and Montreal being so heavily French influenced may have distorted our expectations); every village having a bakery, so we ended up buying bread and cheese from a supermarket instead (even they were hard to find, bizarrely!). We ate our wares sat on the sand at Higgins Beach, Scarborough.
Getting peckish mid afternoon, we looked out for local bakeries in which to buy bread or sandwich, but maybe that’s more of a European thing (and Montreal being so heavily French influenced may have distorted our expectations); every village having a bakery, so we ended up buying bread and cheese from a supermarket instead (even they were hard to find, bizarrely!). We ate our wares sat on the sand at Higgins Beach, Scarborough.
We then headed further north and came across Fort Williams park and Cape Elisabeth, just south of the town of Portland. Turning into the park with no idea what to expect, we parked up and walked out to the lighthouse, Portland Head Light. It turned out to be a very successful whim, as lobster and lighthouses were on our list of things to have/see in Maine, and we were now able to bit big ticks against them both!
During our road trip we realized just how lucky we had been with our choice of town to stay. We had chosen it purely on the basis of finding a pleasant-looking hotel with a room available. As we drove on our randomly chosen route we passed through towns that reminded us of Blackpool; with motel after motel lining the road, and then casinos and amusement parks lining the beaches the pavements heaving with families. This type of place was not what we were wanting on a relaxed, laid back few days away.
The sun finally burnt through the clouds late afternoon so we headed back to the hotel and, after a miniature black bottomed cupcake (a rich chocolate cupcake with a cream cheese filling, delicious!), we cycled in the other direction to the previous day for three quarters of an hour before T finally had his surf.
The waves weren’t amazing, but after being in landlocked Montreal, he felt anything was worth a go! Whilst he surfed I went for a walk along Kennebunk beach, which looked lovely in the evening light as the sun dropped and the shadows grew longer:
I then got heckled by a female biker, so my return back to where T was surfing took record time...
We ate at the wine bar we had visited the night before, and our faith was restored in tapas style dining in North America. They remembered us so no I.D. was required, although this time we were armed and ready!