Monday, 20 August 2012

• "Maine"-ly photos, Part II

  I just noticed that I somehow made Part I private, which I have no idea how that happened. So anyway if you missed it here is the LINK.

  Anyway, more photos from my vacation in Middle of Nowhere, Maine.

  This first photo I simply found amusing. I often attempt to photograph license plates I find amusing, but I most often fail. This was closer to the side of success than the others, perhaps because I wasn't driving. This would make an interesting funny thing for the internets, wouldn't it? Anyone have any ideas for funny captions?
  

  

  This here building is the town hall of Bath, Maine, also known as "The City of Ships," because not only are there ships there, they used to make ships there.
  

  We didn't spend much time in Bath other than to drop in on the visitors center (and look at some maps) to use the restrooms and then have a HUGE lunch at a Chinese restaurant, but I thought the town hall was an interesting design.
  

  

  This here building thingie is the Maine Maritime Museum.
  

  I am not really hugely interested or terribly knowledgeable about ships or boats, but it was something to do.
  

  

  There were at least a couple of swords to look at.
  

  I don't remember if I read the whole story about what this sword was or who used it.

  

  This one was part of a display about the wonders of the East and stuff like that. Hence the fancy teacups.
  

  

  Here is a boat. It was the model of some something or other ship with some name. There were a bunch of these around the museum, not sure why I decided to photograph this one in particular.
  

  

  This interesting thingamabob is called a banjo clock. The helpful placard did not explain if it's actually made from a banjo, or just made to look like a banjo. They also had a few pictures of other clocks which were apparently too delicate to display.
  

  

  Here is a weather vane shaped like a boat. I think it was originally in some famous place or something. I really didn't read any of the information. I usually do when I go to museums but I suppose I was not in a museuming mood. Probably because, as mentioned, I have no interest in things that go on the water. ::shrug::
  

  

  Here is a boat that I forget what it was called...Simon or something? Anyway, you could go on it and look around, so we did, because why not?
  

  

  Here are the places where the officers slept. The curtain thingies were all different because apparently each man brought his own, and it was usually made by his wife or girlfriend or I guess his mommy if he didn't have the above.
  

  I have to say that even though this boat was as claustrophobia-inducing as other historical boat ship things I've briefly toured in the past, it was not quite as terrible as it could have been, perhaps because the below area had a higher ceiling. Oh, and also, this boat was used for fishing, not for war pirates or anything like that. 
  

  

  The captain's "cabin," which is really a desk, chair, and one of those little bunk thingies. Oh, and a door.
  

  

  Here is the mast of the ship. There were two of them, one with the Canadian flag and the other with the USA flag. It's not hard to forget how close you are to Canada. For one thing, a lot of touristy signs are in French as well as English, and for another the major highway road signs often list kilometers as well as miles. Ah, one day after I get my passport I may go to Canada. We were only about two hours away where we stayed.
  

  

  Well, that's enough of boats. Wednesday my dad was looking at the map and said, "There's a 62 foot tall Indian in Skowhegan," and so we drove off to Skowhegan. Here is a LINK because I'm so helpful.
  

  And here is the Indian himself. He's not easy to find, and I once again had to dig out my iPhone and Google the damned thing. It's not in the middle of town, it's off on a side street behind the Cumberland Farms, and we didn't even realize the Cumberland Farms was a Cumberland Farms at first because it's also a gas station.
  

  But there he is, and go Google him yourself if you want to know more about why some crazy guy made the thing. I think it might have been out of boredom.
  

  

  Then we drove back to Farmington and I bought a mug for Gail and a pair of peace-sign earrings for myself. Brother bought a model car, and Mom bought a Scrabble game with a number of letters missing (we'd not remembered to bring ours, though I did bring Clue), and that was Wednesday.
  

  Thursday it poured all day, so aside from going to the grocery store to buy lunch meat for lunch and burger meat for dinner, I didn't do anything other than read more of Game of Thrones (brief plot summary: everyone dies) and convince myself not to murder my family members. No snow to hide the bodies.
  

  Friday Dad suggested we drive up to some lakes and look around at scenery, so thus here comes more scenery photos, yippee.
  

  Firstly, Rangeley Lake. This area is called the Rangeley Lakes Region, and this one I suppose is the main one?
  

  

  

  

  Here's some flowers with a monarch butterfly. I am told the purply flowers are coneflowers and the yellowy flowers are black-eyed susans. These were outside of a public restroom we stopped at near the lake, and there were many, many butterflies.
  

  

  Here is a sign that shows where I was. The lake to the lower right is Rangeley Lake, and we followed the yellow line road up and around it. The above photos were taken on the right shore. Down near the bottom center it says "You are here" (by the yellow dot) and from there you are looking into Mooselookmeguntic Lake.
  

  Okay, okay, here is the wikipedia entry LINK and here are some of the more interesting words in case you are too lazy to click:

  "The name "Mooselookmeguntic" is an Abnaki word for "moose feeding place"; although a humorous legend states that a Native American was hunting moose in the area, and spotted one. The native had forgotten to load his rifle, but took the shot anyway. Thinking his rifle was damaged, he began yelling at the moose about his misfortune."
  

  Also,
  

  "Mooselookmeguntic Lake is ranked as the 4th longest place name in the United States."
  

  The sign, unfortunately, does not mention any of the above, in English or French. Nor did another sign which was all about Mooselookmeguntic Lake.
  

  

  This name is not only poetic, but also apt for the same location.
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

  Well, that's enough babbling for today. The third and final part of "Maine"-ly Photos will appear tomorrow, maybe.
  

   

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