Over Night to the more Frozen North

 I think DH was getting a bit of cabin fever.  He suggested an overnight trip to Bangor, Maine for no particular reason.  Of course I said yes.  Especially when I realized that we could stop at the world famous LLBean store in Freeport on the way.  (I have happy memories of taking my hildren to what was one of the only TWO Bass Pro Shop stores in Springfield, Mo back in the 80's, and I figured it would be similar.

The first thing that fascinated me once inside was an enormous "watch works" that ran a clock in a bell tower.  The pendulum was swinging in the leisurely way that they do.  I never heard the bell ring, though.

There were souvenirs near an entry way, for those who didn't want to get lost among the bows, guns and boots.  I rather liked the assotrment of balsam pillows.  There were others with wild Maine blueberry images.

The exterior facade.

View from the parking lot.

This must be where telephone poles come from, too.

We didn't see any bears.

Painterly views of Freeport.

Painterly views of Freeport.
I'm pretty sure the operator of this lift vehicle was NOT wearing Tommy Hilfiger, like the sign says!

Cricket Hunting might be as good a first activity as any!

We saw lots of B&B's on main street, although coffee outside was too chilly for us.

Evergreens and birches by the side of the road on the way north, near Brunswick.

Hallowell had a brew-pub called the Liberal Cup that got good ratings on Yelp.
We were glad we stopped.

My husband with a carved bear near a book store.  Regrettably (at least from our point of view) the "Books" sign referred to a store that only sold occult/fortune-telling related items.

Chained flourishes.

Regulars at the Liberal Cup seemed to have their own mugs.  I like my beer in glass... so being an "irregular" was fine with me.

We could see the brewmaster from our lunch table.

Beer tray advertisements.

The Kennebeck River was one of the few that seemed well and thoroughly frozen!  And lumpy.