Grassy Field Behind VW Dealer, Saco, ME
After an absolutely delightful time with Kristy and Leon, we finally rolled out the door and were on our way to explore the Maine coast. I had visions of fishing boats, lobster traps, light houses and wild waves dancing in my head. We got about 30 miles up the road when the generator light went on. (uh-oh) Fortunately we were just driving by a VW dealer and decided to pull in and have Winnie checked out. The first person we spoke with said they were booked up for 3 days and couldn't possibly fit us in. A young man, Coltan, waved us over, listened to our sob story and said he'd find someone to check it out within the next couple of hours. Coltan - our man! He also saw the bikes on the back of Winnie and suggested we might like to take a spin on the Eastern Rail Trail rather than just hang out at the dealer, AND - he even knew about a local seafood shack next to the trail. I think this is one of those situations where you can aptly say it was making lemon-aid out of lemons. Ned and I got in a beautiful 12 mile or so bike ride, had a lobster roll and headed back to our man Coltan.
The good news, yes they diagnosed the problem. The bad news, Winnie needs a new alternator, which wouldn't come in until...tomorrow. Hmmm. Coltan, once again came to the rescue. He gave us a loaner car for the day and recommended some places close by to explore. Coltan also said he could help us out by letting us "camp-out" behind the dealership, in a grassy area, where they park their overflow new cars.
SWEET! Jumping in our new swanky Passat, we used this opportunity to get some laundry done and took a drive to the nearby tourist attraction, Old Orchard Beach.
Old Orchard Beach felt more like the New Jersey coast rather than the typical Maine coast. It was complete with boardwalk, roller coaster and carnival rides, ice cream shops and tattoo parlors. Believe it or not, Old Orchard Beach has been promoted as a tourist destination since 1631!! It was originally promoted as the "Garden By the Sea." The boardwalk and amusement park dates back to 1898 and is one of the last "old-timey" oceanside amusement parks in New England. Normally, we wouldn't have stopped for this type of entertainment, but I must admit it was a lot of fun to do the whole boardwalk thing. Actually, what we enjoyed the most was checking out all the tacky tourist shops and getting a laugh out of the trinkets. (Lobster snow-globes anyone?) Also, the mannequins in the store windows hawking women's bikinis are quite risqué. These are the most well-endowed mannequins I've ever seen.
The day was pleasant in the low 70's, but certainly not swimming in the ocean weather to me. I guess after the brutal winter these Maine folks had they couldn't wait to celebrate summer. There were tons of teenagers in bikinis running around and a couple of brave souls swimming in the ocean.
Upon returning to the dealership several of the mechanics working there gave us a cheer and good-naturedly teased us about camping at the dealership. "Hey, let's see if we can get a bonfire going tonight" and "Maybe we can hook up a band for you guys!". I told them that s'mores were on us tonight and come on by later. These Maine folks are just so darn nice! This is also the most fun I've ever had with a car issue.
We are "camped" right across the street from a movie theatre so we decided to take in a show. We saw, "Million Dollar Arm" and laughed and cried and thoroughly enjoyed it. I know Mom would have loved this movie and I felt her next to me watching along.
As we came out of the theatre, crossing Route 1, and walking into the car dealership parking lot, we both chuckled at our home sweet home for the night. It wasn't the day I envisioned, it's gonna cost us a pretty penny to get Winnie back in shape, but it was still a really great day. We were treated with incredible kindness by strangers, we went on a bike ride, had a good laugh at the movies and now are snuggled safely in bed for the night, right next to several dozen shiny new 2015 Passats. Plan B's can be pretty good too...
