RonnieAdventure #0106 - Maine, 2014 Part III

I was hoping that my second trip to Bangor would turn out better than the first one. When I was in the Air Force stationed at Goose Bay, Labrador, I had some time off so I decided to catch a “hop” (flying without Orders) to New York City. (Actually, we would fly into Harmon AFB quite often and then catch the bus into New York City.) Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding a “hop” back to Labrador. I typically didn’t like to fly on MATS (Military Air Transport Service) planes, but a MATS flight was the only thing that I could find going north to Labrador that evening. I was told that there was one open seat on the plane, but the problem was that the flight had to make two stops – one in Bangor and one in Newfoundland. The risk of catching a “hop” on a MATS plane is that anyone traveling with orders has priority over “hop” passengers and you can get bumped off the plane. I decided that the probability of anyone getting on a flight going north in either Bangor or Newfoundland was remote, so I decided to take the chance. Bad choice! In Bangor someone with Orders wanted to get on the flight, so I was going to lose my seat. Fortunately, the pilot let someone ride in the cockpit jumpseat, so we were soon on our way - only to run into a terrible rainstorm before we had to land in Newfoundland. I had flown in and out of Newfoundland a number of times, so I was surprised when the plane came in high on our final approach. I really started getting nervous when the end of the runway went by and we were still about 100+ feet in the air. Soon the 1,000 foot market went by, then the 2,000 foot marker! About the time we were at the 3,000 foot marker the plane hit hard on the right wheels, then hard on the left wheels, followed by a hard impact to the nose wheel, and then full brakes. When we stopped, personal items were scattered down all of the aisles and the plane was at the end of the runway just a short distance from the ocean. That increased my heart rate and created a RonnieAdventure that I'll never forget!

 

When we arrived in Bangor this time, I found that Dow Air Force Base had been turned over to the City and was now Bangor International Airport. Located in downtown Bangor was a life-size statue of Paul Bunyan, but apparently he forgot his blue ox. There were also lots of lilacs and other flowers in bloom throughout the city and surrounding area.  

 

While we were in Bangor I wanted to stop at the Cole Land Transportation Museum (a must for all transportation enthusiasts), which has something for everyone’s interest. The museum is easy to find because it abuts the only full-clover-leaf interchange in all of Maine. The Maine State World War II Veterans Memorial is also located on the same grounds and there is a dedicated area in the Museum that honors all veterans.

  

 

Stephen King called Bangor his home, so many of his books take place in Bangor, or the surrounding communities; thus, Bangor’s nickname “Transylmaina.” I’m not a Stephen King fan, so I didn’t try to find any of the places mentioned in his writings. I understand, however, that the Bangor Garden Cemetery is actually quite beautiful.

 

The Maine Forest & Logging Museum at Leonard’s Mills is a living history museum commemorating the logging industry in Maine, and a popular destination for school trips. School children are given hands-on experiences by people dressed in period clothing, so that the children can learn what it was like to live in a sawmill community. It was interesting to watch the old water-powered sawmill at work, but the fish ladders were the main attraction for the kids. This was the first time since the late 1700s that the Alewives (a type of river herring) had run this far up the stream and the school kids were able to catch fish with their bare hands!

 

 

 

 Milo is a quaint little community that just seemed to have a lot of character. After eating ice cream at one of the Main Street shops, we walked around town looking at the old buildings and enjoyed the view of a small stream as it cascaded over a dam that was constructed in 1823 to power a sawmill.

 

We missed the annual hot air balloon festival in Dover-Foxcroft by one day, so I had to settle for taking pictures of the town square Civil War monument. After the Civil War there must have been a really great monument salesman in the area because for the rest of the trip we saw the same Civil War monument in numerous other communities.  

 

 Not too far from Dover-Foxcroft is Lowe’s Covered Bridge. The bridge was originally constructed in 1857, but it was damaged by a flood on April 1, 1987 and the rebuilt in 1990, patterned after the original bridge. The bridge has a clear span of 120 feet as it crosses the Piscataquis River. 

 

 Historically, Skowhegan Falls were a favorite salmon fishing area for the Abenaki Indians, but the Falls are now under the lake formed by Weston Dam.  

 

 The Ticonic Footbridge, typically called the “Two-Cent Bridge,” is a suspension bridge that traverses the Kennebec River and connects Winslow and Waterville. The bridge is one of the oldest surviving wire-cable steel suspension bridges and it is also considered to be the last known extant toll footbridge in the United States. The original toll was one cent, but a flood destroyed the original bridge, so after the bridge was rebuilt in 1903, the toll crossing increased to two cents. Thus, the name “Two Cent Bridge.” In 1960 the toll was abolished altogether and the bridge owners donated the bridge to the City of Waterville. 

Did I mention that they have quilt shops in Maine? However, the women that run the shops are smarter than most places - they have a "Husband's Bench" by the front door. They even keep a shovel by the bench, so that when husbands get bored they can go dig in the garden for a while.