Tuesday was cloudy, cool and not very satisfying, although it ended with a hilarious Comedy show at the Samoset.

I decided to go to Blue Hill instead of Bar Harbor, realizing it was not much fun driving without Kathy. Blue Hill is about 2/3 to Bar Harbor, less developed, and home to artists and writers. E.B. White first drew me there, because he wrote several books from his summer home there, including Charlotte’s Web.
The “Air Mail” box is a long-standing joke on Route One, but now he has added another high box for “bills.”


The Bucksport Bridge carries you over the Penobscot River on Route One. Disappointed that the observatory in the bridge was closed, because Kathy and I had never stopped for it before.


I stopped in the Brooklin Inn on Blue Hill peninsula for lunch. The proprietor gave me clear directions to White’s homestead, but I am not sure I found it. The photo attached might be it, but not exactly as he described it.

Had pigs’ feet in sauerkraut with borsch soup at the Brooklin Inn and talked some with Chip, the proprietor, pictured on this site:
http://brooklininn.com/
He knew a lot about wooden boats, but I was not as captivated as he. He did mention that a Chinese family of 11 stayed with him a summer ago, while they visited landmarks associated with E. B. White. She had translated his entire work into Chinese. They were allowed to sit at his work desk in the detached shack on his property, and they each had their picture taken at it. Sweet story.
Stopped in “Blue Hill Books,” where they featured local artists, including a CD “At Home” by Paul Stookey and the latest anthology (This Old Man) of New Yorker writer Roger Angell, who summers there. Angell compiled this work at 93 and still writes a blog at 95. He writes well about everything, but he won my heart writing about baseball in Spring Training. Not only that, he is the stepson of E.B. White, a fellow New Yorker scribe. His mother, Katherine Angell, was a New Yorker editor. Small world of eloquence.
Along with a new anthology of Billy Collins Aimless Love I made a respectable contribution to the local economy,
On the trip back I looked for C. S. Lewis book about his bereavement A Grief Observed, and couldn’t find it used.

Finally broke down and bought it new in Belfast.

Back at the Samoset, ended the day with a Comedy Revue, two local comedians and Rob Printz, who is from New Hampshire and some credits from Comedy Central. All three talked about kids, wives, husbands, dogs, and cats and were hilarious. I was in pain from laughter. Did not expect such quality entertainment and not single expletive, only an occasional “Bleep.”

On balance, a pretty nice day. I will travel less today and see local sights.