June 9th, Saturday – Back to Seal Cove Auto Museum, YU’s Take Out, J.M. Gerrish Ice Cream

For the last several days our theme song has been When I’m stuck with a day
that’s gray, And lonely, I just stick out my chin and grin, and say, Oh, The sun’ll come out Tomorrow. So ya gotta hang on ‘Til tomorrow come what may. Tomorrow, tomorrow
I love ya tomorrow.  Tomorrow came today with a beautiful blue sky, a gentle wind, and a bright sunny sky.  Yippee!

No keeping us in today.  We had places to go, stamps to collect, new things to be discovered, and hopefully we’d meet some interesting people along the way.  Well, that’s exactly how the day turned out.  Since we were up early and really didn’t want to bother with breakfast, we made a quick pit stop at McDonalds.  Would have much preferred a local eatery but time wasn’t on our side.  So, we settled for second best.

First things first, we were off, of in search of more stamps for Barbara’s National Passport Book.  We had two stops in particular that we needed to make, that being the Thompson Island Visitor Center and the Seawall Campground both part of Acadia.

We got both stamps.  Seawall Campground is really not our kind of spot.  No hookups whatsoever.  But it is nevertheless a popular spot for many.  While there we met two very nice and very helpful park rangers.  We talked about the park for a few minutes, they helped us with some directions we needed and then we were back on the road.

We revisited the Seal Cove Auto Museum since today was designated Coffee and Steamers (as in Stanley Steamers) Day.  They were offering rides on the 1914 Stanley Steamer Mountain Wagon, if they could get it lit, and if it had brakes.   Both were in question.

Unfortunately, they were never able to get it fired up.  I was able to talk with the

volunteer mechanics and they believe the jets that provide fuel for the main boiler had become gummed up again.  Darn, I was really hoping to get a ride in it.

They also had what I call the community car outside (remember they were working on it a couple of days ago because it had no compression on cylinder #1) but it too was not

going anywhere.  They were never able to get the issue with cylinder #1 sorted out so it was only running on three cylinders and thus not fit to take out for a ride either.  Oh, well, maybe another time.

No rides, so what to do while there?  Of course, take more pictures of the cars I missed the first time.  So here we go.  The first is a 1912 Crane which was considered the most expensive car in America.  A basic chassis went for a staggering $8,000!  It was built in small numbers until 1914.

This is 1912 Thomas, which simply could not compete with the mass produced Ford Model T, went out of business very quickly.

A 1909 Duryea

The 1886 Benz is recognized as the foundation of the automobile, the first self-propelled, four-stroke internal combustion engine powered, self-contained motor car.  It was the inventor’s wife, Bertha, who proved the worth of his invention.  She took their sons to visit her parents some fifty miles from their home.  The trip took her all day but her success brought her husband Karl’s car to the attention of the general public.

 

This time I was able to also get a picture of a display of early Indian Motorcycles.

 

Once finished at this museum, we were off in search of the Maine Granite Museum.  But there is much, too much to share regarding this museum so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

But we’re not finished yet.  On the way home, we decided to get a bite to eat.  We had heard about an eatery called Yu’s Take Out.

They had a big menu board out front.

Some interesting lawn decorations.

Regarding the food?  They had both Chinese takeout and their specialty which was lobster or crab meat rolls.  I decided it was time to try the latter.

Yes, the crab meat roll was delicious.  As good as lobster?  Maybe.  Each is different and each has a unique flavor.  I’d have one again in a heartbeat.

One more stop to make.  In Winter Harbor, there is an ice cream parlor we’ve had our eye on for some time called J.M. Gerrish.

They had an old-fashioned ice cream counter and an old-fashioned shake machine

They also sold Gifford’s Ice Cream.  Never heard of it?  Neither had I but I discovered it is as famous as Ben and Jerry’s here in Maine.

The story of Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream goes back to the 1800s, when an industrious young man named Nathaniel Main from Pawcatuck, Connecticut, started a home delivery milk and ice cream business from the back of his horse-drawn wagon. Fifteen years later, Nathaniel’s oldest son, Chester, got involved in the family business. Eventually, Chester’s daughter, Audrey, married her college sweetheart Randall Gifford and together they forged a splendid path that led to Skowhegan, Maine, and to the birth of Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream.

The family began creating small batches of creamy ice cream using Audrey’s parents’ recipes for strawberry, peach, wild blueberry, and coffee. The first seasonal ice cream stand was opened in Skowhegan, followed by another in Farmington. Eventually, Randall and Audrey sold the milk portion of the dairy business to Oakhurst Dairy. Their sons Roger and John took over the ice cream portion of the business and transformed the milk plant into a world-class ice cream factory.

Today, Gifford’s sells 1.7 million gallons of ice cream each year and serves more than one million cones each summer from five family owned and operated stands. The company offers 100 unique ice cream flavors, frozen yogurt, sherbet, and sorbet. The ice cream can be found in grocery stores, independent ice cream shops, colleges, universities and restaurants all the way from Maine to the Mid Atlantic, to the Mid-West and as far West as Nevada.

While eating our ice cream Sundays a steal at $6 for two we got to talking with the two

servers behind the counter.  Yes, they said, business is slow right now, but give it another two weeks and they will be serving about 300 customers a day!  June 15^th when the kids get out of school is, they stated, when things really begin to get crazy.  That will continue right through Labor Day.

We’re now at the end of our day.  A rather short one by our standards, only about 7 hours and just over 100 miles.  It was a full day, a day full of adventure, of new discoveries, of new places, and new acquaintances.  Barbara asked me on the way home, So have you finally had you fill of fish and lobster for the time being?  I guess so.  At least for the next day or two, OK, maybe three or four!  Once again it was our kind of day, traveling along, singing our song, side by side.  We hope you also had a chance to do something you’ve been wanting to do for some time.  If not, why not?  Get out and enjoy the life that God has given you, make the most of each day, make the time to live your dream.  Now in closing a thought for each of us:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before