Ellsworth ME Bob Marley instate mini vacation run to the coast.
When you live in Maine, you are very spoiled. The long trip to get here and return from whence you began is gone. Yes, Maine is still one tall and wide state to navigate. But being a native sure shaves a lot of travel time off the trip to Maine vacation of any length adventure. This blog post about a quick and easy weekend jaunt to Ellsworth Maine in Hancock County. Ellsworth Maine is the county seat, population last head count over 7791 friendly souls.
What do I know about Ellsworth Maine?
The radio station I worked at fourteen in my hometown of Houlton Maine used to get its Red Sox and CBS new radio feed from WDEA in Ellsworth. When I worked at WABI in Bangor in college, I learned that the stations newscaster Patsy Wiggins’s family owned the Ellsworth American newspaper in Ellsworth. And other than traveling down RT 1A through Ellsworth on the way to Bar Harbor Maine, that was about the extent of my knowledge. Remember Maine has a handful of cities, and over 400 small towns to keep track of whether you live here in state or not.
Anything else known about Ellsworth Maine?
Just that Lucerne and Green Lakes get passed on the way from Bangor to Ellsworth. And remember an Oak Concert held in some gravel pit around those parts during college. We collected another empties to haul them into Ellsworth Maine to trade them in for one heck of a grilled steak supper on one camp out weekend. Taking in Oak, a hometown band in Maine on their way up.. for a while with Rick Pinette the lead crooner.
Oak’s hit “King of the Hill” reached 36 on the Billboard hot 100 record charts.
Bill Chinnock, Cherry Opera, Bootleg, Dick Curliss… lots of other great local Maine bands to cover in future Me In Maine blog posts, stay tuned. Anything Maine is fair game to blog about and share.
This trip to Ellsworth Maine to see comedian Bob Marley who sold out The Grand Theatre on Main Street.
The final stint of back to back stand up comedy shows in Ellsworth. Packing them in to the Grand Theatre wall to wall before high tailing it to Florida to do more of the same but changing into a short sleeve shirt.
The warm up comedian I totally missed his name.
His jokes centered around living in Worcester and being a janitor, I mean custodian. He looked like Mark Walberg, a little. He was good but Bob Marley was great.
When you live in Maine, the humor centered around the day to day in state ordinary events from where you hail are the funniest.
Bob Marley hit the highlights of what his family that puts the fun in dysfunction is up to these days. For 90 minutes he covered lots of topics and without dropping the F bomb. Good clean fun and we hit the middle show late afternoon at The Grand in Ellsworth.
Especially enjoyed his bit about driving on the Interstate during a snow storm. Things don’t stop with a few flakes of the white stuff falling around you when going from point A to B in Maine during the winter.
Bob shared the feeling of being out front, number one when ahead of the pack driving slower but steady she goes on the Interstate.
Maneuvering around plow trucks with big wings and flashing lights leading the charge. Traffic backed up behind you until someone pulls out to pass and attempt to take over the lead. The feeling when they pass of secretly hoping they go off the road.
The humor would be totally lost on someone who never adapted their driving to adjust to winter snow covered a Maine highway. Cousin Wayne, the Aunt on a tank who spends winters in Cape Coral Florida. They are all funny. New bits and nothing recycled or allowed to go stale. Comic Bob Marley is at the top of his game making folks laugh and feel good inside.
Here is a video clip of Bob Marley, the comedian, not the guy who sang reggae oh so well.
The Maine mini instate vacation weekend getaway included a neat breakfast the next morning at Martha’s Diner.
This place is one of a kind dishing out the best local food breakfast for miles around. Locked in the late 1950’s, early 1960’s, the malt shop like setting buzzing with locals in and out hungry to kick off their day. I asked one waitress if she was Martha. No, Martha is enjoying her day off today, I’m Paula.
We got to meet Peter, Martha’s other half who made the crab quiche that Meg said was scrumptious.
Maine lobster, clams, even mussel seem to hog all the menu time press and what about crab? Maine has local crabs. The good kind you eat. I had heard of green crab before and it seems they were a nuisance to fisherman. Invading traps of something else and seemingly of no value my first impressions. But Maine does have crabs that are stellar to consider dining on when it’s meal time. We talked with Peter who baked the crab quiche when settling up after the meal at Martha’s Diner. Peter told us crab comes in two speeds.. peekytoe or rock crab and Jonah crab.
Peter told us Jonah crabs are a tad bigger and reddish with large black tipped claws.
Maine crabs. They are found in deeper Maine coastal water.
He’s what I learned about green crab… seeking out to see if they were only good to bait other fish like lobsters that get all the oohs and aahhs when you tie on the bib and reach for the crackers and pick. It seems from what I read that green crabs are not so big but can be boiled, dined on like Atlantic blue crab. But you have to keep them parked in water for a few days to get rid of the pollutants. Then it’s take a swim in a steaming pot of water time, extract the meat and dine on them like you would clams.
Have you noticed any blog post about the Maine coast involved seafood to some degree?
Heavy on the Maine lighthouses too. Because growing up in Aroostook County, that coastal scenery was not the every day back drop although there were lots of family vacations to the Camden Maine area.
Quick trip to Ellsworth Maine for a Bob Marley comedy show this past weekend.
Where I go and what I see is what most of the Me in Maine blog posts are all about to share the state so loved by many. Shoulder seasons are in my opinion the best time to visit the tourist attractions in Maine. The off season visits to the places you love to tour in the summer have less of a tourist crowd. Not shared with so many and you get way way more elbow room. The local business owners and natives are more laid back, friendlier when all the tourist crowds thin out and head home. Hope your New Year is underway in good shape and on course for all those resolutions you struggle to implement.