Notes From the Road

A few days before the eclipse was bound to hit New England, my friend and I discussed having open schedules and decided to spontaneously drive the several hours to rural Maine to try to reach the path of totality. First thing in the morning that Monday we loaded the car with lawn chairs and granola and made our way to Maine. Once we crossed the border and drove through Portland we decided to stop for breakfast (I was craving blueberry pancakes) at the Freeport Cafe. The food was great, but we were even more pleased with the friendly and rustic environment, and even more importantly the gregarious server who bounced around the room and made everyone he talked to laugh.

We were back on the road again after breakfast and soon after turned onto a single lane road that would lead us to our intended destination: Moose River. Along the way we passed charming small towns, farmland, white-capped mountains over lakes and rivers, and even a full stretch of road lined with colorful birdhouses. After some time we started seeing every parking lot, front yard, and turn off point filled with people. There were families grilling by the river and frat bros offering a different type of mooning, but everyone was there for a joint purpose: to see this spectacular sight. After miles of this we started to get worried that we wouldn’t find a place to park within the path of totality, but then about 10 minutes from our destination we found the perfect turnoff around a few other groups and lovely scenery. After about an hour the “show” started and we said it looked like the sun was “getting chomped” slowly. Once 3:30pm rolled around we crossed the street to get a better view and we were in darkness with just a glow of orange at the horizon. It was indescribable and there was total silence and pure awe all around us. After the sun started peeking back out again we jumped back in the car to try to beat the crowds.

After some slow and stopped traffic, which we expected on the route, we started hitting open roads again and a beautiful sunset. We reached the Freeport area again, where we ate at the Freeport Cafe (above) earlier and noticed a large lit up spinning globe off the highway. We found out it was called Eartha, which is the largest rotating globe in the world. Once we reached Mass it was smooth sailing and we continued rotating albums and singing along until we reached home.

Below are all 10 of the albums we listened to on our journey. Check them out!