Growing up as an inspired young writer, Stephen King was always the one whose work I was most drawn to. So, when I was planning ahead for this trip and I knew the easternmost part of my travels would be Maine, I knew I was going to have to make sure I attempted to get to King’s home.
Before I was able to make that happen, however, that day started exiting Boston (or Chelsea, to be more exact). My first stop was going to be Salem, which is home to the House of Seven Gables and the famed Salem Witch House. I was told by a bartender while in Boston that there were many myths about the witch trials and where they actually happened, but his words sounded more like a conspiracy theory and the truth is the trials happened in a nearby city (Danvers) that at the time had been known as Salem Village. So, maybe he was partly right.
Having read that the tours were overrated, I chose to just get pics of the house exteriors. The rush hour traffic I had to go through to get into and out of Salem was worse than I had prepared for, so time was already my foe on this day. As quickly as I was able on this early Monday morning, I drove to Kittery, Maine, with the intention of doing a little shopping. Little did I know that most of the shops were either closed for the day or hadn’t opened yet. So, it was off to Portsmouth (I’m not much of a shopper anyway), and a fantastic view of the Atlantic Ocean.
I finally took some time to walk around and allow all of my senses (minus taste, since lunch was scheduled for later) to take in all that Great Island Common had to offer on what turned out to be a really nice late September day. This was where I was able to view my first lighthouses of the day, but not my last.
Traveling up the coast in Maine offered up some incredible views and as I discovered, delicious lobster rolls. I checked out the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and the Marshall Point Lighthouse (yeah, the one from “Forrest Gump”) before leaving the coast and heading inland to Bangor.
After checking out a couple of sites referenced in past King books (Paul Bunyan Statue, WKIT sign), I drove to the day’s primary destination. A fence that wasn’t particularly imposing surrounded the property, which was significantly smaller than one might have expected. A few items that aligned with what might expect from King were a part of the fence design, but his home otherwise gave off the appearance of any other home. I had been forewarned that King wasn’t particularly social with tourists seeking out his residence and that while pics were allowed, it would be wise to keep it at that.
Having taken my pics (the Paul Bunyan statue is really cool) in Bangor, I had a nice dinner that night before preparing for the next day of the trip - off to New Hampshire, Vermont and back into the Empire State as I continued to head south and west en route to the next stop.
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