Back at the Hotel. Alfresco Dinner.
Jun. 28th, 2021 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerMaine Week Travelog #31
Bethel, ME - Sunday, 20 Jun 2021, 8pm.
We wrapped up the hiking portion of the day today after Cataract Falls. We thought about pushing on to hike Angel Falls an hour further away but decided that we were already spent. It had been a full day. We'd hiked 5 trails (I only blogged about 4 because one was spur-of-the-moment and turned out to be a bust) and seen at least 8 different waterfalls.
As we rolled back in to Bethel and started looking for dinner it because obvious that calling it a day was the right choice. We were so tired and stiff from all the hiking. BTW, here's the lodge we've been staying at for two days in Bethel, Maine:
![A small, low-key lodge in Bethel, Maine [Jun 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/746762/746762_original.jpg "A small, low-key lodge in Bethel, Maine [Jun 2021]")
We're on the second floor. The room is small and dimly lit so not a great place to do anything other than lie down in bed. As the weather's nice and days are so long now at nearly the summer solstice our natural inclination is to spend time outdoors anyway. I spent an hour or so yesterday evening on the shared porch (I dragged a chair out from the room so I'd have someplace to sit) and also ate my breakfast out there this morning. It's nice outside.
As the lodge is small and basic we were looking for a restaurant to sit down at. Unfortunately most restaurants in Bethel are offering take-out service only right now. It seems to be a combination of lingering concerns about Coronavirus (Maine has a lot of pandemic deniers and hence had a relatively high rate of infections until just recently) and trouble hiring enough staff. Sure, the restaurant we ate at last night was offering eat-in service, but we didn't want to go back to that racist clown show. So instead we got take-out food from an Italian restaurant where the staff is rude to all customers equally. Frankly, order food from a brusque woman at the counter is way less insulting than being stared at and pointed at by people who refuse to serve us.
Anyway, we had food in hand, but the question was where to eat it. The small Italian restaurant had a few picnic tables outside. "If we're going to eat outside anyway," I suggested, "How about we just go back to the hotel where we can also wash up and relax?"
That left the question of where to sit as the room was so small, but I already had a plan for that.
![Alfresco dining on the shared porch [Jun 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/747080/747080_original.jpg "Alfresco dining on the shared porch [Jun 2021]")
We dragged the room's small table and chairs out to the porch, setting up an impromptu bistro next to our room. The food was good, the drinks were cheap (tea and beer at supermarket prices, not restaurant prices), and the ambience was.... well, relaxing. Just a view across the lawn to mountains in the distance with not another person in sight.
Bethel, ME - Sunday, 20 Jun 2021, 8pm.
We wrapped up the hiking portion of the day today after Cataract Falls. We thought about pushing on to hike Angel Falls an hour further away but decided that we were already spent. It had been a full day. We'd hiked 5 trails (I only blogged about 4 because one was spur-of-the-moment and turned out to be a bust) and seen at least 8 different waterfalls.
As we rolled back in to Bethel and started looking for dinner it because obvious that calling it a day was the right choice. We were so tired and stiff from all the hiking. BTW, here's the lodge we've been staying at for two days in Bethel, Maine:
We're on the second floor. The room is small and dimly lit so not a great place to do anything other than lie down in bed. As the weather's nice and days are so long now at nearly the summer solstice our natural inclination is to spend time outdoors anyway. I spent an hour or so yesterday evening on the shared porch (I dragged a chair out from the room so I'd have someplace to sit) and also ate my breakfast out there this morning. It's nice outside.
As the lodge is small and basic we were looking for a restaurant to sit down at. Unfortunately most restaurants in Bethel are offering take-out service only right now. It seems to be a combination of lingering concerns about Coronavirus (Maine has a lot of pandemic deniers and hence had a relatively high rate of infections until just recently) and trouble hiring enough staff. Sure, the restaurant we ate at last night was offering eat-in service, but we didn't want to go back to that racist clown show. So instead we got take-out food from an Italian restaurant where the staff is rude to all customers equally. Frankly, order food from a brusque woman at the counter is way less insulting than being stared at and pointed at by people who refuse to serve us.
Anyway, we had food in hand, but the question was where to eat it. The small Italian restaurant had a few picnic tables outside. "If we're going to eat outside anyway," I suggested, "How about we just go back to the hotel where we can also wash up and relax?"
That left the question of where to sit as the room was so small, but I already had a plan for that.
We dragged the room's small table and chairs out to the porch, setting up an impromptu bistro next to our room. The food was good, the drinks were cheap (tea and beer at supermarket prices, not restaurant prices), and the ambience was.... well, relaxing. Just a view across the lawn to mountains in the distance with not another person in sight.
