Ellsworth, Maine Meetup – September 2014

A couple of LTers have decided to meet in real life – destination Maine. If you’re a LibraryThing Mainer or an LTer on vacation in Maine (like me!), we’d love to have you join us. Date yet to be determined, but will be sometime during September 7-12. Meetup location: Scottie’s Book House, Ellsworth/Hancock, Maine. (35,000 used books!)

Scottie's Book House.

Ooh. Cool.

Scottie's is terrific. Probably can't be there in September, but have fun downeast!

I haven't been up that way in several years, but I just might go up this season (from the Philadelphia PA area). And since my interest is photography, just-after-Labor-Day is ideal for me, when there are fewer tourists who have to be airbrushed and the lodgings are less expensive.

Its a very lovely time of year for sure! I plan to be there. Its only about an hour and a half drive for me coming from Pembroke, Maine.

My sister is frequently in Georgetown, Maine, in September, so maybe there is a possibility -- about 2⅓ hours away.

Just checking in. What's the status? My church's office manager is going to be doing the third-quarter schedule for assignments (greeter, liturgist, etc.) at services pretty soon, and I want to tell her what Sundays to block me out from.

Since I'll be coming from the Philadelphia area, I plan to spend a good deal of time up north. I think I'll stop by Amherst for Emily Dickinson since I always do my driving to Maine on the Thruway and then back on MassPike to 95 to avoid the Chris Christie Bridge.

Since I'm flexible, I'll be doing some scheduling around the meet-up day.

The weekend of Sept 6-7 would work for me, but Sept 14-15 will not.

I'm so sorry! I haven't checked this thread in awhile, and it looks like Cobscook hasn't, either. I'll send her a message. The weekend of Sept 6-7 would probably work better for me, too vpfulke. But we'll be driving in from 1,900 miles away and I don't know that I can schedule decently enough on the Saturday that we get into Maine to set up a Saturday meeting time. Would anyone have a problem with doing a meet-up on a Sunday?

I'm pretty flexible. The more advance notice I have, though, the better.

Nuts. They're not open on Sundays. I need to look at my trip itinerary and see what I can figure. I'll get back to you next week.

Sorry I started a new job and have been MIA from LT lately. The weekend of Sept 6-7 works for me. The other place in the area that is cool for used books is the Chicken Barn on US Route 1 between Ellsworth and Bucksport. They don't have a cafe or anything like that, but the whole top floor of the old chicken house is used books!

Thanks for the info Cobscook. I called them and the Chicken Barn IS open on Sundays.

*** OPTION 1 ***
Sunday, September 7, 2014:
The Chicken Barn
1768 Bucksport Road, Ellsworth, ME 04605
(207) 667-7308
September hours for weekends are 10a-6p both Saturday and Sunday.

This one works best for me, as we will have arrived at our vacation cottage the night before. Any time that works for others is fine with me; I can have full participation on Sunday.

*** OPTION 2 ***
Saturday, September 6, 2014:
Scottie's Book House
(207) 667-6834
209 US Highway 1, Hancock, ME 04640
Tuesday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

This one does not work well for me, as I will still be en route with 3 other travelers and unsure of our exact arrival time in the area. It's possible that I might be able to make it for 30 minutes or so around 1 or 2:00pm. Vote ‘Yes’ if you prefer to meet-up on Sunday at The Chicken Barn.
Vote ‘No’ if you prefer to meet-up on Saturday at Scottie’s Book House.


*** ITINERARY ***
On other meet-ups that I've joined, folks met about 10, shopping and visiting as they went around the store, then broke for lunch together at a restaurant nearby. Some go back for more shopping. Would that kind of a loose itinerary work for you all? If not, please state what times would work better, so we can accommodate as many as possible. Thank you!

Oh rats. I'm in Maine now but won't be then. Have a great time!

I'll be coming up from Philadelphia. I can be quite flexible. I've pretty much cleared my calendar for September. My plans are for photography at some locales I've never visited before in Maine (I've done substantial photography in years past in Portland and Acadia) and also into the New Hampshire White Mountains, then to swing back southward to Philadelphia by MassPike west to take in the Emily Dickinson House in Amherst. I may do some other driving around while I'm up there, because I go in for the cheapest motel I can find and then branch out.

Personally, if it's a Sunday meet-up, I would kind of prefer getting together a bit later in the day. The Sunday service at Blue Hill Congregational is at 10am; and for many UCC congregations (like my own in Philadelphia) the first Sunday is communion Sunday, which means service could run a little longer. I'd like to hang out a bit at post-service coffee hour and talk to the folks, because Blue Hill Congregational is associated with the Jonathan Fisher House, regarding whom Mary Ellen Chase (a favorite of mine) wrote a biography. From MapQuest, it looks like the Chicken Barn is about a thirty-minute drive from the Church.

My own itinerary is extremely flexible, but it looks like the Jonathan Fisher House will be open on Friday and Saturday afternoons, so visiting there on Friday or Saturday and then stopping into Blue Hill Congregational for Sunday service lets me maximize my time in Blue Hill. My other interest this time around is the Maine Maritime Museum (with its lighthouse cruises), which I've never been on in years past.

Is there a specific reason we're shooting for Saturday or Sunday? As opposed, that is, to Monday? It's just that, for Sunday, I'd really like to get to Blue Hill Congregational, which means I might not get to the Chicken Barn until some time into the early afternoon.

Anyway, I voted "undecided" in the poll because I probably have more flexibility than others do. My only thing is, I'd rather not have a Chicken Barn meet-up one Sunday, then come back into that near neighborhood the following Sunday for services at Blue Hill Congregational. But what the heck, maybe I can do two separate Sundays by spending the mid-week at Maine Maritime Museum and/or taking a drive down into the White Mountains. I'm flexible, so y'all tell me what's best for you.

Well, Mike, when I first proposed this, I was personally thinking any day mid-week, though I didn't think to put it in my opening post. But back upthread somewhere, someone mentioned weekENDS, so I thought I should try to accommodate that. I couldn't make Saturday work good enough for me, so ended up with Sunday.

I'm afraid Cobscook might not be able to do a weekday, though, as she's started a new job recently.

If we did choose mid-week, I can do any day except Tuesday.

Bob (@ 8) and Cobscook: Are weekdays out for you?

>16 countrylife: And I emphasize, I'm flexible with everyone else's schedule. It's just that I do want to get to the Sunday service at Blue Hill some time while I'm up that way, even if it has to be Sunday the 14th instead.

I'm ok with either, but the Sunday meetup works better for me - I'm scheduled to be post-op helper for my sister in Topsham until late on Friday. Having some breathing space would be great. But count me in. I've never been to Scotties but have a whole list of used PBs I'd love to get my hands on.

I'm only about 1 1/2 hrs down the coast, so this is really doable. I'm looking forward to it.

OOPs...just re-read the above posts and realized that Sunday meetup would be at Chick Barn. That's still OK with me and works better than Saturday.

Yeah, with the new job I can only meet on the weekend. Sorry. I like the idea of meeting on Sunday at the Chicken barn better and I can definitely meet a bit later if that works out better for everyone. It's about a two and a half hour drive for me. I'm so excited to meet everyone!

I'm glad your schedule is flexible, Mike, because it's looking like Sunday, September 7, works best for the majority. Since we haven't heard back from Bob (vpfluke) here, I sent him a message. Will wait a bit before making anything final.

Meanwhile - what do you all think about a meeting time? Hours at the Chicken Barn are 10-6 on Sunday. I think I mentioned upthread that the previous meet-ups I've attended have "started" about the time the shop opens, and then broken for lunch together. This works well for travelers, with the flexibility of a non-rigid arrival time with plenty of time to get there, browse and visit off and on before lunch. In that scenario, arrival times varied from 10 to 10:45; we left for lunch about 11:45; after lunch some people went back for more shopping. If some have a longer travel time, we could set the meet-up time as 11:00 at the shop, then earlier-birds still have the flexibility of an hour's shopping ahead of time.

Alternatively, if travel times dictate a later start, we could meet for lunch first, and then go to the book store. The problem I see here is that it's harder to meet a set time when traveling. And frankly, it did seem to be easier to break the ice in the more informal surround of book browsing first. So my vote would be : book shop, then lunch.

Looking at google maps, there doesn't appear to be any really close-by restaurants. I'll leave it to those who are more familiar with the area to recommend a suitable lunch spot.

Thoughts?
Book shop first? Meet-up 10:00? 10:30? 11:00?
Lunch first? Meet-up 11:30? 12:00? 12:30?

>20 countrylife: I'm going to forget about Blue Hill Congregational for that Sunday and come back the following Sunday. My schedule's flexible enough that I can do this, and I have a feeling that (what with after-service coffee hour and the possibility of a long-running communion service) I'm going to be cramming too much into one day to try to do both Blue Hill and the meet-up.

As to the meet-up.... My thought is, let's meet first. If arrival times get a little off-kilter, it's better that everyone else be at the book shop and just spend extra time browsing. Doing lunch first means everyone getting to the restaurant, wherever it might be, at roughly the same time or else on-time arrivals are kept waiting at the restaurant for latecomers, which really isn't fair.

But question. Are restaurant reservations advisable on a Sunday at brunch time? If so, then arrival times will be a little more critical. I don't know this neighborhood, and anyway, whenever I go to Maine, I don't go to eat but to do photography, so restaurant scheduling's never been an issue for me.

A little logistics. It doesn't look like we all have current photos posted on our Member pages. (I have exactly one, the one in a yellow turban, once you get past all the Bronte family and several other photos.) We'll need some way of ID-ing each other and should also consider posting our cell-phone numbers by Private Comment. What we did for the Philly meet-up Spring a year ago was, Darryl (kidzdoc) collected everyone's phone numbers, made a single list, and them PM'd them to everyone (but the Philly meet-up was much larger than ours and required more coordination).

Googling restaurants ellsworth maine my first hit was on TripAdvisor, which shows quite a number of restaurants along with a convenient map. It looks like the Chicken Barn is some ten-to-twenty minutes west of the center of town on a straightaway drive on Bucksport Road. If we pick something on the west end of town, it's obviously closer than driving through town to somewhere on the east end.

I don't have any particular preference on dining styles except that I am vegetarian (but I do eat fish, and there's plenty of that in Maine) so I'd want to avoid steak houses and that sort of thing.

Bob says, "I don't think I can make the meetup in Ellsworth. My family in Massachuseets family has decided on Labor Day weekend for a celebration of a 90 year old bithday -- so we can't make two trips from Long Island that close together from Long Island."

So, we've heard from everyone else in this initial discussion.

LT meetup is set for Sunday, September 7, 2014, at the Big Chicken Barn near Ellsworth, Maine.

We just need to hear from everyone about what time works best.

CurrerBell and I both think it best to meet at the book shop first.

I'd vote for a 10:30 start. What time works best for the rest of you?

10:30 is OK for me. looking forward to meeting everyone.

Whatever time's good for everyone else is fine with me.

Regarding restaurants for our lunch gathering:

The Big Chicken Barn does not appear to be in close proximity to any restaurants. This list shows restaurants from the book store heading east in Ellsworth (in a general order of closeness to further away).

86 This: reviews and menu.
The Cellar: reviews and menu.
Karen's Cafe: reviews and menu.
Riverside Cafe: reviews and a description.
Finn's Irish Pub: reviews and menu.
Cleonice Mediterranean Bistro: reviews and menu.
Sylvia's Cafe: reviews and menu.
Shinbashi: reviews and menu.
Finelli's Pizzeria: reviews and menu.
Bangkok Restaurant: reviews and menu.
Thai Sana: reviews and menu.
Pat's Pizza: reviews and website.

Note: I only listed restaurants rated 4/5 or above. Removed those where interior pictures showed inadequate seating for a group. Sadly, the one I most favored, for its view, menu, and group accommodation, The Union River Lobster Pot, does not open until 4:00, and will not make an exception.

I'm just putting this out there to mull over so we'll have a general idea of what's available to us. Whether you all want to make a choice ahead of time, or wait and discuss it that morning; either way is fine with me.

Logistics:

Mike said upthread, that in one of his previous meet-ups, the coordinator "collected everyone's phone numbers, made a single list, and them PM'd them to everyone". My previous meet-ups have worked in a similar fashion. Anyone who is ok with that, please private message me your cell phone number by August 29, and I'll compile a list to distribute.

Heidi, I know you're rather busy with your new job and probably haven't had time to respond about a starting time. I'm going to go ahead and call it, and hope that you can work around the time.

The Ellsworth LibraryThing meetup is set for:

Sunday, September 7, 2014 at 10:30 AM

Big Chicken Barn Books
(207) 667-7308
1768 Bucksport Rd
Ellsworth, ME 04605
(8-9 miles west of Ellsworth)
Hours: 10-6

I apologize for not being on here more frequently and making you all wait! 10:30AM is great for me. My favorite restaurant in Ellsworth is the Bangkok Restaurant but I also like Pat's Pizza and Shinbashi. Some of those listed I haven't tried but I have heard Cleonice is excellent. Overall though, I will be perfectly happy with whatever restaurant the group choses. I can eat in Ellsworth anytime so don't wait to pick a place for me!

I am really looking forward to meeting you all. The Chicken Barn is one of the best places to browse for books!

Hi y'all. Can't wait for Sunday to see you!

I've been up to Maine a few times in the past, but I've never gone through the White Mountains in New Hampshire, so this time I came up the NY State Thruway as I usually do but instead of heading back east on Mass Pike I came in through Vermont and New Hampshire. I spent last night in Rutland VT and then drove through both the Green Mountains and the White Mountains (where I did a little photo shooting) and I'm now in Farmington ME getting ready to go to sleep.

Heading east tomorrow and I might stay in Bangor for the weekend or else stay in Ellsworth itself. I haven't decided yet.

See you Sunday at the Chicken Barn.

I've set my Profile Picture to my "real" self so I'll be recognizable to you. I'll probably be wearing a green headpiece.

I got into Ellsworth this afternoon (I'm staying at Jasper's on Rte 1/1A), and before I had dinner I went down to the Chicken Barn to check out telephone reception. After a couple of attempts, I was able to make an outgoing call, but cell phone connection can be a little spotty (at least on my Verizon prepaid phone).

The Chicken Barn doesn't seem so big that we'll get lost in it, though. I suggest we meet at the cash register -- and if someone gets there late and can't make phone contact with anyone, just stay there and we can check back for you every so often. I'd hate to lose anyone after all this effort.

Does this sound like a good idea?

while the cell phone may be spotty, I too have a verizon phone and texts will go through just about anyplace in the state. Looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday.

Ok I look forward to meeting you all tomorrow...I'll be looking for you at the cash register.

>34 Cobscook: I did a drive up and back the coastal route from Ellsworth to Quoddy today, doing some quickie photography, and I finally understand where your LT name comes from! (ETA: And all along, up until now, I'd assumed you cooked dinner for some guy named Cob!)

LOL! No, I cook for a guy named Ed! I'm glad you got down to the Quoddy region. I'm biased of course, but I think it's pretty spectacular.

Had a great time today at my first LT Meetup! LT members are the best!

Great to see everyone too (and to learn some LT name origins). I'll send my two group photos to the folks who came and for whom I have an LT account to PM to.

Gracious! I left on August 30, so I missed these last 8 messages. I thoroughly enjoyed our little LT meetup in Ellsworth. As Tina said on her thread, "great weather and a small but enthusiastic group." Tina and Mike each had good pictures, so I'm sharing one of each here:

From Tina:

the line up: from left - clockwise
Mike (currerbell), Ed (hubbie of Cobscook), Cindy (countrylife)
Janice (Cindy's mom), Heidi (cobscook), Tina (tututhefirst)

From Mike: