Augusta,
Maine’s Capital, has the unfortunate reputation of being a nothing-town. When I
told Mainers I was passing through Augusta they stuck their tongues out. All of
them. That would likely be my reaction if a tourist told me they were passing
through Oregon’s capital, Salem, so perhaps I should have minded their
reactions.
Six years
ago, in September of 2009, I bought bus
tickets from Boston to Augusta. I was flying to Boston to visit and old friend,
and I had a fantasy of going north and getting lost in Maine. I'm not sure why
I picked Augusta as my terminal bus stop. Perhaps I assumed that the capital of
a state must be a good place to start. I had never heard of Portland, ME and
did no research whatsoever. Strangely, I had to cancel my trip to Boston that
year. I paid to change my plane ticket to the follow year, but the money I spent
on the Greyhound bus was lost. I was left wondering if the bus driver called
out my name in Boston, waited, then left without me.
I passed
through Augusta in September of 2015. All it needs is a pass through, a few
hours, nothing more. One pleasant surprise was the historic architecture, far more
beautiful than the larger cities of Portland or Bangor. The only sad thing is that most of these
building are inaccessible to the public, either because you don't want to go there (courthouse) or were under construction (library) or close at a ridiculous 2:30pm (Vickey Café).
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| The Capitol building |
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| Lithgow Public Library, sadly closed and under construction while I was there |
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| Kennebec County Courthouse |
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| Govener's Mansion |
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| U.S. Post Office |
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| Vickey Cafe |
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| Blaine House |
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