Cross Country Road Trip- USA

Travel time: August 2007  |  by Christina E.

Maine: South Portland

After eating a hearty breakfast at Denny's, Jen and I chilled in our car smoking a cigarette and trying to locate the nearest bar to hang out in.

A car pulls up alongside us and a boy gets out. The first thing we hear out of his mouth:

"I need to pee pee like a race horse."

He doesn't just say this once, but three times. Okay, we got it the first time. You need to pee. A lot.

Jen and I started cracking up and for the rest of our road trip, every time we had to pee really badly, we'd say that line. When we didn't have to go as bad, we would say "I need to pee pee like a pony."

Aka "The Twilight Zone"

Aka "The Twilight Zone"

While in S. Portland, we understood why Stephen King used Maine for his story settings and where he got so much material for his books. There was something about the streets that just gave us the chills. Things just didn't line up or make sense.

For example, after dinner, Jen and I used GPS to route us to the nearest bar. "Extreme Sports Bar- 1.5 miles" it had read. We started driving the highlighted route and kept going into some dark residential areas. At first, Jen and I joked that it was going to be in some guy's basement, serving moonshine and the likes. But, when we actually pulled up to the bar, it really was someone's house.

"Extreme Sports Bar"

"Extreme Sports Bar"

Being around this street just gave us the chills. Instinctively, we both reached over and locked our doors. We also tried to get out of here as quickly as we could.

We would ask each other hypothetical questions like: "What if someone gave you a house out here, would you live in it?" Then we'd decide that either we would sell it or rent it out. We couldn't understand why, we just found the place eerie.

We mapped our GPS to another bar in Downtown Portland, so off we went again. This time, there were lots of young people hanging about and the place was more festive and well-lit. So, we parked the car and got out.

Well, because of our eerie 'detour' we missed last call by a few minutes (FYI: Maine stops serving around 1am). We met these two guys that tried really hard to get some of the bartenders to serve us, but none would budge. In the end, Jen and I thanked them, decided to head back to the motel and just crash. Sim, the guy from Senegal gave us his number "Hey, if you need anything while you're out here, just call me anytime of the night and I will come by. It don't matter what time."

We thanked him but told him it was cool. Jen told Sim that she had to "pee pee like a race horse" and he goes "What, is that what people say in California?"

"No, that's what people say here in Maine!"

Sim's sexy French friend says "Oh, that's a French saying-- we say when we have to go, we have to go like a race horse".

© Christina E., 2007
You are here : Overview The Americas United States South Portland
The trip
 
Description:
The cross country road trip that has failed to materialize for 3 years but finally, fulfilled in the year of 2007. Two (crazy) girls set out one early Tuesday morning and in their journey's wake, meet transvestites, cute boys, get bitten by mosquitoes, get pierced with rusty nails and squirted in the eye with 'porn sausage', hang with bums and riffraffs at Union Station....
Details:
Start of journey: Aug 07, 2007
Duration: 11 days
End of journey: Aug 17, 2007
Travelled countries: United States
The Author
 
Christina E. is an active author on break-fresh-ground. since 17 years.
Picture of author