The Chicken and Monkey Show hit the road on Saturday, June 4, 2011. The weather was full of uncertainty, blowing hot and cold with intermittent showers wreaking havoc on plans to play outside. After enduring as much outdoor play as I could, I took the boys to the Cole Land Transportation Museum. The museum has row after row of fascinating vehicles of days gone by. The layout of brick streets includes snow plows, fire trucks, construction equipment, industry, automobiles, and some of the Coles trucks that were the backbone of company for so many years. On the back wall of the building is the train, including a diesel locomotive, a boxcar and a caboose. The Enfield Train Station is there, too, for the curious to visit for a nostalgic look at how railroad traffic once ruled land transportation. Finally, one corner of the museum is reserved for memorabilia of war, especially WW I and WW II.
Admittance for adults is $7 and for children 19 and under, it’s free. The museum is the brainchild of WW II veteran and Coles founder Galen Cole. At the end of our visit there Saturday he came and greeted us. I told him that it was our third visit to the museum, and that we are glad he put his idea into action. He spoke kindly to the boys and invited us to come again.
Christian and Michael enjoyed this visit the most of the three so far. The older they get the more appreciation they have for the artifacts on display and the less fear they have of the mannequins dressed to give the displays more character. (It used to be that they’d shy away from the lanes that had even one mannequin, which significantly reduced the number of sections we could visit.) This time around, after strolling along each lane and exclaiming about one truck or another, the boys headed for the train. With some coaxing, Christian agreed to go into the caboose with Michael and me. With a little more coaxing he agreed to go into the boxcar. Then he begged to go into the engine, but that’s off limits to everyone, so we consoled ourselves with looking at models of the old Bangor & Aroostook steam engines.
Some of the Coles trucks also have displays inside them, so the boys made sure to check out each one, this time led by Christian coaxing Michael to go along. The trucks and the boxcar have videos to watch, but those do not yet hold the attention of our boys. I look forward to their fuller appreciation of that feature someday. I tried to explain how the Pleasant Hill Dairy truck used to visit Daddy’s house when he was a little boy and the driver would leave milk in the box on the porch, but they didn’t care to listen. Someday they will. We also saw the car of former Governor Joseph Brennan, some old snowmobiles, horseless carriages, a steam shovel, an Army jeep, pedal cars, and some antique sleighs and sleds.
Following another visit to the caboose and boxcar, the boys indicated that they were ready to do something else. It was at that point that I decided to purchase them each a toy Coles tractor trailer from the gift shop. The deal was that they had to sit on the bench, facing the other way. They succeeded, as did I. They got their trucks when they got home later in the afternoon.
We left the museum and stepped outside to look briefly at the tank and helicopter on display as part of the Korean War Memorial. As we did so, a gigantic Air Force plane roared low overhead on its way to the BIA runway. That gave me an idea, so we piled into the car and headed for the end of the runway on Odlin Road.
We pulled over and waited for the inevitable return of the plane. It did not disappoint, and as it approached the runway I put their windows down to help them appreciate the full excitement of having a massive jet pass directly over our car as it landed at Bangor International. From the pictures I’ve seen on the internet I’ve gathered that the plane we saw was a C-17. It was awe-inspiring. From our vantage point at the end of the runway we then proceeded to a spot where we could actually see it land. Then we headed off for more adventures.
Going on adventures on a shoestring budget is fun. As I searched my mind for ideas I remembered that I had wanted to visit the Habitat for Humanity store in Bangor, in the Penobscot Plaza by the river. We walked in the door and were immediately greeted with a surprised holler of “Bill!” It was Dan Rhodes, our barbershop chapter president from the Mainely Music Chorus. He was actually working his last day with the Bangor office and was transferring to Ellsworth because it was much closer to his home. We chatted briefly and then the boys and I glanced around ReStore before heading out to the car. That’s when I had another brainstorm.
Railroad tracks run along both banks of the Penobscot River. We were at Penobscot Plaza, with tracks behind the plaza and the Penobscot Bridge that spans the river between Bangor and Brewer also nearby. The train bridge across the Penobscot is right there, too. I took the boys behind the building and we looked at the equipment sitting on the tracks. The day before, Christian and Michael and Mommy had seen a truck and repair equipment on the tracks behind our house, and there in front of us just then was one of the repair vehicles! After standing there for a few minutes, we headed back to the car, the chill of the wind getting to us. Just then, a movement in the distance caught my eye. A train was headed across the bridge from Bangor to Brewer!
I called the boys to watch it with me, and we saw it proceed quickly across the river and into Brewer. I knew that if we headed home soon we’d see the same train go past our house in about 40 minutes’ time. We got back into the car and headed to Brewer. We took a scenic route home, arriving about ten minutes before the train. They found that pretty exciting. I enjoyed it, too. I love being a dad to these boys!
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