Monson! Made it to the first real "trail town." I passed the normal highway hitchhike and opted to walk in to Shaw's Lodging, only a mile and a half off of the trail. arriving there, i was vaguely surprised to see that this was a true "lodging house" with "rooms and meals available" advertised in the front yard. As I set down my pack, I was greeted by Dawn, who ushered me inside, set me up with a bunk, and said, "And of course you'll want to shower" in a tone that implied this was not just a polite assumption but rather more of a directive... . In any event, I was happy to find that they really do have everything you could possibly need there, down to extra clothes you can wear while you're washing your trail laundry. I picked out a t shirt with a snowboarding chipmunk on it, some shorts two sides too big, and washed my hair three times over while my laundry ran. I then spent the afternoon going through my resupply box from May, who went above and beyond. Other people's boxes had freeze dried spaghetti; mine had couscous, saag paneer, and brownies from a local Gainesville bakery. Friends like May are hard to find!! She even sent coffee!!!!
Breakfast at Shaw's is not taken lightly. I sat down at the table and immediately two big pancakes appeared in front of me. After wolfing those down, Dawn came in and asked us what kind of eggs we wanted, and after I placed my order for two over easy, we continued sharing our trail experiences over coffee. There were fourteen of us that morning, and it was awesome to be able to instantly relate to all of these strangers, having been through the same trials of the trail in the last week. As Magellan ranted about Maine waterway terminology... "You call that a stream?!", plates began appearing in front of us with eggs, bacon and hash browns piled high. It was amazing and we all ate until we couldn't move.
Monson isn't large, and you can tell that it was once a far more bustling community than it is now, but it does have some new businesses that cater to hikers. I went for lunch at Pete's Place and had a chicken salad sandwich that was delish. They also had lots and lots of baked goodies that looked amazing, but I'd eaten enough already!
I'm definitely anxious to be back on the trail, but my Monson experience was great and I hope future town stops have the same sense of camaraderie and good times. And food. I hope they all have good food!
Breakfast at Shaw's is not taken lightly. I sat down at the table and immediately two big pancakes appeared in front of me. After wolfing those down, Dawn came in and asked us what kind of eggs we wanted, and after I placed my order for two over easy, we continued sharing our trail experiences over coffee. There were fourteen of us that morning, and it was awesome to be able to instantly relate to all of these strangers, having been through the same trials of the trail in the last week. As Magellan ranted about Maine waterway terminology... "You call that a stream?!", plates began appearing in front of us with eggs, bacon and hash browns piled high. It was amazing and we all ate until we couldn't move.
Monson isn't large, and you can tell that it was once a far more bustling community than it is now, but it does have some new businesses that cater to hikers. I went for lunch at Pete's Place and had a chicken salad sandwich that was delish. They also had lots and lots of baked goodies that looked amazing, but I'd eaten enough already!
I'm definitely anxious to be back on the trail, but my Monson experience was great and I hope future town stops have the same sense of camaraderie and good times. And food. I hope they all have good food!
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