Stephen King’s House, Hollywood Casino, and Finding the Eye of the Storm
When I travel, I tend to move like a tornado — bouncing from one stop to the next trying to see, do, and experience as much as possible before it’s time to move again.
This entire New England road trip had been like that. Scenic drives, lobster shacks, ferry schedules, busy cities, campgrounds, hiking trails, and trying to squeeze every possible experience out of each day before moving onto the next destination.
By the time we packed up camp at Bass Harbor and left Mount Desert Island behind, I was starting to feel it.
One Last Stop at a Maine Institution
We stopped to fill the truck, refill the propane tanks, and prepare for the next phase of the trip before heading toward Bangor. Along the way, we made one more stop at another local Maine restaurant recommendation: Helen’s Restaurant in Ellsworth. The restaurant has been around since 1950 and although ownership has changed hands several times over the years, the people who stepped in to keep it alive were former customers and employees who loved the place enough to invest in it.
I always appreciate hearing stories like that. There’s something comforting about seeing small local businesses survive when people are willing to fight for them instead of letting them quietly disappear. As a small business owner myself, I know what support from other people can mean. When I travel, I almost always try to choose local restaurants, shops, and experiences whenever I can because behind every one of those businesses is usually someone pouring their time, money, stress, and heart into keeping it alive.
The older I get, the more I value places with history, personality, and people who genuinely care about what they’ve built.
Trading Campground Life for an Airport Hotel
From there, we drove straight to the Bangor Aviator Hotel at the Bangor International Airport. I’d stay for two nights and hubby would fly home for work after one night. The hotel itself was surprisingly comfortable and after weeks of moving constantly, it was relaxing to simply park the camper in a giant parking lot where we could see it safely from our hotel window.
We didn’t even bother exploring restaurants in Bangor because the hotel restaurant was good enough and honestly, we were both tired.
Still, we decided to make one more little outing before settling in for the first night.
An Unplanned Detour to Stephen King’s House
We called an Uber and headed toward Hollywood Casino. In the past, James has had an unusual habit of winning just enough at casinos to cover a fun dinner, a hotel stay, or some small unexpected splurge during our travels. One particularly memorable blackjack table once paid for an incredible lobster dinner, so now it’s become a running joke to “test our luck” whenever we happen to overnight in casino towns.
On the way there, our Uber driver asked if we wanted to see Stephen King’s house first.
Ummm… yes.
Although I was a huge Stephen King fan years ago, I stopped reading his books somewhere around Christine. Over time, I realized that constantly consuming dark stories, scary movies, and heavy subjects affected me more than I wanted to admit. Even though it was fiction, I found myself carrying some of that darkness with me afterward. Life started feeling lighter when I stopped feeding my brain so much fear and negativity and focused more on gratitude, travel, nature, and the small good things around me instead.
Still, standing outside Stephen King’s famous Bangor mansion was undeniably fun.
The wrought iron gates with bats and spiders, the gothic architecture, and the sheer size of the place make it feel exactly like the kind of home you’d imagine the king of horror creating after the success of Carrie. At the time, I didn’t realize King no longer lived there and that the property is being transformed into a nonprofit archive and writers’ retreat. Bangor itself is believed to have inspired Derry in several of his novels, which makes the stop even more interesting for longtime fans.
A Reminder That Life Exists in Extremes
After taking a few photos — and unsuccessfully hoping Stephen King himself might magically appear — our driver dropped us off at the casino.
Right across the street stood the giant Paul Bunyan statue, which of course meant I needed photos of that too. But as we walked closer, I was surprised by how many homeless people were gathered throughout the park. I found myself carefully angling my camera shots around them while quietly thinking about how odd life can feel sometimes.
One minute you’re standing outside a famous millionaire author’s mansion and the next you’re walking past people who appear to have nowhere to go at all.
Life really does seem to exist in extremes.
Testing Our Luck at Hollywood Casino Bangor
James didn’t win a thing at the casino that night and honestly, within the hour, we were both ready to head back to the hotel anyway.
When the Vacation Ends
The next morning, I watched him walk across the street into Bangor International Airport while I stayed behind.
His vacation was over.
Mine was too.
I hadn’t mentioned it much in my previous posts, but I’d actually been working throughout most of this trip — from Richmond all the way to Wompatuck and now again during the drive home. When you travel this way, especially with a truck camper, there’s a surprising amount of work involved behind the scenes. The planning, driving, navigating, setup, breakdown, reservations, and problem solving largely fall on me because it’s my RV.
Add regular work on top of that and eventually even adventure starts to feel exhausting.
Finding the Eye of the Storm
The older I get, the more I see life as a series of extremes. Busy seasons and quiet ones. Adventure and exhaustion. Gratitude and heaviness existing side by side.
Maybe the goal isn’t avoiding the storm altogether.
Maybe it’s just learning how to find the eye of it long enough to catch your breath.
And oddly enough, for me, Bangor became that place.
What’s Next on the New England Road Trip
After weeks on the road, I decided to abandon my original plan of taking my time getting home and make one final push toward Richmond instead. In the next post, I’ll share how a simple drive south turned into a little more adventure than I bargained for.
