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October 10

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Tuesday is one of Mark’s days off from work. So, we took advantage of that by playing several games of Qwirkle. He is a driver for First Fleet out of Lewiston.

If you look closely, you can see this is a game they play frequently because the colors are starting to wear off.

This was the day that we were taking them out for lunch for Mark’s 2023 birthday. He and Diane looked for a place where they had never been and settled on Kimberly’s in Richmond.

This looked like a place with an interesting history, plus you will notice a railroad track within a few feet of the building. This is no longer an active train route.

There were a lot of old pictures on the walls and decor that looked very old.

This area grabbed our attention, so we asked our waitress about the history of the place. We thought maybe it was a train station but understand that is next door. There was a man in the restaurant who knew more about the history of the restaurant than our waitress. At one time this building was a funeral home, and this was an area where three large tables could be pulled out of the wall, kind of like a murphy bed, to display caskets.

She pointed to a photo on the wall that showed the tables pulled down to display caskets.

Cerwins meatloaf stack.

Mark’s liver and onions.

My halibut. Diane also got halibut, but hers was covered with hollandaise sauce.

During our time there we learned that Richmond had quite a history. I checked the Internet to remember some of the dates. It was originally purchased from the Abenaki Indians in 1649. In 1722 during the Dummer’s War, Fort Richmond was attacked in a three-hour siege by warriors from Norridgewock. Houses were burned and cattle slain, but the fort held. Fort Richmond was rebuilt in 1740.

There was a lot of interesting history from then until it was incorporated on February 10, 1823, taking its name from the old fort. Farms produced hay and potatoes. With the arrival of steamboats in the 1830s, Richmond boomed as a shipbuilding and trade center on the Kennebec River. The community also produced shoes, sails and wood products. Its peak years were between 1835 and 1857, endowing the town with a wealth of Greek Revival architecture.

Richmond is believed to have been a site along the Underground Railroad (meaning they were a safe location for slaves). Richmond was once the center of the largest Slavic-speaking settlement in the United States. People of Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish heritage emigrated to the United States during World War 11 to settle along the Kennebec Valley. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was also a large influx of White Russian emigres, who earlier fled the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

All this information confirmed our feeling of being in a building that was part of history.

After leaving the restaurant, we stopped at this country story, which was kind of like a local quick stop for groceries, food, and a few local handmade items.

We had to so some searching to find colored leaves but found a few colorful places. We just talked to Diane a few minutes ago (October 15). She said the leaves are prettier this week.

After getting home, I took a few pictures of pretty things in Mark and Diane’s yard.

These potted flowers looked pretty in front of their newly painted shed.

We spent the late afternoon playing several games of “Golf” with Skip-Bo cards. This is a fast-moving game and quite fun.

Our only supper was dessert – homemade pies from Kimberly’s. They were small and delicious. Blueberry cheesecake and coconut cream. Mark and Diane had 2 half pies for the next day.

That was another interesting day in Maine – a time of seeing and learning new things – especially about Richmond and Kimberly’s Restaurant.