A Constant Reader's Dream

Imagine reading a book and thinking, "Wow, I'd love to visit this place!"

Regardless of its nature, that's how I feel about Bangor, Maine! Opening the pages of a Stephen King book and wanting to truly experience the locations that inspired so many of this iconic writer's books and plotlines have always been in my nature.

Stephen King currently lives in Bangor, however, admits that a lot of the locations in his books are inspired by real-life places he encounters on his walks. His infamous literary town, Derry is mainly inspired by Bangor and a lot of locations he mentions that are based in Derry can actually be visited!

I originally planned to visit Bangor, Maine in October of this year, however, due to COVID-19, I haven't been able to make my literary dream stop in 2020.

However, books, in general, have really helped me cope with the pandemic and I've been reading more Stephen King books than usual due to all this free time. Being able to see the pages come to life, and see the environments in full would be a dream.

Where I'd Stay:

It's pretty evident that if I were to stay in Bangor, I'd like to stay in a little cabin or cottage and enjoy the nature around me, rather than staying in a pretty modernized or city area.

Airbnb's are typically my go-to's when it comes to traveling anywhere because it gives your trip more of a home-like vibe whilst being able to choose your surroundings. Let alone, you're also able to see a variety of interior designs!

I would probably stay at this cute nice cottage in Hampden, Maine - not too far from Bangor. It has a really nice rustic feel to it, and it isn't necessarily too secluded, but I wouldn't be surrounded by a ton of people either.

Just don't let me get handcuffed to the bedframe - I don't want to live out Misery; especially alone.

Where I'd Eat At:

It's a little difficult to solely base this trip on the writer, as he doesn't mention restaurants specifically in his novels. However, I did find a couple of cool places that do sound very enjoyable and remind myself of his works regardless!

BarnCastle

BarnCastle is a nice little restaurant and hotel that specializes in bar food and pizza.

I personally love bar food and this place has foods like Crabcakes, Nachos, and Wings which really catch my eye.

I also noticed that the entryway inside the building really reminds me of something you'd see in The Shining and I can just picture myself sitting at the bar, enjoying a glass of wine, having a little Jack Torrence-hallucination. It's a good idea I'd be traveling alone!

Blaze

Honestly, Blaze stuck out to me because it reminded me of the book Stephen King wrote under his pseudonym Richard Bachman called Blaze.

Blaze is also a bar, however, they specialize in wood-fired dishes which sound amazing! Ironically, I found this quite funny, not only is the fictional character in the Stephen King book called Blaze, but he was also on the run, resulting in enjoying most of his meals over a fire.

However, I highly doubt he ate anything as good as what this restaurant provides. They have foods like Brick Oven Pizzas, Oak Fired Burgers, and Tacos which sound super delicious to me!

Where I'd Visit:

Because Derry was based on the town of Bangor, there are actually a lot of places that you can visit that are mentioned in the books!

Paul Bunyan Statue

Spoiler. If you've ever read IT, you'd know there's a scene where Richie gets attacked by the alien identity, disguised as a Paul Bunyan statue. I thought this was a cool addition as Stephen King probably sees this statue often!

Fortunately, you can actually visit this location yourself and take a look! However, I highly doubt I'd be able to enjoy the full experience of the 3,000-pound statue coming to life!

Regardless, the Bunyan scene was one of my favorites when reading IT for the first time and it has always been one of my top places I wanted to visit!

Mount Hope Cemetary

This is more of a well-known location as it was a filming location for the original Pet Sematary movie!

I think this is a really cool place that I want to visit because it was not only the place where the iconic zombie cat/zombie kid movie was filmed but also, Stephen King walks around this cemetery often and gathers names for his characters from the tombstones!

Actually, he got the name, Carrie from his debut novel Carrie, from a tombstone in this cemetery as well!

Thomas Hill Standpipe

This location is very interesting as it's a location that inspired a lot of King's works since it's rumored to be haunted.

One thing that really caught my eye about this place, however, is that Stephen King was known to sit on the bench in front of it and write his novels there.

Ironically, in the book IT, one of the characters Stan is also sitting on a bench in front of the building before encountering Pennywise.

I thought it was really intriguing as he not only gets inspiration from the outside world but he also freely writes there as well!

Gerald Winters and Son

You can't have a Stephen King trip without visiting a bookstore!

Gerald Winters and Son is a Stephen King specialty bookstore in Bangor and offers a large variety of things; anything between screenplays, amazing movie memorabilia, and signed First Edition books, this store has it all!

As a Stephen King collector, or what King calls his fans, a Constant Reader, spending a day browsing this location and buying what I can, would be an amazing experience!

I would love to try and get my hands on the First Edition Hardcovers I don't have in my collection just yet! Not only that, I've heard that this location also has the actual door that Jack Nicholson broke with an axe in The Shining!

Stephen King's Bangor Home

An infamous stop for all Stephen King fans when visiting Bangor is to stop by and take a photo in front of King's home!

With very rustic bat-gates and a nice blood red exterior, the King home is a nice place to drive by or take a photo of with yourself or one of his books!

Stephen King also bought the home next door to his which he plans to use as a writing retreat in the future! Perfect for Constant Readers who also write or any author inspired by the writing of the King of Horror!

This trip is a must for any Constant Reader, however, with the pandemic occurring, it's not ideal to do so.

Fortunately, we have his books to escape to and can explore the fictional world that was inspired by his home, for now!