Maggie and I were sitting at a diner in the small town of Skowhegan, Maine listening to the conversation of a few local men at the next table. We were wandering around Maine and had ventured north of where most tourists go.
The locals were discussing what I guessed was an afterhours bar outside of Skowhegan. One of the men was not familiar with it. "Go out 104 past Craigin Brook, then turn right on Heritage Drive and left on the first dirt road you come to," said a tall, skinny guy who looked like he was a serious drinker. "There's no sign or anything but you can tell the road is well used. Stay on that road for a mile or two, you'll see the place on the left. There'll be cars there."
The blonde man who had asked for directions spoke up. "You guys going tonight?" The one who'd given directions said he'd been there last weekend and his wife didn't want to go again so soon. The remaining men shrugged—"don't know what we're going to do."
"I don't really want to go by myself," said blondie. "Well," said one of the others, "it is better if you bring a girl with you."
Their conversation drifted off to other politics and I stopped listening. But I was intrigued by the afterhours bar. It sounded a bit wild based on the earlier conversation we'd overheard and I was up for something different. We were going to spend one more night in Skowhegan and the nightlife in town left a lot to be desired.
"What are you thinking, Arnie?" whispered Maggie. My wife could always tell when there was something on my mind. I smiled. "Thinking about going to this afterhours place. Sounds more exciting than the local bar."
Maggie looked at the nearby table of men. "Why do you have to bring a girl?" she asked.
"I don't know but you wouldn't want to go where it was all men, would you?"
"No. Maybe we should ask these guys about it."
I turned around in my chair. "Excuse me. We couldn't help overhearing about this bar. Do you think we should try it?" That question was answered with a bunch of grins and some appraising looks at Maggie. "Go for it—you heard my directions?" said the skinny guy.
"Yup, " I answered. "What time does it start?"
"Fairly early," was the answer. "Some time around midnight. There's a $10 cover charge to pay for the entertainment." The other men laughed.
Not sure what that laugh meant, I said okay, maybe we'll try it and I turned back to Maggie. We finished our dinner and left the diner to go back to our motel. We had a couple of hours before this bar would open. I said a nap might do us both good.
"You're sure about this afterhours place, " Maggie wondered.
"We'll drive out there. If it doesn't look okay we won't go in." Maggie shrugged and said, "I thought afterhours places started when the other bars closed—like 2 am or even 4 am?"
"That's in the city," I told her. "Maybe these folks go to bed earlier."
Maggie said she was also concerned about the guys at the diner. "The way they looked at me and talking about bringing a girl—is this some kind of sex thing?"
"Probably just a pickup joint, " I replied, "or maybe there's amateur strippers." She made a face. "Not my thing."
"I'll be there to protect you."
"My hero." She smiled, rolled over on the motel bed and immediately went to sleep. Maggie and I were 33 and have been married five years. With no kids we were free to travel around and were enjoying our Maine vacation. We're both still in good shape and I guess I'd describe our sex life as "fine"—not spectacular but we knew how to get each other off. Things had become somewhat routine. Maybe the afterhours joint would spark something.
We woke up a bit after midnight, spruced ourselves up a bit and headed out. The man's directions were good and we had no trouble finding the bar, arriving at about 1 am. The place seemed fairly crowded, maybe 20 to 30 cars parked every which way around the unimpressive building in a large clearing cut out of thick woods. We could hear music faintly.
The joint had no sign, inside or out, to indicate its name. Inside it looked like your typical dive bar, maybe a bit seedier than most. Lots of people, about half of them women with everyone appearing to be in their 20s and 30s, quite a few of them good looking, some not so much. Just about everyone was holding a beer bottle. I'm sure most, maybe all, knew we were outsiders but that didn't seem to bother anyone. Several men gave Maggie an appreciative look.
We walked toward the bar. "I don't suppose they'd have a nice Cabernet, " Maggie joked.