Billy Joel and Christy Brinkley Remember Their ‘Magical Trip’ to Maine

The Billy Joel two-part documentary "And So It Goes" hit HBO Max this month.  It details the life and decades long career of an extraordinary musician.

Part II features Billy's life with Supermodel, Christy Brinkley and mentions the time they spent with their daughter Alexa Ray in Maine.

The mention of Maine comes from Christy Brinkley when she is talking about the road trip they took in the late '80's.  She said that they decided to drive in and out of "all these little Maine towns," taking in all the beauty that is the 207.

Christy called the time through Maine, "a magical trip."

Is Billy Joel Talking About Clear Lake in Maine?

In one scene, you see a home movie of Billy in the car looking at an actual paper map.  He pointed to the map of Maine and said they were at what sounded like, "Bantam Lake."  That didn't sound familiar to me, but I did find something that could be where Billy was talking about.

Do You Know What Maine Lake Billy Joel Mentions in the HBO Documentary?

Instead of "Bantam Lake," Billy could have meant Clear Lake, famous for the Phantom of the Allagash, hence the name, "Phantom Lake."  This is just my theory.

The shot of the map in that scene, Billy is pointed in the general direction of Clear Lake in Maine's Allagash region.  According to downeast.com, there was a crime now known as "the Phantom of the Allagash."  A true-crime story that I'm sure had everyone talking at the time.

Maybe he and Christy heard about the Phantom and maybe someone said Phantom Lake?

Maine is Where Billy Joel's Started to Hear About His Manager Taking His Money

The Maine road trip is where Billy and Christy heard the locals talk about the "house that you just bought," or "the horse that you just bought."  They knew of no such house or horse.

It was in Maine that Christy started to suspect Billy's Manager, Frank Weber, also his brother-in-law and Godfather of Alexa Ray, of spending Billy's money without his knowledge to the tune of millions of dollars.

Billy Joel's music has meant more to me than I am equipped to explain.  This documentary reveals much about the man himself that you may have already known if you have followed his lyrics.  Billy writes what he was experiencing at the time and for so many of us, it is what we were going through as well.

I can not recommend the documentary high enough.