AUBURN — Mistaking a ditch full of water as a place to turn around, a 50-year-old Hartford, Conn., man got a chilly and damp surprise Thursday morning along Route 4.

“I thought it was a parking lot,” said La Mai. He was visiting family in the area and was unfamiliar with the road. He was wet to his shins but unhurt in the mishap. His late-model Honda Accord was pulled from the ditch by a flat-bed wrecker from Greely’s Garage.

Water in the ditch, which appeared to be blocked, was nearly level with the road surface and reflecting light the same way as the road surface. Auburn Police and Public Works responded to the scene and the Maine Department of Transportation was notified about the blocked ditch.