Vol.22 No.1 January/February/March 2008 Your guide to the East's most memorable, delightful and delicious destinations The Coast of Maine “Where can we go in Maine and eat lobster three times a day?” fi shing schooners, barks, brigs, and countless smaller vessels were is one of the questions asked of us repeatedly. A Maine lobster is a built. The schooners were the trucks of the nineteenth century Maine lobster it just doesn’t taste the same anywhere else. Lobster carrying apples, potatoes, fi sh, granite, paving stones, and lumber is not a food to be consumed when you’re concerned about stains to the cities along the Eastern seaboard. Exports to South America and elegant manners. It’s a food that tastes best eaten in a place and India included cotton, lumber, and even ice. On a recent trip where you can feel liberated from the restraints of proper etiquette. to Chennai, India we saw the icehouse where the ice from Maine For us, and we imagine for you, the most memorable lobster- was kept. The enterprising families who owned and captained the eating moments of our lives convey images of picnic tables along a ships and conducted trading made a great deal of money. Many of fi shing harbor, heavy galvanized washtubs of simmering salt water, the grand homes you see in towns along the coast were built during nutcrackers, picks, dishes of melted butter, and the sun slowly this period of prosperity. slipping behind the horizon. But the age of sail did not last forever. The introduction of steam This tour of the coast of Maine from York to Bar Harbor up caused the demise of the huge square-rigged four- and fi ve-masted Route 1 features driving tours that will take you to the source, those windjammers. Today you can evoke the nostalgia of the age of picturesque towns where many of the 2,000 Maine lobstermen live sail by taking trips in sail boats in Boothbay Harbor and Portland and work. or visiting the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath or the Penobscot But the coast of Maine was not always home for lobster-loving Marine Museum in Searsport. tourists. The coast of Maine saw its economic heyday in the fi rst While the construction of ships was winding down the images half of the nineteenth century. More wooden sailing vessels were of this rugged rock-strewn shoreline and the people that call built in Maine in the nineteenth century than in any other state. this area of Maine home became fertile territory for artists such Many towns had shipyards where wooden trading schooners, as Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, Fitz Hugh Lane, Winslow Portland Head Light is the most photographed lighthouse in the United States Homer, Rockwell Kent, John Marin, and the Wyeth family whose Dear Subscribers, work has, for the past 150 years, kindled the nation’s interest in the This issue focuses on the highlights of a trip up the coast of coast of Maine. These artists and others kindled the imagination of Maine from Kittery to Bar Harbor. Designed as a road trip with Americans and soon Americans began to summer along the coast stops along the way, we see it as a suggested itinerary including some building substantial summer homes to escape the summer what to do, where to stay and where to dine. We’ve highlighted heat of the cities. our favorite drives down the peninsulas as this is the way to see John D. Rockefeller, Jr., one of the “rusticators,” as these summer the real Maine coast. Of course you want to eat lobster, perhaps residents were called, became upset when the fi rst noisy and smelly for lunch and dinner everyday. We’ve searched out the casual automobiles appeared on Mt. Desert Island. The noise and fumes restaurants that serve lobster whether as lobster rolls, lobster stew, so irritated him that, from 1913 through 1940, he personally or lobster in the rough, good places to stop as you explore down supervised the building of forty-fi ve miles of carriage roads for the the long fi ngers of land. It’s the rugged views of the coast, the private use of his family and friends. These carriage trails, along harbors, and docks piled with lobster traps that combine to create with sixteen stone bridges, two gatehouses, and about 12,000 acres, lasting memories. were donated to the national park system to become part of Acadia We’ve reduced our coverage of many of the smaller museums, National Park. boat trips, additional roads to drive, and other attractions. For The 1930s saw the fi rst wave of craftspeople arrive principally greater details about the inns and additional options of other in the Blue Hill area. Thirty years later, as the children of the things to do, places to stay and eat we suggest looking at the sixties searched for alternative life-styles, a second wave would individual issues of The Discerning Traveler and checking for hit. Today, craftspeople throughout the area—potters, weavers, and updates on our web site. V13N6 Kennebunkport; V17N4 Portland woodworkers, artisans in every imaginable medium—complement to Boothbay; V14N4 Mid-Coast Maine, Camden; and V16N4 Bar one of our nation’s most famous craft schools, Haystack Mountain Harbor and Acadia National Park. School of Crafts in Deer Isle. A visit to the coast of Maine is no longer reserved for the summer Happy travels, season only. The fall, when the leaves are turning colors, and early to mid-June, when the lupines and other wild fl owers turn roadside Linda and David Glickstein fi elds into carpets of color, are both refreshing seasons to visit, each Travelers and Publishers with its special charm. Kennebunk-Kennebunkport Chamber of Commerce. (207) 967- 0857; www.visitthekennebunks.com Portland Visitors Bureau. 245 Commercial Street, Portland; (207) 772-5800; www.visitportland.com Freeport Merchants Association, 23 Depot Street, Freeport; (207) 865-1212; www.freeportusa.com Bath-Brunswick Chamber of Commerce. Brunswick. (207) 725-7897. Bath (207) 443-9751. wwwmidcoastmaine.com Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce. On Route 27 just before the junction with Route 96. (800) 266-8422. www. January/February/March 2008 Volume 22 Number 1 boothbayharbor.com David and Linda Glickstein Travelers and Publishers The Discerning Traveler is published quarterly by Lida Limited, 504 West Blue Hill Chamber of Commerce. (207) 374-3242. www. Mermaid Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118. Rates $50 per year; in Canada $60 bluehillpeninsula.org U.S. funds or equivalent; elsewhere, $65 U.S. funds or equivalent. Single issue $12.00. Second class postage paid at Philadelphia. ISSN # 0898-6231. Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. (207) 288-5103; www. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Discerning Traveler, 504 West Mermaid Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118. Selection of all attractions, lodging barharborinfo.com and restaurants is made on a completely independent basis by The Discern- ing Traveler. Copyright ©2008 by The Discerning Traveler. All Rights Acadia National Park Information. (207) 288-3338. www.nps. Reserved. Reproduction in whole or part prohibited without permission gov/acad of the publishers. Room, restaurant, and attraction prices, accommoda- tion offers, and area codes are subject to change. Send subscription orders and correspondence to 504 West Mermaid Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19118. (215) 247-5578; fax (215) 247-6130 Or you may E-mail us at: discern@ verizon.net. Check out our web site at www.discerningtraveler.com 2 discerningtraveler.com Driving Tour - Kittery - Ogunquit - Wells This trip starts on Route 1 at the New Hampshire/Maine border. Outlet shoppers may want to stop in Kittery to browse through the 120 or so outlets. In our opinion we’d rather stop in Freeport. On the way north a local summer landmark is Flo’s Hot Dogs, a shack on the right side of the road, a family owned business since 1959 selling steamed hot dogs, fl oshotdogs.com. The town of Ogunquit is a busy booming resort and art community with lots of shops and galleries. The Marginal Way, a mile-long footpath along the cliffs connecting Ogunquit with the tourist village of Perkins Cove (very crowded on summer weekends), should not be missed. We highly suggest that you take Salt Marsh Overlook at Wells Reserve the paved trail along the edge of the cliff which has uninterrupted two following preserves for a walk. Wells National Estuarine vistas of the Atlantic. It is dramatic after a storm. For lunch we Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm. If you have time for only like MC Perkins Cove, mcperkinscove.com (see Where to Dine) one walk, take the Salt Marsh Loop, an easy 1.3 miles, with a located in the former Hurricane’s in Perkins Cove, as the front slight detour out to Laudholm Beach. Most of this trail is along a tables have a dramatic ocean view. boardwalk with spectacular views of the marsh at the overlook. The stretch of Route 1 between York and Arundel has dozens Open daily. Entrance off Route 9 east and Route 1. Wells. (207) of antique shops. R. Jorgensen Antiques, rjorgensen.com, is 646-1555. wellsreserve.org a high end gem with pieces displayed in room settings. Wells At the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge we took a Union Antique Center is nine shops. Douglas N. Harding, one-mile groomed trail marked with explanatory signs about the hardingbooks.com, has old and rare books, maps and prints. salt marsh eco-system. It’s a pleasant walk on level ground. Terms Before the intersection of Route 9 is the famous Maine Diner, such as estuary, salt hay, salt pannes, and tidal creeks will become mainediner.com, (see Where to Dine) known especially for the meaningful.