HIKING, DINING, WINDSOR FAIR,AND WATER VIEWS IN MIDCOAST MAINE

LEAVING VACATIONLAND

One of the delights of living on the Coast of Maine is the natural beauty that surrounds your senses every day. The water views are overwhelming with beauty. The vistas from the well sculpted trails, and the drives through the country compel you to try to capture their beauty on film.

HIKING

Acadia National Park

 

We drove 2 hours north of Camden to the entrance of Acadia National Park. The park is one of the crown jewels of the national park system. (second most visitors annually). The landscape has rugged cliffs, pounding ocean surf, and quiet forest paths. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. purchased and donated 11,000 acres of Acadia National Park (1/3) in 1905. He singularly built all of the beautiful carriage roads that comprise 57 miles over the park.

Jordan Pond - Small but beautiful body of water that is encased by forested hills.

Fernald's Neck Preserve

A little dip in Lake Megunticook on the trail

This Nature Conservancy preserve features a gentle trail system that circles the clear waters of Lake Megunticook. Balance rock is a massive upright rock deposited by glaciers centuries ago.

Woodpecker on the trail

Balanced Rock

 

 

Beech Hill Preserve. Open hill top with views of Penobscot Bay. Blueberry fields surround this trail.

 

Mt Battie - Beautiful hiking trails that offer incredible views of Camden Bay.

 

Bald Rock Mountain - Overlooks the Camden Hills.

Osprey posing and its nest

Great trails, clearly marked

 

WONDERFUL DINING IN MAINE

There have been so many wonderful dining experiences in Maine that it's difficult to list them all. Most of the dining in Maine involves lobster, crab, halibut and haddock. These wonderful delicacies are caught in the Penobscot Bay. Maine has so many great chefs. They serve very fresh foods - farm to table is their mantra.

Sunset on North Haven

North Haven

Two places were of particular interest. Nebo Lodge. We took a boat from Rockland Harbor to North Haven Island. About a 45 minute trip. The ride was beautiful, and we enjoyed the food.

Salt Water Farms - Great fresh food, brilliant view and great ambiance.

View from the terrace of Salt Water Farms

Clambake at Cabbage Island - We took a boat from Boothbay Harbor to a 5 1/2 acre Cabbage Island in Linekin Bay. Succulent feast of Maine lobsters and clams that is prepared by the Moor family. Cooked in seaweed, steamed from top to bottom. The meal - New England Fish Chowder, two lobsters, steamed clams,corn on the cob, egg, onion, potatoes and blueberry cake for desert.

Most photographed church in Maine

Buying blueberry's along the road

 

WINDSOR FAIR

The fair started in 1888. The complex consists of eleven buildings. Displays of 19th and early 20th century artifacts provides a trip down memory lane. I watched the horse pull - 5,800 - 6,200 pounds of bricks that were stacked by a tractor on a metal pallet that was hooked up to a team of horses. The horses had a minute to pull the bricks on each pull. They crossed the 50 yard track and were judged by weight pulled, weight of horse team, and fastest time. There are lanes of food clams,lobster,mussels, lobster, and the usual fair "corny dogs". But of course there was no butter sculpture (like at the Texas State Fair!!).

the largest pumpkin at the fair

Piling the bricks.

The horses are pulling the bricks

Glad it is over

 

MY MOST FAVORITE PLACE - ENDLESS SUMMER FLOWER FARM

4,000 varieties

This is so Maine!!

4,000 varieties of dahlia's. I visited this garaden so often, I felt like an employee!!

 

Friends Visiting

Sailing school

Fun memories

Too cold to go in?

 

 

Maine people

The famous Belted Galloway Cows "Oreo Cookies"?

 

Headed home - But South on 66 this time

I had so much fun in "Vacationland"

 

 

 

 

CULTURAL EVENTS, CLASSES AND MUSEUMS ON THE MAINE COAST

There are so many options for entertainment within walking distance or at most a 2 mile drive from Camden. The Bay Chamber Concert series begins July 4 and continues until August 30. The summer festival which began three years ago, is lead by Manuel Bagorro as the artistic director. Rockport opera house, Union Hall, Camden opera house, and First Congregational Church in Camden are the various venues for the festival.

BAY CHAMBER CONCERTS

I heard such a variation of artists and music by world class musicians it was exhilarating. Bridget Kibbey (harpist) played Canadian,Cuban,and Syrian music. A New Frontier - International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) that featured a new composition by Paola Prestini was inspired by the Hubble Telescope images. Very timely with the 25th anniversary in 2015. Bach, Brahms, Elgar, Schubert,Beethoven, Mozart, Bartok and Debussy were presented by some of the most talented artists in the country. David Krakauer (clarinet),Kathleen Tagg (piano),Benjamin Beilman (violin), John Largess (viola), Joshua Gindele (cello), and Camille Zamora (soprano) were some of the outstanding talent that played during the festival.

Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra , a multiple grammy award-winning artist was spectacular.

Don Campbell Band played Dan Fogelberg, as well as his own blue grass music. Two comedians Jim McCue from Boston, and Juston (Just on time) McKinney were absolutely hilarious. We took the ferry from Rockland to North Haven Island "Red Eye of Love" . This play had many Broadway luminaries. John Wulp wrote the book and lyrics, and won a Tony for production.

PAINTING CLASSES

Our studio in the camp ground

Susan showing the class a vintage Airstream

Painting in my "white" toga

Susan Tobey White who has a very successful gallery in Belfast, taught a two day painting class. "Glamping" - Glamorous Camping - paintings of Retro Campers was the subject of a two day class at a camp site in Searsport. Great fun!!

 

CHATS WITH CHAMPIONS

An 88 year old man showing a certificate of the flight plan when he flew Charles Lindbergh in WWII

Reeve Lindbergh

The Damariscotta Library hosts a series of famous authors to present lectures and readings during the summer. I heard Reeve Lindbergh, Charles Lindbergh's youngest daughter talk on her mother's life and the books that she had published. After her mother's death, Reeve found out that her father had three "mistresses" in Germany who fathered 7 children who were her step sisters and brothers.

I also heard Jennifer Finney Boylan, an author of a New York Times bestseller, and a guest on Oprah's show. She is a transgender who parented 10 years as a father, 8 years as a mother, and 7 years as a lesbian. Very fascinating story.

 

CLASSICS SYMPOSIUM

Homer Virgil Propertius Ovid - Let the Wild Winds Carry. Fascinating program with speakers who were authorities on the classics. Nancy Jenkins, Polly Chatfield, Christine Kondoleon and Madeline Miller - all experts on the classics.

 

MUSEUMS

Other than the Farnsworth there are many other great museums in the area.

Owls Head Transportation Museum. If you are a car, motorcycle, or plane buff, this is the place for you. Founded in 1974 the museum has an extraordinary collection of cars, motorcycles, bicycles and planes, nicely displayed in a tidy hangarlike building at the edge of Knox County Airport.

Penobscot Marine Museum. The Penobscot Marine Museum is one of the best small museums in New England. The museum does a great job of educating visitors about the vitality of the local shipbuilding industry. Wandering from building to building shows a great sense of wonderment at the vast enterprise that was Maine's maritime trade. At one time there were 286 weathered sea captains who called Searsport home. The curators are some of the best I've experienced.

The church at the museum

A sea captains house

The Knox Museum. General Henry Knox who was a general during the Revolutionary War, repositioned the Ticonderoga cannons that were used to attack the British to abandon Boston Harbor.

A replication of General Knox's house the DAR reconctructioned in 1945

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. The expansive complex of waterside gardens is worth exploring. It's a natural habitat with different pathways through the mossy forest featuring different themes and flowers. The walks are quiet and lush, and one of the best trails runs along the tidal shoreline.

A rare orchid

Building a "fairy house"

Friends enjoying the gardens