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Read More About Maine on GoNOMAD
Rockland, Maine: Fine Art and Family Fun Downtown Rockland has a newly-renovated theater, The Strand, for movies, concerts and other performances, no fewer than 24 art galleries and studios, the world famous Farnsworth Art Museum and the new Maine Lighthouse Museum. There are shipbuilding demonstrations at Atlantic Challenge and golfing and conference facilities at the Samoset Resort. Right nearby are the Abbe Native American Museum, the estate of Revolutionary War hero Henry Knox and many beautiful ponds for swimming and canoeing. We went out and pulled traps with a lobsterman and found out all about the life cycle of the world's favorite crustacean. We gawked at World War I biplanes at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum -- real Fokkers and Sopwiths that still fly. We took a dinner cruise amongst and between all the beautiful little islands in the bay, and learned about the restoration of the puffins, the world's cutest and cuddliest seabird, at the Puffin Center on Main Street. We went sailing on the schooner Morning in Maine (or is it a ketch?), part of Rockland's famous fleet of historic sailing vessels. We got up 5:30 a.m. and went fishing for striped bass, a game fish you can't buy at the market. Even I caught one. We toured the Lighthouse Museum and three historic Victorian mansions and visited the Farnsworth Art Museum, which has one of the finest collections in the world.
Old Orchard Beach, Maine: For Families of All Ages Nestled into seven miles of white sandy beach, Old Orchard Beach, Maine and its surrounding community is the perfect place for a family vacation. This long strip of heaven is ideal for swimming, sandcastles, or digging for clams.
I wasn’t asking for much when I looked into renting a place on the coast of Maine. Only that it be reasonably priced, on the water, full of charm, fully stocked, and near a town with activity; in other words a fantasy rental. Determination and hours online paid off when I came across Cozy Cottage on Cozy Harbor. I went through the pictures several times until I realized that I better jump and quickly; the chance of an opening in July was tenuous at best. The next morning I received an email from the cottage’s owner that my desired week was still open. Bingo! A chance to be a summer person near one of Maine’s prettiest costal villages, a carefree week by the ocean, so the check was in the mail. Not very long after, I was awaiting John and Ellen Blois at the Hannaford Store in Boothbay Harbor to get the keys to my home on the coast of Maine.
Portland, Maine, is scruffy, in the most desirable way; no wonder Outside Magazine places it on the 2005 list of the best places to live. That fits with its motto Resurgam (I shall rise again). Just past the affluent Kennebunkport and south of L.L. Beanville (Freeport) lies one of America’s fastest growing revival cities. The downtown area is filled with shops, pubs and fishermen. Greek revival mansions sit side by side with brick bastions that once served the seafaring Mainer. The town is gruff; brick architecture exemplifies the hard-working heart of this seafaring town. Portland may have a nightlife riddled with top restaurants and top names of every venue the entertainment world has to offer, but its exterior is the glossy coating of a 19th century stalwart fishing village gone metro. When the name Portland comes up, nine times out of ten people think of this breezy city’s west coast Oregon twin. Hidden away in plain sight, however, is cultural restoration at its finest.
Read more GoNOMAD stories about Maine: The Desert of Maine: It Started as a Patch of Sand A Windjammer Cruise Along Maine's Craggy Coast Magnificent Maine: Hikes and Lobsters in Mount Desert Island Belfast, Maine: New England’s Coastal SecretSailing the Maine Coast: Schooner Time Down EastThe York Harbor Inn: History, Luxury and Spectacular Seafood Into the Woods: Family Outdoors Adventures in New England |
