Ozarksbill

Here we are safely back from a shortened trip to Maine (from Watertown, MA). We had planned on relocating later in the week in Bangor for a music festival. But with Irene coming we headed back south instead from Boothbay Harbor. We stayed four nights at a little hidden spot we'd discovered once before...Ship Ahoy on Southport Island (just over the draw bridge on Rt. 238). This motel has nice views of the harbor from all rooms...at exceptional prices! www.shipahoymotel.com This time our room was located in the rooms with private decks closer to the sea. Route 27 winds down from U.S. 1 and is mostly excellent blacktop until you get to Boothbay Harbor itself where you wind around on narrow streets through this touristy town. Not far beyond are several bridges and then just half a mile on Rt. 238. Distance from Watertown, MA, is 179 mi.

A stop on the way in Portland to tour the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Conducted tours are led by the Maine History Society next door. www.mainehistory.org Fortunately the sister of the famous poet lived in the house many years and it later was passed along ...so the furnishings are original. You can see where Longfellow looked out a window to a garden...and where after a troubling time in life he panned "into each life a little rain must fall." This is one of many well known lines. Lunch down the way in Monument Square...tasty Greek wrap at a place on Monument Square.

This was our first time here. Of course there's so much to do and see in Portland. Like sailing: www.portlandschooner.com, www.mainesailingadventures.net Or the museum of art which I know is great... www.portlandmuseum.org Or narrow gauge RR along Casco Bay: www.mngrr.org You've got some eating places to recommend I'm sure. www.visitportland.com Yes, along the way though choosing to go up U. S. 1 we passed up L. L. Bean and Ogunquit this time. Also Strawberry Banks in Portsmouth, NH.

Our Monday dinner was at Robinson's Wharf noted for their lobster meals with corn on the cob, slaw, ale. www.robinsons-wharf.com This is close to Ship Ahoy and a favorite just down 27 at the bridge from Boothbay Harbor. Now they have a fuller menu...they used to just have the fresh lobsters lifted right out of a pot. Delicious with butter for sure. Corn so-so. Seating out on a deck.

Tuesday began with a breakfast snack at a Ship Ahoy porch house overlooking the bay. See, you can get items each for 1$. We had frosted flakes with blueberries bought yesterday and a roll and coffee. Left berries for others. Objective today was a trip to the Edward Hopper exhibit at Bowdoin College at Brunswick. Traffic in the city was confusing as was locating the college art museum. But this is a must see collection of Maine paintings during various summers. Two rooms had a number of small oils that he did early on 1916-19, many never seen in his lifetime. Also watercolors from Monhegan Island were featured. And Portland and Rockland scenes. So we saw lighthouses, old buildings, seascapes, rocky shores with that bleakness and shadow effect so typical. But I didn't know about Hopper's more rural Maine scenes. Many in this special exhibit are on loan from museums all over. www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum. So if you can...see this! Lasts till Oct. 15. And is free. Bowdoin has music theatre...www.msmt.org

Added word here. We are a retired couple who focus more on art exhibits and sightseeing and food. No longer camping and hiking and canoing and such. Some might for example visit Monhegan Island itself for a puffin watch...www.hardyboat.com near Waldoboro. Land trust in Boothbay and Southport has many hiking trails: www.bbrlt.org For those who are more athletic I might mention some folks at Ship Ahoy and elsewhere were into kayaking and bicycling. We did enjoy just relaxing on the motel deck watching the lobster boats. Other railroad experiences in Maine: www.maineeasternrailroad.com in Brunswick or Bath. Or along rte. 24 is Boothbay Railroad Village. www.railwayvillage.org

More later.

yk

Hi Bill,

I'm sorry you had your vacation cut short due to Irene. Sounds like you had a nice trip nonetheless!

dfrostnh

We love that area of Maine. It's fun to see what others do when they visit. Sitting on the deck watching lobster boats sounds great to me!

Ozarksbill

To continue. Leaving Brunswick and the Hopper exhibit last Tuesday we sought out a lunch spot (recommended as others by Boston Globe) called Allen's Sea Food. This is located at the end of Lookout Point Road out of Harpswell and it is really a fish shack where you order take outs. For us it was sea food sampler and chowder. Yummy! http://harpswellmaine.org/restaurants

Heading back we stopped for a snack in Wicasset. Delicious maple walnut ice cream at Round Top adjacent to the famous Reds Eats which always has long lines. A favorite take out...www.yelp.com/biz/reds-eats-wiscasset-2
Dinner at a Boothbay Harbor spot...Kaler's on Commercial. Varied menu and we had chowder, salad, quesadilla. www.kalers.com Weather by the way sunny and in the 70s...couldn't be nicer. Then back to relax on our deck.

Wednesday morning we drove into town for breakfast at Blue Moon, very nice little place overlooking the bay. The special was corned beef hash and eggs which I ordered and my partner had delicious cinnamon pecan crisped french toast.
www.bluemoonboothbayharbor.com Afterwards looking in the shops along Commercial street. Some great buys as the season winds down...e.g. a pull over sweatshirt for $10. Also some jams and a toy whistle for grandchild. When you think of it the tourist season is pretty short here...mainly July and August, a little into Sept. and during fall colors.

On this day we located the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens on the east shore of the island. As recommended by a local very worthwhile. A children's garden is fun and another place with a variety of herbs and spices along with fragrant flowers: Garden of the Five Senses. Many flowers in bloom among walkways and ponds and trees...and lots of people enjoying it all. We had lunch on the terrace. www.MaineGardens.org

Rest of the afternoon driving down to the point of Southport Island. Stopped at very nice library to check email. A lighthouse off Cape Newagen. Evidentally Rachel Carson lived in a house nearby now owned by her adopted nephew. Hmmm...wonder if someone on Fodors doesn't recognize that name? Back up rte. 27 on the west side we stopped off for coffee and a whoopie pie (of course being in Maine) and conversation at The Lobster Shop with the owner and her mother Brenda who has never lived anywhere else. And there was still time for a dip in the pool at Ship Ahoy...bracing!

My traveling companion insisted on having seafood newburg with dutchess potatoes which we had at the Tug Boat Inn Restaurant back in Boothbay Harbor on Commercial. I opted for a special of salmon cakes with salad. Unusual looking restaurant shaped like a prow of a boat. www.tugboatinn.com Prices at the inn next door btw start at $160.

As I glance outside on this Sunday morning with church and everything cancelled the wind from Irene is now whipping up.
To be concluded.

Bill in Boston

Ozarksbill

Now to finish up. Warnings about Irene caused us to cancel plans for traveling further north in Maine. It would have meant driving back to Boston vicinity on Sunday (and that would indeed have been the worst possible time). Thursday breakfast at the motel snack porch overlooking the sea. Conversation with several who come here every year. Then we were off up the coast to Rockland. Just north of Boothbay Harbor was an outdoor market and we got some apple butter and honey.

Destination was the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland because of a long review in the Boston Globe of a Wyeth exhibit. Location it turned out is right in the center of town. Parking no problem...and we can see that Rockland might be a place to explore in the future. Before a snack across the street at Atlantic Baking Co...maple sugar topped bun with coffee. www.AtlanticBakingCo.com

The Farnsworth has various Maine in America paintings in several rooms. The Wyeth Center shows works from all three of the Wyeths who came to Maine. I didn't realize N. C. also painted besides the book cover illustrations such as one I remember from childhood "Treasure Island." In the church behind which is the Wyeth Center is featured Andrew Wyeth, Christina's World and the Olson House, augmented by the loan of a number of sketches loaned from Japan of the famous Christina work (which due to fragility remains in the MOMA).

To quote the Globe: "Wyeth had a flair for tensions created by juxtapositions not just of light and dark but of near and far, and of transparency smooth and opaquely textured." It also seems Andrew Wyeth painted Helga in many poses including nude causing a sensation a few years ago. Then there is son Jamie Wyeth who has his own distinctive and experimental style. This includes figures and animals. A reminder: the special Christina exhibit goes through Oct. 30.
www.farnsworthmuseum.org

Late lunch as planned down U. S. 1 at Waldoboro...Moody's Diner as mentioned in the Globe. Early on just a few tourist cabins it is now a popular roadside eatery. One needs to realize that it has 1935 style cooking which means less seasoning and more traditional things like green beans. We chose daily special of shepherds pie plus a blueberry pie with all juicy berries. Just think in 1930s you could get a ham or fried egg sandwich there for 10 cents. www.moodysdiner.com

Back at the motel later on we relaxed and then decided to dine at nearby Robinsons's Wharf...clam chowder, grilled chicken salad sandwich (with red peppers and melted cheese). There is some evening entertainment in the area such as DaPonte String Quartette www.daponte.org and lounges and a playhouse and band concerts (even a Mozart Requiem mid August) but we decided to hunker down and avoid the winding roads at night. www.BoothbayHarbor.com

Friday morning was a dense fog which soon lifted. We have heard warnings that boats should be taken out of the water prior to the hurricane but so far not much action. So many boats, too. So now we headed home down I-95. Lunch in downtown Portsmouth was pizza at www.portsmouthgaslight.com but it wasn't so good...would have done better next door or at the dockside Oar House enjoyed in an earlier visit. A stop off at an old cemetery in Haverhill...along with my dozen ancestors founding the town is also one Lt. John Johnson who was victim 1708 of an Indian massacre. Shopping at a mall and finally lunch at a little place near home...toasted cheese sandwich, chicken pot pie, delicious shake at Brighams Ice Cream www.yelp.com/biz/brighams-ice-cream-belmont

Someday we'll be back in Maine.

MP07950

Great report!

yk

I told DH that next summer we'll have to make a trip to mid-coast Maine.

Ozarksbill

Thanks for comments. We didn't do anything very exciting I guess but sure had a restful few days plus exposure to some pleasing art. How many I wonder who don't know the paintings of Wyeth or Hopper or maybe even know who they are?
Bill in Boston

travelerfromtx

Thanks for the report.

Is Boothbay Harbor a good place to spend one night on the way from Bar Harbor to Boston? Or would you suggest a different town?

Ozarksbill

Oh yeah, I think Boothbay Harbor has lots of overnight possibilities. You could check out the websites...or down the way Ship Ahoy where we stayed. We didn't go to Bar Harbor this trip or Acadia Pk...and I think Bar Harbor is pretty commercial (even though I have a cap which says on it "Bar Harbor!")

dfrostnh

I loved the Farnsworth but DH prefers Owls Head Transportation Museum. If you get back to Rockland, the short, easy hike to Owls Head Light is worth it for the view.

Ozarksbill

Somebody was saying they didn't like Hopper or Wyeth art. I find the realism and starkness appealing. Regarding Andrew Wyeth it is true that the paintings of seacoasts and lighthouses are bleak with lots of whites and browns.
As for Edward Hopper I do love the coastal Maine scenes. There is something nostalgic. One critic has said that Hopper was the first painter to emphasize the dark side of America's pellmell growth which is something I hadn't seen. A simpler life perhaps? Or is it a loneliness portrayed by "A Woman in the Sun" or that well known "Nighthawks" or others with nobody smiling. Many pictures have no humans. A reminder that the Wyeth and Hopper exhibits in Maine do continue into October.

DebInTN

Bill:
Thanks for your report. We are travelling to Maine in a couple of weeks. We have reservations for a couple of nights at Moosehead Lake and a few nights in Bar Harbor. We need a place to stay for one night in between these two stops. I have looked at Ship Ahoy and Capn Fishs. Have you ever stayed at Capn Fishs? Also, could (would) you tell me the room number and building that you stayed in at Ship Ahoy? We love to sit out and look at the scenery in the evenings and the room you had sounds exactly like something we would love. Thanks for any help.

Ozarksbill

Yes, glad to encourage an inexpensive stay at Ship Ahoy (don't know the other one). We were in about room #150 located down toward the shoreline with a deck where you can indeed just sit out and enjoy the evening. There is another building further down and the main one higher up where you can also sit out in front of your room.

dfrostnh

I always romanticized Christina's World. Someone had to tell me she crawled in the grass because she had polio. What I like about Andrew Wyeth's work is the other seasons in Maine. The beauty in some of the bleakness.
OTH it's also fun to see the antique airplanes flying at Owls Head during a special event weekend.

orangetravelcat

Wow, the rates are incredible at the Ship Ahoy. Definitely putting this place on my list of places to stay if we are lucky enough to get to Maine.

Great trip report.

castlevisitor

Very nice report.

Ozarksbill

Yep, we hesitate to tell anyone about ShipAhoy! The owner does his own repairs and hasn't raised rates for years. Every room has a lovely overlook. Nice swimming pool, too.

DebInTN

Thanks for your help. We leave Saturday!!!!