by Christine Tibbetts/The Tifton Gazette July 10, 2010 (permission by author)
tibbetts1@bellsouth.net
In a series about Maine destinations, this trip is perfect before or after a windjammer sailing holiday.
Nooks, crannies and peninsulas extend Maine's rocky coastline into amazing zigzags of discovery, perfect for seeing from a sailing schooner.
Equally wonderful are surprises in two little towns harboring the fleet of 12 Maine Windjammers, historic all because of age or accurate replication.
History lives on the schooners. Art flourishes in town. Little Rockland is a living gallery with welcoming art everywhere I went.
You know how pleasant it feels to be in friends' homes, and like their art, maybe because you like them? That's how Rockland feels in shops, spas, restaurants and storefront windows.
Art everywhere, before you even get to the galleries and museums, and those are friendly too, not at all pretentious.
What a shame it would be to sail on a schooner and hurry home; Camden and Rockland offer some of the best eating, art, reading, strolling and overnighting I've found anywhere, big or small.
Don't skip these towns because you don't sail; wave your traveling buddy off to sea and explore the land. Sailing and staying worked for me: six nights in Penobscot Bay on the Lewis R. French sailing from Camden, and three nights in Rockland.
I've seen the Maine coast in paintings by Edward Hopper, but being here on that rocky coast and in the Farnsworth Art Museum, standing in front of five of the 27 watercolors he painted in Rockland in 1926 - now that's meshing art and geography.
Winslow Homer painted Maine too, and now I love his schooner watercolors better than every since I could see some real ones a few blocks from the Farnsworth.
Twelve galleries in this lovely art museum, great 19th century American art, and contemporary works too. Wyeth artists painted Maine scenes too and the works of three generations of this remarkable artistic family fill a white-frame church building, its simplicity is perfect for the often stark paintings by N. C., Andrew and Jamie Wyeth.
"Mother Nature made the rocks and Ice Age glaciers smoothed them," Mainers like to say. People make these little towns interesting.
Friendly, straightforward, polite it seems because they mean it. I felt that all day, each day.
"Rockland is grounded as a working town, and we want to keep it that way," says Cheryl Michaelsen. For her, work is running an elegant 1898 Select Registry Distinguished Inn of North America. Four Diamond rating, and her mother and mother-in-law make help-yourself-any-time berry pies every day.
Unusual intersection of values? That's Maine.
"People in Maine don't have to drive their money, or wear their money," Michaelsen said.
Those who spend some to overnight at the Berry Manor Inn choose from 12 big rooms and fabulous architectural features throughout the two-story Inn and adjoining carriage house, thanks to the original owner Charles Berry sparing no expense in the wedding gift for his wife.
This is one of four Historic Inns of Rockland, distinctly different one from the other, equally offering concierge services via the friendly proprietors, fine breakfasts and environmentally green habits.
That work-hard background included a lot of fishing, and the harbor in Rockland is a busy one, complete with auto ferry service to nearby islands. Visitors vacationing on neighboring Vinalhaven Island appreciate the historic Granite Inn for its design simplicity and calmness, and because it's just across the street from the ferry.
When granite was a key industry, as many as 300 schooners like today's fleet of 12 could have been in this harbor.
Zack is the pet-friendly Granite Inn's Springer Spaniel, clearly a valued member of the family of Innkeepers Edwin and Joan Hantz.
Loads of lobster boats work the Rockland harbor too.
Steve Hale will take you out on his named Captain Jack's and I went; he's a first generation commercial fisherman, trapping lobster for 36 years. Named to honor his grandfather and 11-year-old grandson, Capt. Jack's holds a max of eight.
"No lecture, just close-up hauling and setting traps. This is a working conversation," Hale says. "A lot of people eat lobster and I want them to know where they come from."
Good advice came from everyone I met.
When the Schooner Bay cab driver taking me from the train station in Rockland to the dock in Camden said to be sure to visit the local library, I figured reading matters here.
Bookstores I found in abundance in little Maine towns. Busy bookstores in Camden and Rockland both, and they're only 15 minutes apart.
Can't be certain but I suspect the libraries and bookstores and their local popularity could have something to do with the fact that conversation anywhere - restaurant server, bakery clerk, art gallery greeter, cabbie - was an interesting one.
Cabbie after dinner one night even asked if we had enjoyed all the "aaht" in town. Art would be the word in my town but in Maine you don't hear too many "R's."
I didn't interview chefs this trip, but certainly ate their fabulous food. People here prefer individual, locally owned restaurants so look for names like Lily Bistro, Rustica Cucina, Cafe Miranda, In Good Company and Amalfi when you eat in Rockland or Brevetto in Camden.
Brevetto is Italian, perched on a fast stream overlooking a rushing waterfall. Front yard herb garden where the bartender picked mint for Mojitos.
Too cold my June evening to sit on the porch, but the fresh mussels tasted terrific inside.
Next door is the Owl and Turtle Bookstore where I got a detailed map of the Maine coast to chart my schooner route; it's a five-minute walk from the dock where I boarded the double-masted National Historic Landmark after dinner.
If you choose to sail from the Rockland harbor, here's a tip to relish. Make an appointment ahead of time at the Rheal Day Spa. It's just up the sidewalk from the pier.
For sure a massage eases bunk bed kinks, but a hot shower is really, really important after days at sea. Owner Rhonda Nordstrom gets it and she's happy to make shower appointments.
Everything's recycled, paints are low VOC, floors are cork, even the nail polish is "green" with no toluene or formaldehyde.
Nordstrom chose Rockland after 20 years in a successful Boston career, and she's not the only one.
That set the tone for my holiday with successful people loving their chosen lives. Sure is more fun than vacations in places with stressed-out proprietors.
Limerock Inn owners P. J. Walter and Frank Isganitis call themselves "corporate refugees," replacing New Jersey with Rockland six years ago, and thoroughly enjoying their beautifully appointed 1892 inn.
Sue Kelly's another. Registered nurse turned aesthetician choosing Rockland. Understands meds in the beauty business and her husband is a chiropractor, sharing the same historic 1800s stagecoach building, once a stop for the Underground Railroad.
Interesting energy to contemplate as I sought a facial with natural fruit products to counteract six days and nights in the winds of Penobscot Bay.
Bettina Doulton changed gears too, leaving a big city investment career to open Cellardoor Winery.
"Choosing to live here is connectedness, taking the extra minutes to share," she says.
"That means family, economy, staff, friends. Collaborating, working together gives this life a dense experience," Doulton says.
Wine's available on her farm and others near Camden and Rockland. Leave the driving to Chad Ridge; for $25 he'll take you to three, plus point out lovely views in this mid-coast part of Maine.
All Aboard Trolley picked me up at the Granite Inn for the scenic drive to Savage Oakes, Sweetgrass and Cellardoor.
In between tours, he books national acts for Rockland festivals, big ones for crowds of thousands. Check out the 63rd Lobster Festival this Aug. 4-8 or the Maine boats and harbors the second full week every August.
"That's all for giving back to community," Chad says, "which most Mainers always do."
Gee, if only I'd found time to wander around Rockport Village, nestled between Rockland and Camden. Or Bath where I caught the Maine Eastern Railroad. Or Wiscasset where Norm Forgey who runs Maine Day Trip pointed out the abundance of antique shops.
More Maine vacations needed.
When you go:
www.HistoricInnsofRockland.com
www.FarnsworthMuseum.org
www.CaptainJackLobsterTours.com
www.MeetTheFleet.com
www.VisitMaine.com
www.MaineDayTrip.com
www.SailMaineCoast.com
