Randy Spencer sits on the porch of his 80-year-old log camp on the shores of West Grand Lake in eastern Maine, and points to a rocky promontory just beyond the guest cottage. “That’s Moot Point over there,” he quips. That’s the kind of humor you might expect from a fishing guide who’s also a singer, […]
Wayne Curtis
The Rayes run the last remaining cold-process stone mustard mill in the nation, using an ancient technique they say enhances mustard’s natural flavor. (Other manufacturers cook their mustards.) These massive millstones have been grinding seed since 1900. They once served the sardine industry, making mustard only for canning. That changed in 1990, when Nancy Raye, […]
To say Dick Pulsifer makes boats is to say Stradivari made fiddles. Every year for the past three decades, he has painstakingly crafted an average of three finely made small boats, plank by plank, at his modest workshop outside Brunswick. And these beguilingly simple boats — he’ll be completing #104 in 2008 — are treasured […]
Jeremy Frey’s baskets aren’t just works of art, but small monuments to perfection. He splits brown ash into thin strips, then weaves them into a creation that’s both feather-light and sturdy. He may spend up to a month creating a single one; pricing starts at about $95 and averages $300. Look for Jeremy at Bar […]
Maine
Moose-Spotting Tips
Bear in mind that during the September-October mating season, bull moose will behave more aggressively. And no matter how cute the baby moose looks through your camera, if a mother feels you’re threatening her little one, she’ll move to protect it. A wonderful book to bring to Moosehead Lake is “Maine Moose Watcher’s Guide” by […]
New England
Hiking and Biking: 6 destinations
Connecticut Ten Mile Hill, Kent. In the Litchfield Hills, the Appalachian Trail weaves through deep forests. Start at Bull’s Bridge Falls. From here, the trail rises above the water before descending to Ten Mile Gorge, where the Housatonic and Ten Mile rivers merge. From here, switchbacks climb steadily to the crest of Ten Mile Hill, […]
Maine
Maine’s Moose Country
Coming upon a moose in the wilds of Maine requires that you pass through three stages of comprehension. FIRST STAGE [denial] A moose is very large — larger than you’ve ever imagined. If you’re tall and you ran into a moose, you’d knock your head on its shoulder. You must take a moment or two […]
New Hampshire
New Hampshire Seacoast: 18-Mile Vacation
The New Hampshire seacoast is the Lichtenstein of New England–a small, generally overlooked principality much beloved by the few who know it, and given little thought by the rest of us. That’s ripe for change. In an era when the long weekend has replaced the two-week vacation (itself a replacement of the months-long summer sojourn […]
Calling the Old Canada Road (Route 201) a scenic byway does a small injustice to this 78-mile drive between Solon and Sandy Bay Township, along the Canadian border. It’s not just scenic (think moose) but also grandly historic. Benedict Arnold led troops through this wilderness on his spectacularly ill-fated mission to sack Quebec in 1775. […]
User-Submitted Photos
Maine Foliage Driving Tour
FORTUNATE QUIRKS OF geography have saved both the region of western Maine from Bethel to Fryeburg and the area from the New Hampshire border to the Waterfords from condo developers and the tourism industry. Most travelers passing through, usually on Routes 2 or 302, are hustling from the tourist meccas of coastal Maine to those […]
Bruce Schwab is only the second American to single-handedly sail nonstop around the globe, a distinction he earned in 2005 when he became the first American to complete the 27,000-mile Vendée Globe sailing race aboard his 60-foot sloop, Ocean Planet. Bruce, who turned 46 this year, lives in Woolwich, Maine, near Casco Bay, which is […]
Maine
Where to Stay
Harraseeket Inn, 162 Main St. Rates: $125-$305. 800-342-6423, 207-865-9377. harraseeketinn.com Applewood Inn, 8 Holbrook St. Rates: $160-$190. 207-865-9705. applewoodusa.com