This is my 28th autumn at Yankee. for each of those years, the editors have talked for hours about how to best capture on our pages this most singular of New England’s seasons. Can we do it just with photographs? Can words give our readers a sense of the color marching up the hillsides; the […]
The answer, my friend, is a wind chime by Goose Rocks Designs. Each stained-glass mobile not only delights the ears with its lyrical sound, but also pleases the eyes. Choose from 62 models, ranging from contemporary designs (named after Maine locations) to New England icons such as sailboats and trees. Pictured is Baxter ($69), one […]
Maine natives Hannah Kubiak and Beth Shissler have created an innovative recycling program — turning retired sails into hip tote bags. “We like the ones where you can taste the salt on the outside,” says Beth. Sea Bags, sewn in Portland, Maine, can weather rough handling, thanks to the extremely durable fabric and hand-spliced rope […]
“Boats are designed to work best in the waters of the designer,” says boatbuilder Nick Schade. “The coastline from Long Island Sound all the way up the coast of Maine is wonderful paddling.” Our favorite for these waters is his 18-foot Night Heron kayak. It handles well in rough water such as wind chop and […]
C. H. Becksvoort of New Gloucester, Maine. It’s a name synonymous with high-quality Shaker-style furniture. Chris Becksvoort uses the same simplicity of design when making music stands (a little-known line of his). “[They] give pleasure, and I think a lot of musicians do appreciate that, whereas the metal folding ones merely hold the music,” Chris […]
Vermont leads the region with small family operations producing world-class cheeses. We are particularly enamored with the following. Appleton Creamery, Appleton, Maine. In addition to fresh chèvre, the Hunter family also makes feta, sheep’s yogurt and a hard cheese they call Crofters. 207-785-4431. appletoncreamery.com Grafton Village Cheese Company, Grafton, Vermont. Grafton cheddar has a sharp […]
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 […]
While the public cannot personally visit Allen Island and the neighboring Georges Islands, you can see some of Andrew Wyeth’s Maine paintings, watercolors, and drawings at over a dozen New England art museums. Start with the Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center in Rockland, Maine. The Farnsworth has the region’s largest collection: 26 (compared with […]
Islands are the perfect places for Betsy Wyeth. Of the numerous islands in her life, some are metaphoric, created as home and refuge for herself and the man — the artist — she loves. But there are also the islands with actual moats of distance and challenge, the islands she has bought and lived on […]
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. […]
1. DO get lost. Carry a good map (we like the detailed atlas and gazetteer series by DeLorme mapmakers in Yarmouth, Maine; 800-561-5105; delorme.com) and get a little lost. With 7,401 miles of unpaved roads just in Vermont, there’s ample opportunity to find adventure. 2. DO observe proper foliage etiquette. Locals use the back roads […]
Rare is the American outdoors lover who does not have a pair of L.L. Bean’s rubber-bottomed, leather-topped shoes or boots. The boots were a eureka moment for Maine woodsman Leon Leonwood Bean. Legend has it that 90 of the first 100 pairs were returned. Bean’s business sense (and sense of honesty) had him return the […]
