The majority of visitors to Mount Desert Island say on the west side, congregating in Bar Harbor and the sights along the Park Loop road. If you want to escape, mosey over to the west side, a.k.a. the Quiet Side. Southwest Harbor is the hub, but even when it’s busy, it’s far less so than Bar Harbor. Loop through Manset and the Seawall section of the park, nip into Bass Harbor, Tremont, and Bernard, and you’ll find be rewarded, especially if you’re hungry (There’s great hiking on this side, too). Here are a few places to nibble and sip.
Popovers!
Breakfast at the Common Good Cafe, in the post office block in downtown Southwest Harbor, is a meal that not only tastes good, but one you can feel good about. During the summer season,the cafe offers a self-serve, by-donation, all-you-can-eat buffet of hot popovers, slow-simmered steel-cut oatmeal, teak, coffee, and accompaniments, including maple syrup and house-made plain and flavored (maple walnut, cinnamon) butters and jam. It may not have the history of the Jordan Pond House, but the popovers are truly delicious, and the butters, well, I’m still licking my lips at the memory.
The volunteer-run program is a fund-raiser by The Common Good Soup Kitchen Community, which distributes free soup to shut-ins, offers a winter community meal,and stocks a winter community clothing program, among other things. Be as generous as you can in your donation; remember just one popover with tea is about $11 at the Jordan Pond House, here you can eat as many as you like. That said, no one monitors it, and if you’re on a tight budget, just give what you can. Every penny is appreciated. You might also consider picking up a package of the popover mix.
Beal’s Lobster Pier is getting some fancy! Not only has it renovated its dining area, it also hired Chef John Wight (previously with the Jordan Pond House) to upgrade and expand its menu. Of course, the lobsters are all from boats that unload right at the pier but Wight is emphasizing fresh and local, including Maine-raised beef and locally grown veggies. Wight promises plenty of gluten-free options.
If Beal’s is getting fancy, wait until you see Thurston’s Lobster Pound. I’ve long favored Thurston’s thanks to its dreamy views over Bass Harbor. Always a few steps above bare-bones shack, thanks to its covered and screened seating area, now it’s gone downright upscale with the addition of an adjacent, deck-connected indoor/outdoor bar/lounge complete with marble bar and massive hearth. Love it!
Even more low key is Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Poundan order-at-the-window joint that gets raves for its lobster rolls and lobster. No view, only a few picnic tables, but you can always take it to go and head for Acadia’s Seawall Picnic Area.
My between meals research is fueled by sweets. Truth-to-tell, I don’t know how I went so many years without knowing about these two sweet finds. While I’ve long known about the Quietside Cafe, I didn’t know about Frances’ to-die-for key lime and mile-high blueberry pies. These alone are worth a trip to this side of the island.
Every now and then I stumble into a Eureka! find, and Seal Cove Farm‘s pizza is one.
This summer, Seal Cove—best known for its handcrafted, artisan cheeses, especially goat—debuted its new, outdoor, wood-burning pizza oven. Finding it requires noodling the backroads of Lamoine, the rural peninsula-tipping town framed by the Mount Desert Narrows, the Skillings River, and the western shores of Frenchman Bay. It’s worth it.
We arrived to find the new stone oven and seasonal kitchen building next to the small farm store. Graham, the pizza maker, was offering samples under a tent, and Lynn was running the store. While we were there Barbara, the farmer, stopped by, too.
Although the menu listed just four pizzas, the possibilities were limited only by the farm-fresh ingredients, produce/cheeses/and goateroni available and one’s imagination. A 10-inch pizza is $10.
We tasted two: the caramelized onion, roasted garlic, fresh chevre, and basil, followed by the kale, garlic scapes, and fresh feta. The two other options that day were snap peas, broccoli, and chevre and goateroni (goat pepperoni), chard, garlic and Olga (a mixed raw cow and goat milk cheese). We ordered the two we tasted, each opting to add snap peas to it.
Pizzas are made and baked individually as they need to be tended frequently while baking, but the whole process doesn’t take more than 10-15 minutes, if that, as long as there isn’t a line.
We took our pizzas to a small shelter with a picnic table. From here, while happily savoring every bite, we watched goats leaping in the fields. Afterward, we visited the farm store for maple goat gelato (heaven!) and to purchase cheeses.
Be sure to check the website for current hours before making a special trip.
Just as the show must go on, so must the race. Last Friday, on a foggy and damp morning, with Hurricane Arthur rumbling up the East Coast, I boarded the schooner Stephen Tabera floating National Historic Landmark, for the annual Maine Windjammer Association’s Great Schooner Race from Gilkey Harbor, off Islesboro, to the Rockland Breakwater. I trusted the captains more than the weather service, and that proved to be a smart decision. The heavy clouds parted and we actually enjoyed some sun for the all-day event.
National Historic Register plaque
Built in 1871, the Taber is the oldest vessel in continuous service in the Maine Windjammer Association fleet. “Technically, the French is older by a few months, but it didn’t operate one season,” Capt. Noah Barnes says, manning the wheel wearing his signature crisp, ironed white shirt. Today’s light air favors the French, he adds, because it has higher sails than the Taber.
The Great Schooner Race had its roots in a 1951 race between the Taber and the Wentworth, which no longer sails. The Taber won that won by a bowsprit, Barnes says, adding: “I have a great deal of respect for this boat. I owe a lot to how handy this schooner is. Things I’d never try on other boat, I can do with the Taber. Then again, I’ve been sailing her since I was 7, so that’s an advantage.”
Barnes, a second-generation windjammer owner and captain, took over from his parents Ken and Ellen more than a decade ago. He was working in public relations in New York City, and when he went home for Christmas, bringing his girlfriend, Jane, with him for the first time, his parents took him aside. “We’re retiring after next season,” they told him. “We have offers, but you have the first refusal and you have 45 days to decide.”
He knew immediately what his choice would be. “I said to Jane, ‘Jane I dig you, but I gotta do this.’ I felt I had no choice, I felt compelled. I had been running away from this for years.”
He worked for his parents as first mate that summer, and Jane, who worked in the wine biz, followed two years later. “I don’t know how to sail, but I can organize a wine tasting,” she says. And that’s what she did, organizing the StephenTaber‘s first wine cruise in 2005. It was a tremendous success, and now the Taber offers five full-on wine cruises during the season. In addition, it serves wine every night with dinner on all cruises. “We have one red and one white table wine, different ones every night. They’re inexpensive wines, but not ones most people had heard of, but good wines.”
Just as some guests come repeatedly for the wine cruises, others return year after year for race week. Carol Riman, from Randolph, Mass., is back for the ninth consecutive year. She’s so enamored of the boat, crew, and captain, that she designed and made a needlepoint belt featuring the Taber for Barnes. “I think one of the reasons I keep coming back is the captain. I just fell in love with with the atmosphere in the boat and how he treats his staff,” she says. “The food is spectacular, and I meet such nice people.”
Anna Miller rings the lunch bell, and we gather around the buffet spread on deck. Miller, who cooks in the winters at Rockland’s wonderful In Good Company restaurant, has made a monster Mediterranean tuna sandwich comprising Tuna and probably a dozen veggies. Accompanying it is a green salad, a Moroccan carrot salad, and killer peanut butter cup bars. “I make a fast lunch for race day,” she says, since no one wants to spend a lot of time eating.
The Taber is in the lead as well approach the Breakwater. “We’re going to win,” I say to the captain. He smiles, but says because the pace has been so fast, they’ve decided to add another lap to the race. We’ll circle into the harbor and then out to a marker and back.
“I tacked to do that, I played that angle. That’s how you win the race.”
I look ahead and realize we’re heading straight for the breakwater. Barnes starts barking commands to his crew. I hold my breath.
Closer.
Closer.
And just when it seems we’re sure to crash into the tip, we squeak by.
At least it was a squeak to me. Barnes says we had about 8 feet of clearance. But still… “I wouldn’t do that with any other boat,” Barnes says. “I tacked to do that, I played that angle. That’s how you win the race.”
But it’s far from over, and the Mary Day isn’t far behind. “The Mary Day hasn’t lost the overall cup in decades,” Barnes says. “It’ll be a big thing if we win.” He keeps glancing over his shoulder at the Mary Day as well as ahead, watching the wind play in the sails of other boats.
With 300 yards to go, the wind dies. We drop from 7.5 to 1 knot per hour. The Mary Day keeps gaining on us, taking advantage of her higher sails to catch the light winds. “We need to be able to look straight down the breakwater to win,” Barnes says. Tension grips the boat. The radio cackles to life: “Did you do the sacrifice of a passenger this morning?” Yes, Barnes replies, “but don’t worry, she wasn’t well liked.”
Barnes strategizes in hopes of keeping the thinning lead. And then, the Mary Day not only slows, caught in that pocket of dead air, but also is legally cut off by another schooner on a tack. Barnes looks down the breakwater and gives the command to fire the cannon, signaling the win.
A crew member asks whether it would be too smug to put up the Eat My Wake flag. The response is unanimous, don’t do it. Barnes quietly explains why it’s not the right thing to do.
The captain opens a bottle of champagne during the cocktail hour, and we celebrate the victory while nibbling all manner of fancy hors d’oeuvres: cheeses and charcuterie, deviled eggs, lobster gougeres, stuffed peppers, her boat-made chicken liver pate with pickled rhubarb or fiddleheads, phyllo-wrapped bried with a chutney, and more. It’s enough to call dinner, but it’s not.
We’re all well into the wine when Bo ssam, a Korean pork dish, is laid out. “It’s pork candy,” Barnes says, as he demonstrates wrapping a scoop in a lettuce, adding rice, and topping it with Miller’s kimchee and a to-die-for ginger scallion sauce. Even though I’m full, I eat not one, not two, but three of them, opting to pass on dessert.
By the time I depart the Taber, it’s raining, hard. No matter. The wind blew, the sun shined, and we won the race. I have nothing but delicious memories of the day. Next time, I want to join the full race week sail. Maybe, just maybe, I can convince Barnes I was the good luck charm that won him the trophy.
Oh yum, here’s a find! Jeremy Towne, a.k.a the Towne Fryer. This spring, Towne relocated from Machias to Whiting, where he keeps his doughnut mobile parked on the front lawn of his Route 1 home. Go early if you want the raised honey glazed, as that sells out quickly.
NOTE: Sometimes Towne travels to the Route 1 dike in Machias, best to call for his current location 207-733-2066.
Once a year, tiny Paris Hill comes alive for its Founders Day celebration, when Bob Bahre shares his private car collection with the public. More than 50 prized vehicles—including one of the world’s best collections of Packards (including Dietrich and LeBaron V-windshield body styles), along with Duesenbergs, Stutz Bearcats, a Tucker, a Thomas Flyer, vintage race cars, and more—are on view. Also exhibited is an antique doll and toy collection, horse-drawn carriages, and other vintage treasures.
This special annual event happenson th third Saturday in July. Admission to the classic car exhibit is $15 for adults and $2 for children 12 and younger, with proceeds benefiting the Hamlin Memorial Library & Museum.
While the car show is the biggest draw, it’s not the only reason to stop by this Oxford Hills village, just off Route 26 north of South Paris. Live music, food, craft vendors, raffles, and more are part of the celebration. As with the car exhibit, much of the proceeds support the library.
That library is a cool story in itself, as it was built in1822 as the original Oxford County Jail. It also doubles as a museum offering artifacts that will intrigue history buffs. And do take time to walk around the village on a self-guided walking tour.
Paris Hill’s biggest claim to fame is that it was the birthplace of Hannibal Hamlin, vice president during Abraham Lincoln’s first term. The village, home to a National Historic District of elegant 18th- and 19th-century homes, is well worth a detour off Route 26 anytime, but especially for this event or during fall foliage season; the views over the mountains and lakes are spectacular.
Visiting Campobello Island, New Brunswick, home to Roosevelt-Campobello International Park, is a must whenever I’m in way down east Maine.
If Down East Maine is remote, then Franklin D. Roosevelt’s beloved Canadian island is one step removed from remote. This sparsely populated, 9-mile-long New Brunswick orphan seduces me with its quiet disposition, soaring cliffs plummeting to churning seas, calming vistas of lobster and fishing boats chugging around nearby islands, and gentle network of hiking trails and carriage roads. Being here is like being of the world, but not in the world.
Tethered to Lubec, Maine, by the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Bridge, the island is only accessible from its motherland by seasonal ferry. Tide and weather govern life on Campobello Island. It lies in Passamaquoddy Bay, sited at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, home to some of the world’s biggest tides. At low tide, the ocean bottom reveals its secrets; at high tide, whales can be spied from the shore.
NOTE: Updated May 26, 2022
Roosevelt-Campobello International Park
Touring the Roosevelt Cottage, in Roosevelt-Campobello International Park, is a must when on Campbello Island. Hilary Nangle
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Campobello Island, like Newport, R.I., and Bar Harbor, Maine, was a summer colony for well-to-do families who came for fresh air and clear water. The island is perhaps best known for its long association with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He summered here during his boyhood and later with his wife, Eleanor, and their children. And he was stricken with polio here in 1921.
The 34-room Roosevelt Cottage, built in 1897 and located about 1.5 miles from the bridge, is part of 2,800-acre Roosevelt-Campobello International Park. Also within the boundaries are four other restored cottages and a visitor center. The park, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014, is administered jointly by the United States and Canada. The park’s visitor center’s exhibits and film (yes, it’s dated, but plans for a new one are in place) provide an excellent overview of the island and the Roosevelts.
A guided tour through the adjacent Roosevelt cottage offers a window into the family’s life. It appears as if they’ve just stepped out, perhaps for a picnic or a sail. A hand of cards is face down on the table; a hat rests on a bench; a knitting basket is topped with an unfinished project; toys scatter the playroom.
Tea with Eleanor
Roosevelt-Campobello International Park interpreters regale visitors with stories about Eleanor during the park’s Tea with Eleanor program.
To scratch beneath the surface and to become less like voyeurs and more like invited family guests, sign up for the Tea with Eleanor experience.
Offered in two historical cottages, Tea with Eleanor is a treat — I think it’s a must-do Campobello experience. Enthusiastic park interpreters, many with family memories of the Roosevelts, share anecdotes and stories of Eleanor’s trials and triumphs in an engaging, well-researched presentation, while guests sip tea and nibble cookies. No two presentations are the same, as the interpreters bring their own experiences and histories and audience questions often take the conversation in different directions.
Two free teas are offered daily: The morning tea is first-come/first-served. You can make reservations for the afternoon tea.
The Fun Tour
This free, one-hour tour delivers a behind-the-scenes experience of the park. On this one, guides promise to reveal: “scandalous secrets, back stories, and the hidden nooks and crannies of the world’s only international park.” The family-oriented tours concentrate on the park, but you’ll learn about Campobello Island, too.
Beyond the Roosevelt cottage
It’s easy to feel as if you have Campobello island to yourself. @Hilary Nangle
The park’s Visitor Center stocks maps and nature checklists for visiting the park’s extensive grounds, split on both sides of the road.
Frankly, it would be easy to spend days exploring the park’s natural assets. These include hiking trails, boggy ponds and lush woodlands, rocky beaches and soaring headlands. Carriage roads (open to cars, foot, and bicycles) lace the park; and 11 picnic areas pepper it.
If time’s pressing, an easy 1.2-mile round-trip hike to Friar’s Head departs from near the visitor center and loops to the distinctive coastal land formation. An observation deck provides expansive views over scalloped shorelines and fir-trimmed islands.
A cliff-edging masterpiece linking Liberty Point with Raccoon Beach headlines the park’s 8 miles of hiking trails. Roughly midway along is the Sunsweep Sculpture.
Equally irresistible are the whispered promises of pitcher plants, scrub pines, sphagnum moss, and lichens on the boardwalk looping through Eagle Hill Bog.
Strategically placed observation decks throughout the park deliver views to West Quoddy Head and Grand Manan Island. Listen for whales spouting and seals singing, but bring binoculars to aid in spying either.
Mulholland Light, also owned by the park, is located just before the mainland bridge. A marine biology exhibit drawing from the New England Aquarium and Canadian Whale Institute is on view in the fishing shed. If the timing’s right and the tide is changing: Seals cavort in the boils, eddies, and whirlpools of the turning tide and eagles soar overhead.
Trails also connect the international park with the abutting 1,049-acre Herring Cove Provincial Park, an underutilized sleeper with four additional miles of trails. Also here: a mile-long sand beach, freshwater lake, restaurant (not opening in 2022), campground, and nine-hole golf course.
Head Harbor Light on Campobello Island
Getting to Head Harbor Light requires picking your way across the ocean floor. @Tom Nangle
You’ll find the international and provincial parks on Campobello’s southern end, but another treasure, Head Harbor Light, punctuates the northern tip. View the 51-foot-tall beacon, with its distinctive red cross, from the shoreline. But if you’re game for an adventure and the timing is right, it’s even better up close. It’s located on an islet and accessible only during a four-hour window around dead low tide. Take heed to the warning sign:
Extreme Hazard. Beach exposed only at low tide. Incoming tide rises 5 feet per hour and may leave you stranded for 8 hours. Wading or swimming are extremely dangerous due to swift currents and cold water. Proceed at your own risk.
Thank the Friends of Head Harbour Lightstation for restoring the keeper’s house and tower. Guide Deanna Baldwin explained the restoration’s challenges on a tour through the house and up to the lantern room. Volunteers lugged out almost all supplies and furnishings during those four-hour windows. Tides only allowed a full day’s work on a few occasions .
Accessing the lighthouse, constructed in 1830, is an adventure. It requires clambering up and down metal ladders, crossing wooden bridges, following paths across islet cliffs, and navigating the ocean floor through slippery, often rockweed-covered boulders.
“This is the most magical place in the world,” Baldwin said. “You can sit here and watch the whales, minke, finbacks, humpbacks, sometimes even right whales.”
From the lighthouse, it’s an easy detour to Head Harbor Wharf, a postcard cove where the island’s fishing fleet docks.
You can also arrange for a whale-watching tour or a guided island tour while on Campobello Island.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt International Bridge connects Lubec, Maine, with Campobello Island, N.B.
Details, details
• Campobello Island is on Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT), which is one hour ahead of Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), so if it’s 9 a.m. in Lubec, it’s 10 a.m. on the island.
• The only direct access from the U.S. mainland is via the Franklin D. Roosevelt International Bridge from Lubec, Maine. A two-stage car ferry connects Campobello with Deer Isle, N.B. A free ferry connects Deer Island with Black’s Harbor, N.B.
• If you’re traveling with a dog, you need proof of rabies vaccination to cross the border. Dogs must be leashed at all times in the park.
• The park staffs an information center on Campobello, just after the bridge; check here for tide information. Head Harbor Lighthouse (sometimes called East Quoddy Head) can be accessed two hours before and two hours after dead low tide. The requested donation to hike to the lighthouse is $5 pp. Lighthouse and tower tours are available for $10 pp or $25 per family. Donations support restoration efforts.
LodgingThe Owen House is an oceanfront time warp, an early 19th-century bed & breakfast decorated with antiques and family treasures on 10 acres.
Pollock Cove Resort The word resort is a bit high falutin’ for this property. comprises one-and two-bedroom cottages with cooking facilities, all located on a grassy bluff with spectacular sea views. There’s a decent restaurant next door.
Campsites ($25-40) are tucked in the woods near the beach at Herring Cove Provincial Park.
And of course, there’s plenty of lodging in Lubec. My favorites include two masterful restorations:
The Inn on the Wharf is in a renovated cannery on a working wharf just steps from downtown Lubec. Rooms and apartments are on one level, and fish processing (lobster, periwinkles, etc.) continues below.
Quoddy Head Station offers studio to multi-bedroom apartments in a former Coast Guard lifesaving station on West Quoddy Head, near the lighthouse; some have ocean views.
It’s the end of an era: Fourth-generation owner Kathryn Weare has sold the Cliff House Resort & Spa, which tops the cliffs of Bald Head in Ogunquit. New owner Rockbridge, a hotel investment firm, purchased the property with Maine-based hoteliers Marc Dugas and Peter Anastos. A renovation is planned after the 2015 season.
Managing the property is New Castle Hotels, which recently reopened Portland’s former Eastland Hotel as the Westin Portland Harborview, after a complete restoration. Gerard Kiladjian, currently manager at the Portland Harbor Hotel, will manage The Cliff House.
Elsie Jane Weare opened The Cliff House in 1872; rates then were $6 per person/week and included breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The hotel’s history includes the first private baths in the area, added with the Colonial Annex early in the 20th century; takeover by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II; addition of the area’s first swimming pool in 1960; and renovation as primarily a motel in the 1960s.
Elsie Jane’s great granddaughter Kathryn Weare took over in 1974 and began major updates, renovations, and additions, including the Cliff Spa in 2002.
I mourned when I learned that the Capostoto family had sold Biddeford’s Palace Diner, a classic 1926 Pollard towed to Maine, from Lowell, Mass., by horses in the same year that Lindberg flew over the Atlantic. Under their ownership, the 15-seat diner had been given a fresh & local twist, with healthful alternatives added to the usual diner fare.
At the same time, the new owners, chefs Chad Conley and Greg Mitchell, gave reason for optimism. Both have worked on organic farms in Maine, and Conley’s impressive resume includes positions at lauded restaurants in Portland and New York.
The official opening is March 12. The duo plan to serve classic breakfasts and lunches Wednesday through Sunday, but adding a finer-dining service and fare on Friday and Saturday evenings.I’m not going to be able to get there for a while, but I’m eager to hear your reports.
Despite the snow and frigid temps, my winter hibernation is over. I’m swinging back into Maine Travel Maven mode with a reminder about Maine Restaurant Week, March 1-10, 2014, an event guaranteed to brighten March, whether it comes in like a lamb or a lion, and no matter if it’s snow on the ground or mud in your eye.
Dozens of restaurants statewide (although the majority are along the coast and clustered in Greater Portland) are participating in this annual event. Participants offer fixed-price menus at $25, $35, $45, or $55 (book early to avoid being shut out of the most popular restaurants). You can search for vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free menus as well as by price and location on the MRW site. There’s even an app for it now.
Adding to the fun are several major food-related events (details on all available on MRW site, which lists other specialty events, too):
• The Incredible Breakfast Cook-Off, Fri., Feb. 28, 2014, 7-9 a.m. at Sea Dog Brewing Company, South Portland; tix $20-22:50
• BOWL BIG Bowling Tournament, Sun., March 2, 2014, 2-5 p.m. at Bayside Bowl, Portland. Proceeds benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine. Team entry fee: $100,
• The Pancake Race, Tues., March 4, 2014, 6:30 p.m. at Maine Craft Distilling, Portland. Proceeds benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine. Team entry fee: $40,
• The Signature Cocktail and Dessert Event, Sun., March 9, 2014, 5:30-8 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz, Scarborough. Proceeds benefit Preble Street Resource Center. Tix $45-$50.
Finally, don’t miss the special rates offered by the Inn at Brunswick Station, Brunswick; Camden Harbour Inn and Hartstone Inn in Camden; Captain Jefferds Inn, Kennebunkport; Kennebunk Inn, Kennebunk; Portland Harbor Hotel and Portland Regency Hotel, Portland; and the Rangeley Inn & Tavern, Rangeley. And while it’s not listed on the MRW site, the Inn by the Sea, in Cape Elizabeth, has a great MRW room deal, too.
I can’t think of a better way to welcome the new year than a morning of skiing at the Camden Snow Bowl, followed by brunch at Rockland’s Home Kitchen Cafe. That’s especially true on a crisp bluebird day, when frigid temps and sunshine combine to make the ocean and sky blues pop against the whiteness of the snow.
For a few hours, I etched easy turns while gazing out to the island-salted Atlantic waters of Penobscot Bay. There aren’t many ski areas that deliver ocean views (Alyeska, Alaska, and Marble Mountain, Newfoundland, come to mind), but neither of those matches Camden Snow Bowl for in-your-face wows.
Town-owned Camden Snow Bowl is an old time, family centered ski hill that just happens to be in a seaside, summer resort community. That location is reflected in more than the views. Skiers and snowboarders cruise down just-wide-enough trails, with names like Spinnaker, Mussel Ridge, Windjammer, and Scrimshaw; trails that ebb and flow like the sea and follow the mountain’s contours (see trail map, below).
The base lodge is a simple A frame; the primary lifts are an ancient double chair that goes almost — but not quite — to the top, and a trusty T bar that runs base to summit. Add a toboggan run that shoots sledders out on to frozen Hosmer Pond, Nordic and snowshoe trails, and a tubing hill.
It’s small, it’s friendly, and it’s about to get bigger.
Not too much bigger, thank goodness. Voters recently overwhelmingly approved a plan to borrow $2 million to help fund $6.5 million in improvements, which include a new and much larger base lodge, a base-to-summit triple chair, moving the old chair to a new beginner area, removing the T-bars, and improving and expanding snowmaking to cover 80 percent of the mountain. Bravo! Those improvements will allow the ski area to continue to serve local families and visitors for generations to come, while preserving the hometown flavor.
Speaking of flavor, after a morning of skiing, we slid into Rockland’s Home Kitchen Cafe. The recent renovations and additions provide seating on two floors now — and in warmer seasons, on a deck with great harbor views. Breakfast is served all day, which means the renowned sticky buns and huervos rancheros, among other delights, are always available. Plus, there are great sandwiches and fish tacos and too many other choices on the two-sided menu. Breads and tortillas are made from scratch, as are those sticky buns and many of the other baked goods. Just one of the reasons this place earns raves. Add friendly efficient service, generous portions, and prices that don’t break the budget.
Given that we seem to be in a pattern of coastal snow storms — expecting another 4-6 or more tomorrow — do yourself a favor and make tracks to Camden. Not only will you be able to enjoy classic, old-style skiing, but you’ll also reap off-season rates at area accommodations.
The volunteer-run program is a fund-raiser by The Common Good Soup Kitchen Community, which distributes free soup to shut-ins, offers a winter community meal,and stocks a winter community clothing program, among other things. Be as generous as you can in your donation; remember just one popover with tea is about $11 at the Jordan Pond House, here you can eat as many as you like. That said, no one monitors it, and if you’re on a tight budget, just give what you can. Every penny is appreciated. You might also consider picking up a package of the popover mix. 
Oh yum, here’s a find! Jeremy Towne, a.k.a the Towne Fryer. This spring, Towne relocated from Machias to Whiting, where he keeps his doughnut mobile parked on the front lawn of his Route 1 home. Go early if you want the raised honey glazed, as that sells out quickly.
