June July Metro Proof

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CURIOSITIES FROM THE UNUSUAL TO THE NATURALLY WONDERFUL

WO N D E R S

$5.95

June/July 2018

PLUS... CREATE A FAMILY TIME CAPSULE MEET THE PITTSFIELD NATIVE BUILDING AN ICE CREAM EMPIRE

CONTENTS

JUNE/JULY 2018

FEATURES 46

IN CONVERSATION

Meet the Bangor woman reuniting anxious travelers with their lost items

52

NATURAL WONDERS

7 beautiful Maine places you should visit this summer

60

STOP THE CAR!

Maine roadside attractions worth breaking for

62

GET OUT

Take a bite out of The Big Apple

52

NATURAL WONDERS

62

GET OUT: NYC

IN EVERY ISSUE 08

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Local news & sightings

16

OBSESSIONS

72

THE VIEW FROM HERE

The sound of grandchildren

ON THE COVER From the unusual to the naturally wonderful, discover Maine curiosities.

Design by Amy Allen

2 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY RICHARD SHAW; (BOTTOM) JULIA BAYLY

What we can’t get enough of this month

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

FOOD & DRINK

HEALTH & FITNESS

22

30

14

Stalking stalks of rhubarb

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Meet “The Orphan Band of Springdale” author Anne Nesbet

24

IN SEASON NOW

THERE AND BACK AGAIN

HIKE ME

From waterfalls to ice caves, discover the many wonders of Maine’s woods and hikes

PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) COURTESY ANNE NESBET; SARAH WALKER CARON; AISLINN SARNACKI; BOB DUCHESNE; THINKSTOCK

Maine native making a name in the ice cream biz

HOW TO

HOME & FAMILY

OUTSIDE

36

42

70

GIANT SUMMER FUN

Update classic kids games for big outdoor fun

40

CREATE IT AT HOME

Turn an old blazer into a handbag

PRESERVING MEMORIES

How to create a family time capsule

44 THE SECRET TO SUMMER CAMP

WOODS & WATERS

From a mail boat to lobstering trips, the Isle au Haut Ferry is not your typical boat

Why college campuses are the perfect location for summer camp www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 3

EDITOR’S NOTE

Summer WONDERS WHEN MY KIDS AND I moved into our new home last fall, I imagined what summer days there would be like. For the first time in years, we have outdoor space that’s all our own. I envisioned a table and chairs for dining al fresco, a grill for making dinner on hot summer days, comfortable lounges for reading on sunny, blue-skied days … as I write this, we haven’t gotten there yet.

But we will.

I am guilty of living life on fast forward. I take on a lot with my kids and my career and push myself to do more and more and more. But doing so comes at a price. It means I have less time — or sometimes no time — for simple pleasures. That’s something I am working to change. There’s room in life for achieving goals and for falling into a book for a whole afternoon.

This issue is filled with some really great ideas for appreciating the world around us.

Richard Shaw shares natural wonders and unexpected places throughout Maine on page 52. Aislinn Sarnacki takes us to some of the most majestic hikes in the state on page 30.

And Sarah Cottrell shares some good ideas for transforming classic games into giant fun this summer on page 36.

Also, don’t miss Emily Morrison’s touching column about the call of home on page 72.

This is a very special issue to me. The June/July 2018 issue marks one year since my first issue at the helm of Bangor Metro magazine. The past year has been a wondrous journey — I hope you like what we’ve done with the magazine.

Want to tell me what you really think? I welcome constructive feedback at talkback@ bangormetro.com.

HAPPY SUMMER DAYS,

SARAH WALKER CARON, EDITOR

Connect With Us Online bangormetro.com facebook.com/BangorMetro @BangorMetro bangormetro talkback@bangormetro.com 4 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

www.bangormetro.com P.O. Box 1329 Bangor, Maine 04402-1329 Phone: 207.990.8000

PUBLISHER

Richard J. Warren

EDITOR

Sarah Walker Caron scaron@bangordailynews.com

ART DIRECTOR

Amy Allen

aallen@bangordailynews.com

SUBSCRIPTION & PROMOTIONS MANAGER

Fred Stewart

fstewart@bangordailynews.com

STAFF WRITER

Julia Bayly

jbayly@bangordailynews.com

STAFF WRITER

Abigail Curtis acurtis@bangordailynews.com

STAFF WRITER

Aislinn Sarnacki asarnacki@bangordailynews.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS Sarah Cottrell, Gabor Degre, Bob Duchesne, Jodi Hersey,

Kimberly Moran, Emily Morrison www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 5

MEET OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Meet Bangor Metro Magazine. June/July 2018, Vol. 14, No. 5.

Copyright © Bangor Publishing Company.

Bangor Metro is published 10 times annually by Bangor Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

This magazine may not be reproduced in whole or part in any form without the written permission of the Publisher.

Bangor Metro is mailed at standard rates from Portland, Maine.

Opinions expressed in either the editorial or advertisements do not represent the opinions of the staff or publisher of Bangor Metro magazine. Advertisers and event sponsors or their agents are responsible for copyrights and accuracy of all material they submit.

Bangor Metro magazine to the best of its ability ensures the acuracy of information printed in the publication.

Inquiries and suggestions are welcome and encouraged. Letters to the editor, story suggestions, and other reader input will be subject to Bangor Metro’s unrestricted right to edit and publish in the magazine both in print and online.

Editorial: Queries should be sent to Sarah Walker Caron at scaron@bangordailynews.com.

Advertising: For advertising questions, please call the Sales Director Todd Johnston at 207-990-8129.

Subscriptions/Address Change: The one year subscription cost is $15.95. Address changes: to ensure delivery, subscribers must notify the magazine of address changes one month in advance of the cover date. Please contact Fred Stewart at 207-990-8075.

Accounts Payable/Receivable: For information about your account please contact Todd Johnston at 207-990-8129.

SARAH COTTRELL

FAVORITE PLACE TO WRITE: My writing nook! It’s a small space and not much to look at but there are no toys or piles of laundry on it. Yet.

BEST THING YOU’VE READ LATELY: I just finished rereading “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle and it brought me back to my childhood in best of ways.

ADVICE FOR WANNABE WRITERS: Welcome rejection with wide open arms because it will teach you where to improve and the wisdom of knowing that no two editors share the same taste in writing. Rejection makes your skin thick and your work stronger.

GUILTY PLEASURE: Binge watching Netflix TV shows! I’m on season five of Downton Abbey, who doesn’t love a soap opera in a castle!?

COVER DESIGN: Amy Allen

Meet SARAH WALKER CARON FAVORITE PLACE TO WRITE: The beach lover in me wants to say by the water, but the truth is that outside is my least favorite place to write — the glare is the worst. I actually love writing at the library.

Bangor Public Library has beautiful big tables I can spread out on. And something about being surrounded by all those books really inspires me.

BEST THING YOU’VE READ LATELY: The New Yorker recently published an excerpt from Kimberly Harrington’s new book of essays called “Amateur Hour: Motherhood in Essays and Swear Words.” It was called “I Am the One Woman Who Has It All,” and it was absolutely brilliant. It speaks

the truth of modern parenting as a mother with a career. I loved it so much, I ordered a copy of the book the same day from our local indie bookseller.

ADVICE FOR WANNABE WRITERS: Don’t underestimate the importance of good grammar and spell check. Little things — like putting the dollar sign in the correct place (that’s before the monetary amount, always) — can be the difference between an editor wanting to work with you and not.

GUILTY PLEASURE: Cookies.

Especially the salted chocolate chip ones at Fork & Spoon in Downtown Bangor and the peanut butter ones at West Market Coffee House.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

THROUGHOUT JUNE GRIDWORK AND OTHER FABRIC FANTASIES

“Gridwork and Other Fabric Fantasies” created by author, seamstress and fiber artist Ardeana Hamlin will be on display throughout June at the Edythe Dyer Library at 269 Main Road North in Hampden. The exhibit is open during library hours which can be found at edl.lib.me.us.

FRIDAY, JUNE 1 DOWNTOWN BANGOR FIRST FRIDAY ARTWALK

Join local and regional artists and artisans for an evening celebrating creativity throughout downtown Bangor at the Downtown Bangor First Friday Artwalk.

The artwalk, presented by the Downtown Bangor Arts Collaborative, aims to bring the community together through art.

5-8pm. Free.

8 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

FRIDAY, JUNE 1 THE MALLET BROTHERS BAND WITH JOEL THETFORD

The Bangor Arts Exchange hosts The Mallett Brothers Band with Joel Thetford on June 1 for an all ages show. Doors open at 8:30pm and the concert begins at 9pm.

Admission is $15 in advance and $20 on the day of show.

BEGINNING JUNE 6 SUMMER MUSIC SERIES

Bangor Public Library’s Summer Concert Series begins on Wednesday, June 6. The concerts are planned for the outside patio, weekly usually on Wednesday, from 7-8pm. If it rains, concerts will be held in the atrium. Performers are as follows: Wednesday, June 6: Sentimental Journey (big band music); Tuesday, June 12: The Bangor Band (concert band); Wednesday, June 20: Hampden R&B (rhythm and blues); June 27: October Gold (acoustic alternative and folk music); Wednesday, July 11: The Silver

Duo (classical cello and piano duo); Wednesday, July 18: Andy and Judy Daigle (folk music); Wednesday, July 25: Retro Rockerz (rock and roll). Free.

THURSDAY, JUNE 7 BOOK LAUNCH

The Bangor Metro’s own Aislinn Sarnacki has written a second guidebook called "Maine Hikes Off The Beaten Path." The book launch will be celebrated at Epic Sports, 6 Central Street in Bangor. There will be a short presentation about the book, refreshments and a book signing. 5-7pm.

Free. Books will be available for purchase.

SATURDAY, JUNE 16 FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY BOOKSALE

Stock up for summertime reading at the annual Friends of the Library Booksale to benefit the Bangor Public Library.

PHOTO: BDN FILE

JUNE/JULY

JUNE 23 Bangor Pride Festival & Parade

Donated books of all genres are available for sale at the Bangor Elks Club on 108 Odlin Road from 9am to 3pm.

SATURDAY, JUNE 23 MAINE WHOOPIE PIE FESTIVAL

For one day only, folks descend on DoverFoxcroft to sample a wide variety of creative flavor combinations of the iconic whoopie pie at the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

SATURDAY, JUNE 23 BANGOR PRIDE FESTIVAL & PARADE

The crowning event of Bangor Pride (that’s June 17-June 24), the Bangor Pride Festival & Parade begins with a march through the streets. Gather at 9am at the Sea Dog to join in the march. All are welcome. Then, at 10am, the festival brings food trucks, a children’s area, entertainment and more to West Market Square and Pickering Square.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 9

WHAT’S HAPPENING

JULY 1-31 FIND WALDO IN DOWNTOWN BANGOR

The annual Find Waldo Local scavenger hunt returns to Downtown Bangor for the month of July. Hosted by The Briar Patch, 27 Central St., pick up a Waldo passport and then visit local businesses to find Waldo hidden inside to get each location stamped. Enter the card for prizes. All ages welcome. Free.

BEGINNING JULY 5 COOL SOUNDS CONCERT SERIES

The 2018 Cool Sounds Summer Concert Series presented by Emera Maine returns to Downtown Bangor on July 5 for six weeks of Thursday night outdoor concerts in West Market Square. The street will be closed to make room for music, dancing and summer fun. Shows start at 5pm each week, and are as follows: July 5: Workin’ Dead (Grateful Dead cover band); July 12: Tiki Thom (beach band); July 19: FLASH! In the Pans (steel drums); July 26: Maine St. R&B Revue (R&B band). Free.

FRIDAY, JULY 6 DOWNTOWN BANGOR FIRST FRIDAY ARTWALK

Join local and regional artists and artisans for an evening celebrating creativity throughout Downtown Bangor at the the Downtown Bangor First Friday Artwalk, 5-8 pm, on July 6. The artwalk, presented by the Downtown Bangor Arts Collaborative, aims to bring the community together through art. Free.

SATURDAY, JULY 7 FAIRY FUN DAY

Find your perfect

AUDIENCE

Advertise your business in BANGOR METRO! CALL 990-8134 for details

bangormetro.com

Maine illustrator Hazel Mitchell and Maine author Liza Gardner Walsh are bringing a day of Fairy Fun to Downtown Bangor.

There will be a storytime, crafts, book signing, a scavenger hunt, fairy snacks and more at The Briar Patch, 27 Central St. in Downtown Bangor. Free to attend, and books will be available for purchase.

TUESDAY, JULY 31 3RD ANNUAL HARRY POTTER CELEBRATION

It started with the launch of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” in 2016 and has grown into a beloved annual event in Downtown Bangor. Vendors, entertainment, wizardry fun and more take over Central Street in Downtown Bangor for one evening every July. Wear your house colors and join the fun. Free.

STILL STUMPED? 



 

Here are the answers to last month’s Pop Quiz.



Visit our Bangor Metro Facebook page to play online!

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 11

WHAT’S HAPPENING

HERE’S A LOOK AT JUST A FEW SPECIAL EVENTS FROM THE PAST MONTH...

2 1 1: Kids of all ages descended on Downtown Bangor on Saturday, May 5 for the 8th annual Kid Central Festival.

2: Bangor Public Library’s longtime librarian Barbara McDade retired recently after 27 years. She was honored with testimonials and a silent and live auction to raise money for a book fund in her name.

3: Hops House 99 is selling a limited time beer for a good cause: a portion of the proceeds being used to fight cancer. Geaghan Brothers Brewing’s E-RAD-I-CATE is a limited-time Session IPA brewed, made with Maine malts from Maine Malt House in Mapleton. $1 from each beer sold at Hops House 99 will be donated to the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of Penobscot County.

SHARE YOUR EVENT PHOTOS! 12 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

Email your photos and captions to

talkback@bangormetro.com

PHOTOS: (2, 4) JEFF KIRLIN / THE THING OF THE MOMENT

3

SUMMER WONDERS!

It’s vacation time in Vacationland! Play online at bangormetro.com for your chance to win a FREE one-year subscription to Bangor Metro!

4 4: Bangor Area Children’s Choir performed recently, marking the last concert for the BACC with long time director Robert Ludwig.

5: The Downtown Bangor Arts Collaborative kicked off their season of First Friday artwalks in Downtown Bangor on Friday, May 4. The monthly event will be held through October.

5

WHO’S ON THE MOVE NEW VPS AT BAR HARBOR BANKSHARES Four employees of Bar Harbor Bankshares were promoted to Senior Vice President: Kimberly Nason (Retail Lending Support Manager), Lara Horner (Director of Trust Operations), Lorraine Ivers (Chief Compliance Officer) and John Williams (Enterprise Risk Management and Project Management). Bar Harbor Bankshares is the parent of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust with more than $3 billion in assets.

NEW LIBRARY DIRECTOR Bangor Public Library has a new director, following the retirement of longtime director Barbara McDade. Ben Treat, a Brewer native, assumed the role on May

14. Treat was previously a director at the University of Maine at Augusta libraries in both Bangor and Augusta, a role he held for nine years.

NEW ATTORNEY AT RUDMAN WINCHELL The law firm of Rudman Winchell has announced the appointment of Attorney Chris Hatch. Hatch, a resident of Bangor, has joined the law firm of Rudman Winchell.

Hatch will support the firm’s Municipal and Real Estate sections with a concentration in timberland and forest practices work. He most recently worked for Tate Bywater in Vienna, VA where his practice was a mix of transactional and litigation work representing businesses, non-profits, and individuals.

FIND ANSWERS TO LAST MONTH’S POP QUIZ ON PAGE 11!

Visit our Bangor Metro Facebook page to play online! www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 13

ARTS & CULTURE

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:

ANNE

NESBET

PHOTO: JENN REESE

BY SARAH WALKER CARON

14 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

ANNE NESBET’S MOM told her stories. there were these competing ads from the read books and the books go deep into their Ones of growing up in an orphanage run by two big dairies in town,” Nesbet said. That meaning and become so important. There’s her grandmother in Springvale, Maine, in ended up being the basis for a subplot this heightened sense of responsibility in the 1940s. Ones of growing up poor. Ones about dairy wars in Gusta’s classroom, writing. … You want to make the book as of family secrets. where the children of competing dairies worthy of that as possible,” Nesbet said.

Her mother passed away 21 years ago, tried to one-up each other.

“And then the kind of stories you can tell but Nesbet has found a new way to connect The process of writing “The Orphan for this age are very complicated but on with her: through writing.

Band of Springdale,” bought some clarity the other hand not yet the romance of the Nesbet’s latest book, “The Orphan Band about things she’d been told about her next age up. It’s all about adventure and of Springdale,” is a fictionalized middle family history. Nesbet’s great-grandmother’s discovering the world and seeing things grade novel based on her mother’s life. home still stands in Springdale. “One of my through new eyes.”

“This is sort of a unique experience — I cousins sent me photos of what it looked Nesbet takes that responsibility started off thinking of my mother as a child like back in the day,” Nesbet said. seriously, doing thorough research for her and instead was writing about my fictional historical-based novels.

Gusta who happened to have a lot of the Nesbet’s previous book, “Cloud and familiar traits I loved about my mother.

Wallfish,” was also steeped in research — Not just the bad teeth and bad eyes but the though Nesbet began the research long [desire for justice],” Nesbet said. before she knew where it would go. She But the characters diverged and was a graduate student conducting became their own people. research in East Berlin in 1990 NESBET LOCATED “Gusta is definitely her own when her research began. She took person. Quickly she wasn’t my detailed notes about everyday HER GREAT-GRANDMOTHER mother anymore. She was her life there and accumulated IN THE CENSUS. own person,” Nesbet said. a box of material that she In the novel, Gusta is an eventually used as a basis for IN THE COLUMN WHERE 11-year-old girl traveling beginning her novel.

EMPLOYMENT IS DESCRIBED, north from New York to “Cloud and Wallfish,” is her grandmother’s house in about a seemingly normal IT READ “CHILDREN’S Maine with her father. But family that suddenly moves BOARDING HOME.” when the two get to Boston, to East Berlin one afternoon. her father puts her on the bus Noah Keller’s life is turned THAT’S WHEN SHE and vanishes, leaving her to upside down as his parents tell find her own way. It’s 1941 and him his name isn’t really Noah REALIZED THAT STORY tensions are on the rise in Europe. and he didn’t really just turn 11.

WAS TRUE. Meanwhile, small-town prejudices But he can’t even ask about this are rampant in Springdale, where her shocking revelations because in the grandmother runs an orphanage out of time of the Cold War, the walls really her home. As Gusta settles into town, she do have ears. Their new life is filled with finds that life isn’t quite as she saw it before rules, secrets and questions. The plot is and her family has some greater secrets than filled with intrigue, espionage, friendship she could ever have imagined.

Among the stories her mother had and family.

To develop the story, Nesbet traveled to told was about a family member having As for her next book, Nesbet is digging Maine to research. a child out of wedlock and that being the into the world of silent films and film noir.

“I went to the Sanford Historical impetus for creating the orphan home her “The next thing I am working on is a Society and read through the Sanford grandmother ran. Nesbet located her great- book set in the serial film craze of 1914. [newspaper] … I found so many amazing grandmother in the census. In the column At that time there was just this upsurge of things from that newspaper,” Nesbet said. where employment is described, it read this new form of film where they would The newspaper included school notes, a “children’s boarding home.” That’s when have a young woman undergo harrowing column where schools shared what students she realized that story was true. adventures and at the end of those films she were working on. Nesbet said that was an Writing for the middle grade market would be left — sometimes quite literally — “amazing resource.” is something that Nesbet has fallen in on a cliff,” Nesbet said.

She walked away with so many stories, love with.

In the book, a child star turned serial she had to decide “what kind of stories were “When I first started writing, I thought star gets mixed up in some trouble while rising up from that historical context.”

I would be writing for grown-ups. I wrote filming an episode. When the staged Nesbet says that it was a long and a couple of science fiction novels but they kidnapping turns into a real kidnapping, complicated process but eventually the never got picked up by anybody,” Nesbet she and her co-star must use adventure book started to come together with bits of said. Then she discovered that she loved the skills to save themselves.” the history forming a compelling story. stories on middle grade bookshelves.

“It’s actually been really fun working on “I noticed when I was going through “One thing is this is the age when people that particular book.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 15

ARTS & CULTURE

OBSESSIONS

OBSESSIONS WHAT WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS MONTH.

SPA PRODUCT WHY DO WE LOVE IT? I have never — nor will I ever — be described as a “girly-girl.” With one notable exception: I am all about natural spa products and bath lotions and potions. If it bubbles, fizzes, moisturizes, smells nice or otherwise enhances my whirly-bath or steam shower experience, I have to have it. My latest find was Balsam Fir Body Oil, one of several body oils, lotions and scrubs produced by Ridge Pond Herbals in Palermo (Ridge Pond Farm, 336 North Palermo Road). Made using organic grapeseed and sunflower oil and infused with the essence of balsam from Ridge Pond Farm owner Cari Balbo’s own Christmas tree, this body oil was part of a limited run. The moment I saw the bottles of the green liquid on her social media page, I knew I had to have one. The mix of oils leaves my skin feeling perfectly moist and not greasy and the scent of balsam fir transports to a perfect sunny day in the Maine woods. Like most scented body oils, a little goes a long way, which is perfect as I hope to make the two-ounce bottle last until later this year when the new balsam fir tree “tips” mature and Cari creates her next, limited batch of this forestry green body elixir!

All of Ridge Pond Herbals’ products are available through their website ridgepond.com.

—JULIA BAYLY

SUMMER EVENT BELFAST SUMMER NIGHTS WHY DO WE LOVE IT? Imagine spending your evenings this summer sprawling on the green lawn overlooking Belfast Bay, listening to good music, picnicking, visiting with friends and watching the boats and clouds drift lazily by.

It almost sounds too good to be true. But for more than 20 years now, Belfast Summer Nights has made this dreamy vision come to life. The Thursday evening event (beginning on Thursday, June 28 and ending on Thursday, Aug. 30) is free, although volunteers pass a hat around to politely request donations. Organized by local music scene stalwart Ando Anderson of Northport and his friends, it showcases lots of different types of music, and past summers have featured jazz, rock and roll, country, folk, jug band and more.

The music changes week to week, and the locations do, too. Sometimes the speakers and stage are set up on a downtown street that is closed to traffic and crowded with lawn chairs and people. Sometimes they are set up at Belfast Common at the waterfront. But whatever the music and wherever the location, it is a fun and timeless scene. You’ll see kids running and playing, older couples showing off graceful dance moves, and smiles on faces all around you.

“You’re sitting there on one of those perfect days, puffy clouds rolling by, boats are out there. The world is still going, but you’re here in Belfast,” Annadeene Konesni Fowler, a member of the Belfast-based Leaky Boot Jug Band, which will perform at Belfast Summer Nights at the end of August, said. “Time just stops when you’re surrounded by the music and your friends.”

—ABIGAIL CURTIS

PHOTO: (TOP) GIORGIO FOCHESATO/THINKSTOCK

RIDGE FARM HERBALS BALSAM FIR BODY OIL

ARTS & CULTURE

OBSESSIONS

OBSESSIONS WHAT WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS MONTH.

BOOKS “THE BAR HARBOR RETIREMENT HOME FOR FAMOUS WRITERS (AND THEIR MUSES),” BY TERRI-LYNNE DEFINO — Set in a fictional retirement home in Bar Harbor, a cast of famous writers, editors and unexpected muses are brought together by circumstance and perhaps a little fate. The writers are nearing the ends of their lives, examining their own mortality and the choices that shaped who they became. Together, the authors begin a round robin writing of a book that includes hints of all their life experiences.

What I loved about this novel was the undercurrent of friendship, love and redemption that circulated around the characters. They couldn’t change the past, but they could shape what days they had left. This is slated for release on June 12, 2018.

“THE LOST QUEEN OF CROCKER COUNTY,” BY ELIZABETH LEIKNES — Jane Willow left. She left Crocker County, fled Iowa, made a name for herself as a film critic in LA and didn’t look back. She’s on the verge — ready to buy her first home and hopefully to get her parents to join her more often in LA. But when a family tragedy happens, Jane has to go back. Back to the tiny town she fled, and the secrets she’s kept for all the ensuing years. When a shocking accident happens while she’s in town, Jane must confront her past and all that she left behind. This was one of those books that swallowed me whole when I read it. It’s emotional and touching, unnerving and tenacious. Some early reviews have called this a feel-good story, but it’s so much more than that. This is slated for release on July 10, 2018.

“YANKEE’S NEW ENGLAND ADVENTURES” — Digging through this book, I found several adventures in New England that I would love to embark on with my family. The ECHO Leahy Center, a waterfront aquarium and science center in Burlington, Vermont, for instance, made Burlington appear on my to-go list. It speaks to both of my children’s interests. Also, a stop in Portsmouth, NH, seems in order — I had no idea it was the third oldest city in the United States. No, this isn’t the most complete guidebook ever (where’s the mention of the Common Ground Fair or the American Folk Festival?!?) but it has some good highlights that can help with planning day and overnight excursions.

PHOTOS: ETERNALCREATIVE & THOMAS-BETHGE/THINKSTOCK

—SARAH WALKER CARON

18 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

FOOD & DRINK

OBSESSIONS

OBSESSIONS WHAT WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS MONTH.

BOTTLED DRINK

HOT SAUCE

ARGO TEA

KOJANG SAUCE, CHASE STREAM FARM

—ABIGAIL CURTIS

WHY DO WE LOVE IT? When I spotted Argo Tea in Boston a few months ago, I was attracted to the packaging. It comes in a contoured cylinder wide-mouth bottle that looked so sleek and different. Intrigued by the novelty of it, I bought one. But it was the flavor that led me back to the same store the next day for another.

Argo Tea comes from a chain of cafes of the same name that has expanded into offering bottled drinks. The teas are available in 11 “subtly sweetened” and “unsweetened” varieties, as well as sweetened cold brew varieties. My personal favorite is Hibiscus Tea Sangria. I am particularly drawn to lightly sweetened and unsweetened drinks these days — particularly those with lots of flavor.

Argo Tea is now available in Maine.

According to the company website, Shaw’s in Bangor is carrying it. But I’ve also spotted it in Belfast and Bangor at Walgreens. Keep an eye out for it — it’s worth it. For more information, check out argotea.com.

—SARAH WALKER CARON

20 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

PHOTOS: (TOP) ©AFRICA STUDIO/ADOBE STOCK; (SAUCE) ©MARA ZEMGALIETE/ADOBE STOCK

WHY DO WE LOVE IT? What is Kojang? You could use a lot of words to describe this red-hued condiment made by Anne Devin of Chase Stream Farm in Monroe — savory, spicy, sweet, complex, delicious Korean-style ketchup.

Or you could use just one: irresistible.

That’s what it has been for me since I first sampled the Korean hot sauce one Saturday last summer at the United Farmers Market of Maine in Belfast. Devin, who is half Korean, first got the idea to make Kojang about a year ago during a Korean-themed meal at the Monroe Community Church. For the church supper, she made a sauce that used kochujang, a fermented Korean chili pepper paste, as the base. It’s a familiar offering to Koreans, who use it with meat, on top of vegetables and rice and as a dipping sauce, but was new to many Mainers. The church supper attendees couldn’t get enough of it, and encouraged her to bottle and sell it. I’m glad they did! Kojang is spicy, but not overwhelmingly so, and is just right mixed with mayonnaise and used as a dipping sauce for summery treats such as zucchini fritters or in place of ketchup on your hamburgers and turkey burgers. I also use it on eggs, on avocado toast, or on mashed potatoes. It’s a global flavor that is right at home in my Maine kitchen. Kojang can be found at the Marsh River Co-op in Brooks and at the United Farmers Market of Maine on Spring Street in Belfast (open from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Saturdays). For more information about the farm, visit chasestreamfarm.com.

DRINK TIDEWALKER STRAIGHT BOURBON, NEW ENGLAND DISTILLERY WHY DO WE LOVE IT? As far as I’m concerned, lazy summer evenings in Maine are why decks and comfortable outdoor furniture were invented. This summer you’ll find me on those warm evenings relaxing on my own deck and sipping some Tidewalker Straight Bourbon from New England Distillery (26 Evergreen Drive, Portland).

This wheated bourbon is unique among the small batch spirits currently being made in the state as, in addition to the typical three grains found in bourbon — corn, wheat and rye — the folks at New England Distillery have added a fourth grain — a dark, crystal malt. This gives Tidewalker a lovely smooth roasted flavor, not unlike what you’d taste in a really good stout or porter.

While Tidewalker would work well for any bourbon-based cocktail (Manhattan, Old Fashion or Mint Julep) in my opinion it’s best served neat, straight out of the bottle.

The only addition needed are some good friends on the deck to watch the sunset.

Tidewalker is available at the distillery and at liquor outlets around Maine, including numerous Hannaford locations. For a complete list of where to buy, check out the distillery’s website at www.newenglanddistilling.com.

—JULIA BAYLY

in season now

FOOD & DRINK

RHUBARB

STORY & PHOTOS BY SARAH WALKER CARON

WHEN THE STALKS begin appearing at farmers’ markets throughout the state, I start buying. One for jam. One for muffins. Another for pie. You get the idea.

But, oh, the pie. It’s my favorite use for rhubarb — mixed with strawberries and sugar and encased in a lovely, flaky pie crust. The tart notes of rhubarb are a worthy foil to summer’s sweet strawberries.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though. This is about rhubarb, the often red or pink on the outside, and green on the inside vegetable — no, it’s really not a fruit — with a limited season here in Maine. It’s available, typically between mid-May and mid- to late-June. In addition to farmers’ markets, it’s also often available at grocery stores.

It can be used in both sweet and savory applications. Try it in a stir-fry or fried rice sometime. It’s delightful.

Rhubarb is low in calories and a good source of both vitamin C and fiber. If you grow it, you should know that only the stalks are edible. The leaves contain oxalic acid, which can be toxic.

Look for brightly colored, crisp stalks — they’re often a mix of reddish and greenish — and refrigerate them. Rhubarb should be use within a few days of purchase. It turns quickly.

As for this pie, don’t expect it to last. It gets eaten pretty quickly.

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE Serves: 6-8

INSTRUCTIONS

INGREDIENTS 2 cups sliced rhubarb 2 cups sliced strawberries 1 cup sugar ¼ cup cornstarch 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ tsp salt 2 tbsp butter, cut into pieces 1 tbsp milk Pie crust for a bottom and top crust (homemade or store bought)

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Preheat the oven 4000F. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract and salt.

Arrange a bottom crust in a pie plate.

Pour the prepared rhubarb-strawberry mixture into it, spreading into an even layer. Dot the top with butter.

Spread the top crust onto the pie, taking care to press the top and

bottom crusts together while you fold and crimp it. Use a knife to cut four slits in the top (I recommend a t-shape!).

Brush the top crust of the pie with milk, discarding any unused milk.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 3500F and bake for 45-55 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from the oven and cool completely before slicing and serving.

Great with whipped cream.

SARAH WALKER CARON is the editor of Bangor Metro magazine. She's also author of "The Super Easy 5-Ingredient Cookbook," due out in September, and co-author of the cookbook "Grains as Mains." She also writes about food on her popular food blog, Sarah's Cucina Bella (www.sarahscucinabella.com). She lives in Maine with her two kids.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 23

FOOD & DRINK

PHOTO: ZAZA WEISSBERGER

Doug Quint with pints of Big Gay Ice Cream.

24 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

TH

CK

AND B E R A E

AGAIN IT’S A HOMECOMING OF SORTS AS BIG GAY ICE CREAM ARRIVES IN MAINE FREEZERS

BY ABIGAIL CURTIS

PITTSFIELD NATIVE DOUG QUINT, the co-founder of New York City-based Big Gay Ice Cream, has the kind of ebullient confidence that remains unflappable even in the most challenging of times. Such as when the Westboro Baptist Church, known for its extreme homophobic views, attacked him on Twitter. Or when, in the days when he drove his Big Gay Ice Cream Truck through the streets of New York City, groups of kids on the street would try to taunt and embarrass him.

“You think you can really start something with me? Good luck,” Quint, 46, said recently.

Still, even an unshakeable person can get shaken sometimes.

For the ice cream entrepreneur, that moment happened quite recently, when he saw a photograph his sister had taken while standing in the ice cream section of the South Portland Shaw’s grocery store. Behind her head were rows of his ice cream pints, unmistakable with their bold black-and-rainbow, sassy-unicornbedecked design. In March, the ice cream company that he started nine years ago almost as a performance art project in a rented New York City ice cream truck (more on that later), has greatly expanded its range by selling pints in stores from Baltimore to Bangor and beyond.

In March, the Shaw’s and Star Market grocery chains, with 153 stores throughout New England, signed on to carry the brand. After the deal was struck, Quint figured that there was a chance Big Gay Ice Cream could be stocked in some stores in Maine. Maybe he’d see it in Portland, he thought, the city that’s widely considered to be Maine’s most liberal. But the ice cream traveled much further than that.

“It showed up in Augusta, in Waterville, and I completely and utterly lost it,” Quint said, adding that the picture his sister took really brought it home to him. “I was in New York City, and for a couple of days, I was a complete wreck. I saw this picture of her, www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 25

FOOD & DRINK went to a wall, leaned on it and fell apart, speechless. I could barely hold myself up.”

Then, a childhood friend shared a photo of the ice cream aisle at the Shaw’s in Waterville, and Quint knew he had to drive to Maine to see it for himself. He got to the Shaw’s grocery store in Augusta 15 minutes before closing, and as he approached the ice cream aisle, he took a deep breath to steel himself.

“I walked down the aisle to find it, and there we were. I just stared at it, then ran out of Shaw’s. I cried for about 45 minutes,” he said. “The ice cream went where I came from, and it went there on its own.”

For Quint and his ice cream, getting from Maine to Manhattan and back again has been a long and sometimes rocky road. In Pittsfield, he was the youngest of seven siblings in a close-knit family with deep ties to their central Maine community.

His dad delivered propane gas and his mother, also a Pittsfield native, studied music education at Boston University. His parents met in Maine while she was on a break from school, and although the couple lived in Boston for awhile after they were married, they moved to Maine to raise their family. Quint has good memories of growing up in Maine, including some cherished ice cream-related ones.

“We had a Tastee-Freeze in Pittsfield. I always had soft serve,” he said. “A vanilla cone with chocolate jimmies. My sister Nancy worked there, and made me a colossal cone.”

But he has unhappier memories, too, of being a teenager who didn’t quite fit in. Quint, who — as his company’s name proclaims — is gay. In the 1980s it wasn’t easy to be different in a small, rural town.

He did have many good friends at Maine Central Institute, the town academy and

semi-private high school that serves all high school aged students from the local district as well as tuition students from all over. But some of his classmates were cruel and bullied him.

“People were carving [stuff] in desks, insulting me. I was getting yelled at. I was getting my tires slashed,” he recalled. “I was never really scared for myself, but it was just so frustrating. It was frustrating and I felt stuck. And there was nothing I could do about it except leave.”

be himself, and he loved the feeling.

“When I got to New York, it was such a non-issue,” Quint said.

In his 20s and 30s, he worked as a professional musician. He played in orchestras and summer festivals in Europe, the Caribbean and the United States, especially in and around New England, including a stint with the Boston Pops. Quint enjoyed the work, and decided in his 30s to continue his studies and pursued a doctorate in bassoon performance. The course work was challenging, and in the spring of 2009, as he rigorously prepared for his comprehensive written and oral exams, he decided he would soon need a break.

“I thought, ‘God, by the time I get through this in May, I’m going to be so burned out. I want to do anything but music,’” he said.

“That’s where the idea of an ice cream truck came from.

Let’s do something that has nothing to do with music. I’d never had a good summer job, and decided that 35 wasn’t too old for a weird summer job.”

Inspired by David Sedaris’ “SantaLand Diaries” essay and radio performance piece, about the humorist’s stint as a somewhat flawed Macy’s elf named Crumpet, Quint decided that he wanted to do something purely for the experience.

“I just watched Craigslist for ads,” he said. “Exterminator assistant or whatever.”

But it was ice cream truck driver that rose, like cream, to the top of the weird summer job pile. He and Bryan Petroff, the co-founder of the company who has been with it from the beginning, started dreaming of how they would distinguish themselves from the rest of the ice cream truck pack long before they got wheels on the pavement.

“The people who work on ice cream trucks don’t care about food, in general.

FOR QUINT AND HIS ICE CREAM, GETTING FROM MAINE TO MANHATTAN AND BACK AGAIN HAS BEEN A LONG AND SOMETIMES ROCKY ROAD.

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Fortunately, he had a way out. He was a gifted bassoonist, and spent his senior year of high school as a fully matriculated freshman at the University of Southern Maine focusing on bassoon performance.

After graduating from MCI in 1989, he left for New York City, where he attended the Manhattan School of Music and then the Julliard School. There, he finally felt free to

PHOTO: (RIGHT) ZAZA WEISSBERGER; (CHILDHOOD) COURTESY DOUG QUINT

(Top right) Doug Quint in the winter of 1972 with his grandfather Lawrence Dysart. He was the proprietor of Pittfield’s "LA DYSART" (the town's five and dime store) from 1935 to 1973. (Top left) Quint, lower right hand corner, at home in Pittsfield with his family in 1975. (Above) The original Big Gay Ice Cream truck.

(Right) Quint with pints of Big Gay Ice Cream, now available in Maine grocery stores. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 27

FOOD & DRINK It’s just a job,” Quint said. “And the people who run ice cream trucks in New York are so rude. They don’t care about you. Always on their Bluetooth, talking on the phone. I wanted to be over-the-top happy. Basically performance art level happy.”

He and Petroff settled on the perfect name: the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, and launched a blog and a Facebook group.

At the time, the show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” was in its original run, and they felt as if they were giving ice cream the Queer Eye treatment. The name, silly and irreverent, caught on, and even before the truck was up and running, they started attracting fans. Then, after they found a guy who owned a fleet of ice cream trucks and let them sign one out in exchange for a percentage of the day’s profits, their fans were surprised that the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck was not just performance art.

“We actually got a truck and people said, ‘whoa, this is real?’” Quint remembered. “We wanted to be successful, but we really didn’t [care] about doing it anyone else’s way but our own.”

The Big Gay Ice Cream truck in New York.

28 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

That first summer, they didn’t make Pimp, one of their most popular offerings, their own ice cream, instead freezing it is a vanilla soft serve cone infused with from a commercially available liquid ice dulce de leche, sprinkled with sea salt and cream mix. They had a great time, but they dunked in chocolate. It and other flavor did lose a little money. The second summer, combinations were a big hit on the New they decided to do it again, with a little York City streets and also got them noticed more business sense, and found they started by food personalities, most notably Rato make a profit. It was a good moment chael Ray. She featured them on her show for food trucks: the Great Recession made in 2010 and almost immediately, business cheap eats trendy and Twitter made finding at the truck blew up, Quint said. the truck a fun challenge.

“The day after it aired, tourists just “It was a cheap scavenger hunt,” he said. came and swarmed us,” he said.

“People would look us up on Twitter and try to find us before we moved. It was a fun thing. It was also right at the time when food trucks were starting to be part of the BUT IT WAS zeitgeist. Twitter and food trucks and the recession, they all came together.”

MORE THAN THEIR But it was more than their friendFRIENDLY DEMEANOR AND ly demeanor and funny name that FUNNY NAME THAT MADE THE made the truck a hit. It was also TRUCK A HIT. IT WAS ALSO THE the product: soft serve ice cream garnished with upscale, imaginaPRODUCT: SOFT SERVE ICE tive toppings including balsamic CREAM GARNISHED vinegar, lemon curd, whiskey walWITH UPSCALE, nuts and much more. The Salty

IMAGINATIVE TOPPINGS.

PHOTO: DONNY TSANG

In 2011, they opened their first brickand-mortar store in New York City and the ice cream empire was on its way. Today, there are three stores in New York City and one in Philadelphia. Last year, they started producing hard-pack ice cream for the first time, packing it in pints that were initially sold around the New York City metropolitan area (soft serve and hard ice cream is made from the same ingredients, Quint said, but is frozen differently. Soft serve is frozen just before it is eaten). This year, they’ve increased their distribution area, and now pints of their hard-pack ice cream are available for sale in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and all five New England states. In Maine, shoppers at all Shaw’s stores from Sanford in the south to Dover-Foxcroft in the north can enjoy seven of the company’s signature flavors, including Salty Pimp, Blueberry Gobbler (vanilla ice cream, blueberries, pie crust pieces and blueberry balsamic swirls) and American Globs (fudge-covered salted pretzel balls, fudgecovered pretzel pieces and a fudge swirl in malted sweet cream ice cream).

“They have developed a loyal following in other parts of the Northeast with great tasting ice cream and really fun flavors,” Teresa Edington, community relations manager for Shaw’s and Star Market said.

For Quint, having his ice cream available in Maine has been a powerful, affirming experience. The fact that Big Gay Ice Cream is now for sale in the Maine towns he needed to escape from a quarter of a century ago is a sign of progress and change that makes him happy.

“Central Maine is home,” he said. “I could live in New York for 26 years, but Maine is home. Seeing my family, and people I’ve known since I was four rallying around me has been incredible.” www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 29

HIKE ME

WALKS OF

WONDER HIKES TO AMAZING NATURAL FEATURES IN MAINE STORY & PHOTOS BY AISLINN SARNACKI

WADING THROUGH THE clear, cold water, his water shoes slipped on the smooth stones that covered the riverbed. He extended his arms to both sides, found his balance, then continued forward, the water swirling around his knees.

The trail waited on the other side, marked with white rectangles painted on tree trunks.

Crossing the West Branch of the Pleasant River is a part of the grand adventure of hiking Gulf Hagas, a section of the river filled with stunning waterfalls and bordered by dramatic slate cliffs. Located in Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness as an offshoot from the Appalachian Trail, the Gulf Hagas hike has become a popular backcountry adventure for those looking for a bit of a challenge.

After successfully fording the river, the hiker sat on the rocky bank, exchanged his water shoes for boots, then hit the trail, carefully navigating over masses of twisted tree roots and rocks. The first major waterfall, Screw Auger Falls, was just ahead, its cascading water plunging into a clear pool, sending up mist to coat the surrounding cliffs.

30 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

GULF HAGAS,

THE GRAND CANYON OF MAINE CHALLENGING KNOWN AS THE “GRAND CANYON OF MAINE” or the “Grand Canyon of the East,” Gulf Hagas is a slate gorge carved out by the West Branch of the Pleasant River near Brownville. Over the course of three miles, the river drops about 500 feet, forming several spectacular waterfalls and swimming holes. In some places, the rock walls the border the river are more than 100 feet tall.

The public can explore this fascinating geological feature on well-maintained but challenging hiking trails that travel along the river to visit several waterfalls with fun names such as Screw Auger Falls, The Jaws, Buttermilk Falls and Stair Falls. Typically people hike out on this riverside trail and return on an inland trail for a loop hike that is 8.6 miles or 9 miles, depending on if you start at the east or west trailhead.

Dogs are permitted if kept under control at all times, however this difficult hike may not be suitable for all dogs and be prepared to treat cuts on footpads due to the sharp rocks in the area.

DIRECTIONS: From Brownville Junction, drive north on Route 11 about 3.5 miles and turn left onto Katahdin Ironwork Road. Drive about 6.5 miles to the KI checkpoint and gatehouse, where you are required to register and pay a fee of $7 per Maine resident. After the gatehouse, continue on the road and cross a bridge, then take a sharp right turn. Drive about 3.5 miles and turn left at a fork in the road, following signs to Gulf Hagas. Drive another 2.9 miles and the Gulf Hagas parking area will be on your right. This is the east trailhead for the hike, closest to Screw Auger Falls. To reach the west trailhead, closer to the Head of the Gulf, continue on the road for another 4.4 miles and the Head of Gulf parking area is on the left, just past the trailhead. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 31

HEALTH & FITNESS

HIKE ME

CULTER COAST’S COBBLESTONE BEACHES MODERATE CUTLER COAST PUBLIC RESERVE LAND totals 12,234 acres on the Bold Coast, a scenic area of spruce-fir forest, peat bogs, dramatic oceanside cliffs and cobble beaches fronting the Bay of Fundy in Washington County.

Located in the town of Cutler, the reserved lands are state-owned and feature more than 9 miles of hiking trails.

The trail network includes three trails — Coastal Trail, Inland Trail and Black Brook Cove Trail — as well as three designated campsites that are first come, first tent. If you choose to hike in via Coastal Trail, it leads to the dramatic cliffs of the Bold Coast in about 1 mile, and an amazing cobblestone beach a bit farther along.

Dog are permitted if kept under control at all times and on a leash at campsites. However, your dog may not enjoy navigating the jumble of large smooth rocks that make up the cobblestone beaches. They make for tricky footing even for booted feet.

DIRECTIONS: If approaching from the south, drive to the Route 1-Route 191 intersection in East Machias and turn right (south) onto Route 191. Drive 16.9 miles to the trailhead parking area, which is marked by a blue sign on your right. If approaching from the north, drive to the Route 1-Route 189 intersection in Whiting and turn left onto Route 189. Drive to the Route 191. Turn right onto Route 191 and travel 10 miles to the parking area, which is on your left.

32 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 33

HEALTH & FITNESS

HIKE ME

THE DEBSCONEAG ICE CAVES EASY FORMED BY A JUMBLE of huge boulders being plowed together by glaciers during the last ice age, the Debsconeag Ice Caves are located in a huge swath of conserved land called the Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area located just south of Baxter State Park. This mossy, beautiful forestland covers more than 46,000 acres and contains trees that are more than 300 years old, as well as the highest concentration of pristine, remote ponds in New England.

The easy hiking trail to the ice caves is just over 1 mile long and weaves through tall pine trees and boulders covered in moss and ferns. At the caves, metal rungs, courtesy of the Nature Conservancy, are anchored in the rock so that visitors can climb down into the dark, ice-filled cavities. As you descend, the temperature drops — a sensation much like stepping into a freezer.

During the spring and summer, the ice coating the walls of the caves starts to melt and form icicles. From the main cave (big enough to stand up and look around), hikers can clamber over boulders and shimmy into smaller cavities, though this type of exploration is not for people afraid of confined spaces. In addition to your typical hiking gear, be sure to pack a headlamp, ice cleats and gloves. Dogs are not permitted.

AISLINN SARNACKI is a staff writer for Bangor Metro and the Outdoors and Homestead sections of the Bangor Daily News. An expert on the Maine outdoors, she is author of the just-released guidebook, “Maine Hikes Off the Beaten Path,” and also “Family Friendly Hikes in Maine.”

Follow her adventures on her blog, actoutwithaislinn.bangordailynews.com.

34 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

DIRECTIONS: Take the Golden Road in Millinocket to Abol Bridge (about 18 miles). After crossing the bridge, turn onto the dirt road on the left and follow the road for a little less than 3 miles. Bear left when the road splits and drive about a mile to the parking area on the right.

The trail starts a short distance from the parking area, on the other side of a rock barrier. The trail is blueblazed. About half way down the trail, the trail intersects with a wide, grassy trail. Turn left. A blue blaze on a boulder will confirm you’re going the right direction. Look for the trail to head back into the woods. Always follow the blue blazes.

Where Can We Take You? INDIAN HEAD RESORT – June 1- 3, 2018 $521 pp (dbl occupancy) (Lincoln, NH) COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS – June 17, 2018, $95 per person KINGS LANDING – June 24, 2018 $174 per person (New Brunswick, Canada) ROYAL NOVA SCOTIA INTERNATIONAL TATTOO MUSIC FESTIVAL – June 24- July 1, 2018 $2,251pp (dbl occupancy) HUDSON VALLEY, NY TOUR – July 9-14, 2018 $1,349pp (dbl occupancy) CABBAGE ISLAND CLAMBAKE – July 15 & August 19, 2018 $132 per person (Boothbay Harbor, ME)

NIAGARA FALLS – July 18-22, 2018 $1,393 pp (dbl occupancy) (Niagara Falls, ON, Canada) NASCAR – July 22, 2018, $172 per person (New Hampshire Motor Speedway) GETTYSBURG – July 23-27, 2018 $1,010 pp (dbl occupancy) (Gettysburg, PA) MOOSEHEAD LAKE EXCURSION – July 28, 2018 $139 per person ALADDIN – August 5, 2018 $193 per person (Boston Opera House) QUEBEC CITY – August 3-5, 2018 $669 pp (dbl occupancy) STRAWBERY BANKE – August 3-5, 2018 $119 per person (Portsmouth, NH) THE ARK ENCOUNTER & CREATION MUSEUM – August 18-25, 2018 $1,956pp (dbl occupancy) (Williamstown, KY)

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 35

HOW-TO

CRAFTING WITH KIDS

GIANT

SUMMEr FUn HOW TO UPDATE CLASSIC GAMES FOR BIG OUTDOOR FUN

BY SARAH COTTRELL

SUMMER IS THE BEST time of year to ship the kids outside to play backyard games. To really wow your kids, try these giant tweaks to favorite classic games.

HUMAN TIC-TAC-TOE What kid doesn’t love to play tictac-toe? It’s easy, free and fun, which makes it a perfect candidate for being supersized in the backyard.

STEP TWO: Have your kids invite a bunch of their friends over to play — you’ll need at least six players. Even though tic-tac-toe is traditionally played by two people, this giant sized version allows the kids to stand in for the pieces, so instead of two players it’s played by two teams.

Each team has to work to defeat the other by blocking potential connected lines of three just like the classic game.

STEP THREE: Make your X’s and O’s by drawing on old teeshirts or making fun signs that the kids can wear on their chests.

STEP FOUR: Play!

36 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

PHOTO: (GRIL) TATYANAGL/THINKSTOCK

STEP ONE: Using non-toxic spray paint, spray the tradition four crossing tic-tac-toe lines on the lawn.

Make sure that the lines are at least ten feet long to give the game some serious superpower.

with KIDS NIGHTTIME BADMINTON Badminton is already serious fun but have you ever tried to play it at night? Tweaking this traditional game by turning it into a fun nocturnal activity will have your family bursting with excitement.

STEP ONE: Set up your badminton net in the backyard.

STEP TWO: Grab your Christmas lights! Using white or colorful light, weave the string lights through the net until they entire net is filled with enough bulbs to clearly see the whole thing.

STEP THREE: Grab some glow-in-the-dark spray paint and spray the birdies until they are well coated. Let dry.

STEP FOUR: When the sun goes down, plug in the lights and start playing in the dark!

This game is best for older kids and adults. Although perfectly safe, it is always a good idea to be mindful of running around in the dark.

CRAFTING WITH KIDS

HOW-TO

ADD MORE FUN WITH A BOOGIE BOARD, INNER TUBE AND HOMEMADE SPRINKLER!

38 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

DIY SLIP AND SLIDE Want to up your Slip and Slide game?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

With just a few tweaks, your backyard will be the talk of the town.

STEP ONE: Get some tarps — the bigger and longer, the better.

STEP TWO: Using camping tent spikes, anchor the tarps to the ground so that it won’t blow away. Make sure that the tarps are on a slight hill.

STEP THREE: Using a garden hose, attach a two-liter plastic bottle to the nozzle. Make sure that the bottle has been previously poked about 100 times so that when it fills with water, it creates an instant sprinkler. Place this sprinkler at the head of the tarp to wet the surface.

Since 1947

STEP FOUR: Grab the dish soap! Add a few drops of soap along the tarp to increase the slipperiness.

PHOTO: (BOY) LESZEKGLASNER/THINKSTOCK

Your homemade slip and slide is now ready for some major fun! Try using foam boogie boards, inner tubes or get creative with other materials for flying down the watery slide.

Part of the fun of tweaking classic backyard games is getting the family together to use some imagination and elbow grease to make up new rules or giant versions of old games. My kids and I make an afternoon of creating the new version of a game — that is a project in and of itself! By keeping safety, fun, and high spirits in mind, anyone can create experiences worth a lifetime of memories.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 39

HOW-TO

CREATE IT AT HOME

UpCYCLE yOUR

SUMMER STYLE

TURN AN OLD BLAZER INTO A HANDBAG STORY & PHOTOS BY KATIE SMITH

I LOVE A GOOD recycling project. If you are craving a new, summer-y handbag, then look no further than your closet or local thrift store. In about an hour you can upcycle an old blazer into a purse.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: • An old blazer: this can be leather, tweed, cotton, whatever you'd like. Using one with nice outside pockets is a huge plus • Sewing machine • 1 yard fabric for the lining • Scissors • Matching thread

40 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

DIRECTIONS & TIPS 1. First, lay out your coat so the two front panels are together, wrong sides facing out.

Cut straight across the jacket a few inches under the sleeves. You will see where the extra fabric under the arm starts to get a little bunchy if you try to straighten it out, cut just below that area.

2. Next, use outside pieces of your bag as a pattern for the lining of your bag by taking your lining fabric, folding in half, wrong sides facing. and laying your outside fabric on top. Cut out two pieces for your liner.

3. Next, cut out the strap. If you have extra fabric under the arm you can cut there, or cut from a sleeve. Just make sure you cut desired length of fabric. I measured a handle from one of my other bags to get length I wanted. Cut strap about 6" wide. This part may come out wonky, that's okay. Once you sew it to your bag, you won't notice. Fold strap fabric in half lengthwise, right sides facing out. Sew down side and bottom leaving top open. Turn right side out, then sew bottom shut after folding raw edges in.

4. Now, it is time to sew your bag together. With right sides together, and raw top edges meeting, sew sides and bottom leaving of outside fabric, leaving about 1/2" seam. Turn bag right side out.

5. Repeat these steps with your lining fabric, but do not sew up the bottom, just the sides — this will be your opening to pull your bag through after you sew the two pieces together.

6. Now, we will sew the pieces together.

Turn your liner inside out, and the outside of your bag right side out. Put the right side of the bag inside your liner, lining up top raw edges. Sew all the way around the top raw edges of the bag, using 1/2 inch seam.

7. Then pull the right side of your bag through the hole in the lining.

Sew bottom of the lining shut. Next add a top stitch all the way around your bag if you would like for a finished look.

8. Stitch strap to finished bag.

at

HOME

HOME & FAMILY

PRESERVING

MEMORIES HOW TO CREATE A FAMILY TIME CAPSULE

BY SARAH COTTRELL

I ALWAYS WANTED to be one of those crafty Pinterest mothers who could whip up a brilliant art project for my kids at a moment’s notice. Sadly, though, I’m a total klutz with a hot glue gun and glitter makes my head spin.

Luckily, building a family time capsule takes zero creative genius, money or any particular skill with crafting materials. If you’re looking for a marvelously fun activity that can include your whole family then this is it.

My three kids, ages one, four and eight, and I recently built our own family time capsule and it was an absolute blast. Instead of just tossing some stuff into a box and calling it a day, we turned the family time capsule into an adventure.

First, I gave my two older kids a scavenger list of items that they could include in the time capsule. On that list were open-ended ideas for them to hunt down, which took the better part of two hours. Their list included prompts such as “small enough to fit in your hand and funny enough to make you laugh” and “flat and colorful with at least one name on it.” They each found a small plastic toy that they were willing to part with for a year and then they each drew a picture and signed it in their sweet loopy kid handwriting.

For my one-year-old, I pulled out some paper and finger paint and I let her stamp her hands and feet all over the paper. After it dried, I rolled it up and wrote a description of her age, the day we had together, and a guess at how much bigger she will be when she opens the capsule next year.

We also conducted family interviews, which made everyone laugh out loud. Creating your list of questions is very easy and makes for a fun way to tailor the project to your own style. Ask your kids questions about what they think about mom and dad, how to define big words or questions about their futures. Record their answers to be read aloud when the capsule is opened.

Other items to include in the time capsule are goofy family photos or school pictures, original works of art and writing like poems and stories penned by your kids, and neat little trinkets from nature walks or small art projects.

Have an adult write a description of what is inside the box and maybe make some fun predictions for what will happen over the course of the year. Then, either pack the box up in a storage space, or have the whole family choose a spot in the backyard to bury it. If you choose to bury the time capsule then make sure it is sealed up in a waterproof container to keep the contents nice and dry.

Once the family time capsule is sufficiently hidden, have the kids draw a map to help them remember where they hid the time capsule. Then in a year — or however long you decide to keep it hidden — dig it out and get a glimpse of how life was earlier.

42 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

FUN FAMILY INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Create your own list of questions to tailor the project to your family.

Questions about what kids think about mom and dad and other relatives, their pets, and questions about their futures are all fun to read later on. Record their answers to be read aloud when the capsule is opened. Here are a few ideas to get you started...

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO AS A FAMILY? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPORT? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG? WHERE DO YOU WANT TO VISIT SOME DAY? WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WISH FOR? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO DO ?

SCHOOL PHOTOS, PICTURES OF THE WHOLE FAMILY AND KIDS' ARTWORK ARE ALL GREAT TO

PHOTOS: 120B_ROCK, VADIMGUZHVA, SEVENTYFOUR/THINKSTOCK

INCLUDE

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HOME & FAMILY

THE SECRET TO

WHY COLLEGE CAMPUSES ARE ONE OF THE BEST SUMMER CAMP EXPERIENCES YOUR KIDS CAN HAVE

BY KIMBERLEY MORAN

WHAT ARE YOUR KIDS doing this summer? If the answer is summer camp on a college campus, then you might just be also giving them a leg up on their college years.

Camps are awesome for helping kids develop independence while having fun and exploring different interests. Ones on college campuses have some added perks too. Why? Read on.

HELP KIDS SEE COLLEGE AS A PLACE FOR EXPLORATION Experiences can play a major role in shaping a child’s development. When kids go to summer camp on a college campus, they experience the college environment in less formal, more exciting ways without the anxiety that comes with the first year of college. Instead of worrying about grades and majors, campers simply explore the campus.

Kristie Deschesne, associate director of campus recreation at the University of Maine in Orono, oversees camp programs like the Recreational Activity Day Camps (RAD), for kids entering grades

44 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

kindergarten through fifth grade. “At our RAD summer camps, kids are doing all the typical camp activities, but by the end of the summer they will have spent time in every part of the college campus,” Deschesne said.

For those on the UMaine campus, that means visiting a botanical garden, a planetarium, a dining hall, a science lab and even a theatre with live music and acting.

For kids who attend UMaine’s Young Authors Camp, the experience is more focused — they do what real writers do in an authentic writing workshop. In addition to writing, they also eat in the dining hall and learn from writers on a college campus.

DISPEL THE MYSTERY OF CAMPUS LIFE A college campus is a microcosm of life.

Sending your child to camp on campus opens up their world while also helping them see that a college campus as an accessible place. Instead of feeling like college is elite and insular, they’ll see how they can fit right in no matter who they are.

“Our on-campus camps are positioned to help kids feel what a campus is like and

REALTORS

who their instructors might be,” said Mark Nason, Direction of Communications at Husson University. “This helps them feel confident about applying for these programs.

Best case scenario is that the camp experience amplifies a kid’s passion.”

Another unintended effect of on-campus camps is that if kids don’t like something, they start to figure out what they do like.

This may be the first time kids start to understand how to make choices about their life-path.

EASE COLLEGE ANXIETY According to the American Psychological Association, anxiety is the top area of mental health concern for today’s students. Getting kids used to the college experience early on can help this. At Husson University’s New England School of Communications, hosts Maine Media Camp every summer for high school kids who are interested in TV and radio.

Monica Valli is a 20-year-old audioengineering student at Husson who grew up in Massachusetts. She’d never been at sleep away camp before attending Maine

Media Camp as a high schooler. While at camp, she lived in the dorms and ate lunch with professors and students.

“By the time I left, I felt like Husson was home,” Valli said. “When I returned as a college student, I wasted no time figuring out the campus. I could get right to work and I even knew a couple people on campus who had gone to camp with me.”

Giving your child the chance to explore college before it becomes about commitment and life’s decisions can make the pathway easier. There’s also nothing better than feeling like you belong.

When kids go to camps, even for just one week, they leave feeling like a part of a team filled with accomplishments and secret jokes. Equating that great feeling with a college campus experience is a parenting home run.

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Kimberley Moran is a Hampden-based education and parenting writer and a senior digital editor at WeAreTeachers.com. She is also author of Hacking Parenthood: 10 Mantras You Can Use Daily to Reduce the Stress of Parenting. www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 45

FEATURE

IN CONVERSATION

FOUND. MEET THE BANGOR WOMAN WHO REUNITES TRAVELERS WITH THEIR LOST ITEMS

STORY BY JULIA BAYLY | PHOTOS BY GABOR DEGRE

ON THE EVE of arguably one of the most important events in any woman’s life, a bride forgot her wedding dress on a public bench at an airport.

As far as Heidi Suletzki is concerned, the reasons why didn’t matter. What mattered was the garment bag left on a bench outside of “her” airport and that somewhere there was a bride to be who was about to be dressless on her big day.

Suletzki can’t remember the first lost item she ever reunited with its frantic owner in her more than two decades of running the Bangor International Airport’s lost and found department. But she remembers that wedding dress.

“We found a garment bag on a bench at the airport and inside was a wedding dress, shoes and even a negligee,” Suletzki said. “There was no name or identification of any kind inside.”

It’s times like that, Suletzki said, she becomes a bit of a detective.

With years of aviation industry experience behind her, Suletzki — a former flight attendant for Lufthansa Airlines — knew that brides-to-be often stood out when boarding a plane.

“We started going through all the airlines that had flown out and talking to the flight and gate crews,” she said. “We asked if they remembered anyone boarding who was excited about a wedding.”

Eventually, Suletzki caught a break when a crew member she spoke with did remember someone talking an upcoming wedding. Using the clues provided by the crew, she was able to “WE FOUND A reference the passenger manifest and track GARMENT BAG ON A down the dressless bride.

Turned out, her big day was the next BENCH AT THE AIRPORT AND day — in Florida.

INSIDE WAS A WEDDING DRESS, “She asked if we could get that garment bag to her in time,” Suletzki SHOES AND EVEN A NEGLIGEE,” said. “We were able to ship it out to SULETZKI SAID. “THERE WAS NO her in time for the wedding [because] as long as you have the money and FedEx, NAME OR IDENTIFICATION OF we can get the items to you.”

ANY KIND INSIDE.” IT’S TIMES LIKE THAT, SULETZKI SAID, SHE BECOMES A BIT OF A DETECTIVE.

46 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

Heidi Suletzki, longtime passenger service representative at Bangor International Airport.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 47

FEATURE

IN CONVERSATION

Heidi Suletzki on the lookout for travelers in need of assistance at Bangor International Airport.

48 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

It’s one of the realities of air travel.

Sooner or later, every passenger leaves an airport or deboards a plane with fewer personal items than they started with.

If they’re lucky, the lost items end up in an airport lost and found bin.

If they are really lucky, the items find their way to the lost and found bin managed by Suletzki.

“It’s very hard to describe what I do,” Suletzki said. “It’s the kind of job where you never know what is going to happen when you come in [and] I look forward to it every day.”

Part detective, part customer service representative and all heart, for 40 years Suletzki has been the face and voice of BIA comforting and helping passengers who have not only lost things but those who have encountered disruptions in their travels through Bangor.

Over the years she’s helped with security screenings, made sure law enforcement personnel were on hand to deal with unruly passengers, worked with travelers to determine what documentation is needed to travel out of the country and some of the other, more serious aspects of modern aviation transportation.

In her office at the Bangor airport, Suletzki keeps the incident books — journals with hand written notes documenting airport staff and passenger contacts — chronicling years of encounters with travelers.

“I look at the entries and it really surprises me how easily it looks when we handle things,” she said. “What you can’t see is all the underlying information on what could have happened. We’ve really seen it all over the years,” Suletzki said.

And, of course, there are all those lost items to document and figure out.

She’s lost count of the actual number of items that have come through her office, but she said each one is treated as the most important because to it’s likely frantic owner it is.

Suletzki figures she has about a 50-50 track record of reuniting passengers and their lost belongings.

“Sometimes, of course, you can’t reunite people and their items,” she said. “But there are many, many good stories of when we can.”

Like the time a woman called asking about a doll her granddaughter had likely left at the airport.

“The woman said her granddaughter could not sleep without it,” Suletzki said.

“The next day it ended up on my desk and we FedEx-ed it out to her.”

As more people have departed from Bangor for business trips or vacation — a record 500,000 passed through BIA last year — Suletzki said lost items have increased.

“It’s hard to say how or why people lose things,” she said. “But people are distracted and can be absent minded in the airport where they are focused on their boarding pass and making their flight.”

Bathrooms seem to be a fertile ground for leaving things behind, as airport staff have found everything from prescription medications to jewelry to dental products in the men’s and ladies’ rooms.

“When it comes to medications, we really work to find the person because we know how important those are,” Suletzki said. “And, as long as there is a pharmacy name and number on the containers, we can usually find the person and help them get their medications back, or at least let them know they are going to need a refill.”

Books, watches, cell phones, keys, wallets, glasses, coats, gloves, toys, bags, shoes and even false teeth have all ended up in the airport’s lost and found bin.

“Sometimes it means you have to become a detective,” Suletzki said. “Wallets are easy, because a name and contact information is inside of it [and] at least once a week I’m mailing someone’s driver’s licence back to them.”

With thousands of United States military service men and women passing through the Bangor airport to and from duty stations overseas, lost military IDs are common, she said and many of those have ended up on her desk before being returned to a grateful member of the armed forces.

“One time I got a call from a soldier in Iraq who told me his girlfriend, who was also a soldier, had lost her iPad and was it at the airport,” she said. “We did find one and were able to turn it on and see the girlfriend’s picture on it, so when she called us we could tell her we had it and could get it out to her.”

Other times, her staff will track down owners of lost keys using information on a key ring. One time she tracked down the owner of a lost mouthguard thanks to the serial number and name of dentist stamped on it.

“I remember one time we found a file full of someone’s immigration papers,” Suletzki said.

“This was very important information and documentation that the person needed [and] with some research we found that person.”

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FEATURE

IN CONVERSATION

As for the items that are left languishing at the airport?

Every six weeks or so — depending on how much has accumulated — Suletzki and her staff document and clean out what is in her office and move it to a secure storage area in the airport. All items are held for six months, in accordance with Bangor city policy and at the end of that time, a decision is made on whether to donate the items to an appropriate non-profit or toss it out.

No one grows up dreaming of the day they will be in charge of an airport lost and found department, and Suletzki laughed at that notion.

But she did say working in aviation in some capacity is almost a foregone conclusion in her family.

She grew up in Germany where her father was an administrator with Lufthansa and her sister was a flight attendant. In 1961 Suletzki became a flight attendant for Lufthansa Airline and soon found herself working on planes flying in and out of Bangor.

“At that time there were hangers at the airport for [customs and immigration] inspections,” Suletzki said. “I remember coming in to Bangor and thinking, ‘this looks like a good place to live,’ and sure enough I ended up here.”

The move to Bangor came in the mid1970s when, after she had been a flight attendant for more than a decade, her husband got a job in aviation in Maine.

In 1979, Suletzki was hired to work with

Heidi Suletzki, longtime passenger service representative at Bangor International Airport helps a Canadian couple with advice as they were getting ready to board a flight.

50 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

passenger services at the Bangor Airport, where she was tasked to help international passengers clearing customs as they entered the United States from Europe.

“We had a different type of air traffic back then,” she recalled. “We had two-engine planes that came in from Europe and would stop for fuel on their way to Orlando or the west coast [and] they would clear customs in Bangor.”

Today planes are more than capable of carrying enough fuel to get from Europe to destinations beyond Bangor in the US, though the airport does remain a refueling stop for some air traffic. But 30 or 40 years ago, Suletzki and her staff had to be ready at a moment’s notice, day or night, to assist passengers from around the world.

The 1970s ushered in a new era of airport security in the wake of numerous hijackings occurring globally, and by the time Suletzki was hired, a decision had been made that passenger services at the Bangor airport would assist in security screenings.

“As far as technology to help in the screening, that was pretty limited 40 years ago,” Suletzki recalls.

“We had an X-ray machine that was the size of an eight-inch television screen,” she said. “And we had some tables to work on [and] not everyone was happy doing it.”

For support, local law enforcement would come in to oversee the security screening and Suletzki said the traveling public was not always happy about having a stranger go through their bags.

“I remember the sheriff would be there and he’d tell passengers if they did not like being searched before boarding or having their belongings searched, just don’t get on the plane,” Suletzki said.

“That was the era airline security really started and we began to realize it was not all fun and games.”

After 9/11, there was a stark increase in security screening procedures and the addition of TSA — the federal Transportation Security Administration.

“We work really well with the TSA people,” Suletzki said. “There are times people forget things as they are going through security and TSA is very helpful in finding the people and getting their items back to them.”

Suletzki turns 75 in October but has no interest in slowing down.

“I thought about retiring,” she said “But I like this job so much. Every morning when I walk into the airport I talk to myself quietly and tell myself I will make it a good day and be a person who cooperates with everyone. It’s a good feeling knowing we are helping people and making their travel a bit easier if we can.”

And for those passing through who maybe only realize at 30,000 feet when the seatbelt sign has gone off that something got left behind miles behind them back at Bangor?

They can find comfort that Suletzki and her team of airport sleuths are on the job.

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FEATURE

NATURAL WONDERS

7 BEAUTIFUL MAINE PLACES YOU SHOULD VISIT IN THE SUMMERTIME STORY & NEW PHOTOS BY RICHARD SHAW HISTORIC PHOTOS COURTESY RICHARD SHAW AND MAINE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION

WHEN I WAS A CHILD growing up in the 1950s, my siblings and I often asked my mother why Maine’s license plates proclaimed the state’s motto as “Vacationland” instead of “Pine Tree State,” or some other phrase more descriptive of rural New England living. In our minds, vacations were better spent at Boston’s Freedom Trail or New York’s Coney Island.

“Maine is a destination for people looking for a different vacation experience,” Mom countered. “We may not have skyscrapers and roller coasters, but we feature centuries of history, with roadside markers and museums to prove it, along with a rockbound coast and beautiful inland scenery.”

Mom was right, as mothers usually are. She planted a seed in my mind to later seek out roadside markers, hidden graveyards and haunted houses. With Maine prepared to celebrate its bicentennial in 2020, our often hidden history and earthly wonders will beckon curious visitors. The range of natural favorites and unexpected turns in the road is endless in a kingdom larger than the other five New England states combined.

Following is a list of seven of my favorite spots.

(This photo) The trail to the beach at the Roque Bluffs State Park.

(Below) The village cemetery in Roque Bluffs, and production at the Welch blueberry farm.

ROQUE BLUFFS STATE PARK

(WASHINGTON COUNTY)

WHENEVER I’M IN MACHIAS during summer festival season, tasting blueberries or discovering Revolutionary War history, I make a point of walking the half-mile crescent beach at this hidden gem of a park, a favorite with birders and wildflower enthusiasts.

It’s located on Schoppee Point, 20 minutes from town. Its 274 acres include the sand and pebbles of Englishman Bay and six miles of walking trails near Simpson Pond. While in the area, check out the 1902 community chapel, Victorian beachfront cottages, and the 2011 Schoodic Symposium granite sculpture, “Warm Wind,” by Kazumi Hoshino. The shore road beyond the beach ends at a busy boat ramp, and the road back to U.S. Route 1 passes the famous Welch blueberry farm.

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FEATURE

Moxie Falls and the stream leading into it (top left) are a beautiful setting for a scenic hike.

MOXIE FALLS ď °

(SOMERSET COUNTY)

THERE IS SOMETHING PRIMEVAL about this thunderous 90-foot vertical waterfall, Maine’s highest, even though it is located only 15 minutes from The Forks, on U.S. Route 201. Moxie Falls Scenic Area is maintained by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, the result of a 217-acre gift from Coburn Lands Trust and an agreement with Central Maine Power Co. The falls are part of Moxie Stream, which originates in Moxie Pond and flows into the Kennebec River. Not recommended for children, swimming is allowed at a hole 100 feet downstream from the falls. One autumn day, I drove from the falls parking lot and took the scenic pond road back home, through Bingham.

A marker notes the 1778 Battle of .

Naskeag, which was reenacted 1976

NASKEAG POINT 

(HANCOCK COUNTY)

FOLLOW THE NASKEAG POINT ROAD in the village of Brooklin, by the WoodenBoat School, and you will arrive at this tranquil point of land on Eggemoggin Reach. The drive past high spruce trees and white farmhouses is half the fun of getting there.

Thirty-five parking spaces and one portable toilet are what pass for modern conveniences, but the views of Mount Desert Island and Seller Island, owned by the Maine Bureau of Public Lands, along with the privately owned Potato, Harbor, and Hog islands, are worth the challenge. Monuments honor local fishermen, who put their boats in here, along with the 1778 Battle of Naskeag and a 1976 reenactment. It also has some sentimental value for me. Mother loved picnicking here with her family, and one day let my brother and me sunbathe on the beach au naturel.

CHESUNCOOK VILLAGE 

(PISCATAQUIS COUNTY) CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY if you spent time in the 1864 Chesuncook Lake house, a village landmark that burned to the ground in March. Popular with sportsmen and canoeists on the Penobscot’s West Branch, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Owners David and Luisa Surprenant hosted a “last ride” snowmobile excursion to the site, where they vowed to rebuild. With views of Mount Katahdin and Gero Island, as well as its place as the scene of a 1901 murder, it’s worth the 20-mile boat or truck trip from Chesuncook campground, near Ripogenus Dam. The village became a logging mecca in the 1840s, after damming of the river enlarged the lake.

(Above left A big trout catch is shown in a 1919 postcard. (Above right) Ripogenus Dam and Chesuncook Lake, built 1916, in a 1945 postcard. (This photo) The Chesuncook Lake House and village in a circa 1930 postcard.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 55

FEATURE

(Above) The Appledore Hotel in a circa 1915 photo.

(This photo) The White Island Light.

ISLES OF SHOALS 

(YORK COUNTY, ME AND ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NH)

MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE lay claim to these islands, located about seven miles off the Granite State’s coastline. The largest of Maine’s five islands, Appledore, is home to the Celia Thaxter house, a concrete World War II observation tower, and the Shoals Marine Laboratory. The second largest isle is Star Island, N.H., a popular day trip destination, or overnight stay in the historic Oceanic Hotel. Smuttynose, in Maine, the third largest of the isles, is infamous as the site of an 1873 double murder committed

by Lewis Wagner. I took the MV Thomas Laighton cruise boat out of Portsmouth, N.H., which offered narration (and a scattering of an Isles of Shoals lover’s ashes) during a three-house excursion. Tour boats also depart Rye, N.H.

BAILEY ISLAND 

( CUMBERLAND COUNTY)

THOUSANDS OF TOURISTS frequent this tiny Casco Bay outpost every year, but it has lost none of its quaintness. Lying at the end of Route 24, 45 minutes south of Brunswick, Bailey Island has historic cottages, shops, restaurants, bed and breakfasts and a warm, rocky ambiance. My family and I first visited the original Land’s End Gift Shop around 1959, but I didn’t return until 2014. The island looked about the same, but the shop had been rebuilt back from the rocks following a hurricane. The island may have been named after the Rev. Timothy Bailey, said to have purchased Will’s Island in 1742 for a pound of tobacco and a gallon of rum. Must see attractions include the fisherman’s memorial at Land’s End, the Giant’s Stairs rock formation, and the world’s only cribstone bridge, which connects Bailey to Orr’s islands.

(Above) Stone cribwork bridge connecting Orrs (foreground) with Bailey islands, circa 1960.

(This photo) Capt.

Sinnett with tablet erected in 1911 at Giant’s Stairway, circa 1950.

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FEATURE

FLAGSTAFF LAKE

(SOMERSET AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES) WITH A SURFACE AREA of 20,300 acres, Flagstaff Lake is a sportsman’s paradise. But its creation in 1950 exacted a heavy toll when, following a legislative act, the villages of Flagstaff, Dead River, and Bigelow were condemned and its residents relocated as Central Maine Power built a 45-foot high dam. Today, the whole sordid story is told in historic signs off Route 27 in Eustis, at Stratton’s Dead River Area Historical Society museum, and in the Arcadia Publishing pictorial, “Lost Villages of Flagstaff Lake,” by Alan L. Burnell and Kenny R. Wing. I enjoyed taking Maine Master Guide Jeff Hinman’s pontoon boat tour around the lake, where he revealed the Bigelow Mountain range’s grandeur and where the towns beneath the shallow waters, now lost to time, once stood.

One of the homes flooded in 1949 to make Flagstaff Lake.

FEATURE

STOP THE

CAR!

7 MAINE ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS WORTH BREAKING FOR

BY SARAH WALKER CARON

FROM THE ICONIC to the quirky, Maine is home to some really interesting attractions.

WORLD TRAVELER SIGN POST

LYNCHVILLE

DENMARK, NAPLES, PERU, China … you can get there from here. As long as you’re looking for the Maine towns and cities with these names.

WHAT IT IS: A road sign on Valley Road in Lynchville with the names of Maine towns that happen to share their names with countries and cities around the world. It makes for a fun photo op.

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW: There are several other signs like this in Maine, but this is the most frequently mentioned one.

THE DESERT OF MAINE FREEPORT POP OFF THE HIGHWAY in Freeport and you can find a phenomenon that’s completely unexpected: a desert. Or, at least, a 40 acre parcel that looks like one.

WHAT IT IS: Once a farm, erosion revealed something really unexpected at this Maine spot: glacial silt, a sand-like substance. Turns out, at the end of the last Ice Age, a glacier slid across Maine leaving sand and mineral deposits. Top soil covered it, but when the farm fell into disuse, that natural, sandy area appeared.

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW: This isn’t man-made. Also, it’s been a tourist attraction since the 1920s.

60 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

PAUL BUNYAN

BANGOR

STANDING TALL, the smiling bearded, red flannel shirt-clad symbol of Bangor’s lumber past is more than just a statue. It’s an often photographed symbol of the Queen City of the East.

WHAT IT IS: A 31-foot statue of Paul Bunyan that sits outside the Cross Insurance Center on Main Street in Bangor. Installed in 1959, it was designed by local artist J. Normand Martin and erected in time for the city’s 125th birthday celebration.

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW: Paul Bunyan’s birth certificate is on display at city hall.

MAINE SOLAR SYSTEM MODEL

AROOSTOOK COUNTY

TRAVEL THROUGH THE Solar System without leaving the planet … yes, it’s really possible, and it’s right here in Maine.

WHAT IT IS: The Maine Solar System Model is a 1-to-93million replica stretching along U.S. Route 1 from Presque Isle to Houlton. It includes the sun, nine planets, seven moons and three dwarf planets. Pluto is represented twice — as both a planet and a dwarf planet.

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW: This is the second largest model of the solar system in the world. The largest is in Sweden.

EARTHA YARMOUTH SEE EARTH FROM EARTH, right here in Maine … or, at least, a replica of it.

WHAT IT IS: Eartha is a giant rotating globe visible from the highway in Yarmouth at the Garmin research and development center (formerly DeLorme). It’s the world’s largest rotating and revolving globe and weigh about 5,600 pounds. It has a diameter of more than 41 feet.

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW: The three-story atrium where it’s housed is open to the public.

Different levels of it give different perspectives on the epic globe.

AMERICA’S FIRST MILE FORT KENT FROM FORT KENT, Maine, to the Florida Keys, one road stretches the entire span. That’s Route 1.

WHAT IT IS: The beginning of the longest north-south road in the country. A granite sign dedicated in 2011 is perfect for your selfie.

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW: The granite sign replaced an old wooden one that was located nearby. While you’re there, you could also check out the recently opened First Mile Brewery.

WILD BLUEBERRY LAND

COLUMBIA FALLS

THE STATE FRUIT of Maine — that’s the wild blueberry — has a very special home in Columbia Falls where Wild Blueberry Land celebrates all things blueberry.

WHAT IT IS: The 50 foot geodesic dome that is shaped and colored like a blueberry is a roadside attraction. But it’s more than that — it’s also a bakery and gift shop dedicated to all things blueberry.

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW: There’s a blueberry-themed mini golf course there as well.

GET OUT

NEW YORK CITY

TAKE A BITE

F

THE BIG APPLE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, IS, INDEED, A HELLUVA TOWN STORY & PHOTOS BY JULIA BAYLY

62 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

GEOGRAPHICALLY SPEAKING, there is not a huge distance between the forests of Maine and the concrete jungle of New York City. It’s just a 90-minute or 60-minute direct flight from Bangor or Portland, respectively.

And sure, we have tons of apples in Maine, but to paraphrase a popular 1930s jazz musicians’ definition of New York, there is only one Big Apple.

FUN FACT: The nickname “The Big Apple” originated in the 1920s in reference to the prizes [or “big apples”] rewarded at the many racing courses in and around New York City, but wasn’t officially adopted as the city’s nickname until 1971 as the result of a successful ad campaign intended to attract tourists.

Of course, New York was a tourist destination long before the 1970s.

For good reason.

That a city with so much vibrant cultural, linguistic, artistic, culinary and architectural diversity is a short plane ride from Maine, begs for exploration.

Think of it: you can board a flight Friday afternoon and arrive in the city just in time to catch a Broadway play and late dinner.

Spend Saturday exploring museums, galleries, shops, eateries, parks and monuments to your heart’s content. Or perhaps take in an in-season sporting event — the city has six major league sports teams and a dozen or more minor league teams.

Dinner and dancing out on the town at a funky jazz or blues hotspot Saturday night, perhaps?

Leisurely Sunday brunch with coffee, bagels, pastries and other goodies then board a flight home later that day and get ready to regale your friends and co-workers with tales of your weekend in the city that never sleeps.

FUN

fun Fact

FACT: New York’s nickname “The city that never sleeps” was popularized by Frank Sinatra who covered the song “New York New York” from the 1977 Scorsese film of the same name, and may have come from a 1920’s film “City That Never Sleeps.”

Sunset on Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center offers panoramic views of Manhattan and beyond.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 63

GET OUT

NEW YORK CITY On my recent trip to New York I had six days to take as many bites out of that apple as possible. Safe to say, in a city that is home to 8.5 million people — more than eight-times the population of Maine and covers 304-square-miles, I barely had a nibble.

But not for lack of a healthy travel appetite.

(Above) Figures of The Statue of Liberty and other New York City landmarks fill every souvinier shop. (This photo) Chicken wings and “Festival Bread” are always on the menu at Blue Mountain Heights Cafe in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem.

64 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

SWEET LIFE ON SUGAR HILL My stay began in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem, where I stayed a couple of nights with a dear friend who’d moved there close to 20 years ago.

A largely residential neighborhood, there are limited commercial lodging options available in Harlem including the St. Nicholas Inn Bed & Breakfast (www. saintnicholasinn.com).

There are also hundreds of private rooms, apartments and entire homes that are offered as vacation rentals throughout Harlem via the online vacation lodging site Airbnb (www.airbnb.com) A quick word about Airbnb. I love it and have used it to successfully book places to stay in Canada, Europe and this country.

It’s pretty user friendly. By registering on the Airbnb site you have access to a list of short-term rental options around the world. Rentals can be selected based on type — from an entire home to a private room — location, price, cancellation policies and amenities like parking, pet friendly or laundry facilities. Once you’ve made a selection you contact the owner — or “host” — directly to see if the dates you want are available. The host sets the price and there is often also a cleaning fee or deposit on top of the Airbnb booking fee. Hosts and their rentals are reviewed by guests and those reviews are public on the site. Keep in mind, hosts also review guests and anyone who trashes a space or does not adhere to established “house rules” will likely find themselves kicked off Airbnb.

Meanwhile, back in Sugar Hill: It’s a funky, fun historic district in upper Manhattan famous for being the home to prominent African American professionals, political leaders, artists, musicians and writers in the 1930s and 1940s.

Harlem hit a low point in the 1960s and 1970s with high rates of poverty among its residents and had the dubious reputation as one of the city’s less safe neighborhoods in which to live.

Urban renewal hit the area in 1990s

thanks to heavy investment in economic development by the city, which lead to steady “gentrification,” making today’s Harlem a desired and trendy zip code.

fun Fact

FUN FACT:

Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train,” written by Billy Strayhorn, was an homage to Sugar Hill, where both men lived.

A couple of blocks from my friend’s apartment stands the Morris-Jamul Mansion (65 Jumel Terrace) nicknamed “The New York White House,” an executive mansion occupied by President George Washington 1789 to 1790.

It’s also — according to my friend — one of the legitimately haunted buildings in the city.

I was happy to admire the historical structure from the outside and not the least bit inclined for any ghost hunting.

Of course if you’re in a paranormal New York state of mind, you can check out Washington’s mansion along with a host of city locations widely held to be haunted including The Coney Island Opera House, the Algonquin Hotel or the Campbell Apartments.

What I was in the mood to explore was any one of the number of locally owned neighborhood bars and restaurants in Sugar Hill.

Like Blue Mountain Heights Cafe (499 W 158th Street), home of what has to be some of the best hot wings I have ever had. My friend is well known there, so it was no surprise that along with our order of “Henny Wings,” wings smothered in a sauce made with Hennessy brandy, we were also presented with some chocolate cheese cake to sample and an order of “festival bread,” a twisted, sweet bread that is a perfect complement to the wings.

A bottle — or two — of Jamaican Red

Stripe beer was the perfect accompaniment to the entire meal.

Then there was Silvana (300 W. 116th Street), a social music club down a flight of stairs that has a distinct speakeasy vibe. The atmosphere is Middle Eastern and the menu features stuffed grape leaves, babaganoush and my personal favorite — turmericbattered fried potato slices.

The music ranges from local talent to global bands playing blues, reggae, jazz or salsa. There is also a popular open mic night where neighbood musicians take to the stage.

I’ll say this about the Sugar Hill district, in the brief time I was there, I felt like I was home. It has a welcoming, neighborhood vibe and after just a day there, people indeed, knew my name.

And those wonderful folks at Blue Mountain? When I called one morning after I’d left my credit card there by accident the night before, I hardly had time to get my name out before they warmly assured me my card was there and waiting for me.

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 65

GET OUT

NEW YORK CITY

The lights never go out on Times Square where neon replaces sunlight from dusk to dawn.

PLAYING TOURIST IS A LOT OF FUN For the second half of my stay, I moved to Midtown to an Airbnb lodging near Rockefeller Center, Times Square and the United Nations headquarters.

From that point on, everything I had ever seen on television or in the movies about New York City seemed to come alive — from the hustle and bustle of sidewalk traffic to the ubiquitous yellow cabs darting in and out of traffic.

FUN FACT: In Manhattan the “avenues” run north and south and the “streets” run east and west. Sort of. While laid out in a grid pattern north of Houston Street, Manhattan’s streets and avenues are not lined up in perfect compass points, something a true New Yorker never acknowledges.

In addition to street and avenues, when I travel, I like to use famous landmarks as navigation aids. In Midtown, the most obvious was Rockefeller Center which actually takes up 22 developed acres between 48th and 51st Streets.

Strolling to Rockefeller Plaza from our temporary NYC home on East 150th Street, we found ourselves on Fifth Avenue, home of the famous luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue and passing St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

66 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

In a few blocks we were at the national historical landmark of Rockefeller Center, complete with the iconic skating rink, Radio City Music Hall, the studios of NBC and the observation deck 70-stories up to the Top of the Rock (45 Rockefeller Plaza) offering 360-degree views of the city.

The price to take the elevator to the observation deck is $39.50 for the roundtrip elevator ride. It’s totally touristy and totally worth it.

We hit it just at sunset and were rewarded with panoramic views of The Empire State Building, Central Park, the Hudson and East Rivers, The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the entire Manhattan skyline.

fun Fact

FUN FACT: From the

Top of The Rock on a clear day you can see five states — New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Down on solid ground, we wandered around Rockefeller Plaza and window shopped at the nearby Tiffany & Co. (727 Fifth Ave.) where you can channel your inner Audrey Hepburn and actually have breakfast. Assuming you can get one of the sought after reservations at the Blue Box Cafe, which opened in late 2017.

Back at Rockefeller Center we also ducked into the massive Lego Store where no matter your actual age, everyone is a kid again, and sampled the sweet, decadent treats at Teuscher Chocolatier (620 Fifth Ave.) famous for their hand-dipped truffles.

Now remember, this is the city that never sleeps, so just because the sun goes down on your day, there is no reason to pack it in.

For one thing, that’s when the lights go up on Times Square and Broadway — about a 15 minute walk from Rockefeller Center — where the neon bathes the streets in colors not found in nature.

It’s worth hitting Times Square at least once, just to say you’ve experienced it. But be prepared to be elbowed, pushed and caught up in throngs of other tourists also enjoying the experience.

As for the Great White Way of Broadway? Don’t even think about a trip to New York without planning to see a play. From major productions like Phantom and Lion King to smaller, off-off Broadway

www.bangormetro.com BANGOR METRO / 67

GET OUT

NEW YORK CITY

(Right) At Maysville, french toast is taken to the next level with bourbon and maple syrup braised apples. (Below) Hungry tourists and residents can find smiles, friendly service and great food for not a lot of money at the New York Luncheonette in Midtown.

(Right) If a dog and beer at Nathan’s is not on your foodie bucket list, it should be.

plays, there is something to fit every budget.

Since I really had my heart set on seeing the award winning musical “Come From Away,” (the play about the thousands of passengers from dozens of countries stranded in Gander, Newfoundland, when all air traffic was grounded on 9/11) I went ahead and pre-ordered tickets online paying full price. With zero regrets.

If you are a bit more flexible about what you see and don’t mind a bit of a line, deeply discounted tickets for Broadway shows are available through the Theatre Development Fund’s TKTS (www.tdf.org) booth located at 47th Street and Broadway at Duffy’s Square. Many of the tickets are 50 percent off the day of the show.

THE CULINARY LANDSCAPE There may be no better city in which to dine than New York City, if for no other reason the sheer number and variety of options.

fun Fact

FUN FACT: According to local New York lore, given the current number of restaurants, diners and cafes in the city, a person would have to eat at a different one once a day for 10 years to hit them all.

68 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2018

Basically when it comes to food and New York? You can’t go wrong.

I traveled all the way to Coney Island, where the famous amusement park was quiet and shuttered on that March day, for the chance to order a “dog and beer” at the original Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs (1310 Surf Ave, Brooklyn).

Coney Island’s famous boardwalk and beaches are open year round for strolling, but the equally famous roller coasters, games of chance and other amusement park rides operate between Easter and Halloween.

FUN FACT: Coney Island is a New York City neighborhood that features an amusement area that includes 50 or more separate rides and attractions. It is not a centrally managed amusement park like Disneyland or Six Flags. Many of the attractions have their own websites with information on hours of operation and can be found listed at www.coneyisland.com.

We had a great lunch one afternoon of falafel and cacik — yogurt mixed with cucumber, mint and dill — at Ali Baba Terrace (862 Second Avenue) in Midtown East because we simply took a chance and ducked inside to check it out.

The best bagel I had in the city was from a street vendor on Second Avenue and East 148th Street near the United Nations in the Midtown East

Get there

GET THERE: For travel

tips on getting to NYC by plane, bus and more, visit bangormetro.com.

neighborhood of Turtle Bay. I also had one of the best reuben sandwiches I’ve ever eaten at the unpretentious, familyowned New York Luncheonette (135 E 50th Street), where you can get a great breakfast, lunch or dinner for under $15 — a rarity in the city.

But my favorite dining experience in New York was Sunday brunch at Maysville (17 W 26th Street) in the Flatiron District.

Maysville is an homage to all things bourbon with an extensive selection of that American spirit and menu items to match.

We started out with the Crispy Grits Croquettes made with smoked ham and aged cheddar and followed that up with cornbread served with a spicy honey. Next came the French Toast with bourbon and maple syrup braised apples.

Dining is an unhurried and relaxed affair at Maysville, which was named after the Kentucky port town from which bourbon was first shipped out of the state. The staff is friendly and well versed on the food and cocktail menus and our three hours spent there dining and sipping chipotle Bloody Marys were some of the most laid back I spent in the city.

It was also sort of my last harrah in New York as I was flying out early the next morning.

But now that I have a taste for the Big Apple and have experienced how easy it is to get there from here, you can bet I’ll be back to take another bite.

WOODS & WATERS

OUT TO SEA

FROM A MAIL BOAT TO LOBSTERING TRIPS, THE ISLE AU HAUT FERRY IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL BOAT

MEET THE MOST UNUSUAL BOAT in Maine: The Isle au Haut Ferry.

There are numerous vessels along Maine’s coast, offering salty adventures and breathtaking scenery. But everything about this company is different.

For starters, it’s non-profit. The ferry service has been around for 50 years, carrying passengers, mail, and freight to one of Maine’s most iconic islands, Isle au Haut. That’s French, meaning High Island. Mt. Champlain rises 540 feet above sea level at the center of STORY & PHOTOS BY the island, making it visible from anywhere in Penobscot Bay. About half of the island falls BOB DUCHESNE within the boundaries of Acadia National Park, and a small campground at Duck Harbor is popular among the few visitors able to reserve a campsite.

The ferry service obtained its non-profit status in 2002. Although it gets most of its revenue from carrying people and goods to the island, it relies on additional financial support from the town, the federal government, and OFTEN, THERE IS NOT private donors. On the one hand, that might appear to be a limitation on what the ferry can do. In reality, it frees up the crew to have a little fun, ENOUGH TRAFFIC TO KEEP and take you with them.

BOTH BOATS BUSY, SO IN Two boats serve the island in summer. Otter was commissioned RECENT YEARS, THE FERRY HAS just two years ago. Mink has been around much longer. Both are comfortable for passengers, and they handle weather well. Often, BEEN CREATING ADDITIONAL there is not enough traffic to keep both boats busy, so in recent years, ADVENTURES. SUCH TRIPS BRING the ferry has been creating additional adventures. Such trips bring in revenue to help sustain the ferry service in leaner months, but make IN REVENUE TO HELP SUSTAIN no mistake, the crew is having fun. It’s infectious.

THE FERRY SERVICE IN LEANER Six days a week, the ferry offers a short lobster fishing excursion MONTHS, BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, that ventures just far enough out of the harbor to visit some ledges where harbor seals haul out.

THE CREW IS HAVING FUN.

IT’S INFECTIOUS.

A dozen times each summer, the ferry makes a special trip out to see Atlantic puffins. Hundreds of these colorful, comical birds nest on Seal Island, about 20 miles out to sea from Stonington Harbor. The island is also a colony for razorbills and black guillemots, which are puffin cousins.

Hundreds of common and arctic terns nest on the island, and it is the southernmost nesting colony in the world for great cormorants, a threatened species in Maine.

Later in summer, the Isle au Haut ferry makes lighthouse tours. These coastal waters are dotted with islands and peppered with ledges. Mariners relied on these lighthouses as the traffic signals of the sea. Most are still operating. Each has a history. The lighthouse on Saddleback Ledge was commissioned after a tragic fire at sea in October 1836. A steamship named the Royal Tar was traveling from Eastport to Boston, carrying a small circus and many passengers. As it left Stonington Harbor, a blaze broke out, taking the lives of 32 people and most of the circus animals.

Expect to hear tales about the region’s quarrying history. Stonington was first settled by farmers, and the site was known as Green’s Landing. The thin, maritime soil soon proved too barren, and fishing subsequently dominated the economy, much as it does today. But around 1870, granite became a much sought-after construction material for some of America’s grandest buildings.

The abundance of granite next to the ocean meant that huge blocks could be shipped by barge without having to negotiate land transportation. Stonecutting proliferated. Experienced masons from Europe moved to the island. When the town was incorporated in 1897, it was renamed Stonington.

The ferry passes Crotch Island as it leaves the pier. The quarry is still active.

The approach to New York’s George Washington Bridge is Crotch Island

granite, as is Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Stone from several local quarries was used to construct the base for the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center in New York, and the John F. Kennedy Memorial in Arlington Cemetery.

Most of Maine’s boats shut down in the offseason, but not the Isle au Haut Ferry. The ferry serves the island year round, and the crew is game for adventure anytime. Hundreds of beautiful harlequin ducks winter along the southern edge of Isle au Haut. In late March, the ferry takes people out to see these brightly costumed lords and ladies of the sea. The ferry has even experimented with winter trips to visit the second largest gray seal pupping colony in the United States, located on Seal Island.

If the adventure looks like fun, they’ll do it. Nowhere in North America is there a ferry quite like this one.

BOB DUCHESNE is a local radio personality, Maine guide, and columnist. He lives on Pushaw Lake with his wife, Sandi.

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Z

maine:

THE SOUND OF GRANDCHILDREN

BY EMILY MORRISON

z

Looking back, it’s clear I suffered from separation anxiety. If I couldn’t lay eyeballs on my folks, then they were dead. I saw myself orphaned, left to live out my days watching Hee Haw with Pepe as I watched Meme drift off to sleep in her rocking chair across the living room.

When I turned 18, I knew if I didn’t get out of Dodge, I might become the kind of person who came home every weekend so my mom could fold my underwear and balance my checkbook. All of my friends would move on to bigger and better things while I lived in my parents renovated attic.

Sparing us all that sad fate, I picked a college two states away where I met a Clark Kent, Patrick Dempsey-impersonating-JFK sort of guy. We married a couple of months after graduating and lived in between a strip mall and a racetrack in New Hampshire for a year before we hightailed it to Plum Island.

Maybe it was the sound of our baby crying over the ocean waves that turned the tide for me. At five in the morning when my husband left for work and I nursed our daughter back to sleep, life on an island was not romantic. It was lonely. Something was missing, and it wasn’t just the shut-eye.

I missed home. I missed Maine. I missed the way life should be.

Dropping in on my parents for a quick visit. Seeing my sister marvel at my daughter’s rosebud lips. Hanging out with my friends at the Motor Lodge on Friday night. Rocking out to Q106.5 on my way to and from work. Watching the news and hearing Bangor pronounced the right way. Going to Bud’s Shop ’n Save and bumping into people I know. Listening to my father sing “On Eagle’s Wings” at church. Drinking a wine cooler at the lake with my cousins. Saying “How-ah-ya?” and “Good-n-you?” all in the same breath. Running to the old camp and seeing the eagle’s nest perched on top of the same telephone poll after all these years.

Hearing the wind whip across the blueberry fields while the loons call to each other outside our bedroom window at night.

If that’s not the sound of more grandchildren, I don’t know what is.

PHOTO: JERGES/THINKSTOCK

WHEN I WAS IN my early 20s, my husband and I rented a one bedroom shack on Plum Island. A stone’s throw past Newburyport, Massachusetts, our cedar-shingled hovel sat nestled amongst the mansions of the rich and not-so-famous.

The day we moved in, I opened up the window in our bedroom and asked my mother-in-law, “Do you hear that sound?”

“What sound?” she asked. “The waves crashing?”

“Yes,” I said. “That’s the sound of grandchildren.”

Though I admit it’s a weird thing to say to your husband’s mother, I was serious. Falling asleep to the sound of the waves, surrounded by long stretches of sand and even longer stretches of water, life was romantic. At least, that’s how it felt to me, a Dexter girl who comes from fields dotted with hay bales resembling cinnamon rolls in the summer and marshmallows in the fall.

Growing up in Maine, I’d glimpsed the ocean plenty. I’d been to Old Orchard a few times with friends, and my mother has an affinity for lighthouses. I saw at least 4,000 of those beacons of hope from the back seat of a Buick.

Before I drove away in my own Buick, I don’t remember ever thinking, “God, Maine is so romantic.”

The Maine of my childhood was centered around summer.

Our family had a camp on Ripley Pond, a tiny puddle west of Dexter. When we weren’t playing badminton or peddling around on our paddleboat, we hung out with family on Lake Wassookeag, swimming and barbecuing.

Sometimes Dad would say, “I wonder what the poor people are doing?” as we sat on plastic lawn chairs waiting for our 20th straight hot dog dinner to finish charcoaling.

Everything was good in my hood with the exception of one little thing.

Out of all of the children in my large, French Canadian family, I was the only one who got homesick. I couldn’t spend the night anywhere besides Meme’s. Up until age 13, I might as well have been cloistered in a monastery because I sucked my thumb, slept with a burp cloth and prayed for Jesus to send me back to my parents if ever we were separated.

B

j

THE VIEW FROM HERE

EMILY MORRISON is a high school English teacher, freelance writer and editor from coastal Maine. She is living happily-ever-after with her handsome husband, three beautiful children and two beloved dogs. And a cat.