The Theater at Monmouth

If you’re in the vicinity of Fast Eddie’s (see previous post), don’t miss The Theater at Monmouth, a.k.a. the Shakespearean theater of Maine. It’s a double treat.

This classic, professional theater stages five productions in repertory each summer, with at least two being works by the bard. It also stages a spring children’s production and a fall Gilbert and Sullivan production; this year that’s The Mikado.

What makes it all the more special is the building. One simply doesn’t expect to stumble upon an architectural gem like Cumston Hall in a rural community like Monmouth. Designed in 1899 by multi-talented local artist Harry Hayman Cochrane and completed in 1900, Cumston is asymmetrical work of art. It’s adorned with more than 100 stained glass windows and dominated by a four-story Romanesque tower.

While the exterior is magnificent, the interior, also designed by Cochrane, is stunning. In the theater, allegorical figures representing tragedy, comedy, music and dance are painted in heavenly scenes on three panels on the vaulted ceiling. Like the surfaces of the arches and parapets, the ceiling is ornamented with plaster relief. In its center is an oculus. Truly, it’s spectacular.

Worth cruising over from Fast Eddie’s to see; even better, plan to attend The Mikado.

Fast Eddie is cruising again

Happy Days are here again, at Fast Eddie’s, at least. The Winthrop, Maine, drive-in restaurant is back in biz thanks to Russ Angell and his wife, Barbara, who reopened the 50s-themed place earlier this year, according to a report in the Portland Press Herald.

I visited a few times during the last summer it was open, and I fell in love with the spot, complete with its interior Elvis and Betty Boop decor. Way cool, way retro; think burgers and shakes.

Once again, it’s a popular spot for classic car buffs, especially on Wednesday nights, when they arrive en mass for the evening cruise in. Find it on Route 202, west of Augusta.

Planning ahead: Homefires Music Festival

A former colleague of mine is involved in a this new event, one with a helluva lot of musical talent, and one that’s well worth supporting: the Homefires Music Festival, Saturday, Sept. 6, in New Goucester.

Here’s the deal: a dozen musical acts, from local bands to mega-talented guitarist Jim Gallant to national recording artist Steve Azar will be performing at this all-day festival, held at the Thompson Orchard. For a suggested donation of $10 (free, younger than 10), you can hang out from noon to 10 p.m., and feel good about it. ALL proceeds will support home-heating assistance to low-income families (and we all know that’s the bull in Maine’s china closet this winter).

My friend says this is the “prettiest lil’ music venue in Maine, atop Gloucester Hill, right beside Thompson’s Orchard, where you can pick some apples and scarf the best homemade doughnuts in captivity.” Sounds like a mighty fine way to spend a Saturday in September.

Meals on paws

Our new pup is putting a bit of a crimp in our travel style, since he’s too young to leave either at home or in a kennel. Instead, we’re using our travel as opportunities to socialize him, and bringing him to restaurants with outdoor seating areas that allow dogs.

We started with meals on the road en route home from Halifax, N.S., where he was born. We transported both Dooley, our pup, and one of his sisters, who continued on to her home in New Hampshire. That 12-hour trip included mostly highway rest stops, although we did stop at Just Barb’s in Stockton Springs, and the staff there couldn’t have been any more helpful or friendly. We ate outside on one of the picnic tables, and the waitress kept checking on us. Just Barb’s is great for an inexpensive meal. It’s famed for its fried fish, which is what we ordered. No complaints. The two of us split one order, and couldn’t finish it.

Last week, we took Dooley down to Round Pond for lobster, meeting friends who brought Jeff, Dooley’s dad. My usual digs are Round Pond Lobster, but this time we went to Muscongus Bay Lobster, right across the parking lot. It’s much bigger, and has a wider menu (crab and lobster rolls, oysters). We stuck with the usual, a one-pounder with steamers and corn. Really, you can’t beat the Round Pond setting, and the pup was completely exhausted (a good thing) by the time we headed home. Only down side was our timing. We arrived at peak hour. It took about a half hour to wind our way through the line to order, then another half hour to get the bugs.

Today, we took Dooley and his big bro, Bernie, to lunch in Rockland at the Brass Compass Cafe. It’s smack downtown, and has a nice shaded patio area, where we ate. This place is a gem. Great food, great service, all-day breakfast, delicious lunch specials and reasonable prices. I had eggs with a haddock cake—cake was nicely browned and crisp, while the potatoes and haddock inside remained moist and flavorful. Tom had a Tuscan chicken grilled tortilla—like a quesadilla—with pesto, tomatoes, and carmelized onions, served with a side salad. Another stellar choice.

Next up: Introducing Dooley to the pleasures of Round Top ice cream. Mmmmmm.

To market, to market

I’m a huge fan of farmers’ markets, and whenever traveling I try to visit local ones. This morning, I visited the Damariscotta Farmers Market (Friday mornings, 9 a.m. to noon). What a fabulous location! Farmers set up at the Salt Bay Farm preserve, in a grassy field at overlooking Great Salt Bay. Plenty of organic produce, plus Borealis breads, Nanney Kennedy’s wool sweaters and blankets, Appleton Creamery cheeses (and a delicious sheep yogurt), Mainely Chicken poultry, plus Chase Farm’s baked goodies (scones, cookies, pies, doughnuts) and meats, and so much more.

One of the fun things about visiting various farmers markets is the serendipity of it all. You never know what you’ll find. Some have local artisans selling in addition to farmers, some sell specialty foods, such as chocolates. But everything is local, and the finds are fun.To find farmers markets, visit the Maine Department of Agriculture’s Get Real site.

Another great stop is Spear’s Farmstand, on Route 1, in Waldoboro. Nothing too unusual in produce, but it does carry some cheeses, Bold Coast Smokehouse products (garlic and pepper salmon sticks!), and it has a great kitchen that turns out very reasonably priced yummies, including cookies and pies. It’s nowhere near the size of Beth’s, in Warren (another favorite), but it sure is convenient when traveling Route 1.

Summer in Maine, finally! Carpe diem

Now this is Maine summer weather: sunny, breezy, dry, temps in the 70s. Ahhh, so sweet and as it’s late August, so fleeting. So seize it. Make the most of the next few predicted-to-be-perfect days. Put off that back-to-school shopping expedition and instead:

—While away the day at the beach or lake

—Pack a picnic. Hike a mountain.

—Slip away for a few days in the Rangeley Lakes, up at Moosehead or way Down East, perhaps in Lubec or Eastport.

—Hop a ferry to Peaks, Vinalhaven, North Haven or Monhegan and explore an island.

—Spend a few days totally disconnected at a Maine sporting camp.

But go, just go. Get outside and revel in the best Maine offers. Now. Don’t put it off. Because you know what this cool breeze means, don’t you? Yup, winter’s coming.

Shipshape in Searsport

For years I drove past the inland faux lighthouse on Route 1 in Searsport. I finally stopped in a few years ago; wow! BlueJacket Ship Crafters is a visual treat and an inspiring one at that. The company crafts custom, museum-quality models for collectors, individuals, museums and organizations; restores and repairs existing ship models; and builds kits for all abilities. It’s a museum and hobby store all rolled into one.

Since its founding in 1905, BlueJacket been the official model maker for the U.S. Navy. Its U.S.S. Constitution, created after three years of meticulous historical research into logs and records, is the official model of the U.S.S. Constitution Museum. While all models are distinguished by such accuracy, the skill level required to build them varies.

“We care about who tries to build our models,” says says co-owner Jeff Marger. When he and his wife, Suzi, took over the business, it was geared to experienced model builders, and Jeff found he was refusing to sell to potential customers. “They’d come in and say: ‘I’m good with my hands, sell me your most expert model.’ They were wasting $300-500 and only getting frustrated.” So Jeff created a model for beginners and gave all the company’s kits for a skill-level rating. First-timers can begin with a skiff kit, then progress onto more complicated Naval, sailing, power and radio-controlled vessels.

Ninety-five percent of model components are crafted on site, which also allows BlueJacket to create finished, museum-quality models for yacht owners from original boat plans. What customers receive, Marger says, “is an exact miniature of the original.”

Plan Ahead: American Folk Festival…and it’s FREE!

In tough economic times, Bangor’s free, three-day American Folk Festival (Aug. 22-24) is a gem. Five stages of practically nonstop entertainment, feature music and dance celebrating the richness and variety of America’s multi-ethnic heritage,

This is not folk as in Peter, Paul and Mary, rather its broadly based folk arts and traditional entertainment, encompassing the myriad cultures that make up America. You’ll hear roots music, see traditional dancing, taste unusual foods and watch folk-craft demonstrations. It’s a celebration of American diversity.

Here’s a sampling–and I’m betting you can’t identify a few of these (I know I can’t): : blues, jazz, Creole, zydeco, salsa, gnawa, Quebecois, Franco-American, Senegalese akonting, Norwegian, Argentine tango, country, Appalachian, gospel, Trinidadian steelband, Cape Breton, go-go, Irish, Native Amerian, Persian percussion, Haitian…

The multi-stage festival takes place outdoors and under tents along Bangor’s revitalized riverfront, making it easy to sample a tradition without making a commitment. Stop by a stage, catch the entertainment and either settle in or move on, if it’s not for you. Yes, it’s free, but do throw a few bucks in the buckets to keep it so.

You can chance it on finding a free parking space, or park for $5 at Bass Park and take a free shuttle.

All in the Family

Previously I’ve blogged about the Oakland House, which has been in Jim Littlefield’s family since it was awarded in the mid 1600s as a king’s grant. It’s not the only Maine coastal property with such loooonnng family ties.

Nearby, in Cape Rosier, is Hiram Blake Camps. Like Oakland House, it’s been in the same family since before the Revolutionary War. It too is a family oriented, oceanfront cottage colony, where guests are served breakfast and dinner. It’s more rustic than Oakland House, and the dining room is less fancy, but it too has generations of followers who book for the following year before they depart each season.

Down in Kennebunk, Patricia Mason is the 12th-generation innkeeper at the Seaside Motor Inn, which occupies a spectacular, 20-acre, beachfront chunk of real estate bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Kennebunk River and Gooch’s River. She first realized how deep her roots here were while in high school. She was sitting on the beach reading Arundel, by Kenneth Roberts, and recognized not only the place, but also some of the characters. “It was eerie,” she recalls.

The property was settled in the mid-17th century, Mason says, when her ancestor John Gooch answered the call of Fernando Gorges, agent for King Charles II, to reside here in order to ferry travelers across the mouth of the Kennebunk River. Travelers often needed to pass a night or two, so Gooch provided rooms and operated a tavern. Although Mason can’t date exactly when he settled here, his will is dated 1667, which is the date the family uses as the inn’s beginning, although it’s more likely Gooch arrived in the 1640s.

As was custom at the time, the property passed down for generations to the first-born son. “My grandmother’s mother was an only child and a girl, so the first name change occurred with her,” Mason explains. “Then my grandmother was the eldest and a girl, a Severance.” That was another name change. “My dad was eldest, and he had two daughters.”

Mason and her husband, Ken, were living in Franklin, while her husband was stationed with the Coast Guard in Jonesport. “We got a phone call from Mom and Dad. They said, ‘Someday we want to retire, is this something you want to do?’” It wasn’t something the Masons previously had considered. “It was a hard decision, but one I couldn’t say no to. After 12 generations, you really can’t say, ‘I don’t feel like it.’”

Favorite Places: Nervous Nellie’s

Even on foggy, damp day (and Lord knows we’ve had enough of those this summer), Nervous Nellie’s Jams & Jellies is a treasure.

Located off the Sunshine Road in Deer Isle, it’s a combination tea room, jam kitchen, folk art gallery and fantasy land for kids of all ages. This is one of those off-the-beaten-path Maine treasures that make travel fun. Every time I visit here, I find something new.

Peter Beerits is the sculptor, creating critters of all types from found objects. The funky dogs welcoming folks to the property, crafted from old mailboxes, wood, and other dump finds, give new meaning to the term junkyard dog. Dragons, bears, knights in shining armor, even a castle, can be found in the woods behind the tea room. More characters—a bear, fox, people—litter the fields. Others peer out of windows or hide in the property’s nooks and crannies. Many of the whimsical characters Beerits constructs are drawn from his Nervous Nellie’s stories. He’s finished the fifth episode.

Beerits even has brought historical buildings to the property, including Johnson’s Market and the former Hardy’s store, bringing both back to fantasy life and populating them with characters. It has elements of a living history museum, preserving icons of island life right down to the pickled eggs on the store’s counter.

After a trip down south last winter, Beerit’s has added a multi-cultural touch to his village with Red’s Lounge, a bona fide musical road house. Really, you must see it—and hear the music in this joint.

Peter’s wife Anne operates the jam kitchen, making delicious jams and jellies, conserves and preserves, chutneys and marmalades, which are sold at the tea room, through mail order and at a limited number of specialty stores, mostly in Maine. At one point, the products were carried by places such as Dean & DeLuca in New York. No longer, they’ve downsized, allowing them to keep making their products by hand in small batches.

In the self-serve tea room, you also can have tea, coffee or other sweets—which of course you’ll want to slather with jam. There’s also a tasting bar for the jams. Don’t be surprised if you end up purchasing a number of different flavors of jam; many are unusual and in limited production. Eat inside or our on the deck with the duo playing checkers.

If nothing else, this place is bound to make you smile.