Maine bits and pieces: news and chatter

Here’s a quick round-up of interesting news bits that have come across my desk:

• Chebeague Island Inn reopening under new ownership

A favorite destination for travelers and day-trippers since the 1880s, the inn, restored in 2003-04, will re-open May 14 under the new ownership of the Prentice family of Yarmouth, Maine. With the May re-launch, the Prentices will be adding a more stylish, up-to-date ambiance.

One notable change is the inn’s restaurant, now under the direction of Executive Chef Justin Rowe, a veteran of 555 and Fore Street. The contemporary American menu, rooted in Maine and New England, will focus on locally/regionally sourced foods and beverages.

Here’s wishing the new owners success. I’m hoping to visit soon to see what’s happening.

• Unveiling of the Calves

You’ve heard of the Running of the Bulls, well Aldemere Farm, a 136-acres saltwater farm in Rockport, offers a far gentler experience. This Saturday, May 8, is its ninth annual Calf Unveiling Day. From 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. , you can  tour the Farm and visit with the newly born Belted Galloway calves (nicknamed the Oreo cookie cows for their distinctive white belt). Aldermere staff and volunteers will be on site speaking with visitors and providing information about the Farm and the herd.

Several other local farms will also be on site offering information regarding the goods they produce. These include:

• Sunnyside Farm with goats

• lueberry Farm and Blue Sky Farm with alpacas

• Ells Farm and Terra Optima will be selling meat

• Savage Oakes and Coastal Mountains Land Trust will have information about their operations

• Tanglewood 4-H Camp will present about their many agricultural offerings.

Other activities include the Rusty Hinges band performing (around 11 a.m.) and the Aldermere Achievers 4-H Club working throughout the day with their animals.

• Best Chef in the Northeast

Tonight, the James Beard Foundation will name the winner of the coveted Best Chef in the Northeast award. Chef/owners Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier, of Arrows Restaurant in Ogunquit, have been nominated seven times. Here’s hoping that these perennial bridesmaids finally win; they certainly deserve it.

• No. 10 Water Street opens tonight

No. 10 Water Street, the new restaurant at Brunswick’s Capt. Daniel Stone Inn, opens tonight, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. Brunswick is getting to be an increasingly interesting food town, with a nice choice of inexpensive to moderate restaurants.

• Zip-line adventure park opening in Wiscasset

Monkey C Monkey Do, a Zipline family adventure park, is under construction on Route 1 in Wiscasset.

News and Snooze: Open, shut and in flux

In short: The Danforth and the Chebeague Island Inn are back; Atlantic Seal B&B is closed; West End Inn, Bear Mountain Inn and Newcastle Inn change hands.

The Danforth, located in a lovely John Calvin Stevens-designed mansion on Danforth Street, near the Victoria Mansion, has reopened. A guest there reported it’s again an elegant and gracious inn. Rooms are spacious and have luxury touches, such as robes and fireplaces. Breakfast is a Continental buffet. The gardens are lovely. Only quibble I have is that in the opening online promo, it advertises itself as being in the Old Port. Wrong. It’s on the city’s West End, an easy walk to the Old Port, but definitely not in the Old Port.

Another welcome back to the Chebeague Island Inn, accessible from Portland (1.5 hours) or Cousins Island, Yarmouth (15 minutes), via ferry. Renovated basement to attic in 2004, this old-time summer hotel closed last summer, but is now being leased with an option to buy. Also reopening is the dining room, as well as a lounge serving tapas and a “flambé ice cream” parlor.

And a sad farewell to Tom Ring’s Atlantic Seal B&B, which he operated in his family home on the water in South Freeport. I spoke with Tom earlier today, and he said the sheer volume of hotel rooms available in Freeport now did him in. Of course, it didn’t help that he’s a technophobe who didn’t own a computer, have a web site or use an answer phone. Tom’s still operating his excursion boat, with trips to Eagle Island and Seguin Island, and he promises to have someone manning his phone in another week or two. Before then, call in the early evening.

Back in Portland, the West End Inn Bed & Breakfast has changed hands, as have the Bear Mountain Inn, in Waterford, and The Newcastle Inn, in Newcastle. More on these after I’ve done some snooping.