What to Do
Take the Scenic Route
Photograph by Sally Jacobs
If you’re looking for a way to get from here to there Down East, there’s a new alternative: the Down East Sunrise Trail (www.sunrisetrail.org). This past winter, fifty miles of the multi-use recreational path, from Ayers Junction to Cherryfield, was officially opened. By summer organizers hope to extend the trail all the way to Ellsworth.
Oh, Chute!
Four hundred feet of ice, one toboggan, and four petrified women in costume: a firsthand account of the U.S. National Toboggan Championships.
Play Maine's Historic Links
Photograph by Greg Currier
Excerpted from Designing the Maine Landscape by Theresa Mattor and Lucie Teegarden; Down East Books; hardcover; 216 pages; $50.
Poland Spring Resort and Golf Course
Leisure in the genteel tradition.
Rock Climbing
- Photography by: Jennifer Baum
There are not many places around the globe where climbers can practice their vertical gymnastics at the water’s edge. The pink granite cliffs of Otter Cliffs, in Acadia National Park, have got to be among the most user-friendly. Local guide Jeff Butterfield has been leading visitors to the edge (and over it, actually) of this sixty-foot-tall outcropping for twenty-four years. He’ll set a toprope that’s right for your physical and emotional level.
Ultimate Spinner Game
- Photography by: Robbins Toy
What makes a kid happier than one game? How about twelve? That’s the theory behind the Ultimate Spinner Game from Searsmont’s Robbins Toy. Five spinner boards form the foundation of twelve different games and activities. Some of the games are goofy, some educational, and all are geared towards younger tots. The game is one of the only board games made in Maine and is manufactured by Robbins Lumber, which also makes home furniture and equestrian equipment. Pick it up at independent toy stores across the state for just $49.95.
Maine Spa Treatment
Upon entering the Cliff House Resort & Spa in Ogunquit, you are kindly directed to the locker room (complete with a sauna) where you change into a robe and sandals. From there, enjoy tea and fruit by the fire while waiting for your personal massage therapist, who greets you and takes you into your dimly lit treatment room. On the table your body is fully exfoliated, then wrapped in an all-natural antioxidizing mixture of freshly puréed blueberries and seaweed.
Different Strokes
I am kneeling in the sand, canoe paddle upside down in my grip, rotating my upper torso, as instructor Paul Faria explains various elements of the proper stroke. We are alone on the beach at Moose Pond in Bridgton on a gray and blustery June afternoon, and I am getting in a bit of private instruction before the twenty-third annual Maine Canoe Symposium (MCS) officially kicks off.
Mountain Music
At the Stone Mountain Arts Center in Brownfield, singer Carol Noonan created the kind of venue musicians love — and lured a bevy of big-name performers to Maine as a result.
