Navigating the Maine Island Trail Association’s (207- 761-8225) 185 island and coastline sites spanning over 375 miles just got a whole lot easier. This membership organization provides stewardship of these public and private coastal sites and is dedicated to helping boaters enjoy them responsibly. Just this year MITA made its twenty-two-year-old paper guide available online.

The days of super-sweet commercial soda made with high fructose corn syrup are definitely numbered. So get out ahead of the curve and switch to Maine’s newest soda. Green Bee All-Natural Soda (800-494-0802, greenbeesoda.com) uses only Maine wildflower honey for sweetener, an enzyme-, vitamin-, and antioxidant-rich (not to mention local) alternative to sugar or corn-based sweeteners. Owner Christopher Kinkade bottles the soda at his wife’s catering company, Belle Fete, in Brunswick.

There’s a new toy in town — and it’s not just for the kids. Alphabetown (www.alphabetown.com), created by two freelance graphic designers from Camden, consists of images of individual letters found on signs from Boothbay to Belfast. The set ($24.99 for twenty-seven 4”x 6” cards) comes in a muslin bag, and is perfect for a letter-learning toddler. Buy the whole set, individual letters, or a full alphabet poster via the online store or at more than a dozen retailers across Maine.

Take 2 Dough Productions (79 Emery St., Suite B, Sanford, 207-490-6502, www.take2dough.com) makes a delicious organic frozen dough ball that comes in white, whole wheat, and multigrain. As the dough thaws and the yeast proofs, the container expands until a notch indicates that the dough is fully proofed. Find the 14”-16” dough balls at Whole Foods and select other stores in Maine.

Moo-ve over Organic Valley, there’s a new organic milk on the shelf. Maine’s Own Organic Milk (207-242-5034, moomilkco.com) is a creamy 100 percent Maine milk available at grocery stores across Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. When a significant number of Maine organic dairy farmers were dropped by H.P. Hood last year, ten of the farms banded together, fearful of going the way of the nearly two hundred dairy farmers in the state that have gone out of business in the last decade.

There’s not much sweeter than the smell of lavender in the air. And now a farm in Appleton is the first in the state to grow it commercially. Glendarragh Farm Lavender (151 Searsmont Rd., Appleton, mainelavenderstore.com) comes from a twenty-six acre plot along the St. George River. The farm is open for special events during the summer months and grows more than fifteen varieties of the purple plant.

Combat that spring fever by savoring delicious Maine meals on the cheap. The first of the month kicks off the second annual Maine Restaurant Week (www.restaurantweekme.com) co-sponsored by Down East. More than seventy restaurants, from Natalie’s in Camden to the brand new Sonny’s on Exchange Street, are participating and offering three course feasts for $20.10, $30.10, or $40.10.

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.

What do you get when you mix the sponginess of tiramisu and the custard consistency of sabayon, and then mash the cold, creamy result between two chewy cookies? Dolcelinos, the gourmet ice-cream-like sandwiches that have put Swan’s Way Catering (25 Fernalds Neck Rd., Lincolnville, 207-763-3996, www.cateringmaine.com) on the frozen-treat map. Try one (or several) in traditional flavors such as coffee and chocolate-chocolate, or go for the lemon ginger and the adventurous “Aztec” (vanilla custard with a chili powder kick).