Features
Mary’s Maine
Why are Mary Bourke’s bright and summery paintings so popular? Because they remind us of our own family vacations.
- By: Sara Donnelly
- Photography by: Benjamin Magro
Fine & Dandy
The Gym Dandies Children’s Circus teaches Scarborough kids perseverance, balance, and how to ride a six-foot unicycle.
- By: Michaela Cavallaro
- Photography by: Chris Becker
Beyond Popham
After four centuries, Phippsburg – home to the first English settlement in New England – is finally being pulled into the present.
- By: Colin Woodard
- Photography by: Michele Stapleton
Lakeside Living
Delightful details and a moderate dose of Maine camp style keep this waterfront home in Bridgton comfortable and honest to its roots.
- By: Joshua F. Moore
- Photography by: Brian Vanden Brink
Backwoods Blast
For one weekend every July, the logging roads of western Maine turn into a grand prix, much to the delight of local spectators. But be prepared: this is most definitely not NASCAR.
- By: Joshua F. Moore
- Photography by: Jeff Scher
The Patient Gardeners
Growing clematis is a waiting game, say the owners of Hummingbird Farm in Turner.
- By: Rebecca Martin Evarts
- Photography by: Peggy McKenna
Your Own Private Island
Owning a Maine island is the stuff of dreams, but is being master of your domain all it’s cracked up to be?
- By: Virginia Wright
This River is Rated R
The Saco is the second-most-popular river in the eastern U.S., visited by thousands of paddlers a weekend. But how do you police a 134-mile-long floating party?
- By: Abby Zimet
- Photography by: Dean Abramson
Departments
Where in Maine?
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find traces of old-time Maine in the southern reaches of the state. But the tradition is still here, as this working waterfront in one of our most famous communities attests. The great French explorer Champlain visited the cove in 1604, and he put the place on…
Route 1 Culprits
So it’s not the tourists’ fault after all. For decades, the conventional wisdom has held that summer tourists are the root of all evil when it comes to traffic congestion on Route 1 in midcoast Maine. Now comes heresy. A survey last summer of some eight-hundred drivers and passengers…
Storm Over Katahdin Lake
Expanding Baxter State Park was supposed to be a slam dunk.
- By: Jeff Clark
Grand Lake Dream
On behalf of the Downeast Lakes Land Trust, I extend thanks for the Down East 2006 Environmental Award. Your excellent May article by Wayne Curtis mentions that our organization went relatively unnoticed during the past six-and-a-half years. I attribute this to our overwhelming local support. We listened…
Editor’s Note
When I was growing up in Scarborough in the 1970s, I had the recurring sensation of living on haunted ground. More than most kids I was fascinated by New England history. And knowing that my hometown was one of the first places in Maine to be occupied by English colonists, and that settlers and Indians…
- By: Paul Doiron
Westphal’s Downfall
Editorial opinions from across the state
Starting Over
Beloved Portland chef Abby Harmon and partner Lisa Vaccaro hit a home run at Caiola’s.
A Modest Proposal for Portland
Maine’s largest city should keep replacing its creepy open spaces with condos.
- By: Agnes Bushell
Hail to the Queen
One of Maine’s biggest industries hatched a popular summer festival back in the 1940s.
- By: Joshua F. Moore