Inside Maine
Your monthly guide to enjoying life in the Pine Tree State.
COLLARS WITH A CAUSE
Finding a dog with personality is not hard. Finding a dog collar or leash with a little character, however, is not the easiest. This is the only outfit your best friend typically has to express him- or herself with, so you want to get it right. At thetrumancollar.com you can do just that. The Hancock company sells literally dozens upon dozens of varieties of dog collars ($11 to $19). If your Irish setter needs an Irish plaid, you’re in luck. If Fido is more of an orange gingham-type, you’ll find it. Perhaps Bowser is particularly patriotic — you can drape him in the flag. Collars are eminently customizable, and you can even get a matching leash, if that’s your thing. Best of all, the Truman Collar (207-422-3764) donates a percentage of each sale to the Morris Animal Foundation, which is working to find a cure for hemolytic anemia, an immunodeficiency that strikes down too many a hound (including Truman, the beloved Bernese mountain dog of the company’s owners).
CHEF’S CHOICE
When chef Sam Hayward goes on and on about your product, you know you have something. Hayward, of course, is the talent behind Fore Street, one of the finest, if not the finest, restaurants in Portland and the guy Food & Wine magazine calls Maine’s “Food Hero.” The guy has taste. And he gave a ringing endorsement of Sewall Orchard’s aged cider vinegar at Maine Fare, a celebration of local food, in September. The Lincolnville farm (259 Masalin Rd., 207-763- 3956, www.sewalls orchard.com) has been a champion of organic harvests for ages, and its vinegar is made the way its more famous cider is made. Which is to say with fresh apples and no preservatives, chemicals, sweeteners, or artificial anythings — just the purest distillation of cider vinegar. That’s what makes it so good for salads, stews, what have you. You can find it by the gallon, half-gallon, and smaller sizes at such outlets as the Good Tern Co-op and Sage Market in Rockland, and Megunticook Market in Camden — and you can be sure it’ll be good.
PEARY’S PODCAST
Who knew the Arctic was such a noisy place? Certainly polar explorers Donald B. MacMillan and Robert E. Peary did. Many of the sounds the two Bowdoin grads came across in Greenland can now be enjoyed from the warmth of your own living room, thanks to the nifty podcasts set up by Bowdoin’s Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center. The thirty-five minute recordings take listeners on an aural journey through the museum’s recent exhibit, This Extraordinary Paradise: Living in Northwest Greenland. The sounds themselves are fascinating — like the howl of polar winds, and the pounding of sealskin drums. Along with the pictures on the museum’s site, this interpretation will make you feel like you’ve paid a visit — both to the North Pole and the Bowdoin museum it inspired. Listen for yourself at http://academic.bowdoin.edu/arcticmuseum
Getaway: King of the Hill
You don’t have to be a skier or snowmobiler to enjoy a winter weekend in Kingfield.
By Joshua F. Moore
Mainers know that the best way to handle winter is to embrace it. Most of the SUVs and station wagons heading north at this time of year have a couple of skis and a snowboard strapped to the roof or are towing a snowmobile or two. If those snow sport fans take the time to pause in Kingfield, though, they’ll discover the streets of this upcountry town have as much to offer as the slopes.
LODGING It’s tough to miss the Herbert Grand Hotel (246 Main St., 207-265-2000, www.herbertgrand hotel.com), as its columned façade pretty much juts right out into Route 27 in the center of town. This grand old lady of Kingfield has been playing host to guests since 1917, and its oak paneling, brass fixtures, and terrazzo floors are obvious signs of the quality that went into her initial construction. The hotel has been extensively upgraded in recent years and its twenty-seven rooms are decorated in period furnishings, complete with cast-iron steam radiators. It’s even pet-friendly. If you’re looking for something a bit quieter and cozier, try Three Stanley Avenue (3 Stanley Ave., 207-265-5541, www.stanleyavenue.com), the bed-and-breakfast built around 1900 by the younger brother of the famous Stanley twins. Three of the six rooms include private baths and three share baths.
DINING Whether your winter toy of choice is a snowmobile, ski, or snowboard, you’ll want to stop in at the log cabin that houses the Woodsman (Main St., 207-265-2561), a great breakfast joint on the north side of town. Don’t bother stopping if you’re trying to get first tracks — the home cooking here is prepared slowly and carefully — but the results are worth the wait. If you are in a rush, head just around the corner to the Old Schoolhouse Café and Bakery (266 Main St., 207-265-2323), where you can pick up pastries and a cup of java and still be first in the lift line. After your day at Sugarloaf or zipping down some of the ITS trails in this area you can stuff yourself with quality grub at Longfellow’s Restaurant (Main St., 207-265-4394), a neat eatery just across the street from the Herbert Grand. And if you feel that you’ve earned something special try One Stanley Avenue (1 Stanley Ave., 207-265-5541, www.stanleyavenue.com), where the hardest decision you’ll face is choosing between the beef gorgianna, escalope of lamb Freeman Ridge, and the mignonettes mercurio. Kingfield may feel a bit like a frontier town, but there’s no way people ate like this in the Wild West.
ACTIVITIES Kingfield is hardly a shopper’s paradise, which makes the body oils, incense, clothing, and other gifts tucked inside Scent-Sations Gift Shop (239 Main St., 207-265-4560, www.kingfield scentsations.com) such a pleasant surprise. Be careful of the reading nook on the second floor of this rough-hewn building — you may not want to leave! But if you can force yourself back outside you’ll do well to wander down to the Stadler Gallery (225 Main St., 207-265-5025, www.stadlergallery.com), where you might be lucky enough to find artist Ulrike Stadler showing both her own vibrant oil paintings and those of other local artists (call ahead if you want to be sure she’ll be around). Finally, no visit to Kingfield is complete without a visit to the Stanley Museum (40 School St., 207-265-2729, www.stanley museum.org), where the remarkable story of the Stanley Steamer automobile unfolds alongside the historic photographs created by the inventors’ talented sister, Chansonetta.
Bookshelf: Maine Noir
In a new mystery a best-selling Irish novelist plumbs the Pine Tree State’s heart of darkness.
By Elizabeth Hand
When I first moved to this state nearly twenty years ago, I heard a lot about the Real Maine, both from people I knew and in venues such as the late Maine Times and Portland’s Salt Institute. As far as I could tell, the Real Maine was anywhere that I was not, at least as it was described to me by folks who had lived here longer than I had; the implication being that, as someone from away, the Real Maine would forever elude my grasp. However, one of its signifiers was [for the rest of this story and to read a review of a hot new restaurant in Kennebunkport, see the January 2008 issue of Down East]
Comments may be edited for spelling. Profanity is discouraged. If you'd like your comment considered for inclusion in the magazine, please include your hometown and state.
Reader Comments: