Where in Maine?
Of course your July mystery photograph is Hallowell! I grew up in Augusta, and the 622 phone number on the sign in the picture, the description of the small downtown with neighborhoods and hills, and the fact that it is a small city were tip offs. (That, and I Googled the stores in the picture!) It is a beautiful place, with great restaurants — the Liberal Cup is delicious, as is the newly re-opened Slates.

—Ellen Lucy, Sebago, Maine

There have been some changes in Hallowell since your July “Where in Maine?” photograph was taken. The Marquis TV shop is now a new upscale restaurant, and the entire building has been remodeled. We have lived on Second Street overlooking the Kennebec River and the rail trail for four years after selling our home on Togus Pond in Augusta.

—Clifford & Margaret Williams
Hallowell, Maine

Since I love antiques, old homes, and Slates, Hallowell has always been one of my favorite towns in Maine. It was love at first sight when I first visited from Caribou back in the ’80s. After we relocated to Illinois in 1998, I lost one earring of a pair that I purchased years ago at David Brooks Jewelers. My husband did what any thoughtful husband would do: he took the one remaining earring back to David Brooks, and they graciously recreated the second earring. They are still my favorite earrings and always remind me of Hallowell.

—Jackie Thoroughman
Aurora, Illinois

To The Thrush
As one of the hikers who joined Elizabeth Peavey last summer on a frigid, blustery, and ultimately unfruitful climb up Saddleback Mountain in search of the Bicknell’s thrush, I enjoyed reliving the experience through Peavey’s article in your July issue. Perhaps one reason no one was disappointed to head back down the trail is because everyone was so grateful to be getting off the mountain and into our warm cars. Even diehard birders know there comes a time to call off the pursuit and seek a hot cup of coffee.

—Naomi Honeth
Portland, Maine

First Island
I thoroughly enjoyed the article about Damariscove Island in your July issue, but offer the correction that you have Chester and Isaac Poole’s occupations reversed after they moved ashore in 1922: Isaac, my grandfather, lived in Boothbay Harbor and ran the fish market, while Uncle Chester lived in South Bristol (where Poole Brother’s Lumber originated).

—Walter A. Poole
Spring Hill, Florida

Remembering Red
I enjoyed reading the item about Red’s Dairy Freeze (“Inside Maine,” July 2008). “Red” and I go back a long time. As a teenager, I worked on a neighboring farm in Cape Elizabeth during World War II. Daily, Red drove by in his Hood’s milk delivery truck. Sometimes we would hail him and buy a quart of chocolate milk. In 1945, as the war ended and I got married, Red became the milkman for us and our five children until we moved to Massachusetts, where we lived for twenty-three years. Whenever we returned to the Cape for a visit, a stop at Red’s Dairy Freeze was a must. He was a great friend, always a gentleman.

—Ruth White Watson
Mount Desert, Maine

Off the Beach
Given your inaccurate directions to the Sandy Point Beach in Stockton Springs (“Hidden Beaches,” July 2008) this lovely beach will likely continue to be a “hidden” treasure. You were correct that one takes Steamboat Wharf Road off Route 1, but you continue straight through the intersection with Hersey Retreat Road, rather than turning there. Steamboat Wharf Road dead-ends at the beach. There are facilities — a seasonal, handicapped accessible, public bathroom — and the beach itself is also handicapped accessible, with wheelchair accessible trails leading to the beach and a scenic overlook.

—Diana Brown
Sandy Point, Maine