Things to do in Central Maine Coast
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Primo
Set in a Victorian home, Primo remains one of the top restaurants in the Northeast. The changing menu features creative, expertly prepared dishes of roast meats and seafood followed by superb desserts. Reserve well in advance or plan on dining in the bar (cozy ambience, same great menu and service).
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Cap'n Fish's Boat Trips
Cap'n Fish's Boat Trips offers four-hour whale-watching trips (adult/child aged six to 10 years $38/25).
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Pejepscot Museum
On the Bowdoin campus, the Pejepscot Historical Society preserves several house museums, which provide a fascinating glimpse into the past. You can visit them all for an $8 combination ticket. The Pejepscot Museum displays changing exhibits relating to Brunswick history, with photographs and artifacts pulled from its 50,000-piece inventory. Skolfield-Whittier House, an adjacent 17-room brick mansion, is a virtual time capsule, closed as it was from 1925 to 1982. Victorian furnishings and decor are handsomely preserved – even the spices in the kitchen racks are authentic. It’s only open for tours. The Joshua L Chamberlain Museum exhibits artifacts from the late owner’s…
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Skolfield-Whittier House
On the Bowdoin campus, the Pejepscot Historical Society preserves several house museums, shich provide a fascinating glimpse into the past. You can visit them all for an $8 combination ticket. Skolfield-Whittier House, a 17-room brick mansion, is a virtual time capsule, closed as it was from 1925 to 1982. Victorian furnishings and decor are handsomely preserved – even the spices in the kitchen racks are authentic. It’s only open for tours. The Pejepscot Museum displays changing exhibits relating to Brunswick history, with photographs and artifacts pulled from its 50,000-piece inventory. The Joshua L Chamberlain Museum exhibits artifacts from the late owner’s eventful …
reviewed
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Joshua L Chamberlain Museum
The Pejepscot Historical Society preserves several house museums on the Bowdoin campus, which provide a fascinating glimpse into the past. The Joshua L Chamberlain Museum exhibits artifacts from the late owner’s eventful life as college professor, Civil War hero, president of Bowdoin College and four-term governor of Maine. Tours are included with the admission fee. The Pejepscot Museum displays changing exhibits relating to Brunswick history, with photographs and artifacts pulled from its 50,000-piece inventory. Skolfield-Whittier House, an adjacent 17-room brick mansion, is a virtual time capsule, closed as it was from 1925 to 1982. Victorian furnishings and decor are…
reviewed
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Mistress
Although traveling by schooner largely went out of style at the dawn of the 20th century, adventurers can still explore the rugged Maine coast on sailing vessels known as windjammers. A dozen of these multi-masted vessels anchor at Rockland, and each offers trips ranging from three to 11 days around Penobscot Bay and further up the coast. Travelers will explore towns and islands, stopping for hiking, sightseeing, or shopping. They also take their meals on the boat (expect sunset dinners and plenty of lobster). Bunks below decks are basic shared quarters, with shared toilets and showers; private cabins are available on some boats. Mistress, a 46ft schooner, offers an intim…
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Victory Chimes
Although traveling by schooner largely went out of style at the dawn of the 20th century, adventurers can still explore the rugged Maine coast on sailing vessels known as windjammers. A dozen of these multi-masted vessels anchor at Rockland, and each offers trips ranging from three to 11 days around Penobscot Bay and further up the coast. Travelers will explore towns and islands, stopping for hiking, sightseeing, or shopping. They also take their meals on the boat (expect sunset dinners and plenty of lobster). Bunks below decks are basic shared quarters, with shared toilets and showers; private cabins are available on some boats. The largest in the fleet, this classic 132…
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Maine Windjammer Association
Although traveling by schooner largely went out of style at the dawn of the 20th century, adventurers can still explore the rugged Maine coast the old-fashioned way: onboard fleet sailing vessels known as windjammers. A dozen of these multi-masted vessels anchor at Rockland and offer trips ranging from three to 11 days around Penobscot Bay and further up the coast.
Powered by the winds, travelers will explore towns and islands along the way, stopping for hiking, sightseeing, or shopping. They also take their meals on the boat (expect sunset dinners and plenty of lobster - meals are generally excellent). For a complete list of schooner companies and the rundown on vessels,…
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American Eagle
Although traveling by schooner largely went out of style at the dawn of the 20th century, adventurers can still explore the rugged Maine coast on sailing vessels known as windjammers. A dozen of these multi-masted vessels anchor at Rockland, and each offers trips ranging from three to 11 days around Penobscot Bay and further up the coast. Travelers will explore towns and islands, stopping for hiking, sightseeing, or shopping. They also take their meals on the boat (expect sunset dinners and plenty of lobster). Bunks below decks are basic shared quarters, with shared toilets and showers; private cabins are available on some boats. American Eagle accommodates 26 passengers …
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Bowdoin College
One of the oldest colleges in the US, Bowdoin is the alma mater of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne and US president Franklin Pierce. For a campus tour, follow the signs from Maine St to Moulton Union. Smith Union is the student center, with an information desk on the mezzanine level, as well as a café, pub, lounge and small art gallery. One worthwhile stop on campus is the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, located in the quadrangle, which is strong in the works of 19th- and 20th-century European and American painters, including Mary Cassatt, Andrew Wyeth and Rockwell Kent.
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Fishermen’s Museum Lighthouse
Along a 3500-mile coastline famed for its natural beauty, Pemaquid Point stands out because of its tortuous, grainy, igneous rock formations pounded by restless, treacherous seas. Perched on top of the rocks is the 11,000-candlepower Pemaquid Light, built in 1827. It’s one of the 61 surviving lighthouses along the Maine coast, 52 of which are still in operation. The keeper’s house now serves as the Fishermen’s Museum Lighthouse, displaying fishing paraphernalia and photos, as well as a nautical chart of the entire Maine coast with all the lighthouses marked.
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Pemaquid Beach
Believe it or not, there are a few stretches of sandy beach along this rockbound coast, and Pemaquid Beach is one of them. As ME 130 approaches Pemaquid Neck, watch for signs on the right (west) for Pemaquid Beach and make a right onto Huddle Rd (which turns into Snowball Hill Rd). The beach is set in a park, and the water is usually very cold for swimming. (Remember, this is Maine!) The Pemaquid Trail, a paved dead-end road, heads south from Snowball Hill Rd just east of the Pemaquid Beach access road.
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Cockatoo
This new addition to Deer Isle is deliciously off-the-beaten-path and serves Portuguese-inspired seafood dishes. Start with crisp codfish balls, followed by mussels over linguini or paella and wash it down with crisp vinho verde (semi-sparkling white wine). You can feast in the informal dining room or outside on the patio overlooking pine trees and a secluded cove below. Call for reservations and directions. To reach Cockatoo, take NH 15 a few miles north from Stonington and drive east on Oceanville Rd, following the signs.
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Fort Pentagöet
While Castine lacks a great stone citadel like Fort Knox, it did have some important fortifications, though these are low earthworks, now park-like and grass-covered. Close to the Maine Maritime Academy campus, Fort George is near the upper (northern) end of Main St where it meets Battle Ave and Wadsworth Cove Rd. Look for Fort Pentagöet. The American Fort Madison (earlier called Fort Porter and dating to 1808) is further west along Perkins St, opposite Madockawando St.
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Marine Environmental Research Institute
The Marine Environmental Research Institute is an important center studying the relationship between pollution and marine life. Visitors can learn about MERI’s activities in a series of changing exhibitions in the main gallery, often with hands-on exhibits for children. During the summer MERI offers two- to four-hour daily cruises (adult/child from $40/20) led by naturalists. Itineraries range from observing wildlife along the coast to exploring an uninhabited island, all with an educational focus in mind.
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Historic Camden
Camden has range of architectural gems, including former estates dating from the early 1800s, a pretty congregational church (1834), an 18th-century schoolhouse and a plethora of striking 19th-century mansions. Many of these buildings are private residences, but you can wander the tree-lined streets of Chestnut and High Streets for a glimpse back in time. The chamber of commerce distributes a free brochure listing 30 or so historic buildings you can see on a 2.5-mile walk through town.
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Islesboro
From Camden, it’s a five-minute drive to Lincolnville Beach from where you can take a 20-minute ferry ride to the island of Islesboro, one of the finest places to ride a bike in Maine. The island is relatively flat, yet hilly enough to offer majestic vistas of Penobscot Bay and long enough to feature a 28-mile bike loop. Picnic at Pendleton Point, where harbor seal and loons often lounge on the long, striated rocks.
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Maine Photographic Workshops
One of the world’s leading instructional centers in photography, film and digital media, this institute offers more than 250 workshops and master classes throughout the year, with classes for both beginners and professionals. Intensive one-week workshops (costing from $895 per week) are taught by leaders in their fields. Changing exhibitions of student and faculty work are displayed in Union Hall.
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Lincoln County Jail Museum
The first prison in the district of Maine opened in 1811 and surprisingly remained in operation until 1953. The hilltop structure of granite, brick and wood holds 12 tiny cells, complete with graffiti and other mementos from its earliest days. In addition, the jail functions as a museum, with changing exhibitions covering episodes from Wiscasset’s history. It’s located about a half-mile north of US 1.
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Arborvine
Inside a sweet 1823 Cape-style house, much touted chef John Hikade cooks up magnificent fish and meat dishes, incorporating organic, locally raised products as much as possible. Start with Bagaduce River oysters, followed by Maine sea scallops or pan-seared Ahi tuna and end with crème brûlée. As with other popular Blue Hill restaurants, be sure to reserve a table. It’s open off-season too, call for the schedule.
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Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
Already a much-loved addition to Boothbay, these magnificent gardens opened in 2007 to much fanfare. Set along the waterfront, this verdant kingdom has 248 acres, with a number of groomed trails winding past exotic and native species through forest, ornamental gardens and rose gardens, with splendid views over the water. It’s located on Barters Island Rd, about 1.5 miles west of Boothbay.
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Castle Tucker
Wiscasset’s grandest and best-situated mansion is the 1807 Castle Tucker, which commands beautiful views over the countryside. Judge Silas Lee built it to resemble a mansion in Dunbar, Scotland, but he only lived here for seven years before dying. It was later sold to a sea captain, and today it remains a marvelous refuge of Victoriana, with 19th-century furnishings and wallpaper.
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93 Townsend
One of Boothbay’s top restaurants, 93 Townsend is an elegant but understated restaurant where you can sample award-winning cuisine. The menu features fresh, locally sourced ingredients, with unique dishes such as burgundy bistro steak, broiled haddock topped with lobster and coriander-crusted tuna with seaweed salad. The bar stirs up excellent martinis.
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Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center
Rockland is famous for its Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center, one of the country’s best small regional museums. Its collection of 5000 works is especially strong in landscape and marine artists who have worked in Maine, such as Andrew, NC and Jamie Wyeth; Louise Nevelson; Rockwell Kent; John Marin and others.
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Owls Head Transportation Museum
Three miles south of Rockland, the Owls Head Transportation Museum collects, preserves (yes, everything works!) and exhibits pre-1920s aircraft, vehicles and engines that were instrumental in the evolution of transportation. Besides its year-round exhibits, the museum hosts WWI air shows and specialty vehicle shows.
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