The selling of Maine's coast

Interesting article about declining waterfront access in Maine:

The selling of Maine's coast
Fishing industry access squeezed by development
By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff June 17, 2007

SPRUCE HEAD ISLAND, Maine -- Fishermen on this rocky, pine-studded peninsula have felt a creeping unease in recent years, as real estate prices leapt skyward and stories circulated up and down the coast of fishing piers sold to make room for million-dollar vacation homes.

Two years ago, in response to growing concerns on the coast, state officials and researchers set out to map the waterfront access of Maine's working fishermen. What they found was more alarming than anyone expected: Along Maine's 5,300-mile coast, only 20 miles of shoreline remain open to commercial fishermen, according to the study the Island Institute released last month.
...
Advocates for fishermen say towns should recognize the value of their presence, which adds character and attracts visitors. That perspective was not lost on the developer of the upscale Harborside Hotel and Marina in Bar Harbor, who bought the last privately owned fishing dock in the harbor. Instead of evicting the fishermen, the hotel has preserved their access to the pier and the sandy beach nearby where they repair their boats. Guests are fascinated by the scene, said Eben Salvatore , director of operations for the resort. "They're hard-working guys, and they've always been respectful of the fact that our customers are right above them," said Salvatore, who grew up in town. "It feels good when you can run a nice property and at the same time help people feed their families."
...

Friday Night at the Atlantic Brewery

I've made some changes to the website to update the plans for Friday the 17th. (First, for those people participating in the wedding ceremony, we are going to have a walk through out on the island between 2 and 3:30. That should be more than enough time to work out the kinks.)

FRIDAY NIGHT EVENT at The Atlantic Brewing Company's Knox Road Grille

Then, at 5:30 p.m. and at 6 p.m., there will be trollies leaving from Southwest Harbor (in front of the Cafe Drydock and Inn, smack dab in the center of town, Main Street and Clark Point Road) to take wedding guests to The Atlantic Brewing Company's Knox Road Grille, 15 Knox Road, Bar Harbor, Maine. (You can also drive yourself or join up later, of course, but the grill is shutting down around 8 pm).

Please plan to come! Drinks are on the house! Also, they have great barbecue supplied by Mainely Meats, all you can eat for around $17! It will be lots of fun!

At 9 pm the trollies will take everyone back to Southwest Harbor and surely for a series of nightcaps.

THERE IS A DRESS CODE! It won't be rigidly enforced, but we encourage everyone to come in their best cowboy gear to the barbecue. Boots, hats, belt buckles. Whatever you've got. If you've misplaced your chaps and lassoes, you can also come in the colors of the great Sooner Nation: Crimson and Cream! It will be a small patch of Oklahoma in Maine.


(Driving Directions from Southwest Harbor: Extremely simple. Take Route 102, aka Main Street, straight north from Southwest Harbor back towards the direction you originally came in. Go 8.5 miles north until you hit a fork in the road, and bear right on Knox Road. The Atlantic Brewery is immediately on the right. Here's a map.)

It was one year ago today...

...that Amy and I got engaged. It was such a long-running joke (sometimes warm, sometimes awkward) that Amy and I were "married" already, that I'm surprising no one by saying I feel like there's nothing more Amy could do to feel like a spouse post-August 18 than she does already, but I suppose that's we signed up to find out!

In my life this year I've had my fair share of highs (Katie's wedding especially!) and lows (the lowest, of course, being losing my Grandma back in May), and not only can I say Amy's been a rock for me with all of that, but she fully shared all of it with me. They were her highs and lows too, and I find that amazing.

***
Given the amount of material we've generated for this wedding blog, there hasn't been all that much about how we got here, so here's a little story.

July 2006. We had been planning to go up to Maine for awhile, but I had to work a little longer, so Amy took Martin and drive up ahead to York Beach to stay with her Dad. The next day (?), I left work early and got on a bus to go to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I probably should have just taken a plane, because I ended up getting stranded in Boston and having to rent a car to drive up the last hour north, but being on the bus gave me a chance to write a letter to Amy about getting engaged.

That night we stayed in York Beach, and the next morning, I took Martin to the beach (While watching the dog run around I sent John Southard a text saying "I'm in Maine," btw). Then we packed up and drove up the coastal highway, stopping at Red's Eats, then taking the late ferry out to Islesford (just like we did last week!)


Sunday the 16th, we got up on Islesford and took the ferry into Acadia National Park, where we spent the day climbing over rocks, having fun, taking pictures with our digital camera (many of which are dotted all over our website today) (more here), and getting ready for camping at Blackwoods Campground.

Campsite #110. We had all the gear but we (I) wasn't the most competent camper. So I let Amy set up the tent and everything else, and I documented her efforts on the digital camera. Then I suggested that, instead of trying to cook over a fire, we drive into Bar Harbor and try a restaurant Corbett and Laura had suggested.

The West Street Cafe. Amy got the Early Bird lobster special, which entailed donning a lobster bib. I began teasing her about the bib.

Amy said, "Fine, I'll take it off!"

I said, "No, keep it on, and if you wear it the rest of the night, I'll think of a reward."

Amy said, "Deal, but the reward better be good!"


I smiled to myself at that! So we finished dinner, and drove back to the campsite. On the way we picked up some firewood, and Sunday NY Times to use as kindling (you wouldn't think I would need an entire Sunday Times to start a fire, but let me remind you I'm an incompetent camper!)

Back at the campsite. Everything is set up, and Amy is tired of wearing her silly lobster bib.

Amy said, "Can I take this off now? You owe me a reward!"

I said, "Okay, but let me take a few photos of you in the bib for posterity's sake."

So I did--they capture the last thirty seconds of Amy's life as a non-engaged person. So I finished taking the shots, and went to put the camera away.

Amy said, "Wait! Let me see how the pictures turned out!"

Here's where I had done something clever (don't call it a gimmick!) Back when Amy was setting up the tent, I had snuck off and taken a picture of myself holding a sign proposing marriage to her. (We still have that photo, of course, but as far as I know Amy's never let anyone else see it.) So when Amy started scrolling back through the photos, she eventually, climatically, came across this one.

Amy, stunned, crying, said, "Is this for me?" (!)

I said, "Well, will you?"


She said yes! And that's how we got engaged. The next day we thought we'd go to the top of Cadillac Mountain to see if we could call our families with the news. No luck (Please note, wedding guests: Acadia has very poor reception for everyone except AT&T/Cingular customers. This is how I justified buying an iPhone!)

Because we couldn't tell anybody, we spent the whole day with our special secret to ourselves. That night we went back to Islesford and told Dan and Cynthia and all of the patrons of the Islesford Dock Restaurant--the same place, of course, where we are having the reception. It was only the next morning, towards Bangor, that we got enough reception to contact our families and friends, i.e., all of you, and we spent the rest of our trip back celebrating and thinking about coming back to Maine for the wedding.

Trip to Maine, Part 3

Saturday was our only full day on the island and we were determined to make the most of it. Around 7 am, Amy got up and took Martin down to the Sand Beach for a bit. At 8 am we were supposed to meet with Dan and Cynthia to go over the menu. Cynthia wasn't feeling well, unfortunately, so instead we took a walk into town. Town? That's really overstating it. There's a church, a post office, a meeting hall, a bed and breakfast, and that's about it. So we went to the church and saw it for the first time fully opened up. It looks great. Very New England. On the outside, unfortunately, they're still doing some work on the steeple, but Dan assured us the remaining scaffolding will be gone by next month.


Across the street Amy got us some coffee and bought some stamps to use for thank you cards. If you have any stamp needs this summer, it would be really nice if you bought them from the Islesford post office. Funnily enough, their stamp business is a major source of town income! At the post office we ran into Ashley Bryan, who may be the town's most famous resident. For any of you with kids, I encourage you to pick up one of Mr. Bryan's books. Say, "Ashley Bryan's African Tales, Uh-Huh."

With our coffee we sat down and addressed some postcards and dropped those off. Then Amy stopped at the bed and breakfast to check on something for her Dad.

By then it was time to go meet with Dan at the restaurant. I think the food we picked out is going to be a huge hit. One thing I'm especially looking forward to is the raw bar. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee we'll be able to get oysters the week of the wedding. This is because the restaurant only buys local. All in all a sound policy, but we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

By now we were struggling to catch the 11 am ferry, but still dropped in at Marian Baker's pottery for a minute to say hi, while Amy checked out some flower arrangement stuff. Oh, and we drove up to Karen Smallwood's house and had a five-minute consultation on our wedding cake!

Up to Northeast Harbor, over to Southwest Harbor we went. We barely caught Gail the florist to drop off a vase and then over to the Marine store to pick up a new GPS antenna for Dan. And with that, our hard work was basically done. We drove the long way around the quiet side of the island to visit Bass Harbor (a town neither of us had been to), then we made our way to the Knox Road Grille at the Atlantic Brewery.


For those of you reading our invitation closely, you'll know this is where we're meeting Friday night for drinks. And bbq, should you so desire. For $17, they had all-you-can-eat barbecue (pork ribs, chicken, pulled pork, sausage, listed in my order of preference). Amy reports the veggie burger is also legitimately good. The main thing, though, is if the weather holds, it will be an excellent and mellow atmosphere and a perfect place to welcome people to the wedding.

Doug, the pitmaster/proprietor, suggested we arrange transportation between Southwest Harbor and the barbecue so people can more fully enjoy the Brewery's varied and award-winning offerings. So off to Bar Harbor we went! There we stopped at an ice cream shop that's also home to Oli's Trolleys. It's not finalized yet, but we are working on getting a trolley or two for people on Friday night. While Amy was inside haggling over details, I walked Martin over to the harbor. As obsessed as she can be with the frisbee, she's more obsessed with the water, so while we were taking in the view, Martin... jumped in. Nearly bringing me in with her since we were attached by leash. Bad dog.

This report is becoming tedious, but there's still more to tell you about. Two spas, one in Trenton (across from Bar Harbor airport), one back in Northeast Harbor. Between the two Amy and I debated when she'll have time to get her pedicures--with no resolution yet.

We still had some time before the 6:00 ferry so we shopped around for some insect repellent to give to people. I'm allergic to mosquito bites, so this insect repellent thing is a major preoccupation of mine. I carry OFF around with me at all times.


When we finally made it back to Little Cranberry, our energy was understandably ebbing (well, except for Martin, who jumped back in the water below the dock), but we managed to find it in ourselves to go meet with Christina Spurling back at the church, who is going to be playing piano and/or organ at the wedding ceremony. She's very good, and we were kind of abashed because we didn't give her much guidance as to what we wanted. That explains why at this very moment I'm listening to a bunch of organ music I scrounged up from iTunes, hoping to find something we like and she can play for us.

Alright, I'm tired now just writing this, so here's the rest: emails with Darin about the sound system, dinner with Dan and Cynthia and Leslie, picking wines for the reception, back to the house, sleep!

Lobsters in Bar Harbor

The Washington Post Travel Q&A recently answered a question on where to get the best lobster in Bar Harbor. These are sound choices:

I'm looking for seafood restaurants in Bar Harbor, Maine. Lobster is at the top of our list.

Gail Heimes, Middletown

Lobster is the king crustacean in Bar Harbor. Hard-shell lobsters are available year-round, whereas soft-shell lobsters, known for their sweeter meat, are in season July through September. Bar Harbor restaurants also prepare other creatures of the sea and shore. Here are some local faves:

* At the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound (1237 Bar Harbor Rd., Trenton, 207-667-2977), pick your own lobster, then watch it boil in ocean water on an outdoor wood-fire cooker. Leave room for sides and pie.

* Galyn's (17 Main St., 207-288-9706), which overlooks the harbor, dresses up its seafood -- though you can also get your lobster plain-old boiled.

* Sample Down East cuisine at the Rinehart Dining Pavilion (50 Eden St., 207-288-5663), on the grounds of Fairview, the former summer estate of mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart.

* The Jordan Pond House (Park Loop Road, 207-276-3316) is the only restaurant in Acadia National Park. Stop by for afternoon tea with popovers and jam.

* Jordan's Restaurant (80 Cottage St., 207-288-3586) cooks breakfast into the next mealtime. Try anything smothered in blueberries, such as the pancakes.

* At Tapley's Variety and Grill (317 Main St., 207-288-8185), share breakfast with lobstermen before they head out to sea.