Autumn
I first visited Maine with my family when I was about eight. I remember two things. First, while playing basketball at the campground, I made my first basket. Second, while every other member of my family was excited to order fresh lobster, I asked for a grilled cheese sandwich much to the chagrin of my mother. Thinking back, with all those mouths to feed, she should have been happy that I was a cheap date.
Almost two decades went by before my return trip to the state, and while I never became a great basketball player, I did become a lobster eater, and married a lobster fanatic. Known as “Vacationland”, Maine does hold a magic for me that brings me back each season, and generally to its East Coast. Do you want to visit before winter sets in? Here are my eastern Maine top five for the fall.
Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School
Just a 20-minute ride north from the New Hampshire-Maine state line, is the Stonewall Kitchen Company Store in York, Maine. I don’t remember when I first found Stonewall Kitchen, but I believe it was before you could buy their products online and definitely before you could find them in specialty food and kitchenware stores. I am obsessed with their products and I prefer driving the seven or so hours from Philadelphia to Maine, so I can purchase as little or as much from Stonewall Kitchen and easily transport it home.
I prefer a fall visit to the store because their outside decorations just put me in the spirit for apple picking, leaf peeping, and having something warm to drink. Speaking of which, Stonewall Kitchen has a café that is open for breakfast and lunch. I admit I have never eaten there, but it looks fabulous and has a cute outside seating area. If you’re at the store at the right time, you can view their production line in action through their Viewing Gallery windows. Oh, and did I mention you can sample so many of their products before you make your final decisions on what you want to purchase?
One of my fondest memories of visiting the company store was attending their cooking school with my mom. The two of us did a course around lunchtime that featured various appetizers. The apps were delicious enough that I recreated several of them at home with the recipes given to me at the end of the class. Courses vary daily with lunch and dinner menus offered on weekends. Current prices tend to range from $50-$65 per person.
Tips:
Book the class that’s right for your tastebuds. If I’m paying for the course, I want to eat what’s prepared. If you see a menu you like in the timeframe you’ll be there, make the reservation.
You won’t get your hands dirty. These classes are demonstration only, so no rolling out dough or chopping is necessary. If you want to be hands on, this isn’t the class for you.
Come hungry. The school really does feed you well, so no need to make additional lunch or dinner plans.
The Maine Brew Bus
Travel another 45 minutes to an hour north and enter Portland. Portland is a great little city that we became so attached to during our many visits that we considered making it our retirement spot. While we may have moved on from that idea, for now, we still love to visit.
When my husband and I saw our New England cruise was taking us to Portland a few years back, I started researching something new to do while in port. That’s when I came across the Maine Brew Bus. And it’s just that, a small green bus with a welcoming driver/tour guide that takes you to local breweries and distilleries in the Portland area for three to five hours. Our tour stopped at several breweries, gave me my first taste of mead, which Maine Mead Works says is the oldest fermented beverage, and stopped at a distillery that allowed us some behind the scenes views before they were officially open for business. Our guide also gave us some history of Portland as we drove around the area.
Tips:
Don’t Drink and Drive. It must be said. Please be safe. This might be the tour for you if you are staying overnight in Portland or headed back to your cruise ship.
Try something new. And I don’t just mean the mead. Judging by their website, Maine Brew Bus has grown over the past few years and their schedule includes a variety of newer tours. Who knew birding and brews went together?
Wear closed-toes shoes. Yes, this seems like an odd requirement, but this tour isn’t a bar crawl. It does show you behind the scenes of many of these places. For safety reasons, closed-toe shoes are a requirement.
Wicked Walking Tours
What would autumn be without a little spooky fun via a ghost tour? That’s why Wicked Walking Tours in Portland made my top five for the fall. What I love about a ghost tour is it gets you into the historic area of the city (because that’s where the ghosts hang out!). It lets you have fun, makes you think “what if”, and sneaks some history into your brain. And it gets you some exercise as well!
What I remember from the tour is the explanation of how Commercial Street was created when landfill was put into the harbor. Perhaps bones were part of that landfill? (Insert Vincent Price laugh here.) And perhaps even more mysterious about the tour was how our tour guide had an uncanny ability to remember every person on the tour’s name and use it at some point that evening. As one who is lucky to remember a name two minutes later, it was impressive.
Tips:
It’s all about the footwear. The tour runs about 75 minutes and is about a half mile of total walking, but lots of standing on hard surfaces listening, so make your shoe choice about comfort, not fashion.
Use the facilities. Nothing ruins a walking tour more than mother nature calling you when you’re only half way through. I have been on a tour where they do have a bathroom break. I don’t recall this being one of them.
Believe. It doesn’t hurt you to keep your rational thoughts at bay during the tour. Sure, you don’t believe in any of this nonsense, but why not come with an open mind and just have fun?
Acadia National Park
Driving to Acadia National Park for me is like driving to Orlando or to visit my in-laws in Florida. You cross over the Georgia-Florida state line and begin to celebrate until you realize you still have hours to go. Acadia is a good three and a half hours from the Maine state line, but what you get from your visit is truly worth the extra time and gas. And in the fall, it’s at its most spectacular with its display of multi-colored leaves. As I write, Acadia is at high and moving into peak foliage time. The colors you find in the park are some of the best I’ve ever seen and make for great memories and photos.
What’s nice about Acadia is you can see it in multiple ways. We entered the park on Route 3, just above Bar Harbor, and drove much of Park Loop Road. The road covers 27 miles and is a scenic drive that lets you explore the mountains, forests and coastline from your vehicle. Must-sees for me include driving to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the tallest mountain in the Eastern United States, and Sand Beach, where I took way too many photos of Maine’s beautiful coastline. If you’re all about counting the lighthouses in Maine, don’t miss Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.
If exploring by foot is more your thing, there are multiple hiking trails. We hiked Pemetic Mountain and were rewarded with an incredible view of fall foliage at its finest. I also recall a snake slithering across my path on our way up the mountain. But don’t let that stop you from doing the hike. It was small and went on its merry way.
Tips:
Store your food properly if camping. What didn’t go on their merry way quickly enough for us were the raccoons that visited our campsite at Acadia’s Blackwoods Campground. And it was our own fault. Apparently, Oodles of Noodles kept in your tent are a favorite snack for these critters.
Check for current conditions. When I visited the National Park Services website, it noted construction happening along Route 3.
Visit before December. Most of Park Loop Road closes on December 1 and doesn’t open again until April.
Sun and Surf Restaurant
How about that? I made it through most of the blog post without mentioning lobster. Truth be told I was going to start off with a great lobster place, but it closes Columbus Day Weekend, so I’ll save that for spring.
The Sun and Surf Restaurant is located back down the coast in York, and was one of those places we just drove by many years ago, decided to try, and has become a part of our must-do’s when we visit Maine. They have lobster, yes, and a menu that non-seafood eaters can enjoy as well. This is a good thing as we normally go here the night before we leave Maine. By then my husband wants one last lobster while I have become a landlubber when it comes to food selection. What we like most about Sun and Surf is its location. It sits right on Long Sands Beach and you can see the Nubble Light House in the distance. Its location is so nice that every time we go to eat there I ask myself why we didn’t choose accommodations along Long Beach Avenue. Note to self for next time!
There is outside seating, but I don’t know that we’ve ever been to Sun and Surf when it’s been warm enough to take advantage of it. I’m ok with that because coming in the fall means it’s less crowded. We generally come right before or just after sunset, and the inside has quite a cozy feel to it, especially if the wind is whipping up outside.
Tips:
Hours. Sun and Surf is open daily in the fall, but only until 8pm, and 3pm on Sundays.
Take a walk. We always enjoy a pre- or post-meal walk along the sidewalk or on the beach itself when visiting.
Drive around town. We always enjoy the coastal drive and exploring this area on our way to the restaurant and back to our hotel.
Here’s hoping this inspires you to get to Maine this season and enjoy what Vacationland has to offer!
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