Snowshoeing: Jamie's Pond, Hallowell

 

Oven's Mouth, Boothbay, Maine, October 2020

We are blessed to live in Maine during these Covid times, where there are lots of things to do outdoors, and for free. The Oven's Mouth Preserve in Boothbay is one such thing. I wish this video could be scratch & sniff! The piney woods, the briny rivers; you can just feel the tension leaving your body at the scent. 

My favorite thing about Oven's Mouth, though, is the incredible teal color of the water of the Back & Cross rivers. 

Enjoy! 

Bike Acadia!

Somehow I grew up in Maine without knowing about the Acadia Carriage Trails. I love biking so this was

an oversight of some significance! My husband mentioned them to me on our way home from a visit Downeast. I looked into it and it turns out they are a well-known hiking and especially biking destination. They are on the National Register if Historic Places, having been built by John Rockefeller in conjunction with the National Park Service, in the early to mid 20th century. 57 miles of packed crushed gravel roads wind between the ponds and mountains.

Acadia is not a compact park. It consists of several separate areas, and even the main area is an irregular lobed shape that winds in and out of the settled areas of Mount Desert Island. The town of Otter Creek is completely surrounded by parkland, for example. We entered the park at the Hull Cove Visitors Center. 

We took the Witch Hole Pond Loop, and the Eagle Lake Loop on purpose...and the Paradise Hill Loop by accident. I don't know which of the ponds was Witch Hole! But they were all beautiful. 

My bike (on the left) is at least 25 years old. I bought it used in 1994 for $200 - it seemed like an extravagant amount at the time but has earned its cost many times over. Doug's bike is also secondhand. One of the reasons I love biking is, you don't need fancy gear or special shoes or dedicated clothes. Any bike, any shoes, (almost) any clothes, and you are in business. 

We saw these two turtles basking together. They are Painted Turtles - the larger on about as big as those get, in Maine, the small one the smallest I've ever seen in the wild. 

When we found ourselves at the Duck Brook Bridge we declared ourselves officially lost. This was a little alarming - you can get pretty lost in 57 miles of road, and it was getting late in the day. Luckily there was a map kiosk at the bridge, that showed us where we went wrong. 

There's still so much of Acadia to see! Next time I will print a map, though. :)

First Time on Snowshoes!

I grew up in Maine, but until yesterday I had never snowshoe'd. I never skied growing up either; I guess my parents weren't big on winter sports. I put on snowshoes for the first time yesterday, and now I see what I was missing!

It was only 19° yesterday, so I dressed carefully: tights & leggings under my jeans, a long-sleeved shirt under a thick wool sweater; hat-scarf-gloves; and a down jacket. Double socks and good boots. Between that and the exertion, I was not even a little cold on the trail. 

Yowie (foreground) and me

My high-school best friend, trail name Bionic Yowie, is a committed hiker, and she wouldn't let a little winter stop her. Lucky for me she has extra equipment! She dug up poles & shoes, and an extra pack ( I had one but didn't know I'd need it), a fleece, and made sure we both had water. Yowie is training to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, so she is in the habit of very thorough preparation! Me, I brought...the chapstick.

Our trail was the Libby Hills Forest Trail in Poland (that would be Poland, Maine) , home of many nice hiking trails. Yowie helped me get the shoes on (the hardest part, tbh) and off we went! It was easier than I thought: I would put the effort level at Shoveling Fluffy Snow. I got winded and a little sweaty, but nothing I couldn't deal with just by stopping to rest & drinking some water, and I'm not especially athletic. 

Here's me grinning like a fool! A happy fool tho

The trail through snow-covered woods, over a brook, and up & down a ridge, was incredibly beautiful, and silent in the way the winter woods sometimes are; not much moving, and the snow muffles sound anyway. The trickle of the stream under thin ice was musical. There is a lot to be stressed about, in the world; a snowy woods is a good place to be free of it, for a spell.  

Belfast Arts in the Park

Looking for something do to this weekend? Maybe a visit to Belfast, Maine, is just what the potter ordered! On any given weekend, Belfast is a nice day trip - it's a working and recreational port, with lots of great shopping, not to mention eating & drinking. This weekend, though: this weekend is Belfast Arts in the Park! Over 100 makers of craft and fine art will be showing in the waterfront park, with live music daily and unique food offerings.

Make sure you visit Booth 111! That's me, Fine Mess Pottery! This will be my first time at this event & I am so excited to be there! Some other faves:

Lori Austill Encaustic Paintings
Lacey Goodrich
Jody Johnstone

Check out the map here. See you in Belfast!

Where the Road Took Me: Tandem Glass Gallery & Studio

Yesterday was a glorious day in Maine - sunny and dry, mid-70s. It was a fine day for a little road trip, and I happened to have one on my list: I needed to deliver pots to a new shop in Wiscasset, Mid-Coast Craft. More about them later! Today I want to tell you about my unexpected find.

It being said glorious day, and me in no hurry, I planned to stop at the numerous yard sales one always finds on Route 27 between Augusta and Wiscasset on a fine summer Saturday. The first sign I saw pointed the way down 127, which runs between Dresden and Woolwich (pronounced wool-itch, which always makes me laugh, as wool usually does itch.)

I was surprised to discover the advertised sale was at this amazing glass blowing studio, Tandem Glass. The upper floors arr living space, the lower is studio and gallery. I was immediately hit with a pang of jealousy. Look, there's even a outbuilding which would make a stellar kiln shed! I wouldn't want to mow all that lawn, though.

Inside was even more amazing: a sunlit gallery space glittering with beautiful handblown glass:

And the studio! I admit I am a sucker for a tidy studio - I should probably keep my own cleaner. The furnaces were cool the day I was there. And look at the enticing rack of canes! Materials are inspirational, all on their own.

It's maybe a mile - no more than that - off 27 in Dresden. Worth a trip! 

Coming Soon to the East End: Cocktail Mary

The Future Home of Cocktail Mary

From this week's Press Herald:

The head bartender at Izakaya Minato plans to open a cocktail lounge on Congress Street in Portland’s East End.
Isaac MacDougal has applied for a license to open Cocktail Mary at 229 Congress St., the former location of Ramen Suzukiya, a noodle shop that closed last fall after the owner died. In a letter accompanying his liquor license application, MacDougal noted that though some restaurants in the East End serve cocktails, that part of town does not yet have a cocktail bar.
MacDougal cited his experience working as a bartender or manager in Michelin-starred restaurants in New York City, and pointed out that his family ran the now-closed Vaughan Street Variety, a sandwich shop on Portland’s West End, since 1995.
MacDougal’s target opening date is June 1.

Isaac, he of the bright blue yes and perpetual charm, is our fave bartender at our current fave East End eatery. We're excited to support his new venture!

The Maine Pottery Tour is just around the corner!

Possibly my favorite sign of spring! This year the pottery tour has 37 studios, from Kittery to Swanville to Phillips. The Maine Pottery Tour offers demonstrations and giveaways, a chance to meet the artists, shop for handmade pottery, and get a glimpse into life as a potter in Maine. You can even try the wheel yourself at some locations or paint a plate of your own.

What: The Maine Pottery Tour, a celebration of ceramic arts in Maine
When: Saturday May 4th, 10-5
            Sunday May 5th, 11 -4
Where: 37 Locations in Maine! 

In Central Maine, there are 13 tour destinations:

Fine Mess Pottery 131 Cony St, Augusta

Red Door Pottery, 14 North Pearl St, Augusta

Hallowell Clay Works 157 Water St, Hallowell

The Potters House 82 Stevenstown Rd, Litchfield

The Potter’s Shed 605 Hallowell-Litchfield Rd West Gardiner

d harwood Pottery 196D Main St, Winthrop

Maple Lane Pottery, 36 Greeley Rd, Windsor

Loken Pottery 26 Bowman St, Farmingdale

Whitefield Pottery 442 Howe Rd, Whitefield

Rob Sieminski Bog Pond Rd, Phillips

Martha Grover & Josh Rysted 630 West Bethel Rd, Bethel

Tim Fischer Pottery 394 Ridge Rd Lisbon

Barbara Walch Pottery 33 Knox Station Rd, Thorndike

On the Coastal leg of the Tour, there are 11 stops:

Chouinard Ceramics, 75 Main St, Wiscasset

Al Scovern/West Third Ceramics, 108 Congress St, Belfast

Van Der Ven Studios 257 Main St, Lincolnville

Fireside Pottery 1478 Camden Rd, Warren

Neighborhood Clay & Liz Proffetty Ceramics 590 Maine St, Damariscotta

Jody Johnstone Pottery, 135 Webster Rd, Swanville

Barbara Walch Pottery, 33 Knox Station Rd, Thorndike

Good Land Pottery, 487 Morese Rd, Montville

Pottery Farm 943 Belfast Rd, Knox

Everyday Pottery 103 Northport Rd, Belmont

Prescott Hill Pottery 261 Prescott Hill Rd, Liberty 

In Southern Maine, 13 studios are participating:

Zwellyn Pottery 20 Spencer Ln, Limington

Wendy Twitchell Porcelain 232 Beachwood Ave, Kennebunkport

Pottery Girl 1104 Pequawket Tr, Standish

Portland Pottery 118 Washington Ave, Portland

Homeport Pottery 131 Beachwood Ave, Kennebunkport

Peeper Pond Studios, 18 Mast Rd, Scarborough

Chris Davis Pottery 81 Seabury Rd, York

Shannon Wong Pottery 59 St George St, Portland

Delany Arts, 20 Center St, Yarmouth

Southern Maine Clay Guild, 22 Government Ave, Kittery

Ash Cove Pottery, 75 Ash Cove Rd, Harpswell

Ocean Fire Pottery, 23 Woodbridge Rd, York

Chase’s Garage, 16 Main St, York

Dresden Dreaming

It's 9° here, with a thick dirty blanket of snow on the ground. This came through my facebook feed today! McKeen's Riverside Retreat, an AirBnB beside the Kennebec. It's in Dresden, so though it will feed like a rustic getaway, it's a quick drive to civilization, like grocery stores and restaurants and shopping, and your cell will (probably) work. Like lots of Maine cabins, it's the House of Many Beds, so even though it's small you could squeeze in a pretty big family. And are those canoes I see?

I want to go to there.

Sleighing It in Downtown Augusta

Thanks to the good folks at Cushnoc Brewing for the photo, taken - I think? -  from their doorway.

Moxie Falls, Moxie Gore Township

The trouble with photographing waterfalls is that you can't really get a sense of the scale of the thing. Rocks can be any size. Trees and branches have a pretty broad range, too. In this photo, the tiny little people to the top right of the falls are key to get an idea of the immensity of the drop.
Moxie Falls, in the township of Moxie Gore, plummets an incredible 90+ feet. That's three times the height of my house. The pool at the bottom of the falls is nearly 17 feet deep but I wouldn't recommend a dive.

If you aren't from Maine, you probably think of the word moxie as a anachronistic synonym for spunk or courage. This comes from the soft drink made in Maine, which in turn took its name from a patent medicine which claimed to build up one's nerve. This was before the FDA was created, when companies could make all the unfounded medical claims they wanted! But hey, how about that Big Government tyranny, amirite?

But I digress.

In Maine, the name Moxie is associated with a stretch of water feeding into the Kennebec River - Moxie Pond, Moxie Stream, Moxie Falls. It seems to derive from an Abenaki word meaning "dark water." The soft drink takes its name from the region, and adjective comes from the soft drink.

The trail leading into the falls is a relatively easy hike. It's wide and flat most of the way, but does include some steep staircases as you approach the falls. There are wooden viewing decks from which the view is maintained by Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands - they trim back branches and brush to keep it clear. By which I mean, don't crawl out on the ledge trying to get a better view!

A Maine man, Garth Coon, was killed 2005 when his companion, who had been swimming in a pool

near the top of the falls got swept away by the current. He tried to save her, but they were both pulled over. Though badly injured, she lived; sadly, he did not. 

There is a much, much safer swimming hole upstream, within the series of small drops known as Junior Falls. The day we were there a youth group was enjoying it, splashing around, sitting on the natural bench the ledge makes just under the falls. 

This pool is also pretty deep - people were doing cannonballs from a low ledge on the far side. It's a fast-running stream pretty deep in the woods - the water is clean and clear. The hike, while not arduous, is sort of a self-selecting mechanism; most people who are willing to walk that far into the woods to take a swim are also the sort who wouldn't leave beer cans and other trash around. 

It's a pretty drive to Moxie Gore, and the area gets a goodly lot of visitors to hunt, fish, canoe, and tube. (Bullfrog Adventures will take you on a gorgeous, safe, and surprisingly cheap tubing trip.) As a result there are several little restaurants and brew pubs on 201 for you to grab a bite & a pint on the way home. 

February at Kettle Cove, Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Photo by Derek Davis of the Press Herald

Who says beaches are only for summer? Not Hugh Sharp.

Ice Shacks on the Pleasant River

See more about Maine rivers, fishing, and habitat preservation at the Downeast Salmon Federations' Facebook page.

My Favorite Lunch Spot, South Portland

On Monday afternoons, I often find myself in the Portland area with some free time. If it's a warm day, I like to grab a sandwich and head for Spring Point Light. There's a nice shore walk to get there, or you can park nearby the campus at SMCC. The granite block breakwater is about 300 yards long, and provides many spots to sit, dangle your legs, and watch the passing boat traffic. On any given day you can see the ferries on their way to the islands of Casco Bay, and some times The Cat, the giant double-hulled ferry which runs between Portland Harbor and New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, as well as innumerable fishing and recreational boats.

As the weather turns, the jetty will become treacherous! Enjoy the Big Light walk before the snow falls. If it's Monday afternoon, I may see you there.