| My husband and I needed to get away and Maine seemed like the perfect place. We agreed to a week in Maine “Maine-ly” for the fun of it. To get the flavor of the coast we started at Di Millo’s Floating Restaurant in Portland. The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze with a hint of salt in the air. We walked along the pier coveting the boats we would never be able to afford. It didn’t take long to get in a “Maine-ly” relaxing frame of mind. After a lunch of fresh fish we headed north to North Country Rivers in Bingham where we immediately felt right at home in our log cabin. North Country Rivers is an all-season adventure resort and we were there to go white water rafting on the Kennebec River. Sometime the adventure of my mind doesn’t translate well into reality. I’ve been rafting in Alaska but after watching the video of paddle rafting, I expressed concern about being a contributing member of the rafting adventure. Mike, our guide explained, “This is East Coast rafting which is “Maine-ly” paddling, but we offer two options. You can paddle or we can take the Row Frame.” While I was pondering the choice, he added with excitement. “You are very lucky. Because of all the rain, the river will be running at 8000 CFS instead of the usual 4800. People pay more for that!” That cinched it. It was the Row Frame for me. I didn’t want to be a “Lily Dipper!” – a guide’s term for a slow moving paddler. My husband and I struggled into our wet suits, grabbed our life jackets and boarded the bus with the other rafters and headed for the put-in site. During the ride first-time rafters were apprehensive but old-time rafters were psyched and ready to go. At the put-in site we worked the raft down the put-in runners to the water’s edge. Because of the rain the water was really moving – there was white water everywhere. Once in the raft I knew there was no turning back and off we went. And what an exhilarating ride it was! The river was really flowing so the trip was fast but the two-hour trip was thrilling. There were “quiet” times where we could float along and enjoy the scenery. “Let’s do it again!” I exclaimed at the end of the run. The fun wasn’t over. That night it was off on a Moose Safari. Dana, our wildlife guide, took us over logging roads and between moose sighting gave us an overview of logging in Maine. We spotted seven moose! The next day Russell Walters from Northern Outdoors, another Maine “fun” adventure place, took us on a hike to Moxie Falls. Moxie Falls is located on the Kennebec River and is the highest waterfalls in Maine. The weeks of rain made the falls especially impressive. We hated to leave the Kennebec River area but after a few days we headed south to Belgrade Lakes and arrived in time to take the mail boat with Norm. Norm is one of few people hired by the U.S. Postal Department to deliver mail by boat to the summer residents on Great Pond, one of a chain of five bodies of water not far from Augusta. Norm loves his job and we loved his stories. It was while vacationing on Great Pond as a child that E.B. White learned about spiders and later wrote “Charlotte’s Web,” and Ernest Thompson recalled the sun shining on the golden sand at the bottom of the bay and penned, “On Golden Pond.” The stories were many but time was short and we headed back and walked up the gentle hill to Wings Hill Inn, a 200-year old farmhouse turned luxury B&B where a gourmet dinner, prepared by CIA-trained innkeepers, Christopher and Tracey Anderson was nearly ready. We had just enough time to enjoy the tranquil setting and great views of the Long Pond and Great Pond before dinner. We had run the river, boated on a lake, and now it was time for fun on the Maine coast. Cliff House in Ogunquit is one of those wonderful places that has survived the generations and is still greeting guests with the same genteel hospitality that it did when it opened in the 1866. Every view is one of the rocky coast and the sea. Lobster and Maine are synonymous so no trip to the coast of Maine is complete without lobster catching and eating. On a lobster catching trip with Finestkind, we learned about the lobster business. Captain Grant explained, “I have 800 traps. My traps are the ones attached to the blue buoys with white dots.” After pulling up a trap containing a couple of lobsters, he measured them, tossed a small one back, and explained how to tell a female lobster from a male lobster. A legal lobster has to be between 3 ¼ inches and 5 inches from eye socket to the beginning of the tail. Thinking of all the lobster meals diners enjoy, I asked, “Do you think the lobster population is on the decline?” Grant responded, “Actually, because of good conservation methods, there are actually more lobsters now than when I started in this business decades ago.” I had one final question. “What does ‘finestkind’ mean?” “It is Maine talk for the very best.” An added benefit of the informational cruise was the beautiful views of the Maine coastline. We agreed, the Finestkind Cruise was the “finestkind.” Back at Cliff House there was time to enjoy their new spa before dinner. The spa, with great ocean views, offers a full selection of treatments. I chose the Stone Massage. If the true be known I thought I was already relaxed but the warm stones provided a deeper relaxation than I thought was possible. My husband chose the Swedish massage. I think the Swedish shower with its multi-faucets was the deciding factor in his decision making. From rocky coast to tree-lined rivers and lake, our trip to Maine was truly “Maine-ly for the fun of it.” Maine is “Maine-ly” the findestkind! If you go: Images by John Scott, North Country Rivers, and Cliff House.
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