Hello, Friends. Today we are sharing some of our favorite Maine places–the where and the why. Hope you will enjoy these insights in to places those who live and write in Maine consider special.

Kate Flora: I’ve blogged about this place before, so it’s no secret, but many visitors to Maine, and even Maine residents, have never visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden in Boothbay. https://www.mainegardens.org Along with stunning gardens at many seasons, including a fabulous illuminated display at Christmas, there is a children’s garden with spouting whale rocks, a tiny tea house, and Burt Dow’s boat from the McCloskey book, Burt Dow, Deep Water Man.

Kaitlyn Dunnet/Kathy Lynn Emerson: One of the prettiest sights in my part of Maine is Height of Land, seen from Rt. 17 north of Dixfield. Unfortunately, it’s been in the news lately, and not for a good reason. At least vandals can’t spoil the view. https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/crime/height-of-land-plaque-stolen-from-scenic-overlook-near-rangeley/97-b5cbe562-40c3-405f-ae14-159e43a0af57

John Clark-While Maine has many wonderful places, Beth and I love Washington County where we’ll head soon for our annual stay at Cobscook Bay Cottages. While we won’t be able to visit Campobello this year, there are so many trails and ocean views, we never get bored.

Beth lives in a kayak while we’re at Cobscook Bay Cottages.

An archaeological dig at Reversing Falls

West Quoddy Light

Susan Vaughan: Here in the Mid-Coast, one of my favorite spots is the Beech Hill Preserve in Rockport. This is a nearly 300 acre conserved property that includes a hiking trail from wooded lower slopes through commercial blueberry fields, up to the bare top with views of Penobscot Bay and Chickawaukee Lake. At the summit is a sod-roofed Norwegian hut built in 1913 as a picnic house. On a few weekends in the summer, Beech Nut, as the hut is named, opens its doors to visitors. Otherwise, plaques outside share information. In season, a stand at the parking lot sells blueberries. My husband and I enjoy the hike and the view so much, we even went on New Year’s Day last year. Information and directions are on Maine Trail Finder here: https://www.mainetrailfinder.com/trails/trail/beech-hill-preserve .

Sandra Neily. I love the Penobscot River. I just spent a week there swatting bugs, tying on flies to attract salmon who weren’t interested, and reading. There are many access point to it. Some are views from the road or picnic areas and further north there’s an easement on much of the wilder parts of the West Branch of the Penobscot River, all the way up to its North and South Branches. (The link has a great map with campsites.) Much of the East Branch is also conserved as it runs through Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.

Barren Mt trail

And I’ll reprint this info .When other parks are crowded, much of Maine’s Public Lands are not.

Some of Maine’s most outstanding natural features and secluded locations are found on Maine’s Public Lands. The more than half million acres are managed for a variety of resource values including recreation, wildlife, and timber. See this GREAT Public Lands Video,“ The Untold Secret.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=_otWtJlT_r0&feature=emb_logo

Charlene; Stonington has long been my absolute favorite place in Maine. I call it “kayak heaven” because that’s what it is for us sea kayakers.

At the very end of Deer Isle, Stonington looks out on dozens of islands, with Isle Au Haut in the far distance. Many of the islands are part of MITA – the Maine Island Trail Association – where boaters can land to check their charts, take a rest, eat lunch, go for a little hike. Some of the trails lead up to open meadows on top where you might get a terrific view of Acadia National Park to the north or Camden to the west. It’s just lovely.

I’ve always visited Stonington with my sea kayak buddies (we’ve been renting the same houses overlooking the water for decades) in June when the hill tops are covered with wildflowers like daisies and roses to beat the band. Of course, that’s not happening this year, but we’ll make up for that in the future.

A real working community, Stonington is consistently ranked among the top lobster ports in the county and is the largest lobster port in Maine. We’re talking something like 15,000,000 pounds of lobster in a year worth millions. Stonington was also known for granite quarrying – e.g., part of the Brooklyn Bridge is made of Stonington granite.

There’s so much about Stonington I miss right now – the gurgle of lobster boats leaving their moorings at dawn, super cold/crystal clear water, sunrise on the Solstice at 3:30 AM, cooking with my buddies after a day on the water, sitting in front of our fireplace, pine logs crackling.

Next year, next year.

Brenda Buchanan:  Part of my heart lives on the Blue Hill Peninsula.  I resided there for several years in the 1990s and return every summer to a tiny rented cottage on the shore of a tidal cove where my soul is soothed by the birds, the fog and the hush, not to mention the surrounding beauty.  Here are some evocative photos from a variety of my favorite spots:

Sea view Deer Isle from Barred Island

My favorite swimming beach, location undisclosed.

Looking down on Walker Pond on the right and the Reach on the left, from Caterpillar Hill.

Sunset at Allen Cove