Top Travel Days of 2024, Spending My 60th Birthday in Camden, Maine
I honestly loved every minute of the three-day weekend Lisa planned around my big birthday in mid-coast Maine this past August. Hanging out with 20 of my closest friends and family, we biked to Owl’s Head Lighthouse, walked the breakwater at Rockland Harbor, saw the Andrew Wyeth paintings at the Farnsworth, savored our lobster rolls overlooking the water at McLoons, and had many cocktails on the rooftop lounge of our hotel, 250 Main. But Lisa really outdid herself on my actual birthday, organizing a hike up Maiden Cliff in Camden Hills State Park and then renting a private schooner, the Schooner Olad, for some 6 glorious hours that afternoon. Our captain and crew were wonderful, gliding the century-old vessel out through the many islands that hug the shoreline. Thankfully, the weather was sublime, the waves were mellow, and we even swam when we docked at an island for our lobster feast. They cooked the crustaceans the old-fashioned way under seaweed on an open fire, and when bitten into, probably the best lobster I ever tasted! On the sail back to Camden, we savored the sunset, glass of Don Papa Rum in hand. That’s what I call a Dream Day!
Returning from Acadia National Park one summer with the family, we wisely timed our return drive to coincide with the annual 
Last summer, I made the wise choice to sail on the 
At the end of one of those fingers of land that dangles off the Maine coast into the Atlantic, 
A day of salty air and pulling on ropes can build up an appetite. Fortunately, the Windjammers are known for their hearty meals. And if you’re expecting Navy grub, you’ll be surprised to know that Windjammer food is so cherished that no less than three of the boats have already published their own cookbooks. The Captains source local harvested ingredients and often provide their own produce from home, like flowers, syrup, honey and eggs. Fresh baked breads are cooked in a cast-iron wood stove, with stews and salads another staple of the seafaring diet. 
Just had lunch yesterday in Boston with the
We wake up to blinding sunshine at Buck’s Harbor in South Brooksville, best known as the spot where children’s book author and illustrator Robert McCloskey (“Make Way for Ducklings,” “Blueberries for Sal”) summered. FDR would also stop here on his way to Campobello Island for a short ice cream break. We found some of those famous wild Maine blueberries in our pancakes that morning before hoisting the sails and setting a course for that hump atop Big Spruce Island. Each one of these Penobscot Bay harbors and islands has a legacy and Big Spruce Island is no different. This is the place where artist Fairfield Porter and his brother, photographer Eliot Porter, would spend their summers and there’s still a working artists’ community on the island today.