MIDCOAST
To the Maine visitor who prefers boating, there is no better region to explore than the Midcoast. The shoreline along this area —from Brunswick and Harpswell to Belfast and Blue Hill — is dramatic, and reflective of Maine’s rich maritime history. Unlike the sandy seashores of Southern Maine, this region features a rougher, rockier coastline more in keeping with Hollywood’s picture of the Pine Tree State. Comprised of thousands of peninsulas, inlets, coves, harbors and islands, Midcoast is a magnet for shipping, sailing and boat building. Excursion boats of all shapes and sizes, from windjammers to working lobster boats, offer passengers, and often their pets, close encounters with whales, seals, seabirds and lighthouses.
12
Here you will find quaint fishing villages to explore, historic sites, museums — the Maine Maritime Museum is especially engrossing — and of course plenty of lovely shops, restaurants and wineries to investigate. And although early settlers to the Midcoast area focused primarily on building Maine’s fishing and boatbuilding industries, they also built dozens of majestic sea captains’ mansions, many of which are open for touring or have been converted in lovely B&Bs. Throughout the Midcoast region, summer means strawberry, blueberry, and lobster festivals and there are farmers markets cropping up in almost every town. Camden and Rockland are the sites of two of the larger of these. Here’s a little more in depth look at a couple of very pet-friendly towns in the midcoast.
