Results tagged “Maine” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Andrew Evans discovers how to bring home the ultimate souvenir from Maine.

It felt like a trick question on the SAT: You're visiting the coast of Maine and loving all the delicious fresh lobster. You decide that you want to bring some home to share with your family. Lobsters must be alive in order to be cooked safely and taste fresh. To stay alive out of water lobsters must be kept cold and wet. Your trip back home consists of a one-hour drive to the airport, a 90-minute flight to LaGuardia, a five-hour bus ride to Washington, D.C., plus all the in-between waiting time that adds up to a twelve-hour transit. What do you do?

Well, it took some phone calls and asking around, but Mainers have been smuggling lobster all over the place for years and they showed me how it's done... Find out after the jump.

This summer I spent a long weekend with friends in Middle-of-Nowhere Maine, somewhere north of the Where-the-Heck-R-We Campground. (OK, so the town we stayed in wasn't called "Middle-of-Nowhere," but the campground does exist.) We had planned on eating at different places to try out the regional cuisine, and whenever we asked anyone for a good breakfast joint, the response was always: "You must try the Front Porch Cafe." Never dismissing the locals' advice on good eats, we headed to Dixfield and ate there the first morning... and every morning thereafter.

The cafe's decor screams "country kitchen," and is adorned with cutesy knick-knacks, inspirational plaques, mismatching salt-and-pepper shakers, and homemade juice served in mason jars. Owners Clint Bailey and Sammie Angel will welcome you like family and chat with you as if you've lived in Dixfield your whole life. You can sit in one of the wood tables inside or watch the world go by at a table on the enclosed front porch (the cafe's namesake), but the highlight of the Front Porch is, without a doubt, the food.

Anything you order is delicious, like the "The Bullrock" pancakes ("just like Mama use to make"), and the over-easy eggs fresh from the chicken coop, but the cafe's most famous creation is the "H. W. Park"--two huge pieces of French toast stuffed with fresh berries and cream cheese. The cafe makes other seasonal variations, like banana walnut or apple cinnamon, which melts in your mouth like warm apple pie. They're open for lunch as well (when they serve a selection of sandwiches and homemade soups), but breakfast is served all day, making it hard to resist repeating the morning's delectable temptations.

How to get there: Dixfield is about two hours north of Portland on Route 2.

Front Porch Cafe: 6 Hall Hill Rd, Dixfield, Maine, 04224. +1 207 562 4646.

Ok, so we know this headline might be cause for debate. What's your favorite Maine breakfast joint?

Photos: Jeannette Kimmel

We'd like to introduce "Here Is Where," the latest column on the Intelligent Travel blog. In conjunction with his upcoming book, "Here Is Where: In Search of America's Great Forgotten History" we're going to follow historian and Legacy Project founder Andrew Carroll as he drives, flies, walks, boats, buses, bikes, and hikes to seek out little-known historic sites in all 50 states. And here is where he introduces himself and the project. Find all of his posts here.

Although today marks the official launch of my 50-state trip to find forgotten history sites throughout the U.S., I've been seeking out these unmarked spots for 15 years now. This began essentially as a hobby. Whenever I traveled to a new city I tried, time permitting, to hunt down unmarked places associated with little-known events and people.

Sometimes I was successful; during a recent trip to Los Angeles I found the baseball fields in Encino where U.S. military officer Gary Powers died after his KNBC helicopter crashed in August 1977. (Ironically, Powers had survived being shot down over the Soviet Union seventeen years earlier--an incident with enormous historical implications--when he was flying U-2 spy planes for the CIA.) Other times I was less so; while in Missouri last year I tried to locate any site related to George Eyser, a one-legged gymnast who won three gold medals in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. No luck. But regardless of what I do or don't find, the search is what's exhilarating, and these mini-adventures have prompted me to explore neighborhoods and parts of towns I might otherwise not have visited. 

It's an new week, which means a new batch of World in Focus Photo Contest photos are up online on our website. The contest, hosted by Traveler and Photo District News let's amateur and professional photographers alike submit their pics for the chance to win amazing trips, gear, and other prizes. And this year, we're letting our readers vote on their favorites. Here's one of of the featured shots from this week:

This photo, by Edward Shmunes, was taken in Rockport, Maine. Vote now for your favorites, and submit your own pictures for a chance to win the contest.

[World in Focus]

The decline of honeybees--which are not native to the United States--has been a hot topic of research for some time. The bees are dying from colony collapse disorder, a condition in which worker bees suddenly disappear, and that has killed an estimated one in three colonies a year since 2006. Fortunately, many companies, from farmers to hotels, are working to save the bees.

Environmentally conscious group Fairmont Hotels has a swarm of new guests staying at the hotel chain's D.C. property. The hotel has installed three beehives on its roof, which house over 100,000 Italian honeybees. The bees are part of the hotel's culinary program, and sous chef-turned-beekeeper Ian Bens expects the bees to produce some 300 pounds of honey in the first year. The honey will be used in soups, salad dressings, ice cream, and pastries at restaurant Juniper, and eventually Fairmont hopes to turn the honeycomb into candles and soap. Canadian-based Fairmont has beehives at its Vancouver, Toronto, and New Brunswick properties as well.

In the past two years ice cream giant Häagen-Daz has donated some $500,000 to universities to promote honeybee awareness and to research colony collapse disorder. Blueberry farmers in Maine are also trying to help the dying honeybees. Jasper Wyman and Son, the largest blueberry producer in the United States, imports some 10,000 hives each year to pollinate its blueberry fields. According to president Ed Flanagan, there has been an 80 percent spike in cost of pollination in the past few years. The company just donated $50,000 to Penn State to research colony collapse disorder.

Even the 2010 Winter Olympics is doing its part. The Vancouver Convention Center, which is undergoing a huge renovation in preparations for the Olympic Games in 2010, has installed beehives on its 2.4-hectare green roof. The goal of the installation: bees bring business. According to TMCNET.com, "bees are the new 'it' endangered species and urban planners and architects across... are anxious to bolster their numbers in urban settings."

Photo: skb_inspirations via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

For the epicurious (and the hungry), this Friday is National Pie Day. To celebrate, four inns that make up the Historic Inns of Rockford, Maine, are hosting "Pies on Parade" this Sunday, and our friends at This Just In have the details:

Each inn will be receiving ticketed guests between 1 and 4 p.m., with tours of common areas and some guests rooms. Taste various pies, from traditionals like cherry and apple to more modern variations like Key Limerock Pie, Seafood with Lobster Pie, Kiwi Berry Tart, and a Goat Cheese Breakfast Pie. Then take home a recipe collection so you can bake your own.

The four inns (the Berry Manor Inn, the Lindsey House Inn, the LimeRock Inn, and the Old Granite Inn) are within walking distance of each other. But a trolley will make the rounds. Some of Rockland's local businesses are also offering samples, including a Chocolate Decadence Pie at the Pastry Garden and Lemon Curd Pie with Ginger Crust at Lily Bistro. (Cue the drooling).

All proceeds go to the local Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry. And you can rest assured that the decadence won't hurt the environment: All of the pie will be served with biodegradable, "compostable" plates and silverware-made of sugar cane.

There's nothing more American than pie, so even if you can't make it to Maine to celebrate, at least take the time this week to bake your own or see below the jump and try my favorite recipe for classic apple pie.