What does a 1867, a sailboat, Bar Harbor and a squall have to do with modern Art?   Ask College of the Atlantic professor Dru Colbert.    There will be performance art piece done called “Flotsam”.   Billed as a “plein-air” production from 4:30pm to 6:30 pm at Otter Cove in Acadia National Park on October 16, 17 and 18th.

Here is an excerpt about the piece:

FLOTSAM

This site specific shadow play and installation explores a shipwreck that occurred in Frenchman Bay in 1867. It honors lives that are intertwined with the sea, and lives that have been lost to it.

LOCATION -  Otter Cove, Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island, Maine

DIRECTIONS AND PARKING -  Take the Park Loop Road from any entry point. Go past Thunder Hole and Otter Cliffs toward Otter Cove. Park at Fabbri Picnic Area, off of the Park Loop Road (and take a short walk further downhill on the Loop Road to the performance) or drive further and park along the Causeway where the Loop Road crosses Otter Cove. The installation will be open for exploration at 4:30.  The shadow play performance begins at the onset of darkness…around 5:20. Please dress warmly, wear sturdy shoes, bring a flashlight, and something to sit on if desired.

FREE ADMISSION -  All donations benefit the Otter Creek Aid Association.  The Association will use a portion of the proceeds to make an anonymous gift to a community member in need.

Come experience Art and History mingling together on MDI. Tragedy at Sea, the 1867 capsize of a sailboat on route from Bar Harbor to Southwest Harbor is the event that inspired this modern piece.      For  more information call 288-5015.

Maine’s fledgling wine industry is finally up and running.  How in the name of Pinot Noir can wine grapes survive the Maine climate?  The answer is as complex as a fine wine.  First of all, there is the percentage of Maine wine which, by pure snobbery definition, is not “real” wine; the non-grape fruit wines.  Blueberry, pear, apple, elderberry, cranberry  and even rhubarb contribute to Maine’s fermentable fruits. An excellent producer of this type of wine is the Bartlett Winery in Gouldsboro, 25 miles east of Acadia.  Second, many wineries actually get most of their grapes from elsewhere.  This is the case (pardon the pun) with Cellardoor Winery near Camden, about 70 miles west of Acadia. Their grapes come from California, New York and other states. Right here on Acadia we have Bar Harbor Cellars at 854 Rt. 3. Owner Doug Maffucci gets most of his grapes from family back in Italy.  Finally, and most importantly, most Maine wineries including the two just mentioned, are trying hard to grow Maine tolerant grape varieties locally, some of which have made it into their products.

It must be said that the above discussion is somewhat sensitive to the extent that 1) wine tourists usually shun fruit wines, 2) wine tourists abhor non-locality for their grapes, believing that they can “taste the soil” at the winery location and that, 3) wine tourists believe non-traditional grape varieties adapted to extreme climates produce inferior wines.  I come from Michigan, where on the Leelanau  penninsula I witnessed the birth and flowering of northern Michigan’s wine industry. There the climate is just barely able to produce a few “traditional” (pure vinifera, or European) varieties which are made into familiar wine types like Riesling,  Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc.  Here in Maine, these varieties are even harder if not impossible to grow. Our “growing degree days” are fewer, rainfall is too abundant and the season is short.   What that leaves us with are the so-called hybrid varieties.  The newest ones like Marquette and Vignoles grow robustly, require fewer applications of fungicides, have higher yields and produce fine wines. Unfortunately, they can’t go into wines called Pinot or Zinfandel.  They don’t fit into the categories at the wine shop, and they’re often rejected by wine tourists.  This is a shame. It is a shame that earlier hybrids and native American varieties produced unarguably inferior wines.  It is also a shame that Maine wineries sometimes hide the fact that they import most of their grapes, or produce wines from local hybrid grapes with variety-hiding names like “Maine Red”.

I’m optimistic about the future of the Maine wine industry.  The University of Minnesota is producing ever better hybrids, often backcrossed so many times with vinifera varieties that true wine snobs can’t tell the difference.  It may take another few years, but your next wine tour in Maine may feature fine wines so local you can taste the soil.  In the mean time, check out the pear wine and imported/hybrid grape wines, remembering that these wineries are honing their skills for the future as well as producing good vino.

According to DownEast Magazine reader’s poll, we have three of the most beautiful harbors right here in Acadia.  Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor and Northeast Harbor all showed up in the top ten according to the magazine-number two, five and six respectively..  Make sure you get to all three spots during your stay.   Filled with  sailing vessels old and new and the working boats of the waterfront, these beautiful vistas will be among your most remembered.

Also on the list, two harbors within a days driving list – Winter Harbor, number nine (on the Schoodic Peninsula – part of Acadia National Park) and Camden Harbor – which came out as the number one Harbor in the state.   As a side  trip, think about visiting the international film festival in Camden Maine.   It starts on October 1, through October 4th.  Show casing the best in non-fiction film, the festival is in it’s fifth year.    More information on schedule and times can be found at www.camdenfilmfest.org.

Along route 1, Camden Maine is worth a visit just for the harbor view.   Make sure you visit the top of Mt. Battey on your way down to Camden.   You have to see the view from the tower at the top.    It’s incredible.    Alright, it’s very walkable too in a few hours, but if time is an issue, you can drive up too.    Afterwords it’s worth the drive across route one to walk the shore-line.     Stroll along Camden harbor to the park on the south edge.    I think it’s the harbors south east orientation that provides a special light for the harbor.

That’s right, Lamoine just 30 minutes from Bar Harbor is the most affordable lodging in the Acadia area, beats all Mount Desert Island prices hands down.  Ocean frontage with twice as much room as you’d get in Bar Harbor and a view of Cadillac Mountain just across Frenchman Bay.

Just yards from from the SeaCat’s Rest stairs lead to the beach where you can dig clams, pick up mussels, fish for mackerel or just stroll the beach.  We have kayaks available and many guests kayak down to Lamoine State Park, which is just a short distance away.

Lamoine is so close to Acadia National Park but has yet to be discovered so come and visit us but only tell your friends. SSHHH