The wild cranberry crop on Mount Desert Island is still awaiting harvest, except for the several pounds I collected on Sunday the 17th. What was different about this year was the high water level: you have to harvest from a boat and reach into the water. The berries can be seen under 3-8 inches of water. Sticking your hand into late October water sounds cold, but as you glide over 6″ of water in your kayak you realize that, if you’re lucky enough to have a sunny day, the shallow water heats up fast. I have to say that harvesting this way has it’s advantages. No need for rubber boots or waders, no wet knees, no balancing act getting out and in. Also, the submersion in cool water seems to preserve the crop and extend the harvest. All the berries seemed to be at the same point of ripeness. And the berries float, so if you lose your grip they pop to the surface.

This little trip is never crowded

There’s really no reason not to get out and harvest your own. There’s a huge supply; the Northeast Creek flooding is hundreds of acres and it can be accessed from Rt. 3 in 15 minutes by kayak or canoe. Just park by the bridge 2 miles east from the MDI side of the causeway to Trenton. Perhaps the water level has dropped since my outing, so you may have to end up using boots. It is a beautiful time of year but weather and wind can change quickly, so be prepared. I would have had difficulty getting back if I had soloed in my eighteen foot canoe; the headwinds were very strong. The kayak was just fine.

Turn right at the hummock in the distance

The meandering Northeast Creek has quite a few boulders just under the surface. You may find yourself suddenly high and dry. It takes five minutes of paddling to leave the roar of civilization behind. Bird life has dropped a bit with the colder weather. Still, I saw ducks, kingfishers and great blue herons as usual. After 10 to 15 minutes of paddling you will emerge into the great boggy area where trees are rare and the water spreads out. Bear right at the hummock (photo) and you will find yourself following a canal where berries can be gathered from either side. If you don’t see them, paddle a few more minutes and check again. You should see this under the water:

If the water level is the same as it was on Sunday, you can just push your kayak into the grassy vegetation and start picking. Otherwise, look for a slot to run your boat into and get out. I always set my paddle vertical so I can spot my boat from afar. Watch out for holes in the bog mat if you’re walking-I’ve gone up to my knee sometimes. Can’t make it this year? Make sure you plan for 2011. Come for Oktoberfest and cranberries starting the first Saturday in October. We can set you up with lodgings and kayaks. Share your favorite cranberry recipe in the comments below!

The back of the line.

The beer tent was packed to the gills! Attendance seemed to equal or exceed last year’s. Once again, the star of the show was Marshall Wharf of Belfast. The new procedure for the avid sampler is to get in the twenty-deep Marshall Wharf line, get your glass filled and then return to the back of the line for next time. Marshall Wharf had a unique strategy of offering 11 different beers, available three at a time throughout the day. Their sign is a giant chalkboard, so the current offerings are written and erased as needed. You could easily use up all your tickets just on this one brewery. Excitement was generated and a shout went up when they announced a switch to a new trio of beers.

While MW really seemed to have nailed the Oktoberfest popularity contest, it must be remembered that breweries which don’t put their brews into bottles don’t have the inertia and expense associated with a bottling line. I don’t know how many of Saturday’s offerings could be sampled at any given day at the brewpub. I do know that for all their effort, I still have to go to Belfast during open hours if I want to taste their beer again. While the chalkboard and changeover hoopla may seem like gimmickry, their beer was fantastic. It is obvious they produce beers dense with ingredients, and no corners are cut. I vote for Cant Dog IPA as best of show.

Marshall Wharf bartender Seth

Some brews deserved more attention!

There were other fine offerings from other breweries. Since my tastes run toward highly hopped brews, I sought out the IPAs (India Pale Ales). Legend has it that Ales sent to India during the British occupation were infused with a high level of hops in order to preserve them for the long voyage. I found Sebago’s Frye’s Leap IPA and Geary’s Imperial IPA to be very good and deserving of more attention. Maybe if they got a chalkboard….

From the New York Times, 1851

Maine occupies a unique position in the history of the temperance movement. It banned the sale and consumption of alcohol in 1851 and remained officially dry until the repeal of National Prohibition in 1934; a total of 83 years! The world’s first Total Abstinence Society was founded in Portland in 1815. This places Maine squarely at the beginning of the movement, and for a while temperance laws were referred throughout the country simply as “The Maine Law”.

To understand the motivation behind the movement, it is necessary to recall the drinking habits of Mainers of long ago. An entertaining way to find out is to watch The Strange Woman, a 1946 movie starring Hedy Lamarr. The movie is set in Bangor, Maine in 1824 and is free to view on line here. In the movie, the rum swilling crowds of lumberjacks and dock workers create a constant backdrop of chaos which is historically accurate. Our country was founded on drink. Even the Puritan ship Arabella carried three times as much beer as water for its transatlantic voyage in 1630. As trade with the West Indies increased, Mainers developed a taste for rum, especially along the coast. Cheap rum replaced beer and other homebrews, and the effects of the stronger drink began to be recognized for its negative effects. By 1785 The Falmouth Gazette became the first Maine newspaper to advocate temperate use of spirits. But as the years passed,  consumption rose, reaching a peak in 1830. Social ills like violence, spousal and child abuse and loss of work became rife (see the movie). The rise of the temperance movement started out as just that, a movement to temper or moderate one’s consumption of alcohol. But by mid century a new temperance movement emerged, one which took no prisoners and made no compromise.

Neal Dow

The leader of this movement was Maine’s “Napoleon of Temperance”, Colonel (later General) Neal Dow. He was the first to embrace the idea of a legislative solution to fight alcohol consumption as well as a total abstinence stance. This was in contrast to Maine’s governor at the time, William King, who besides being the founder of the first temperance association, enjoyed drinking wine. The Maine Law was established in 1851 and its influence spread nationwide.

This no-compromise approach was not without problems. First, there was Portland’s Rum Riot of 1855, when rumors spread of a cache of liquor in the city hall. One person was killed. Second, the movement was overwhelmingly Protestant. The Irish and other Catholic immigrants were left out and bore the brunt of blame for illegal consumption. Finally, Prohibition never really worked. People kept on drinking and the criminal infrastructure necessary for supplying booze grew. The Maine Law was unpopular as was the loss of personal freedoms necessary for its enforcement. Life among the summer visitors to Bar Harbor continued in its usual spirited way.

From 1920 to 1934 National Prohibition created a huge demand for smuggled booze, and Maine was well positioned for this activity. Our borders were long and sparsely populated; Quebec and the French islands of St Pierre and Miquelon had no problem supplying the drink.

In the end, Prohibition served if not to eliminate drinking, to raise awareness about its adverse health and social effects. In this way, the original intent of the temperance movement, to encourage moderation, became ingrained in our society. Our state motto, “Dirigo”, means “I lead”. Maine certainly lead the way toward moderation.

visit the webpage "Rum, Riot and Reform" at mainehistory.org

Mark Twain, Feb 7, 1871

Mark Twain is celebrated as our first true American humorist, drawing on local color and speech and weaving stories which embody a unique American viewpoint. Among his early works was Roughing It, a rambling narrative about his directionless early years wandering the American West.

As we head into another fall and winter in Maine it is useful to hear from Twain’s impressions of New England as it relates to the changing seasons. After several years in Nevada and California he had this to say (chapter 56):

One of the queerest things I know of, is to hear tourists from “the States” go into ecstasies over the loveliness of “ever-blooming California.” And they always do go into that sort of ecstasies. But  perhaps they would modify them if they knew how old Californians, with the memory full upon them of the dust-covered and questionable summer greens of Californian “verdure,” stand astonished, and filled with worshiping admiration, in the presence of the lavish richness, the brilliant green, the infinite freshness, the spend-thrift variety of form and species and foliage that make an Eastern landscape a vision of Paradise itself. The idea of a man falling into raptures over grave and sombre California, when that man has seen New England’s meadow-expanses and her maples, oaks and cathedral-windowed elms decked in summer attire, or the opaline splendors of autumn descending upon her forests, comes very near being funny–would be, in fact, but that it is so pathetic.

Although a tropical landscape seems especially inviting to New Englanders in about February, it’s nice to hear Twain’s warning:

No land with an unvarying climate can be very beautiful. The tropics are  not, for all the sentiment that is wasted on them. They seem beautiful  at first, but sameness impairs the charm by and by. Change is the  handmaiden Nature requires to do her miracles with. The land that has  four well-defined seasons, cannot lack beauty, or pall with monotony.  Each season brings a world of enjoyment and interest in the watching of  its unfolding, its gradual, harmonious development, its culminating  graces–and just as one begins to tire of it, it passes away and a  radical change comes, with new witcheries and new glories in its train.  And I think that to one in sympathy with nature, each season, in its turn, seems the loveliest.

Right now in the Acadia area of Maine we have one of those seasons. A nip of frost, rapidly reddening leaves, low autumn sun and sudden weather changes awaken new (old) instincts as our human animal prepares for the coming challenges. It’s a great time to visit as lodgings are cheaper and restaurants and other attractions are still open. It is an especially great time for Californians to visit if they want to see the “opaline splendors of autumn”.

"Opaline Splendors of Autumn"

Read the full book as well as many others of Twain’s at http://www.mtwain.com

Here is a page which features my distant cousin, actor  William Hooker Gillette, giving his (audio) impression of  his friend and neighbor Mark Twain. This is the closest thing we have to Twain’s voice.

It’s almost time again for residents and visitors to the Acadia area to taste the full spectrum of Maine brewing expertise. On Saturday, October 9 from 12 noon to six pm Smuggler’s Den in Southwest Harbor will be alive with hundreds of beer lovers in three huge tents. Last year, 4000 people attended and with good weather 2010 should equal that. This is not to say that rain and  cold should affect anyone’s decision, the tents keep things dry and sheltered, at least until you have to make a run to the port-a-john (bring an umbrella just in case).  This year’s list of brewers include the following:

1. Belfast Bay Brewing Co.
2. Allagash Brewing Company
3. Black Bear Brewery
4. Marshall Wharf Brewing Co.
5. Gritty’s
6. Maine Beer Company
7. Sea Dog Brewing Co.
8. The Shipyard Brewing Co.
9. Sunday River Brewing Co.
10. Atlantic Brewing Co./Bar Harbor Cellars/Bar Harbor Brewing Co.
11. Kennebec River Brewery
12. Geary’s
13. Sheepscot Valley Brewing Company
14. The Liberal Cup
15. Oak Pond Brewing Co.
16. Sebago Brewing Company
17. Peak Organic Brewing Company
18. Penobscot Bay Brewery/Winterport Winery
19. Blacksmith’s Winery
20. Fatty Bumpkin’s Maine Draft Cider
21. Andrew’s Brewing

$25 gets you into the brewtent with ten tickets for samples and a souvenir glass. Persons who want just to tag along for the music, food  and mayhem can get in for $10. This year, the wristbands you get with your admission can be used for discounts at local restaurants.

The food is not to be missed either. Among the standouts are SW Harbor’s Chow Maine, Bar Harbor’s Mainely Meat BBQ and Nostrano. The food tent features the live music of Mark Kanter & The Bluesboy Review and The Mainly Country Band, each trading one hour sets throughout the day.

Finally, the third tent features crafts and art from vendors throughout Maine. I will be focusing on the ultimate India Pale Ale. Current favorites include Marshall Wharf’s Cant Dog Imperial IPA, which is unavailable in bottles. In fact, my only visit to the brewpub in Belfast required such a long wait I had to give up. I had high hopes for  Allagash’s Hugh Malone IPA, which at over $16 a bottle should have been downright spiritual. The  folks at Allagash are mostly inspired by Belgian style ales, which I think is great, but I must confess that I can’t handle much of the yeast bite/sourness unique to the style. Hugh Malone sounded like an exception, but I should have known that “Belgian style IPA” meant cloudy and sour. Without wanting to sound too judgmental, the two styles just don’t belong together. Atlantic Brewing’s Special Old Bitter is good–if they bring it. Geary’s Hampshire Ale is my standard, though not called an IPA it is full bodied with nicely balanced boiling and finish hops.  I look forward to trying other highly hopped offerings from Marshall Wharf  (Big Twitch), The Liberal Cup (Old Hallow), Sebago (Fry’s Leap and Full Throttle), and Peak Organic (IPA). See you there! I’ll be the one with the smile.

This was last year's sign! Dates are wrong!

The State of Maine offers its residents a recreational lobster license; we can have up to 5 traps. The number one rule is that the lobsters can’t be sold; they have to be for the resident license holder’s use only. You have to establish residency by 1) living in Maine for at least 6 months, 2) voting in Maine and 3) paying income taxes in Maine. The process also involves an open book test with a one time fee of $15, a license fee of $65 and fifteen cents per trap for identifying tags. So far we’re up to $80.75, the equivalent of maybe ten lobsters.

I have always been hesitant to get into this for two reasons. First, I thought I might make local lobstermen/women mad at me for muscling in on their territory, even though it’s in front of my house. These folks work hard and they are not known for their gentle ways, at least that’s the stereotype. A local Lamoine recreational lobsterman dispelled this notion and offered to “straighten them out” if I had any trouble. He claimed that the locals are doing fine and would not begrudge a few additional traps. This made a big change in my attitude.

from State of Maine lobsterguide09.pdf

The second reason is that I don’t have the right boat. I only own kayaks, a canoe, a dingy and a small sail boat. I suppose I could rope them all together to haul traps, but the license application requires naming a specific boat with a registration number, so I have to get a boat. I don’t know what this will cost, but I know what I want to do: build a boat and have it powered by electricity. No diesel-belcher for me!

I’m really trying to fit in, right?

The Redwing 18 from Chesapeake Marine Design

I’ve been interested in electric boats for years. To me they are a perfect application of electric propulsion. Unlike cars, weight is not an issue. A ballast of lead acid batteries would make any boat more stable (or sink). A short lesson about boat design: boats can be designed to either be “planing” or “displacement”. A planing hull requires a big motor to rise out of the water, a displacement hull has a maximum theoretical speed through the water related to its waterline length, usually around six knots (6.9 miles per hour)  for a 20 foot craft. It does not lift out of the water, it just makes a wave. A well designed displacement hull can move very efficiently at displacement speed, so an electric motor capable of moving a boat at displacement speed can do so for many hours with a bank of six batteries. The batteries can be recharged for much less than an equivalent amount of gas or diesel fuel, especially if done with photovoltaics. Imagine gliding through the water with no smoke or vibration, just a slight hum….

I hope to make this project into a blog series as I go through the process of building a boat and getting my license. Stay tuned.

After cooking, extract the meat and simmer the shells

You definitely want a boiled whole lobster for your first visit to Bar Harbor. Maybe even the next meal. But sooner or later you will want to experiment with another lobster dish. Perhaps a lobster roll or lobster sauce over linguine. Here on the coast, where obtaining lobster is a matter of hauling a trap, we have to get creative. The bib and a plate full of shell carnage gets old. Lobster bisque to the rescue!

• two medium sized lobsters
• 2-1/2 cups beef, chicken or fish stock
• 6 peppercorns, two cloves, one bay leaf
• one medium yellow onion
• two carrots
• two stalks celery
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• one cup dry white wine-buy local! (optional)
• three cups milk
• one cup cream or half and half
• 1 tsp paprika
• chopped fresh parsley

A bisque allows two medium sized lobsters to feed more than two people, so it’s a way to stretch the food dollar. Boil the lobster as usual (10 minutes for the first pound, 3 min. for each additional pound…more details here) and after extracting the meat, break up the shells and body and put back into the pot, covering with 2-1/2 cups of chicken, beef or fish stock. Simmer for 1/2 hour with 6 peppercorns, two cloves and a bay leaf. Chop up the meat and keep it cool. In a skillet sauté a medium sliced onion and 1/2 cup diced celery and 1/2 cup diced carrot (not shown) in 4 tbsp butter until tender. At this point you may wish to add 1 cup of dry white wine and cook until almost dry. Whisk in 1/4 cup of  flour and gradually add 3 cups of milk until smooth. Transfer this to a blender with all but 1/4 cup of the lobster meat and liquefy, thinning if necessary with a little stock. Now strain the shell stock and add to the bisque. Set on simmer, add 1 tsp paprika and salt to taste and stir in one cup cream or half and half. When heated through, mix in reserved lobster meat or use as top garnish along with parsley when served.  Yields 8 cups.

Should you find yourself wondering how you are going to prepare this meal in a cramped hotel room, remember that SeaCat’s Rest offers a full cook’s kitchen with basic stuff like spices, flour and sugar. You’ll have to buy the lobsters and other ingredients.

…and Susa Wuorinen is a play inspired by Carol’s grandmother who lived in Lamoine during the late 1800s. It is a play rich with local charm, language and custom, and geared towards audiences of all ages.

14 year old Lamoine schoolgirl Sadie Coggins looks forward to widening her horizons by attending the Belfast Academy for high school. Her parents have railroad stock they hope to use to pay the tuition. But hard economic times have rendered the investment worthless and Sadie is urged by her parents to apply for a teaching position in the same school she just graduated from. This sounds horrible to her, since one of her students would be the local bully who she was hoping to get far away from. A scheme hatches in her mind where she trades some worthless fool’s gold for some silver bars owned by a local simpleton (Cully), allowing her to pay for tuition. But things get complicated when Cully’s house burns down and her trade takes on urgent moral consequences. Will she go through with her plan or let the community use the silver to build Cully a new house? Through this moral struggle, she learns the importance of acknowledging the consequences of one’s actions and of making amends when needed.

Carol Korty with actors

Cully’s Gold is published by Dramatic Publishing and can be ordered here. The play was performed in 2008 and again in August of 2010 by our local theater group,  Lamoine Community Arts (LCA),  which usually performs in our local Grange Hall. This fall LCA presents Rumors, a play by Neil Simon, on two weekends: Oct 29-30 and Nov 6 and 7. The Lamoine Grange will once again provide the stage.

The cooler weather does not mean an end to life on the Maine coast. Our rich veins of semi-retired Eastern academics continue to fertilize our cultural atmosphere.  Carol Korty and Susa Wourinen are two of many examples. Come in late October for a culture tour. On October 23 attend A Victorian Evening; enjoy ‘High Tea’ served by volunteers dressed in period attire at the Seal Cove Auto Museum. And on October 28 (7 PM-9 PM) drop by Bar Harbor’s Jesup Memorial Library for a reading by Down East Magazine editor Paul Doiron of his new novel The Poacher’s Son. “Set in the wilds of Maine, this is an explosive tale of an estranged son thrust into the hunt for a murderous fugitive—his own father.” It has already been named one of the best crime novels of 2010, and is the first in a projected series.

from http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/viewReport.cfm

Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park and the storied towns of Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor, enjoyed a 19% increase in park visits over July of 2009. The Bar Harbor Chamber’s downtown welcome center saw a 108% increase in visits over last summer so far this year. The reasons are assumed to be weather related, the Presidential visit and the improving economy.

While the rest of the country was baking in triple digit heat and humidity, our Maine coast was mostly in the 80s during the day and 60s at night. But we weren’t socked in fog, our skies were sunny. Rain–just enough–came at night or in a quick daytime shower. No one delayed or canceled their Maine visit due to the weather this summer. In fact, they were in a hurry to get here and reluctant to return home. We did have 5 days of ninety degree weather at the end of August, but the nights cooled down into the 60s. Some store owners complained about how rainy days make for more shoppers and how this factor was in short supply, but I can’t believe those rainy day shoppers wouldn’t go somewhere else next time.

The quick visit of President Obama and his family in mid July put Mount Desert Island into everyone’s consciousness. Reports of the family eating ice cream, hiking, biking and boating made everyone want to get in on the action. Some folks grumbled about the short notice, inconvenience of rerouted traffic and restricted access, but it was over quickly and the buzz has lasted. If this visit had the effect it seems to have had, we should be paying for presidential visits!

The economy is also said to be a factor contributing to our banner year. A combination of value and nearness makes Acadia a sensible choice for those moving just a little beyond a “staycation”. While the early summer optimism about the economy seems to have hit a snag, it may be resolved just in time for next summer. I think it will be a long time before Americans feel flush enough to be flying to Paris and London for their summer vacations. Our local list of things to do does not require a big bank roll and lodgings a little off the beaten track can stretch your dollar more. We are after all, Affordable Acadia!

High tide view from Seacat's Rest shore

Now is the time of year when visitors to Acadia National Park may find the skies filled with raptors. They migrate from the north to the south in fall, and they like to stick by the shore to be close to a resting spot. Otherwise, the ocean is their preferred highway since it offers the best chance of food and effortless flight. We’ve written before about eagles, but their migration timetable is different. Still, they will be around as usual to add to the mix. Last year, between August 19 and October 14,  rangers, volunteers and visitors counted 2,831 hawks, kestrels, eagles and falcons in the 2009 Hawkwatch. This tops the 15 year average of 2,579, and is the 4th best year.

from the National Park Service

Why get involved? Besides the fun of seeing rare birds soaring overhead in a beautiful location, participation in Hawkwatch adds to important data about population levels and helps scientists understand the status of the raptor population—if the numbers of a species are increasing, decreasing, or stable in the environment. If you participate you will learn how to tell one bird of prey from another based on silhouettes.

Don’t think that the best part of the Hawkwatch is behind us, the best single day last year (2009) was September 26. Who knows what effect our warm sunny summer will have on the migration? Park rangers will be on hand every day until October 12 from 9 AM to 2 PM, So bring a pair of binoculars, some warm clothes, lunch, a field guide…I would bring a folding chair…and join in Hawkwatch 2010 on the top of Cadillac Mountain.