1. Damariscotta River Association
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 563-1393
Address: 109-110 Belvedere Rd.
Description: Founded in 1973, this little conservation organization has done a fantastic job helping to preserve the finest parcels of open space in the Damariscotta area, and it now manages more than 2,900 acres and 22 miles of shoreline. Many people have heard of the Damariscotta Shell Middens, big heaps of oyster shells discarded centuries ago by natives on holiday, but few have visited them. Step along on the Salt Bay Heritage Trail, and soon you’ll find yourself staring up at them. Even if you have no interest in archaeology, the trail, which begins across from the Lincoln County Publishing Building, a skip from the Damariscotta exit off Route 1, is a beautiful 3-mile walk that skirts photogenic Great Salt Bay. On the other side of the bay is the Salt Bay Farm Heritage Center, a pretty old farm on Belvedere Road that serves as the River Association’s headquarters, and there are miles of trails through the surrounding 100 acres of hills and meadows and down to the river behind it. It’s open from dawn to dusk. Finally, off of old Route 1, just up the road from Hannaford, is the Whaleback Park, another great walk through eight acres of wide-open fields and down by the water.
2. The Breakfast Place
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 563-5434
Address: 95 Main St.
Description: Homey is the word at this corner shop in downtown Damariscotta. The coffee cups are kept on a neat hutch that seems taken from your grandmother’s, the waitress may well call you “dear,” and every table has a rooster lamp atop it. So the place is very comfortable, and the fare is good, solid, morning comfort food. If you want something more adventurous than bacon and eggs or pancakes, you can try the McRoss, the house special. It’s a French toast sandwich with egg and bacon or sausage. Or order up the broccoli and cheese omelet or the corned beef hash with a single poached egg. The bread is homemade, the coffee has a kick, and the service is just right. Open daily from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
3. Damariscotta River Grill
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 563-2992
Address: 155 Main St.
Description: Chef Rick Hirsch likes to say that the secret to his cuisine is simplicity, and, whatever it is, it’s working. Tourists, locals, regional magazines, and Wine Spectator all eat the place up, so to speak. Surf and turf, with flavorful fusion twists, made from simple and local ingredients is the order of the day. If you like your chicken “voluptuous and moist” or your steak “sustaining and earthy” you’ll like it, too. The talents here are behind the dining room at the Anchor Inn in Round Pond, too.
4. King Eider’S Pub
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 563-6008
Address: 2 Elm St.
Description: This Damariscotta watering hole has a cool cartoon logo, good beer, and a nice selection of pub foods—its burgers are a favorite. The ball game will be on above the bar downstairs, the waitresses will be friendly, and the desserts are not to be missed. Slide into one of the comfortable wooden booths, and order a bowl of the seafood chowder or maybe some local oysters, and you won’t be disappointed.
5. Round Top Ice Cream
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 563-5307
Address: Business Route 1
Description: Round Top not only sells its 52 flavors in stores across the Midcoast, it sells them in an ever-expanding gambrel-roofed stand on the way out of Damariscotta. Round Top has been in business since 1924, and the crowds still come.
6. Schooner Cove
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Retirement
Telephone: (207) 563-5523
Address: 35 Schooner St.
Description: Situated on the banks of the Damariscotta River, Schooner Cove has a lot going for it. The 59 residents have great views of the tidal river from their two-bedroom apartments, a fine dining room at which to sup, a well-stocked library, and access to medical services should they be needed, with Miles Memorial Hospital a stone’s throw away. Chase Point Assisted Living Center and Cove’s Edge Nursing Home are right next door, too, ready to serve if needed. There’s plenty to do—classes and lectures, afternoon teas, and musical performances occur on a regular basis, and there are frequent trips into town and to points in the area for museum visits, nature walks, and shopping. Housekeeping and other services are taken care of—and the staff is second to none in Maine. This is one of the best.
7. Maine Coast Book Shop
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 563-3207
Address: 158 Main St.
Description: One of those local-business-makes-good success stories, this Damariscotta bookseller was so popular, it moved out of its small old store into a former supermarket, which it has filled with a great selection of children’s books and Maine titles. You can find the best sellers, of course, but you can also pick up signed Down East titles. The staff is what makes the place great.
8. Pine Tree Yarns
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 563-8909
Address: 74 Main St.
Description: Maine has all kinds of yarn makers, but there are a few whose fibers and colors seem to transcend. Elaine Eskesen’s company, Pine Tree Yarns, which operates out of the historic Nathaniel Austin House, is one of them. Eskesen has wool that she dyes herself, as well as yarns and natural fibers from around the state. At Pine Tree Yarns you can pick up a colorful skein to knit your mom a sweater—or buy her the sweater instead. There are kits for dyeing, books, hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves, as well as all sorts of knitting knickknacks and accessories. You’ll be “yarning” before you know it.
9. Reny’S
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 563-5757
Address: 33 Main St.
Description: Mainers have quite the love affair with Reny’s. These small neighborhood department stores are brimming with an amazing variety of goods—from jeans to DVD players to vitamins—and they inevitably have things cheaper than anywhere else if they have them. Usually a great deal cheaper, thanks to the chain’s pipeline of brand-name suppliers, who send them their seconds and refurbished items. Just about every neighborhood has one now, it seems. Reny’s are spread across the state in Bath, Belfast, Bridgton, Camden, Damariscotta, Dexter, Ellsworth, Farmington, Gardiner, Madison, Pittsfield, Saco, and Wells. This store is the flagship, though. Actually it’s two stores that sit on opposite sides of Main Street, one for clothes, the other with everything else. You’ll inevitably leave with something. It’s that good.
10. Weatherbird
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 563-8993
Address: 72 Courtyard St.
Description: A sort of yupscale country store, Weatherbird has an inventory that’s difficult to classify. A small grocery and specialty food store greets you as you walk in off the street; it’s filled with wine, teas, and gourmet foods of all varieties. A small nook filled with neat toys then leads you to a section of nice, creative women’s clothes. Tucked here and there are housewares, rugs, mobiles, and soaps.
11. Riverarts
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 563-1507
Address: 170 Main St.
Description: The community of Damariscotta was stunned in December of 2006 when it heard that the old institution, Round Top Center for the Arts, a cultural staple for 20 years, was going to close. Riverarts was born to fill the void it left behind, sponsoring art classes, shows, poetry readings, and other events on a year-round basis. See the Web site for the latest happenings.
12. The Firehouse Gallery
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 563-7299
Address: 1 Bristol Rd.
Description: This gallery makes for a nifty visit, housed as it is in a renovated mid-19th-century firehouse. Where there was once firefighting apparatus, there are now paintings by regional talents, crafts, folk arts, ceramics, and jewelry. The gallery has rotating exhibits.
13. Lincoln Theater
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (207) 563-3424
Address: 2 Theater St.
Description: A state-of-the-art showplace when it was built in the 19th century, this aging gem now shows first-run movies, one a week, in summer.
14. Chapman-Hall House
City: Damariscotta, ME
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: Main St.
Description: A fine old cape, this Damariscotta institution has been sitting at the top of Main Street since the 1750s, making it one of the state’s most venerable buildings. It was built by Nathaniel Chapman, who was part of the family that settled the area, and inside you’ll find period furnishings and historical memorabilia of the area. Many examples remain of the way the place was constructed, and there are famous herb beds and 18th-century roses outside. Hours of operation vary from year to year.