Propane lamps cast a straw-colored, tremulous light throughout The Pioneer Place, U.S.A, Smyrna’s only general store, where the shelves are packed tightly with every tool, dry good, and sundry ...

Know your seaweed: when it's in season, what it tastes like, and how best to use it in the kitchen. Location: Subtidal on rocky substrate, found in more sheltered environments and in areas of strong ...

With its extreme weather and short summers, Maine can seem daunting to novice gardeners, as well as green thumbs relocating from warmer climates. The good news is gardening in Maine really isn’t more ...

The Harpswell Anchor, a handsome little 32-page monthly tabloid newspaper, got its start in 1998, when lobsterman Bob Anderson found himself looking for a career change. Already a writer, Anderson ...

Soon after I moved to Kennebunkport, in 2009, I got a job working at Wink’s, a mom-and-pop sandwich shop. The store opened at 5 a.m., which made it the preferred morning hangout for the town’s ...

First-time visitors to Vesta might note the bubbly elliptical pizzas and plates of pecorino-studded rigatoni on their neighbors’ tables and figure they’re in for homey trattoria fare. Then again, they ...

In a brief chapter of Moby-Dick, Ishmael and his crewmates encounter flip aboard a passing whaler, off the coast of Patagonia. “Flip? Did I say we had flip?” he gushes. “Yes, and we flipped it at the ...

[C]aptain Lemuel Moody was one of Munjoy Hill’s first prospectors. At the turn of the 19th century, the aging Moody quit his work as a sea captain after he was kidnapped and held briefly by pirates, ...

[dropcap letter=”O”]ne of the first roadside landmarks after crossing into Maine on I-95 is a big, yellow moose-crossing sign — though the location suggests that it’s there more to delight tourists ...

If you enjoyed this story, I hope you’ll consider supporting Down East. For more than 70 years, Down East has been a leading ambassador and advocate for Maine — spreading stories across the country ...

For a soak with floral fragrance, try rose-geranium soap from SoulShine Soap Company, a line of organic palm-oil soaps made by hand in Michelle Byram’s Hampden kitchen. To go fragrance-free, try ...

The back roads of the Ossipee Valley are quiet and pastoral, perfect for a country drive. And Cornish, halfway between Portland and the White Mountains, is the perfect place to stretch your legs — and ...