| Rockland Maine's Old Granite Inn | | | | John, the innkeeper, originally from |
| | | | California, greeted me and showed me around |
| Read Jetsetters Magazine at | | | | the modest inn, and then took me to my room, |
| | | | an airy corner alcove on the second floor |
| To read this entire feature FREE with photos | | | | (room #6) with windows all around for great |
| cut and paste this link: | | | | views of the bay. |
| | | | |
| Every year in an Outside Magazine readers' | | | | John's wife, Regan is an educator from New |
| poll, Rockland, Maine ranks among the top 100 | | | | York City. John is a former engineer, so he |
| best small towns to live in. This is the town | | | | keeps the inn in tiptop shape. There's a |
| where the then controversial 1957 Lana Turner | | | | steam radiator for heat in the winter, but it |
| soap opera flick, Peyton Place, was filmed - | | | | is summer, and I didn't need the ceiling |
| back when the most dangerous thing in a small | | | | fans, so I popped open the large windows for |
| town was . . . gossip! The producers wanted | | | | fresh breezes coming off the saltwater bay. |
| to give small, hometown America a risqué | | | | |
| shock that today is a comical celluloid | | | | The OGI has 11 standard rooms, nine with |
| version of homespun Americana, a mild | | | | private baths, but try to get my room, #6, |
| comparison to what is on the Internet today. | | | | the best room, with private bath and a king |
| | | | comfy bed, period-piece dresser drawers, and |
| Maine joins only one other state in the lower | | | | replicated gray-stripped Colonial Federalist |
| 48, the only state to do so. It is the only | | | | wallpaper. The natural hardwoods throughout |
| state with a single syllable. Life in Maine | | | | the inn have been painstakeningly restored. |
| is a simple life, not many complexities. | | | | |
| Rockland has not changed much since the '50s. | | | | On the ground floor, the living room is |
| I guess that is why the PP producers chose it | | | | stocked with books about the area, with a |
| for their mighty cult genre. | | | | fireplace in front of the sofas to curl up in |
| | | | with one of those tomes. The dining area is |
| I was sitting in a local café one fine | | | | just off to the back, where Regan serves her |
| summer day, gazing upon the black and white | | | | famous quiche in the morning. You can come |
| photos on the wall of a bygone era of the | | | | cook for me anytime, Regan. Breakfast is from |
| historic Main Street. There used to be an | | | | 8-9 a.m., with coffee at 7 a.m. |
| electric trolley line down the main drag, and | | | | |
| the gossip is they are bringing it back. I | | | | From 1906-1984 the Old Granite Inn served as |
| can see Peyton Place in the frozen-in-time | | | | an Elks Club, but it was originally built in |
| snapshots. Rockland is still a great place to | | | | the 1700s as a family home. The gray terrazzo |
| live. Main Street is now on the National | | | | floors were added after a fire gutted the |
| Register of Historic Places, with most of the | | | | building in the 1940s. |
| old brick buildings housing ice cream shops, | | | | |
| bookstores, cafés and bars, museums and | | | | John and Regan Cary live in a more |
| art galleries. Rockland is a wonderful place | | | | contemporary home attached to the OGI. Regan |
| to visit in the summer - just for all those | | | | was working hard in a computer cubby hole, |
| farm fresh flavors of ice cream! | | | | designing a flyer for a rummage sale that |
| | | | day, taking place in the basement. I checked |
| But beneath the surface, the community has a | | | | out the items for sale, and John was doing a |
| lot going for it. MBNA moved into town and is | | | | brisk business for such an early morning |
| the main employer, the largest privately | | | | start. |
| owned credit card issuer is the U.S., with | | | | |
| their corporate restored stark white Greek | | | | Get on their email newsletter at |
| Revivalist-style headquarters near the water, | | | | |
| giving it a campus-like feel. It is fun to | | | | Check out is at 11 a.m., but I was staying |
| walk around Rockland, to view the old | | | | longer in town, so with Regan's permission I |
| mansions and buildings; duck into a canoe and | | | | left my bags and came back later and left the |
| dory building shop to see dense, white Maine | | | | key in the basket by the door. That gave me a |
| cedar turned into a recreational work of art. | | | | warm, small town feeling, and I can see why |
| | | | Rockland is voted one of the best small towns |
| One place not to be missed is the Farnsworth | | | | to live in - because of people like John and |
| Art Museum, rather museums. Farnsworth is a | | | | Regan. |
| respected name in Rockland, and you will find | | | | |
| a three-story art gallery museum in the old | | | | Summer Fun In Maine |
| bank building on Main Street, and then a few | | | | |
| blocks to the back is the magnificent Pirate | | | | The North Atlantic Blues Festival, winner of |
| Museum (entrance $7). | | | | the Blues Foundations "Keeping the Blues |
| | | | Alive Award", runs in July at Harbor Park, in |
| The Pirate Museum is a vast collection of | | | | Rockland. I noted that Shemekia Copeland was |
| dramatic seafaring oil paintings, mostly | | | | one of the headliners at the 2003 event, whom |
| create by the notable Wyeths (The museum is | | | | I saw in Vegas, and she shouldn't be missed. |
| known as the Wyeth Center.), a three | | | | Tickets are only $20 per day, $25 at the |
| generational collection of their canvases | | | | door, or better yet, $35 for a weekend pass. |
| that portrays the days of yore and lore on | | | | Call 207/593-1189 or call the Rockland |
| the high seas. Rockland still maintains its | | | | Chamber of Commerce at 800/562-2526. |
| links to windjammers and packet boats. Many | | | | |
| summertime windjammers load up a cargo of | | | | Port cargo is up 43% over the prior year in |
| tourists for cruises through the Penobscot | | | | the Rockland port, but the fishing haul is |
| Bay islands. Later in the day I watched ferry | | | | down at the Portland Fish Exchange, as was |
| boats load trucks and cars for the largest | | | | the number of cruise ships in the harbor. The |
| island, Vinalhaven, where in the past much of | | | | cruise ships are all going over to Bar |
| the famous Maine granite was quarried. | | | | Harbor, now, but you can still catch a family |
| | | | outing on a traditional coastal schooner |
| The regional airport is located just outside | | | | through the Maine Windjammer Association Do |
| Rockland at the Knox County Airport; the | | | | not miss the Pirate Museum at the Farrington |
| terminal is a throw back to simpler times. I | | | | Wyeth Museum in Rockland. Find out why |
| think they still shoo cows off the runway, | | | | pirates capture our imagination from these |
| but the security problems of the world have | | | | imaginative portraits, murals, and seascapes. |
| hit home - four TSA agents checked my bags on | | | | I guess there is a little of a pirate in all |
| the flight out - I was the only passenger on | | | | of us. Then you will have some jargon to swap |
| the plane, so they had plenty of time to | | | | with the maties on your summer windjammer |
| unzip everything. On my flight to Maine I met | | | | cruise. |
| returning residents bound for some of the | | | | |
| coastal islands. The main Maine airline into | | | | For the best on Maine on TV check out "Bill |
| the terminal is Colgan, a rubber-band express | | | | Green's Maine" on Channel WLEZ in Bangor, |
| service of USAir, with connecting flights | | | | Maine, or WCSH in Portland, Maine, or visit |
| primarily to Boston. The local bus terminal | | | | |
| is located at the Ferry terminal, which is | | | | The Rockland Farmers' Market Association is |
| probably really the main hub of the town | | | | an organization of independent local farmers, |
| because a marina is located close by. | | | | growers, and producers who offer a wide |
| | | | variety of locally produced farm fresh foods, |
| The Rockland ferry terminal is across Main | | | | plants, flowers and other products. Many of |
| Street from the best place to stay in town - | | | | those products can be purchased in the stores |
| the historic Old Granite Inn, a Colonial | | | | on Main Street. |
| Federalist architectural sculpture hewn from | | | | |
| tons of St. George, Maine artisan-dressed | | | | Acadia National Park is close by, great for |
| granite. | | | | rock climbing with Acadia Mountain Guides: |
| | | | or call 800/232-9559. |