Full house this week? Try these tips for making meal preparation easier!

• When cooking breakfast for a crowd try preparing your coffee cake or muffins the night before (or up to 3-4 days in advance) and place it in the freezer overnight uncooked. In the morning put the cake in the middle of the cold oven, turn the temperature on and add about 7-10 minutes to the normal cooking time. The preheat cycle becomes the defrost cycle.  If the cake has been frozen for more than overnight you may need to add a little time to the total cooking cycle.  Your guests enjoy the wonderful smells of freshly baked coffee cake or muffins without you having to think!
• Try adding a slice of lemon or a mint leaf to glasses of ice water on the table.  This makes a fabulous presentation to your guests helping to set the tone for a very special meal.
• Did you know that the “wild” blueberries from Maine freeze fabulously? We buy flash frozen berries by the pounds from the blueberry farm and enjoy fresh Maine blueberries year round.  You can find Wyman or other Maine brands in your local freezer but make sure they say “Maine Wild Blueberries”.

Have you found yourself hosting during the holidays? Are you wondering how you can make your home look more festive without taking days to prepare? Here are some easy ideas!

• Wrap it up! Chances are you have framed pictures in your dining room and living room.  Wrap them as if they were a present. Use a favorite wrapping paper and use a nice matching ribbon to make a bow. Then hang it back on the wall for a nice, easy, festive touch.
• Use what’s in season. Fills clear glass vases of all different shapes and sizes and fill with fresh cranberries, pine cones, Clippings from long pines, various sized
• Make snowflakes! Remember when you were a kid and you made them in school. You’ll remember right away how fun it was and it’s a great way to spend time with kids. They will look festive and beautiful. If you want to hang them with fishing line from a ceiling use a sturdier paper.
• Wrap an evergreen garland around your chandelier and attach pine cones and poinsettia flowers to it for color.
• Do you have a fireplace? Fill it with red and green or red and gold pillar candles of all different sizes.
• Use what you get. Holidays cards! Create an archway over a doorway by attaching the cards on both sides. You can spray paint old window shutters red and hang them on the wall and put the cards in. Or you can fill a holiday themed container such as a wooden sleigh and place them on a table.
• It’s so sweet! Fill different sized bud vases and glasses with unwrapped candy canes, red m&m’s, Nonpareils, and other festive holiday candies.
• Tie large Christmas balls (one each) to a piece of fishing line and hang them from the ceiling at different varying heights (beware of head bonking)
• Wrap a bunch of different sized boxes. Use a very pretty paper and stack the boxes and tie with a ribbon. They can be used as centerpieces or places in various nooks.
• Spruce up a mirror. Hang evergreen garland, wooden red beads, a garland of Christmas Cards or snowflakes across a mirror.

The spirit of giving may be on the minds of holiday revelers this month, but for the four Historic Inns of Rockland, it’s a guiding light throughout the year.  Recently, the Historic Inns of Rockland were nominated for an America Inspired Award sponsored by Examiner.com, for their noteworthy collaboration and community giving. Not only does this group of four inns set an example for friendly collaboration, but just as important as putting heads in their beds is their mission to give back to the community not just during the holidays but al year long. At this time of year when the spirit of giving is on everyone’s mind, the Historic inns of Rockland are busy organizing their 8th Annual Pies on Parade program which will raise enough money to feed 100 hungry Midcoast Maine families for a year when matched with funds from other grant programs. The idea for the Pie Tour is simple, serve pie on a cold winter day and raise money for the local Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry and Fuel Assistance Program. Let tour go
ers eat pie so the hungry can too!

The Historic Inns of Rockland have spent an entire year recruiting businesses to participate, encouraging a wide variety of pies to be made (everyone’s favorite sweet pies, plus pizza pie, Shepherd’s Pie, Meat and Seafood Pies, egg pies, Whoopee Pies, even healthy pies), creating maps, selling tickets and then giving every person who attends their own fork to cut down on waste. Hundreds of hours of time are spent on the “Pie Tour” as most affectionately call it, and the outcome is always success. Tickets sell out, and to date more than $40,000 has been raised for the AIO Food Pantry and Fuel Assistance Program in the seven year tenure of Pies on Parade.

Yet, Historic Inns of Rockland’s giving doesn’t stop with pies. A recent Historic Inns of Rockland Holiday House Tour raised nearly $2900 for the Friends of the Rockland Library. Thousands of dollars have been given to local environmental groups from the Historic Inns of Rockland in honor of each and every guest who came to create a little smaller footprint for each traveler. Every guest who comes to Historic Inns of Rockland receives a reusable shopping bag to help them cut down unnecessary waste one person at a time. Their commitment to sustainable travel netted them a spot in BedandBreakfast.com’s list of top ten environmentally conscious inns. Each of the four member inns are Certified Maine Environmental Leaders, a designation that comes only with stringent commitment to eco-friendly business practices. Their commitment to community and sustainable travel is their passion.

The Historic Inns of Rockland offer prizes, gift certificates and plenty of overnight stays to community organizations like Maine Lighthouse Week, Penobscot Bay Chamber of Commerce and more. Beyond staying at the inns, the group champions the idea of making Rockland the destination first, then staying in a historic inn second.

The Historic Inns of Rockland offer an inspiring model for business collaboration. As Frank Isganitis, co-owner of the LimeRock Inn cleverly tells people “I spend more marketing my competition than I do my own inn!” Some might question the logic there, but this group of four innkeepers from Berry Manor Inn, LimeRock Inn, Captain Lindsey House and Granite Inn are committed to community and their mission supersedes all traditional notions of competition.

May the spirit of giving be with you throughout the holiday season and 2012.  Best holiday wishes from Historic Inns of Rockland.

When you think “historic inn” you don’t necessarily think that minimalist or modernist is a flavor you’re going to experience.

The stately granite exterior walls that frame the Granite Inn are the first clue that this is an altogether different kind of inn. According to the innkeeper Ed and Joan Hantz, this house was probably originally built as a customs house or government structure in 1840, becoming a private residence by 1855.

Come on in!

The granite blocks are the only antique part of this inn, excavated hundreds of years ago from a local St. George quarry. Maine supplied much of the East with granite in the mid-1800s and was uniquely positioned to offer a vast amount of mineral resources as a national export until cement replaced it as a building material in the early 1900s. It’s interesting to consider how many people in Rockland this industry kept employed until the turn of the century and how many original buildings and homes in the Midcoast still bear the mark of their labor.

Situated on Main Street with a view of Rockland Harbor, the Granite Inn’s rather blunt first impression is softened by its front porch topped with a recycled, 200-year-old yellow pine banister, as well as its beautiful, tidy gardens and potted flowers. Once inside the open-plan living room, your eyes are drawn to bamboo and granite floors, particularly the Terrazzo poured concrete with stone chips in the living room, from the Inn’s days as the Elks’ Lodge (1906 to around 1980).  A fantastic exposed granite wall graces the dining area, along with mix and match contemporary tables for small or large groups and interchangeable track lighting.  Mid-century modern furniture mixed with antiques and original artwork lend a light, airy contrast to the granite themes.

Ed, Joan & Zack

Together, Ed and Joan, both very creative and artistic people, have crafted special touches to their inn, attracting travelers who want to stay at a sophisticated place with simple elegance. Indeed, each of the eight distinctive rooms with private baths feels lovingly designed, like a cross between West Elm and a spa, from the choice of bamboo or grass-woven headboards in certain rooms, to the urban chic bathrooms, some with Philippe Starck fixtures. An added bonus: the inn is both pet- and kid-friendly, with the ability to convert certain rooms into close, but separated spaces for both the parents and the children.

Traditional meets modern

Having received Environmental Leader certification from the State of Maine, Ed and Joan aspire to eco-tourism and a green environment with a solar water heating system that heats and cools several bedrooms along with a long list of additional eco-friendly practices. Upstairs, each room contains original artwork (some of it Joan’s) and has great views of the harbor. On a windy night, you can hear the soft chimes of the halyards on the sailboats directly across the street.

Sunrise across the water

The decor of the Granite Inn is only half of its appeal. As mentioned in our post, “The Beauty Is In The Breakfast,” when you wake up in any of the four Historic Inns of Rockland Maine, you can expect to be pampered the moment you sit down to breakfast. And the Granite Inn does not disappoint: it is becoming known for its original and hearty gourmet breakfasts using local ingredients as much as possible. Ed is the baker in the family and gets up early each morning to prepare all the fresh-baked menu items (you must try his ginger scones with homemade cranberry chutney!)

Delicious!

Lastly, the convenience of staying at the Granite Inn means having instant access to  Rockland’s vibrant Main Street. Once out the door, it’s an easy walking distance to many fine museums, restaurants, stores, galleries, historic schooners, and the ferry terminal directly across Main Street. As you walk along Main Street, see if you can identify how many other buildings have original granite exteriors, evidence of a bygone era.

To see more fabulous touches to the Granite Inn, visit: http://www.historicinnsofrockland.com/granite-inn/

If you’re someone who loves the idea of stepping back into an earlier century when you travel to Maine, the LimeRock Inn is like a live version of the History Channel. In 1892, this six-bedroom, one-bath house with servant’s quarters was built in for U.S. Congressman Littlefield on a quiet, side street in a small, shipbuilding town of Rockland, Maine.

Welcome to the Limerock Inn!

From the moment you approach the comfortable, wraparound porch, you know you are about to experience something special. In fact, Yankee Magazine Editors gave it the distinction of the “Best Wraparound Porch in Maine”. Inn owners Frank Isganitis and PJ Walter, who’ve been featured in HGTV’s “If Walls Could Talk,” enjoy the fact that every single thing in this grand house—from the wainscoting to the mysterious hidden chimney in the dining area—has a story.

Beautiful views from every seat!

As you walk into the Victorian style foyer, you notice two well-appointed formal parlors on either side. Frank explains Littlefield was affluent in his day and entertained quite frequently. For social reasons, one parlor was designated for the men and one  for the women.  Frank paints a picture of what it used to be like when after dinner; the men retired with their cigars and political discussions to one parlor, while the women (who didn’t have a right to vote) resumed their social discussions in the opposite parlor.

According to Frank, Congressman Littlefield desired a law library—and in those days, he didn’t go half way. Keeping with the Queen Anne architecture of the house, Littlefield had a turretted addition built onto the house, complete with hand-curved glass and artfully constructed window sashes.  Moving past bookshelves and an English style fireplace today, you can still imagine  the smell of cigar smoke, and hear the soft snap of the fireplace while the candlelight from the foyer’s chandelier casts shadows on the beautiful cupola in the parlor.

As you climb the carpeted stairs, passing rooms with French country furnishings, you can clearly see this was not only a well-loved and well-cared for home at the turn of the century, but one that is still proudly maintained today. At the top of the stairs, the Turret Room greets guests with its metal canopy bed tucked into the curved mauve walls. Within the room, French doors open to a large, private bathroom with a free standing tub and a separate oversized shower stall.

Another interesting fact: in Littlefield’s time, only one bathroom was installed in this original house. In those days, even one bathroom with indoor plumbing was considered opulent.  So The Turret Room’s bathroom (like every bathroom in the LimeRock Inn’s renovation) was constructed with the same architectural attention to detail as the rest of the house in line with the Queen Anne era.

A quick peek reveals Egyptian cotton linens on the beds, as well as a hair dryer, rejuvenating soap, bath oils and shampoo in the bathrooms, ot to mention WiFi and TVs in every room! And there you have it—all of the wonder and charm of the old world with all of the modern amenities a traveler needs to stay in touch.

Coming to Maine for a vacation is all about immersing yourself in the experience of what it’s like to live here.  So, if you’re interested in staying in an inn with personality that stretches back to 1892, consider staying with Frank and PJ at the LimeRock Inn—they’ll be happy to take you back in time.

For more information about the history of The LimeRock Inn, visit: http://www.limerockinn.com/media-articles.html.

As you’ll notice when browsing the website of the four Historic Inns of Rockland, Maine, each inn has its own distinct flavor. When you stay at the Captain Lindsey House, you’re stepping into an atmosphere of seafaring captains and all the adventure, lore and laughter that goes with it.

Inn owners Ken and Ellen Barnes have a propensity to fly by the seat of their pants. With the type of intrepid spirit that few couples can get away with so successfully, they decided to pack up their four kids, their North Carolina house and move to Maine in 1979 in search of a new business and a new life. In Camden, Maine, they found The Stephen Taber, the oldest documented merchant sailing vessel in continuous service in the United States for sale. This was their dream, but it would not be an easy, turn-key operation. To take on the frayed Taber meant being prepared to invest years of time and work into her in order to bring the vessel back to her once-gleaming majesty. Yet, with a leap of faith, they went for it.

Captain Ken Barnes below decks

For the next two years, while Ken worked toward earning his Captain’s license, the family gathered the supplies they would need to completely rebuild the vessel. After their third summer of ownership, they retrofitted the Taber using 10 skilled volunteers and paid crew during one of the coldest winters in Maine. Bit by bit, they restored the Taber to her natural beauty just as historic schooner trips became popular and profitable again. Years later, Ellen also earned her Captain’s license, in addition to the graduate degrees she held in Literature of Theater and Directing and Acting. “Why not?” she said, with a characteristic twinkle in her eye. “It was one more challenge I had to accomplish.”

Ken and Ellen’s son, Noah, was only six when he first stepped aboard, but, according to Ellen, he made himself quite useful. “I’m sure we had him pounding bungs, or standing watch. Cleaning heads—you know all the stuff a kid likes to do!”

For Noah, the family tradition would be part of his destiny. He grew up on the Taber and at age 18, like his parents, earned his Captain’s license. But like most boys who grow up in small towns, he wanted to see more of the world. For the next decade or so, he did just that, eventually landing in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, working in public relations and captaining the schooner Adirondack, running day sails out of the New York harbor on weekends.

Captain Lindsey House

When his mother and father were ready to retire, the fate of the Taber pitched precariously. Noah wasn’t sure if he wanted to come back to Maine, but no one in the family wanted to see the Taber go to any other owner, after all the years of love and hard work they’d put into her! So at age 30, Noah tacked in a direction that would change the course of his life and took over the business from his parents, who retired and focused on the Captain Lindsey House. Noah’s been secure in this decision since day one. Quoted in Romar Traveler, Captain Noah says:

“Stops will include a village here or an uninhabited island there. One of the fantastic things Penobscot Bay is that there are no bad options. There are so many places to go and they are so packed together that at any point I will have five choices of places to sail. That means that every morning, I will not know where we are going. I will select our best sail, our best course based on the wind and the tide at the time, where a nice sunset may be viewed, where the best lobsters can be purchased. In the last ten years we have not repeated a week’s itinerary.”

Capt Ken Barnes playing bagpipes (left) as Capt. Noah Barnes (right) sails past the Rockland Breakwater

Today, with his wife Jane (a wine expert who help runs their famed wine tasting charters) and their three-year-old son Oscar, they keep the family tradition alive. Ken and Ellen still occasionally participate on trips. They’ll be participating in a six-day Music & Storytelling trip on the Taber July 8-14, 2012.

If you plan on staying at the Captain Lindsey House, do not miss a chance to combine your land getaway with some time on the sea. Schedule a four- or six-day trip or better yet, plan on utilizing the Land and Sea package offered by any of the four Historic Inns of Rockland. This package combines a windjamming trip with a three-day stay at your choice of inns. With the Taber, you’ll get more than just an ordinary schooner ride. Along with the knockout gourmet full course meals prepared on a woodstove, excellent wines, an unparalleled experience aboard the high seas, look forward to the full, maritime flavor of this 140-year-old vessel and the warm company of the Barnes family. Prepare to laugh a lot and enjoy yourselves in a quintessential Maine experience you’ll never forget.

For more information about The Stephen Taber, visit www.stephentaber.com To learn more about the Captain Lindsey House, visit www.lindseyhouse.com

For more information on the Historic Inns of Rockland Maine Land and Sea Package visit: http://www.historicinnsofrockland.com/landlubbers-a-la-carte/

Once you step foot into Maine, you’re introduced to an entirely different way of life—exactly what we set out to depict in our “One-day Live Like a Local” Itinerary for the Historic Inns of Rockland, Maine. For example, Captain Jack’s Lobster Tours are a great way to learn how lobsters are caught from a real Maine lobsterman.

Maine "Lobstah"

(If you ever wanted to know why live lobsters are actually bluish-green, the answer is that the red pigment in lobsters’ shells only emerges when they’re cooked.)

No one else on the Midcoast offers this kind of up-close and personal window into how a local lobsterman makes his living, so spend a few hours on a Captain Jack Lobster Tour for a fun and fascinating ride. Check out this recent article on his tour called “A Maine Lobster Boat Adventure.”

Hauling a Lobster Trap

Or perhaps you’d rather explore Rockland and the beautiful areas surrounding it on land rather than on sea. The local bike and coffee shop Bikesenjava (BNJ) at 481 Main Street “has become the unofficial clubhouse for local cyclists, triathletes and adventure racers alike.” Stop in and rent a comfortable bike for the very reasonable price of $20 a day for an Electra Townie “with seven gears that can get you up any hill around here” or, for serious cyclists, $35-50 a day for a performance road bike.

Bikesenjava also provides a free map highlighting beautiful rides throughout the state.  Most of the staff at Bikesenjava have lived in the Midcoast for more than 20 years and are happy to point you in the right direction for a great day on your bike. For outstanding views, consider an island tour (hop on the Rockland ferry to North Haven or Vinalhaven or drive up to Lincolnville to get on the ferry to Islesboro).

Vinalhaven, Maine

Bikesenjava has a satellite location with rental bikes on Islesboro three days a week (M-W-F). Bring a picnic, ride around the islands all day, stop at the beaches and relax. Or, if you prefer to stay closer to Rockland, take the popular Owls Head Loop, a 12-mile ride highlighted by a lunch stop at the Owls Head General Store, famous for the “Seven Napkin Burger” featured on the Food Network Magazine. From there, head to Crescent Beach and Birch Point State Park and Beach.

Best Burger on The Coast of Maine

Traveling is all about gaining a different perspective. Sometimes we locals forget to live like locals with all of these fun things to do in our home town.  We love providing neat, off-the-beaten path things for our guests to do…so feel free to peruse our special guest Itineraries to see which one best fits your travel plans in Maine.

For more information about Captain Jack Lobster Tours visit http://www.captainjacklobstertours.com/ or call 207-542-6852. For more information about Bikesenjava visit http://www.haybikesenjava.com/ or call 207-596-1004.

This one-day itinerary gives you the best flavor on “how to live like a local in Rockland, ME!”

Friday Evening

4:00-5:00pm

Check into inn

6:00pm

Settle into your room and get to know your innkeepers

(They’ll tell you all the best spots to explore this weekend.)

7:00 pm

Hang out at Rock Harbor restaurant on Main Street

Casual dining with fresh, local food prepared on site.

Saturday

8:00am

Delicious homemade breakfast with other inn guests

10:00am

The fun as a “local” begins:

Activity 1: Captain Jack Lobster Boat Adventure (10:30am-11:45pm, $25 per adult )

See how Maine lobstermen make their daily living on a guided tour.

Experience Maine lobstering first hand

or

Activity 2: Birch Point Beach State Park, Owls Head

A quiet get-away, off the beaten track, and popular with local residents.

or

Activity 3: Bikesenjava, Main Street, Rockland (Bike rental: $20/day)

There is no better way to tour the midcoast and surrounding islands than on a bike!

12:00-1:00pm

Lunch at Wasses Hot Dog Stand

2 North Main Street

Try the traditional “with everything” and see why it’s a Rockland legend.

Wasses Hot Dog-Best Dogs Ever!

1:30pm

Stop by Thorndike Creamery for a slice of pizza or the best ice cream around.

3:30pm

Activity 1: Explore the local shops and galleries on Main Street and see why Rockland is considered one of  America’s “Coolest small towns.“

Rockland, ME

or

Activity 2: A Morning in Maine Boat Tour Day Sail (4:00-6:00pm $35 per person)

See Rockland from the water aboard a beautiful 55-foot ketch.

55' Ketch - Morning In Maine

6:00pm

Happy Hour at The Landings Restaurant on the water

You can’t get any more native than ordering the classic Dark n’ stormy!

7:30pm

Dinner at Lily Bistro*

*Their exceptional menu revolves around fresh ingredients from area growers and farmers; most of the beer and wine is local too!

Lily Bistro - Fresh food at its finest

Sunday

8:00-9:00 am

Another beautiful breakfast, courtesy of the innkeepers

11:00am

Relax until check out

We’re sorry to see you go but so happy you enjoyed your time here

Remember to find us and like us on Facebook and start planning your next trip with us!

As you’ll see in our One-Day “Digital Detox” Itinerary, one great way to ensure an unplugged afternoon without giving in to the temptation to check your electronic device is to spend a few hours on a Breakwater Kayak tour.

No Phone Zone on the water

“These days, people seem to have less and less time, so we do a jam-packed two-hour guided tour,” says owner Mark DiGiralamo. “Our groups are small-up to eight people- but most of the time, we’ll go out with two to four people. It’s a nice, small personal tour, using both double and single expedition sea kayaks.”

Scenic Rockland Harbor

DiGiralamo starts the adventure with a paddling lesson in the Rockland Harbor. Imagine paddling around the inner harbor, winding past a little rocky point to find nests of migrating seabirds, such seagulls, the Common Eider (sea duck), and Black Guillemots, a cousin to the Puffin.

Pair of Black Guillemots

As DiGiralamo leads the group around the Dragon Cement Granite Pier, you can pull alongside to the wall to see variety of marine invertebrates, such as sea urchins, starfish and crab at low tide. You may even observe lobsters moving around in their traps.

On a barge permanently docked at the end of the wharf, the group can get a good close look at a nest of ospreys (where DiGiralamo says a chick is quite active at the moment).   Paddling beyond that wharf, there is an old rocky piling where a lot of cormorants hang around. Work your kayak around the far side of the cove and you’ll cruise by the Rockland Boatyard to see how boatbuilders can raise the whole boat out of the water for ongoing projects.

Paddle over to the other side of Snow Cove, and you’ll discover a ledge marked with a tall, green day marker. Sometimes at low tide, you’ll get a first hand look at the seals hanging out on the rocks, according to DiGiralamo. As the tour winds up, check out the other side of the working harbor, including the marina sailboats, the fishing pier and a fantastic view of the Rockland Breakwater. Kayakers can get a nice up-close look at the schooners from here as well.

Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse

Just two hours of being in this environment will transcend someone into a whole new world. “It’s very peaceful,” says DiGiralamo. “The physical motion of moving yourself across the water in the harbor and being with wildlife swimming and flying all around you is very calming. And sometimes exciting. You might see an osprey diving directly in front of you or a seal popping up nearby.”

Even if you want to bring your smart phone, it is impossible to check while kayaking. And the time you spend on the water in this tour will make you forget the outside world even exists!  So, enjoy your Digital Detox afternoon before you head on back to your inn.

For more information on Breakwater Kayak’s two-hour tours (including a special sunset tour), contact Mark DiGiralamo at info@breakwaterkayak.com or visit their website: http://www.breakwaterkayak.com/