Damariscotta
It was a bright, sunny day perfect weather for a day trip to Damariscotta!
Damariscotta is about an hour’s drive South on Route 1 from Searsport Shores. The name “Damariscotta” was derived from the Algonquian word Madamescontee, meaning “place of an abundance of alewives,” which are small, salty fish that spawn in Damariscotta Lake. Today the translation should be “charming destination with good food, shopping, easy parking and salty air.” You can thoroughly explore the village by leaving your campsite at 10 and you’ll be back home for cocktails by the fire ring before the sun sets behind the Northport hills.
Our first stop was for a little color therapy at Alewives Fabrics. If you’re a quilter this is a place to know, They have an excellent selection of fabrics including unique, locally inspired prints. You’ll find it 5 minutes off route 1 in Damariscotta Mills. When you’ve found the perfect fabric, if you need beads or yarn, head back to Main St Damariscotta and look for Aboca Beads and Pine Tree Yarns…both are wonderfully independent stores with the promise of a treasure you aren’t going to find at any local mall. Elaine Eskesin dyes many of the yarns in her store and designs wonderful knitting and rug hooking kits. You may even have Elaine’s book on your shelf: Dyeing to Knit…one of the first indi-dye books to come out a decade ago.
First Stop Alewives Fabrics for some color therapy
Downtown Damariscotta
If you keep the ocean to your left, on the right you’ll find a wonderful independent book store and coffee shop…special tip for book lovers: when you’re done perusing this book store, ask anyone there how to find the Friends of Skidompha used book store one block off of Main St. You never know what you’ll find here but I never seem to leave without three books I’ve been “missing all of my life.” Did you notice there’s a Reny’s too? In case you didn’t know, Reny’s is the real outlet for Land’s End, J. Jill, Woolrich, LL Bean and many other labels you’ll recognize.
King Eider’s Pub
Hungry for some traditional pub fare? The King Eider Pub covers all the bases: a seasonal menu, great atmosphere and a terrific choice of brews…can you look for anything else on a relaxing afternoon?
Nice atmosphere to warm a January afternoon
Steak and Ale Pie was so good if I weren’t in public I would have licked the plate!
Damariscotta is also where oysters are “farmed” but we’ll have to tell you more about that in spring since they’re not harvesting oysters in January.
What makes a destination even better? Parking. Damariscotta has one of the prettiest parking lots on the coast…behind the stores on a beautiful cove. So pretty in fact that you should consider having a picnic lunch on the tailgate…or at least your coffee and cookie while you watch the cormorants dry their wings and listen to the fisherman talk about their latest catch. Or my favorite…watch people bring their boats up and down the ramp and wait until someone backs up too far or…oh it’s good to to be human 😉
Promise of fun in the summer