Things to do in the Belfast area: Indoors

(Fred Davis via Flickr)

Shopping and Antiquing

Downtown Belfast offers some fun second hand clothing shops, a game store, a candy shop, The Good Table (a tempting kitchenware store), a couple of antique stores, a leather shop, several women’s boutique clothing shops, a garden store, Shamrock, Thistle & Rose (an Irish goods store), Colburn’s (the oldest shoe store in America), touristy kick-knack stores, The Green Store, various galleries, and much more.

Rte. 1 between Belfast and Stockton Springs is littered with flea markets and antique shops.

The Belfast Farmer’s Market is open from 9am-1pm on Friday in downtown Belfast.  (All right, that’s not quite indoors.)

Wining and Dining

Cellar Door Winery in Lincolnville offers a chance to taste locally grown wines, and stroll the vineyard. On Saturday September 6th, they are hosting a food and wine sampling at the Vinyard from 12-3pm.

Belfast has many dining options, but let us recommend one favorite: One of the tastiest vegetarian restaurants around, Chase’s Daily on Main St. in downtown Belfast uses all fresh and local ingredients.  The perfect place for lunching and brunching.  They also bake their own breads, and sell fresh berries and flowers in the summer.

Museums and Galleries

The Penobscot Marine Museum is in downtown Searsport, just a few miles north of Belfast on Rte. 1.  Here you can learn about the region’s historic ties to the ocean through the fishing and shipbuilding industries.  Ship models, paintings, whale bones, and historic buildings.

The Farnsworth Art Museum is in downtown Rockland, about 45 minutes south of Belfast on Rte 1.  The Farnsworth houses a good collection of Wyeth paintings.

If you have a love of antique aircraft, automobiles, motorcycles, carriages, bicycles and engines, visit The Owl’s Head Transportation Museum in Owl’s Head, just south of Rockland.  On September 5^th and 6^th the museum will be hosting a Vintage Motorcycle Meet & Antique Aeroplane Show.

In Rockport, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art features the work of contemporary artists from the State of Maine. 

And if you’d rather simply stroll in and out of smaller galleries, downtown Belfast and Camden both have many to browse through.

Other entertainments

The Colonial Movie Theatre (163 High St, Belfast) is a cool little art deco theatre with 3 screens and an elephant on the roof.  It shows first-run movies as well as occasional indie work and foreign films.  Shows are usually around 7 and 9pm.  Showings and historical info online.

Oakland Park Lanes on Rte. 1 in Rockport is a candlepin bowling alley.  Candlepin bowling is a New England tradition, and if you like bowling but haven’t tried candlepin, here’s your chance!  They’re open 9:30am-10:00pm.  Call 207-594-7525 for more information.

Things to do in the Belfast area: Outdoors

(Kratka Photography via Flickr)

Hiking and nature walks

About a half hour south of Belfast there are two small mountains to climb in the Camden Hills State Park: Mount Battie and Baldrock Mountain.  They’re both climbable though at times steep, and offer great views of Camden Harbor, Panobscot Bay and beyond.  Good picnic spots on the summits.  Close enough to Camden that you can combine a hike with an afternoon in town.

Mount Megunticook (also in Camden Hills State Park) is in between Belfast and Camden, closer to Camden on Rte 52.  The 1.3 mile hike on the Maiden Cliff trail up to the summit (at 1300 feet) takes about an hour and offers a commanding view of Lake Megunticook.  A great hike to mix with a swim.

Fernald’s Neck Preserve is also on Lake Megunticook.  Accessible from Rte. 52, the 315 acre preserve’s trails are all easy strolls through meadows, tall forest, and a bog.  (Blue trail for lake views, orange trail for bog.)  Fernald’s Neck is a little off the beaten path: From Route 1 in Camden take route 52 about 4 miles to Fernald’s Neck Road. Just beyond the Youngstown Inn, bear left at the fork in the road. Continue past the grey farmhouse and park in the hay field near the woods.

Biking

You can bike all around the area, and there are lots of fun back roads to ride. (Don’t forget your helmet, especially since not all roads have shoulders.)

Tennis and Golf

There are public tennis courts in the Belfast City Park (located on High St./Northport Avenue).

Golfers will find public courses just north of Belfast at the Searsport Pines Golf Course, and just south of Belfast in Northport’s small Bayside community at the Northport Golf Club.

On and around the water

The mouth of Ducktrap River just over the Lincolnville border is a great place to spread out a towel and chill…when the tide comes in the water is quite deep and good for swimming (though it’s COLD!), and when the tide is low, you can walk out quite far and explore.  But keep an eye on the incoming tide, as it comes in quickly.

Lake St. George is a state park in Liberty (on Rte 3, 25 minutes west of Belfast) with a beautiful beach, changing facilities, lifeguards, and lots of children.  Jo’s favorite public fresh water swimming spot in the area.

Lake Megunticook is a close second, though.  On Rte 52 in Lincolnville, between Belfast and Camden, it’s a beautiful drive too.  Mount Megunticook overlooks the lake, and is the best local place for a hike-n-swim.

Canoes and kayaks can be rented in Belfast Harbor. Sailboat day cruises often depart from Belfast, Camden, Searsport & Rockland harbors.  Camden’s harbor in particular is beautiful.

The Camden Windjammer Festival runs from Friday through Sunday. Go here to experience tall ships, outdoor music, fireworks, arts & crafts, historical walking tours, lobster crate race, and short trips on historic ships.

Parks and islands

If you’re feeling like adding a new national park notch on your belt, venture up to Acadia National Park.  It’s about one and a half hours north on Rte 1…if there’s no traffic.  Acadia is right next to Bar Harbor, a famous traffic & pedestrian-clogged town where you can buy t-shirts with moose on them and bumper stickers that say “You can’t get they-ah from hee-ah.”  Whale-watching cruises depart from Bar Harbor.  Whales not guaranteed.

You can catch a ferry to the beautiful island of Islesboro from Lincolnville (20 minutes south of Belfast).  Famous people have summer houses there.  You can take your car or bike on the ferry, and it’s an easy ride around the island.  During the day, the ferry goes back and forth every hour.  Lincolnville Beach is also a nice place to hang out while waiting for the ferry.  Shallow, relatively warm water, nice sand.  Ferry schedules here.

Fort Knox is a 19th century fort built to protect against a British invasion that never came, located at the mouth of the Penobscot River in Bucksport.  Ft. Knox is a short drive from Belfast, on the way to Bar Harbor/Acadia, and is a great place to let the kids run around, explore, and scare themselves silly.   Open 9am-5pm. $5 for adults, $3 for children. Call (207) 469-6553 for more information.

If you decide to go north along the coast to visit Acadia, Bar Harbor or Fort Knox, don’t miss the Penobscot Narrows Observatory 420 feet up in the air atop the bridge over the Penobscot River just before entering Bucksport.  Lacking an airplane or a hot air balloon, it’s the best way to survey the landscape.

Carpooling and room sharing

Hi Everyone!

We’ve heard from a few people who are interested in sharing the rooms they’ve already reserved, or who haven’t reserved a room yet and might want to share, or who may be interested in carpooling up to Belfast from Boston.  If you’re in need of a room or a ride, please get in touch, or just post a comment.  We’ll try to match you up with someone you can split the gas or hotel bill with.

Already we have a couple of people who have reserved rooms at the Comfort Inn and at Belfast Harbor Inn who are open to roomies.  Get in touch if you want in!

-Jo

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting our wedding blog!  After a decade together (and three years as mortal enemies before that), we’re excited beyond words to be getting married.

We’re planning a weekend of celebration and fun over Labor Day weekend (September 4-7), 2009.

Ceremony September 6th, 2009 at 3:00 in the afternoon.
Board Landing Farm, Belfast Maine.
Lawn games, local late-summer fare, kakebord,
dancing and bonfire to follow.
Semi-formal attire, chapeaus and parasols are encouraged.

We hope this blog will give you all the information you need. If you have any questions, give us a shout at geir AT oddpost DOT com or joellen AT alum DOT mit DOT edu.

What’s a kakebord?

This is Jo speaking, and Geir may correct me…. but as I understand it a kakebord is a traditional Norwegian dessert spread in which family and close friends contribute cakes for the table. For our wedding we’re forgoing the single big wedding cake and instead celebrating with cakes, pies, cookies and other goodies made by family and friends. What better way to stuff ourselves silly than with the desserts that are nearest and dearest to our hearts?

One special cake to look forward to is the Norwegian celebration cake called a kransekake (wreath cake), made from almonds, egg whites, and powdered sugar:

Chapeaus? Parasols? Translate, please!

Yes, we know we said “chapeaus and parasols encouraged” at the same time as “semi-formal attire.” As we’ve been planning the wedding, we’ve taken a lot of anachronistic queues from early-20th century through Depression era styles. The hats! The bias cut! The parasols! The feathers! The lawn parties! The jazz! And yet, it is also Labor Day weekend and we’ll be on a farm….so no tuxes… and you might want to think twice about those high heels.

Some images that inspired us:

And a fantastic photo set on Flickr of a Jazz Age lawn party on Governor’s Island in NYC.

Bells and Whistles

In case you like the font on the invites (and the top of this site) – here is “Gaston”, a Nouveau / Craftsman hybrid. Use upper and lower cases for variety – it makes it look a little more hand-written. There are also some Norwegian characters in there… (æ, ø, å)

Download here: Gaston