Touring Maine's Lakes Region

By Sue Davis, Globe Correspondent, 07/14/02

		If you go  Deertrees theater  More on Maine  New England  Maine postcards  Maine gallery  Maine coast photos

NAPLES, Maine — A vacation in the Lakes Region of Maine is whatever you want it to be. Renting a house on Thompson Lake, we were lulled by loons and captivated by hummingbirds. We relaxed to new depths, and found excitement exploring the area.

About an hour's drive from Portland, Freeport, and North Conway, N.H., the Lakes Region offers a range of watering holes, including boisterous Sebago, the second largest lake in Maine, and a multitude of smaller lakes and ponds that offer more solitude. There is a rich variety of rental properties, from "camps" (uninsulated cabins) to four-season cottages and houses (best to look/book ahead), and many motels, inns, and B&Bs. From Interstate 95, you drive west on Route 302 through the strip mall sprawl of North Windham, and then enter another world. Depending on your mood, the region brims with quaint, classy, or casual. Everyone is down-home friendly, and there is a wealth of shops, activities, and restaurants galore.

Casco is a lovely hamlet that explodes once a year for "Casco Days" (always the last weekend in July), with a fantastic parade, carnival, and fireworks. We fell in love with Maine Tracks ice cream at the local sub shop, and replenished our stocks at the Casco Library's book sale.

Ed and Diane Leonard will take care of you at The Thompson Lake Marina, which rents all types of boats for the 12-mile long lake, renowned for its pristine waters and great fishing. Our only grievance was the jet-skis, disrupting the peace and the environment. On the way to the marina, we saw a woman selling fresh-picked blackberries from her front porch.

The action is to be found in Naples, which gets clogged with tourists. The causeway on Route 302 is the hot spot to take a seaplane ride, or get some local color on the morning mail boat run. You can take a sunset riverboat cruise or ride to the Songo Lock, the only remaining lock from a 19th-century lock and canal system that once connected these Western Maine lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. It's also the place to buy T-shirts, check out the "hotties" at the mini golf, and munch. The ice cream shop at Charlies is worth a try, and the fudge cart is incredible.

We found several terrific restaurants in Naples, all on Route 302. And we adored Bridgton's artsy shops, Black Horse Tavern (horses everywhere), and the wonderfully funky Reny's general store, which was like stepping back into another era. Bridgton also has the Magic Lantern, a Victorian-style theater showing movies nightly, and markets with organic and natural foods.

We took long serene drives and discovered the beautiful town of Harrison with the remarkable Deertrees Theatre, historic Scribner's Mill, and an airfield next to a garden of soaring sunflowers; and the town of Norway, where we shopped at a New Balance outlet and Maine Discoveries and ate at a quaint restaurant.

On the long list of things we still want to do is the Maine Wildlife Park, which educates the public while sheltering abandoned or disabled wild animals such as eagles, peacocks, wild turkeys, coyotes, porcupines, mountain lions, and mink.

Jet-skis aside, most people seem respectful of the natural environs that make Maine's lakes so glorious. As local anthropologist Alvin H. Morrison said, "Time and water flow, and we all live downstream of the consequences."

Sue Davis is a freelance writer who lives in Framingham.