Things to Do around Olga & Christian's Wedding

Common Ground Country Fair in Unity, ME - MOFGA celebrates its 32nd Common Ground Country Fair on September 19, 20 & 21, 2008, in Unity, Maine. The Fair allows fairgoers to make connections with a rapidly expanding base of organic farms in the state of Maine. Hundreds of vendors, exhibitors and demonstrators, more than 1,000 volunteers, and roughly 50,000 fairgoers will gather to: share knowledge about sustainable living; eat delicious, organic, Maine-grown food; buy and sell beautiful Maine crafts and useful agricultural products; compete in various activities; dance; sing and have a great time.

Mt. Battie Auto Road in Camden Hills State Park - drive or hike up Mt. Battie for fantastic views of the Penobscot Bay, its islands, fishing boats, schooners, lighthouses and wildlife. Definitely worth the $3 per person charge. We should really sign up for some kind of a frequent user pass as we take every single one of our visitors up there.

Rent a bicycle, a kayak or a canoe to use in and around Lake Megunticook, about a mile from our house. Maybe it will be warm enough for a swim - ask us about our favorite spots on the lake.

Visit Aldermere Farm on the border of Camden/Rockport and their herd of belted galloways, whom some call the Oreo cookie cows. They are cute and easily accessible for viewing even from the road. Superbly easy bicycling destination from Camden, a blink of a drive or a nice long walk along the coast on a good day.

Hope Spinnery - a sustainable, progressive operation using wind power to process yarn from local Maine farms. They have a retail section and also do tours. Worth a visit, about 15 minutes out of Camden in the adjacent town of Hope.

Mainely Pottery in Belfast - they usually have a potter working and lots of items for sale; about 20 minutes north of Camden.

Windsor Chairmakers in Lincolnville - there are some beautiful pieces of furniture being produced here. You can tour the exhibition house and watch artisans at work. You can buy or order a piece of furniture to be custom made. Steep price tags reflect the hours each piece takes to produce by hand. We highly recommend taking a peek at the way all furniture used to be made before IKEA.

Sleepy Hollow Rag Rugs in Lincolnville - these guys are practically our neighbors, located in a rural part of Lincolnville, just a mile from the ferry terminal. Check them out! They sell some beautiful looking rugs from recycled materials!

Swan's Island Blankets in Lincolnville - you can visit the showroom and studio and observe hand weaving and dying of nationally recognized blankets and throws. Winner of the Smithsonian Blue Ribbon for Excellence, we use local wool and organic dyes to create heirloom quality woven goods on the premises. Absolutely beautiful high quality stuff made locally from local wool.

Prism Glass Gallery and Cafe in Camden - "Prism Glass Gallery is the product of 27 years in the stained and blown glass business. Starting out in the stained glass business after a break from the music business, glass artist Patti Kissinger continued her pursuit of producing and showing fine stained glass and blown glass. Business partner Lisa Sojka joined Prism Glass after a career in the restaurant business and brings to Prism a variety of talents and experience and is our incredible Chef. Lisa will delight you with some of the finest Italian and Traditional New England cuisine you will ever experience. Prism Glass has been voted into the top 100 galleries in the USA by Niche Magazine and represents some of the finest glass artists in the United States. You can watch glassblowing in the Studio at Prism Glass."

There are tons of galleries and artists' studios in our area. Check out the Chamber of Commerce's Directory of Artists and Directory of Galleries for individual listings.

Camden Film Festival - The 4th Annual Camden International Film Festival will take place from Thursday, September 25 - Sunday, September 28, 2008, screening the best international documentary film to audiences in venues throughout Midcoast Maine.

Cellardoor Winery is another almost neighbor in Lincolnville, just a couple of miles away - beautiful scenery from their newly built deck overlooking fields of grapes. They do tastings of their own wines all day long.

There is endless hiking on many trails in Camden Hills State Park. Bald Rock trail is a favorite for its relative ease, distance and rewarding views of the Bay from the top. Bald Rock trail is presently threatened by a proposed cell tower build and a group of local activists known as the Bald Rock Community are spearheading a legal effort to prevent the tower from being built.

Take a day trip on one of the schooners operating out of Camden, Rockport and Rockland.

Enjoy the town! Camden is a great walking town. Peek into stores, our beautiful renovated library, hang out in the Harbor Park, rent a sea kayak in the harbor, take your kids to the Elm St. Montessori School playground for an experience even adults can enjoy - wooden, locally made jungle gyms, slides and swings. Scoot down to Rockland for a sandwich from the Good Tern Co-op (yes, this message brought to you by enormous co-op supporters) or a plethora of other lunch possibilities. Shopping and eating options are seemingly endless in and around Camden. Good luck and have fun!

Where to eat: We definitely have not eaten out at every single place possible, so we'll just tell you our favorites. For breakfast and lunch, Boynton McKay on Main St. in Camden. Three Dogs has nice sandwiches, soups (nice clam chowder!), salads and dessers, on Route 1 in Rockport. Market Basket is more of a store with a couple of small tables - great lunch chow. Waterfront Restaurant in Camden is water-side and serves lunch and dinner. Francine's Bistro, dinner only, is a tiny place serving delicious, daily changing fare made with ingredients from local farms, frequently organic. We recommend reservations as far away as you can commit to a dinner there, especially for more than 2 people. Cafe Miranda in Rockland is a new favorite (lunch and dinner in the summer) and we can't recommend enough sitting at the counter!! Lobster Pound in Lincolnville Beach is a great place for lobster in any way, shape or form located on the water by the ferry terminal. Zoot Coffee is a favorite for a grab'n'go beverage and a slice of something, run by a lovely local young couple. The Edge is a water-view restaurant with outdoor seating on the property of the Inn at Ocean's Edge in Lincolnville (no, Olga is not just recommending it because she works for the people who run it) serving innovative dishes using many local ingredients, dinner only. On Sundays they do a pizza night - for a fixed price you can sit at the counter, or a table, and watch pizzas coming out one after another from the wood fired oven right in front of you. Servers bring the pizzas around "buffet style" until you give up. In addition to the atmosphere, location and relative inexpensive price for dinner, the pizzas are all different and we can guarantee you haven't tried such combinations of ingredients before.

LL Bean - a true Maine landmark based in Freeport, LL Bean has a 24 hour flagship store and an outlet right next door with more reasonable hours. A lot of Mainers shop at the outlet for the great deals on high quality clothing, house goods and gear. Freeport is now home to scores of retail stores, some of which are company outlets. Freeport is quite a busy town even in the winter and in the summer it will try even a shopaholic's spirit.