Mount Battie

Friday morning, before heading out to more row by row quilt shops and the Maine Quilts show we took the time to go to Camden Hills State Park which was just down the road between the Bay Leaf Cottages and the town of Camden.

Camden Hills State Park is 5700 acres with an 800 foot summit to the top of Mount Battie where there are vast views of Penobscot Bay.  Luckily, they have an auto road so you don’t have to climb it yourself, but they do have 30 miles of hiking trails should you wish to walk to the top or around the park grounds.

A Camden resident named Columbus Bushwell built a carriage road to the top of Mount Battie in 1897.  In 1898, he built a house he called Summit House and opened it to the public as a hotel.  It was purchased in 1899 by the Mt. Battie Association and turned into a clubhouse and social center.  In 1918 a fire burned the mountaintop and 2 years later the house was torn down.  The current stone tower that stands in the same location was erected in 1921 by the Mt. Battie Association.  Mount Battie became part of Camden Hills State Park in 1948.  It is said that Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote the poem "Renascence" while enjoying the view from the summit of Mount Battie.

It was a memorable way to start the day.  But, there were more quilt shops and a quilt show waiting for us as well!

Bay Leaf Cottages and Camden, ME

After our whirlwind tour of 5 quilt shops and a yarn shop, it was closing time.  We actually kept the last store open late. We found our way to the coast line taking a leisurely drive through the beautiful town of Camden, Maine and on up Route 1 to our overnight accommodations at the Bay Leaf Cottages and Bistro in Lincolnville.  Situated with a view of Penobscot Bay, The Bay Leaf has both a small motel of 9 rooms as well as 11 cottages and an apartment for rent. All the cottages are named after herbs and the motel rooms are named as well.  We stayed in the motel in the “Harbor Room”.  The grounds are lovely and well-kept with benches and a small pond that you can sit by to enjoy the scenery.  It was rather sad that our time there was so short.

View of the bay across the road from the cottages.

View of the office & bistro from the motel rooms.

A few of the cottages.  Each one was slightly different.  They date from the 1940's (but updated!).

Breakfast was included in the room fee and was a generous buffet of options to please most anyone.  We learned about the product UMPQUA Oats which was a delicious brand of quick-to-make oatmeal right in a ready-to-eat from bowl.  Although we didn’t have time to follow the Barn Quilt Trail in Lincolnville ourselves, perhaps you will if you visit.  What a nice collaboration between the town and the local high school. You can read about them on the Bay Leaf Cottages website.

If you go to the coast of Maine, consider Bay Leaf Cottages and Bistro as a place to stay and let us know how you liked it.
 
After checking into our motel, we decided to go back into Camden to explore a bit and find a place for dinner.  Camden, Maine is a charming, quaint town on Penobscot Bay.  The streets are lined with small shops and restaurants.  We parked in a public lot next to the library which is located on the highest point in town overlooking the harbor.  Built in 1928 it is now designated as a National Historic Landmark.   Across the street is a 2 acre Harbor Park which was designed by the Olmsted Brothers of Central Park, NY design fame.  The park design plan dates from between 1928-1935.

Above are the library and a compass on the library grounds.

View of the harbor from the library.

We spent a few moments wandering shops and looking at menus until we settled on eating on the porch of “Peter Ott’s on the Water” restaurant right on the harbor with a view of the boats coming and going.  It was a pleasant evening.

We shall have to return some day to do justice to seeing Camden, Maine.