Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

TRAVELIN' MAINE(RS): It's time to celebrate in Bethel

George and Linda Smith

The Travelin Maine(rs), George and Linda Smith of Mount Vernon, have spent their lifetimes enjoying all that Maine has to offer. Now they’ll tell you all about it — their favorite inns, restaurants, trips, activities, experiences, and travel books and websites — in their own personal style. They’ll be offering anecdotes, tips and all the details you need. So join them in exploring, experiencing and enjoying the great state of Maine.

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Tourists aren't always welcomed in Maine

Western Maine, from Bethel to Greenville, has always drawn tourists with a good range of lodging, restaurants and outdoor activities from hunting and fishing to skiing and snowmobiling. But from the get-go, we Mainers have had a love-hate relationship with people from away, whether they were here for the summer or just for a week of hunting.

Leon Leonwood Bean had the following advice for nonresident hunters in his book, Hunting-Fishing-and-Camping, republished this year by Down East Books for Bean’s 100th anniversary:

“When on your hunting trips do not try to belittle the back woods folk even though you are a college man and your home is in a big city.”

While your education and personal appearance may be far superior to theirs,” wrote LL, “they may be getting just as much pleasure out of life as yourself and when it comes right down to country common sense, they probably have you beaten.”

Mainers have made tourists the centerpiece of our jokes, derided them as people “from away” — or worse — and even been subject to advertising urging us to be nicer to them.

The ads seemed to have worked. The key tourism survey in 2011 turned up no complaints about us — but a few about our roads. We agree!

In the early 1900s, a correspondent for The Nation reported, “As a whole, the disposition to provide especially for the needs or desires of visitors is not strong,” amongst Maine’s residents. “The assumption seems to be, rather, that the visitors are sure to come anyway, and that the less there is expended for their gratification, the greater will be the profit from despoiling them.”

Some locals worried that summer visitors distracted families from their work, drove up farm wages, and set a poor example of extravagance.

Yet between 1879 and 1909, investments in Maine summer resorts increased from $500,000 to $138 million and tourist-industry income rose from $250,000 to $20 million. Vacationland was up and running.

The Poland Spring Hotel’s Hill-Top magazine urged Mainers to thank summer visitors for “awakening us to the significance of our home.”

Well, there is that. And the fact that tourism now delivers about $7.7 billion to our economy — up slightly from that turn-of-the-century $20 million! It’s now our #1 industry.

“Common Lands, Common People: the Origins of Conservation in Northern New England,” written by Richard W. Judd and published by Harvard University Press in 1997, from which some of the information above was retrieved, provides a fascinating look at the history of tourism in Maine. Here’s a favorite passage.

“Hundreds of miles deep in the interior Maine woods, visitors to the rambling Kineo House on Moosehead Lake feasted on roast lamb, wild strawberry preserves and cream in the largest dining hall in the state.

“They delighted in the hotel’s comfortable beds, steam heat, gas lights, open fireplaces, and in-room bathrooms before disembarking by canoe into the ‘freedom of the forests.’ Reporters dispelled the ‘popular delusion about the black fly,’ which allegedly had been driven from the area by the onset of civilization.”

This year, the lack of snow has been devastating for the Maine tourist industry. You can help by getting out now to communities like Bethel and having some outdoor fun — before mud and bug seasons!

— The Travelin’ Maine(rs)

We’ve waited a long time for winter to arrive.

It’s time to stop waiting and celebrate, even though this winter is but a small snow-shadow of itself.

The best place for your celebration is Bethel, where this weekend’s Winterfest has it all, from dogsled rides to rainforest reptiles. Bethel is a place that excels in marketing itself with special events and year-round activities — allowing the community to house a lot of good restaurants, inns and lodges.

Winterfest gives you a good opportunity to stay and feast at one of our favorite inns and restaurants — the Sudbury Inn.

Linda

Last year, we visited Sudbury Inn for the third time, enjoying yet another great meal. With two large dining rooms, the restaurant has plenty of seating, but for each of our visits, we sat on the porch where seven tables provide an intimate setting.

The restaurant usually offers special discounted dining opportunities, such as dinner for two. But even at regular prices, this place offers good value.

For our last dining visit, during the annual fall Harvest Fest,  I opted for gazpacho soup with a peppery zing. It wakes up your palate, but doesn’t fill you up.

Salads are included with entrees, and mine was mixed greens, walnuts, gorgonzola and grapes with housemade vinegrette. I could eat this salad for breakfast!

I’m a sucker for one of Sudbury’s “classics,” the Beef Tournedos. Two filets cooked to perfection are served with two sauces — one a demi-glaze and the other a blue-cheese sauce. The demi-glaze is lighter and balances the rich blue-cheese sauce. All of this is served with potato chive cakes, making the dinner truly exceptional.

Entrée choices included veal, duck, lobster, chicken roulade and seafood over pasta . . . something for everyone. I have to say the chef’s plating skills are very impressive! The dishes are almost too beautiful to eat.
I

f you have room for dessert, they’re very tempting and all freshly made here. In the past we’ve split the incredibly rich chocolate walnut pie. This time George ate it all. I enjoyed the crème brulee.

At Sudbury, you are not hurried. It’s a nice place to linger and enjoy a leisurely dinner. If your room is just up the stairs, you are lucky!

George

Sudbury Inn is well-located on Maine Street with free shuttle service to Sunday River. A lot of theWinterfest events and activities are within walking distance. Lin and I have stayed here once, in a spacious room, but they offer a full range of rooms from small to deluxe suites. A fabulous country breakfast is included, cooked to order.

But it’s the inn’s restaurant that really made us repeat customers. This is high-end dining at moderate prices.

Owner Scott Davis purchased the inn in 2008 and wisely kept the same chef, Peter Bodwell, now in his 10th year there and very talented.

My meal began where it often does when I see crab cakes on the menu. Theirs feature lots of crab meat and a not-too-spicy very tasty sauce, plus a perfectly crunchy crust. The bread rolls were fabulous, light and served with maple-honey unsalted butter.

Sticking with a seafood theme, I ordered Seafood Mediterranean featuring muscles, lobster, scallops, shrimp, tomatoes, artichokes, capers, spinach, kalamata olives and prosciutto. Superb!

And yes, I ate the entire chocolate walnut pie — plus some of Lin’s crème brulee. After all, we’d walked to the restaurant from our room at the Bethel Inn. So I got my exercise.

Sudbury also features a downstairs tavern — with a menu of pizza, sandwiches and 30 beers — and lively entertainment including music.

Winterfest

Winterfest, organized by the Chamber of Commerce, begins on Thursday, Feb. 23, with a kick-off-party at 22 Broad St., another of our favorite Bethel restaurants (it made our Best-of-2011 list).
Friday is jammed with activities, including dog-sled trips beginning at 5:15 p.m. at the Bethel Inn (824-2175 to reserve a spot in the sled). From 6 to 9 p.m., there’s a free spectator sport — a rail competition — at Mt. Abram Ski Resort.

On Saturday at the Bethel Inn, you can enjoy a sleigh ride from 5 to 7:30 p.m. And there are tons of other activities from plane rides to a scavenger hunt all day long throughout the community. Bonfires, a sliding hill, snowshoeing events — you can even ride the snow groomer. This is definitely a family event.

The kids will surely go wild at the Rainforest Reptile Show at Grand Summit Resort at 7 p.m. Saturday, billed as a “hands-on” experience! Linda says no thank you!
Sunday features an event that sounds really good (and tasty). At Sunday River’s outdoor center (824-5700), you can ski or snowshoe and dine along the trail. Fresh doughnuts! Hot soup at the covered bridge! S’mores in a fire pit! The kids would love this!

And this event benefits a good cause — the American Lung Association.

Conclusion

Bethel can be reached for a day trip, but you deserve an overnight mini-vacation. Don’t you?

If you are looking for picnic supplies, The Good Food Store on State Route 2 is an amazing little place.
The store is filled with good stuff, from wine to sweet potatoes. And their fresh deli sandwiches are awesome.

We never leave there without a bag of groceries.

IF YOU GO . . .

Bethel Inn
ON THE WEB: bethelinn.com
PHONE: 800-654-0125 for
reservations, or 824-2175.

Winterfest
ON THE WEB:
bethelwinterfest.com
or info@bethelmaine.com
PHONE: 800-442-5825

Sudbury Inn and Restaurant
ON THE WEB: thesudburyinn.com
PHONE: 800-442-5826

22 Broad Street
Restaurant
ON THE WEB: 22broadstreet.com
PHONE: 824-3496

Good Food Deli
ON THE WEB: goodfoodbethel.com
PHONE: 800-879-8926

Sun Valley Sports
ON THE WEB: sunvalleysports.com
PHONE: 877-851-7333 (to rent snowmobiles)

Visit George’s website: www.george
smithmaine.com for travel tips, book reviews, outdoor news and more