If you’re just looking for hotel information, don’t fret—that comes soon! But hopefully, you aren’t just flying in for the wedding, and are able to avail yourself of the beauty of the Lobster State (it is not actually called the Lobster State, but why not?).
In this case, we’d like to give you some ideas about traveling to Maine, and what you can do once you’re here.
But first, the lodging!
Accommodations.
We have reserved two hotel blocks at Cooks Corner in Brunswick, Maine, at the Days Inn and the Best Western. These two hotels are very close to one another, so it will be possible to carpool to and from the venue if you’re about that life.
The Days Inn By Wyndham is located at 224 Bath Rd, Brunswick, ME 04011. $150 + tax per night. Avaialble arrival 7/22 and departure 7/24. If guests want to extend their stay, they will offer the same rate if availability permits. Reservations will be released on 7/15, so you’ll need to call them to confirm by this date.
The Best Western is located at 71 Gurnet Rd, Brunswick, ME 04011. We have reserved rrival on 7/22 and departure on 7/24. Check-in time is 3pm, check-out time is 11am. $228 incl. tax (combination of double queen or single king). Reservations will be released on 6/22, so you’ll need to call them to confirm before this date.
Other hotels. Route 1 (Pleasant St.) west of downtown Brunswick and Bath Road east of downtown (a.k.a. Cooks Corner) both have a number of hotel options to suit various price points.
There are oodles of AirBnBs and actual Beds And Breakfast (I think is the plural) in Bath, Brunswick, and beyond, including Benjamin F. Packard House, the Brunswick Hotel, the Inn at Bath, Coveside, Grey Havens (last two on Georgetown), etc. They’re all charming, range substantially in price, and have very limited availability. If you’re interested in something other than a soulless corporate hotel chain, you would be advised to book early and book often, as it were.
Anyone interested in camping on the grounds of the Zorachovia Estate may also do so, if you are cool managing potential swarms of mosquitos.
Shared travel and accommodation arrangements. Interested in minimizing carbon footprint (if you believe in that stuff), saving bucks, reconnecting with old friends, or making new ones? We are happy to connect you with people coming from your geography (or from somewhere else!). We’re very good at #data. Plus, a friend of Adrianne’s is a friend of Nat’s, right? And… we’re all friends here, right? Just let us know and we’ll try and make it happen!
The marina has houseboats for rent, which feature a queen bed and a pull-out bed. They have very limited availability and supposedly book up a year in advance. But who knows? Maybe not?
When seeking accommodations, please be aware that just because something looks close on the map does not mean it’s actually close. Boothbay (slash Southport Island), for example, which has ample lodging, is a full hour from Robinhood by car, but it’s all of about three miles as the crow flies.
Other Cool Places To Go:
- Portland: Maine’s lone Big City, Portland is a mere 45 minutes (how Adrianne drives) to 60 minutes (how Nat drives) from Robinhood. It has ample lodging as well as charming little shops and restaurants, plus an exquisite nautical vibe in the Old Port and Commercial Street, offering everything from sleazy head shops to high-end, handmade homewares and fashion. Belleflower Brewing (🍺) is great. Pop by Asmara (🍴) for some Eritrean cuisine. Find cool estate jewelry at Market Square Jewelers.
- Bath: 10-12 minutes from Robinhood, the waterfront metropolis of Bath is home of the Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics company and stalwart icon of the US defense industrial complex, as well as a charmingly preserved historic downtown, mostly around Front St. BIW has produced legendary naval vessels like the Zumwalt Class and Arleigh-Burke Class destroyers and continues to be the largest employer in the area. Bath has a fun farmer’s market in the summer on the waterfront. Enjoy a three out of five-star meal at the Kennebec Tavern (🍴), right on the waterfront, or a beverage at Bath Brewing (🍺) on Front St. The Sagadahoc Bridge, crossing the Kennebec at 2,972 feet long, is the longest precast concrete segmental span bridge in North America.
- Reid State Park (🌲): A hallmark of the Zorach childhood, and since enjoyed by generations of Zorachs, Ipcars, and people from around the state and the country, Reid features beaches, a lagoon, and a charming view of Seguin Light.
- Five Islands: At the eastern end of Georgetown, Five Islands is also the eponymous restaurant (🍺) serving dock fare, a.k.a. lobsters, other seafood, and the rare, arrant burger. Great views of the Sheepscot “River.” (Spoiler alert: it’s not really a river, but rather a fully salinated tendril of the Atlantic Ocean).
- Popham Beach & Fort Popham (🌲): A fort was built at this site in the early 1800s, but the current fort– in all its stony glory- was begun in the 1860s but never actually finished. Witness the site of Nat and Adrianne’s historic engagement on Popham Beach! It was the east-facing beach, by the way, before it curves up near the Fort. Remember this when they are famous and have Wikipedia pages.
- Boothbay: Boothbay is the next peninsula over from Georgetown. If that Senator from Alaska were here (RIP), he’d just build a bridge. But he’s not, so we have to drive an hour and some around, even though it’s only a stone’s throw. Boothbay has some charming antique stores, art galleries, and restaurants. Boothbay Craft Brewery’s (🍺) Thirsty Botanist is a favorite beer. Adrianne says Daffy Taffy (🍭) and Fudge Factory (🍭) has the legit saltwater taffy. “Would you call it ‘the bomb dot com’?” Nat ponders. “I would not,” responds Adrianne, “because the year is not 1999.” Harborside 1901 (🍴) is a great spot with waterfront views. Be sure to look out for the dude who founded Luxor Vodka and got filthy rich on it and now fancies himself the Dan Gilbert of Boothbay. Robinson’s Wharf is a slightly off-the-beaten-path alternative to the other, more touristified lobster joints.
- Brunswick: 23 minutes from Robinhood, a quintessential college town, and the home of the erstwhile Naval Air Station. Flight Deck Brewing (🍺) is great, and Little Saigon (🍴) is a favorite as well.
- Woolwich: A stop on Route 1. You can debate with my sundry family members, or with locals, whether the second “w” is in fact pronounced. You can buy pottery and blueberries and stuff. Georgetown Pottery, which has a location on the island of the same name, also has a location here on Route 1. The Montsweag Flea Market (🛍) is dope. The Monstweag Road House is a fun spot (🍴).
- Yarmouth: “Exelon owns a minority share of an oil-fired generating station on an island here,” Nat expounds, ever excited about public utility infrastructure. “You’re sleeping in the shed,” Adrianne replies.
- Freeport: Home of LL Bean (🛍), Freeport is basically a shopping mall in the form of a main street. There’s a whole store for Whoopie Pies. Lancastrians can duke it out with Mainers over who is the true progenitor of that most egregious confection.
- Wiscasset: 25 minutes up Route 1, Wiscasset is home to a cool hardware store, the remains of the ill-fated, decommissioned Maine Yankee Generating Station, Maine’s only nuclear plant, and, of course, that world-famous lobster shack, Red’s Eats, not to be confused with the much younger Darden Restaurants’ Red Lobster (🍴). Red’s is a great place to go if you have three hours to stand in line on a bridge and inhale diesel exhaust. Sprague’s (🍴), a noted competitor, is across the street. Bath Ale Works, which has just cause for being thusly named though located not in Bath, serves palatable ales, but only ales (🍺).
- Rockland & Thomaston: These two adjacent towns up the coast offer charming eateries, antique shops, gift shops, and a hardcore New England coastal Main Street vibe. You can go see art by William and Marguerite Zorach at the Farnsworth Museum!
- Camden (🌲): Farther still up the coast, Camden is a more populous, more aggressively touristy seaside town. You can drive up to the top of Mount Battie and climb up this big stone tower.
EVEN FARTHER: Acadia National Park (🌲), Mt. Katahdin (🌲), Bar Harbor, and environs (3:00 from Georgetown) can offer a few days of intrigue for the intrepid hiker, boater, gourmande, or antique hunter. This is a ways up the coast. By that point, you really might as well just go to Canada. Socialized medicine, legal weed, and everything! (Wait, they have that in Maine, too, I guess—well, one out of two ain’t bad!).
Carpooling & Shared Transportation.
TRANSPORTATION. We are in the sticks. It is, however, possible to take an Amtrak to Brunswick or Portland. Or a bus from Boston to Portland. Or you could hitchhike! Who knows?!
CARPOOL. We are currently (as of early May) coordinating carpool options from the Midatlantic to Maine– we have one attendee from Lancaster who needs a ride Thursday or Friday before the wedding (7/21 or 7/22). There are also carpool options of people coming from Michigan. If you are interested in carpooling with someone else, please get in touch!
PARKING. The farm has limited parking. Also, there’s no such thing as free parking. Haven’t you read Nat’s blog?
Attire
- ATTIRE. While this is a backyard wedding, let’s still keep it classy, folks. This is Adrianne we’re talking about, she fancy. (Plus, have you seen Nat’s shoe game??). We are suggesting garden attire— think sufficiently bourgeois with colorful accents but not exactly black tie- but if you want to be fancier, who are we to stop you! No jeans or sneakers, please.
- LADIES: Save yourself and your shoes! Don’t wear stilettos…heels are fine but think espadrilles, dressy sandals, wedges or chunky heels. You don’t want to take Maine grass and dirt back with you. Also, you can’t dance in heels.
- INSECT POPULATION: A large portion of these weird little peninsular islandy things is in fact wetland, which means there’s a lot of breeding ground for our culicid friends, a.k.a. mosquitos. These vary from year to year based on whatever the weather is doing– they are generally better in hot, dry weather. We will have ample toxic and non-toxic chemicals on hands, and are exploring some other options for repelling the beasts (machine gun auto-turret, etc.).