We were in the home stretch almost ready to claim our prize and revel in our bragging rights. Our tattered, well-worn beer trail map held together with generous amounts of packaging tape, has only TWO blank spaces left. We planned to finish our visits in the spring but then the world paused.
No stamps from Penobscot Bay Brewery or Sheepscot Valley Brewing Company to add an air of finality to our three year adventure. Both breweries are in the mid-coast. Both are just out of reach for now.
I’ll admit it. The mosquitoes win. They may be small but they are relentless. It’s the reason we rarely hike during the spring. It’s just not worth it.
No matter how many layers of all natural insect repellent I put on, it’s just never enough. I know something more high-test with deet might do a better job but I’m not a fan so instead we mostly avoid the woods during these months. But now that summer is here, we’re heading out to the trails again which is a good thing. I did not move nearly enough this winter and am excited to get back into our hiking routine.
How did we do with year two of our attempt to visit all the craft breweries on the Maine Beer Trail? I’d love to say we finally made it to them all, but since there are over 80 unique breweries in Maine, and new ones continue to open, I’m afraid the finish line still eludes us, at least for now.
While we’re not quite finished, we did have a great time again trying to get to as many craft breweries as we could this past year. For each stop, we usually tried to make a day of it. We’d search out an interesting hike, and look for other fun things in the area as we explored different parts of Maine.
Below is an overview of the craft breweries we visited in 2018.
Fall is one of my favorite times to hike. It’s not too hot and not too cold. Goldilocks would approve. There are some other advantages too including stunning views not impaired by mosquitoes. The conditions are ideal. Unfortunately, since we’ve had a busy few months, we haven’t been hiking as much this season as we would like. So, when we recently went to Belfast for an overnight visit, our first stop was to the Belfast Rail Trail for a quick hike.
After a sad mishap where one of our iPhones went swimming in the lake, we had to make an emergency visit to the wireless store for a temporary replacement. The unplanned stop meant a delayed start to Belfast and by the time we arrived, darkness was only an hour or so away. This meant we had to do an abridged hike since we were racing the coming darkness.
Each summer we try to do at least one weekend get away to someplace in Maine that we don’t get to often. There are so many amazing places within the state. A few summers ago, we made it up to Belfast for a couple of nights. My husband had been wanting to go to Marshall Wharf Brewing in Belfast, and I hadn’t been up to the area since I was in college.
We headed up to Belfast for a weekend in early in August and, in an effort to keep the cost down, we stayed at the Yankee Clipper Motel which worked out really well although our girls were a little thrown by the setup as it was their first motel stay. It was clean and convenient. While it was not located in the main downtown Belfast area, it was a quick walk to the pedestrian bridge which goes across the Passagassawaukeag River and connects to downtown Belfast. It wasn’t a perfect solution as you have to walk along Route 1 for a bit. Route 1 is a busy road with no sidewalks, but you just need to be careful. I would have been a little more nervous if my girls were younger. But, for us, it worked out great and was definitely better than driving.
