NOTE: ** For summer 2024, we rent Saturday to Saturday with a 7 night minimum stay requirement from June until September **
Wake as the sun rises over the islands on the horizon, three miles away, across the Mussel Ridge Channel. Fall asleep to the sounds of water lapping against the beach.
Kayak off the beach and paddle around the channel; have a cold drink while kicking back at the picnic table, all while cracking open the dollar-a-pop Weskeag oysters, from just down the road, after spending the day exploring — or reading or making art.
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Longer version:
An actual artist's retreat, in a "Goldilocks" setting — not too far, not too near — that offers the tranquility you may be looking for, right about now.
Less than two hours north of Portland (a GREAT small city, with museums and restaurants of all persuasion), and the same distance south of Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island, this South Thomaston/Spruce Head retreat can serve as basecamp for area explorations or a quiet place to ignore the rest of the world.
Less than ten minutes to Rockland, to the north, which bills itself as "the art capital of Maine," (blame it on the passel of four generations of Wyeths that have called the area home and inspiration), Rockland offers art galleries, museums, a bonafide Michelin starred restaurant, local clam shacks, movie theaters, and more.
Mo's Cove is less than two miles from the best lobster roll in Maine, at McLoon's, on Spruce Head Island. You can walk over, if so inclined. Or walk the half-mile north to Waterman's Beach Brewery. What we like to do is kayak around the channel and end up at Waterman's Beach, before heading home. Yes, there are kayak rentals in the area.
If so inclined to bring your own boat, the Merchant's Landing Marina is one-mile across the channel as the eagle flies (yes, eagles can be spotted), or a quick two-mile drive over to Spruce Head, for mooring rentals. Tell Skip you're staying at Mo's Cove and he may crack a knowing smile.
For further exploration, the famed Marshall Point Lighthouse is south, by Port Clyde (the lighthouse showed up in "Forrest Gump"), and one can grab the ferry from Port Clyde over to Monhegan for the day. Maybe best known as an artist colony, Monhegan was being used by British fisherman long before Boston was settled.
There's a wonderful little beach in Martinsville, between Mo's Cove and Port Clyde, and another beach north, at Birch Point Beach State Park. You'll find folks walking there dogs on that beach at the crack of dawn.
Great little hike over on Clark Island, where one can see remains of the granites quarries that litter the coast of maine — and where towns like Rockland got their names. More quarries (and one AMAZING swimming hole) can be found over on Vinalhaven, an hour ferry from Rockland. Take you bike over, as it's easier than dealing with auto reservations.
Heading north from Rockland are the quaint villages of Rockport, Camden, Lincolnville, and the town of Belfast, all worth a look-see. If you've a hankering to actually get OUT to sea, we'd recommend a couple days and nights out on the oldest, continuously operations schooner, the Stephen Taber, for first-class food, and a lungful of ocean air, as the vessel skirts several of the five thousand islands off the coast, and nestling in picturesque harbors.
There are hikes near and far. The aforementioned Clark's Island is always a great way to start the day, or head over to the remnants of a British fort on the St. George river, or up to Ash Point. Day hikes could follow paths along Mirror Lake up to the summit of Ragged Mountain, for a spectacular panorama spanning the distance from Mount Desert Island, down to Monhegan. Likewise, there are the hikes (or simple drive) to the top of Mount Battie, north of Camden.
All of the above sounds exhausting. And it can be.
Don't want to move more than you have to? That works, too. Bring your own books, or pull from the shelves at Mo's Cove, where you'll find stacks of regional and Maritime history, Native American journals, and more. There's a great bookstore in Rockland, too.
Mo's Cove was built for doing nothing. Or very little. Quiet bedrooms for reading or writing (yeah, there's a very specific Writer's Room). Play checkers or chess or just rock and read and nap on the enclosed porch. Nap on the Army cot in the fish shack, if you're no longer rocking and reading out there (or making art). Kick back in the perfect Adirondack chairs (yes, have spent more than 30 years testing makes and models) out on the dock with an iced tea and a breeze. As evening rolls in, get a fire going in the pit, along the picnic table, roast a few marshmallows, wait for the Milky Way to shine overhead.
Call it a day. Go to bed.
Do it all over again the next day.
