PORTLAND, Maine — “Dining alfresco is a rite of summer,” writes Will Grunewald in the August issue of “Down East” magazine, “and this year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s imperative.” Now there’s a sentiment we can all unite behind, and with that idea in mind the editors of “Down East” came up with a list of 33 special places to “feast in the fresh Maine air.” Looking for a rooftop bar in Kittery? A picnic site at Quaggy Jo in Aroostook County? A food truck that offers a falafel platter and shawarma fries? Check, check and check.
Sticking with the theme of fresh air and long summer nights, the issue also features twenty five of the best places to camp in Maine. Like the dining list, this one offers something for every taste, from Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park with a toy-car racetrack and bouncy houses to an uninhabited island that’s an eight-mile paddle from Portland.
Don’t want to be around people in the middle of a pandemic? These suggestions will spark your imagination and get you thinking about where to go and what to do in Maine’s outdoors this summer. To find out more, watch our conversation with editor-in-chief Brian Kevin and get his insider’s tip on where he went for one of the best camping trips of his life.