Day Trip to Dover-Foxcroft, Maine
Head west from the Lincoln School 45 minutes to Bangor, Maine, then jump onto Highway 15 going northwest for another 45 minutes, and you’ll find yourself in the heart of Dover-Foxcroft!
As the town’s hyphenated name suggests, Dover and Foxcroft were once two separate towns that joined ranks in 1922. Today they bleed into each seamlessly.
The Foxcroft (north) side of town is more modern, rife with chain stores and fast-food restaurants. The Dover (south) side retains a bit more of its quaint charm, so it’s where we spent the majority of our day shopping for antiques, strolling with the dog through the park, and refreshing ourselves with two tart riverside lemonades.
The Raven’s Attic East
Like most antique shops in Maine, The Raven’s Attic East isn’t the work of a single collector, but is home to dozens of vendors offering antique and vintage wares. As administrator of the Lincoln School Writers’ Retreat, I always pop into these shops hoping for items salvaged from old schoolhouses. While I didn’t find any at Raven’s, I did find some old glass and porcelain doorknobs and three old basin hooks that will, someday, function as coat hooks in the restored front vestibule of the Lincoln School. Mainly I enjoyed the witchy (in a positive way!) vibes of this eclectic shop, which also sells crystals and sage sticks and plays classic music over a crackly vintage radio.
Kiwanis Park
When you have the dog(s) with you, park visits are a must for potty breaks and generally stretching the legs. Kiwanis Park on the north side of town was an exceptional find with its pretty fishing pond, humble waterfall, and loop walking path. It was 72 degrees and cloudy the day we visited—perfect park weather. If we hadn’t stuffed ourselves with breakfast sandwiches from Bagel Central in Bangor before departing for Dover-Foxcroft, Kiwanis Park would have been a great place to enjoy a picnic lunch.
The Mill Inn and Cafe
Not hungry but still thirsty, we drove over to the Mill Inn and Cafe at 5 E. MainStreet. It was clearly a working mill in a previous life given its large brick structure and precarious perch on thePiscataquis River, but it’s since been fully renovated into a boutique six-room inn and cafe. I can’t speak to the inn experience, but if it’s anything like the attached cafe, it must be terrific. The exposed bricks and large windows in the cafe made for a light and airy setting accented by plenty of plants and other greenery—and of course, excellent fare. The cookies were as big as my face and thick as your favorite paperback. It was the lavender and raspberry lemonades though that really refreshed us. I only wished we could have stuck around for dinner, as the cafe promises top-notch Taco Tuesdays!
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Coming home, we took Highway 7 through Garland just to mix things up. Once we dumped out onto 9, we stopped at Sheila’s Maine Treats for pre-packaged homemade lasagna and peanut-butter whoopie pies to-go. A fabulous outing!
