12 Great Places You've Never Heard Of: Blue Hill, Maine

Home of back-to-the-land influences, the Blue Hill Peninsula encompasses the beauty of simple living.

August/September 2006
By Lynn Byczynski 
217-072-BlueHill-CMYK.jpg
Image Gallery
Blue Hill has many historic buildings and locally owned shops that sell handmade crafts.
SUE ANNE HODGES
Article Tools
Print
Comments
RSS
Bookmark and Share

The town of Blue Hill is a charming center of great restaurants, art galleries and bed-and-breakfasts. The entire peninsula, including the towns of Brooklin, Brooksville, Castine, Harborside, Penobscot and Sedgwick, is a scenic, quiet and pleasant retreat to a calmer and less commercial age.

RELATED CONTENT

Besides the stunning blue and green vistas of the area, other attractions include boating in the calm waters of Blue Hill Bay or hiking and bird-watching in Holbrook Island Sanctuary. And don’t miss nearby Acadia National Park.

Helen and Scott Nearing inspired the back-to-the-land movement through their “Good Life” books, which they wrote from their homestead on the Blue Hill Peninsula. You can be inspired by their passion for simple and wise living with a visit to The Good Life Center in Harborside, where you can tour their hand-built stone house and organic garden. Call ahead or visit the Web site to check hours before you visit: (207) 326-8211; www.goodlife.org.

Another resident of the Blue Hill Peninsula and influential force in the sustainability movement is Eliot Coleman, author of The New Organic Grower and Four-Season Harvest. Coleman proved that you can grow vegetables year-round, even in this part of Maine. To learn more, visit his Web site, www.fourseasonfarm.com.

Do you live in Blue Hill? Have you visited? Please post your comments below.

Blue Hill, Maine

Population: 2,346
County: Hancock
Climate: a four-season climate; cold winters with lots of snow; cool summers; ample rainfall; fog possible year-round
Cost of Living Index: 106.1
Median Home Price: $197,000
Alternative energy: net metering and rebates for solar systems
Don’t miss: the Nearing homestead

Bookmark and Share
RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print

Comments

Add Your Comment

You can use this comment form to enter your personal experiences or additional information and resources that you'd like to share with Mother Earth News readers. Your helpful advice will be posted on this page.  E-mail addresses are never displayed on comments, but they are required to confirm your comments.

Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.

New to Mother Earth News?
Sign up to share comments.
Asterisks(*) indicate required fields.
Name*
Your name appears next to your comment.

E-mail Address*
This will be your login ID.

City State Zip Code

Password*


Confirm Password*

Comments
(Offensive materials and/or spam will be removed, no HTML allowed)
Please Note: Your sign-up must be verified via e-mail before your comment is published.
FEATURED ARTICLES
MOST POPULAR


Subscribe Today - Pay Now & Save 66% Off the Cover Price

First Name: *
 Last Name: *
Address: *
 City: *
State/Province: *
 Zip/Postal Code:*
Country:
 Email:*
(* indicates a required item)
Canadian subs: 1 year, (includes postage & GST). Foreign subs: 1 year, . U.S. funds.
Canadian Subscribers - Click Here
Non US and Canadian Subscribers - Click Here

Lighten the Strain on the Earth and Your Budget

Mother Earth News is the guide to living — as one reader stated — “with little money and abundant happiness.” Every issue is an invaluable guide to leading a more sustainable life, covering ideas from fighting rising energy costs and protecting the environment to avoiding unnecessary spending on processed food. You’ll find tips for slashing heating bills; growing fresh, natural produce at home; and more. Mother Earth News helps you cut costs without sacrificing modern luxuries.

At Mother Earth News, we are dedicated to conserving our planet’s natural resources while helping you conserve your financial resources. That’s why we want you to save money and trees by subscribing through our Earth-Friendly automatic renewal savings plan. By paying with a credit card, you save an additional $4.95 and get 6 issues of Mother Earth News for only $10.00 (USA only).

You may also use the Bill Me option and pay $14.95 for 6 issues.