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State Park Means Camping by the
Sea, With Lobster
By day, the Lamoine
State Park is popular with the locals. By night, however, the park
is the domain of visitors from away.
Hilda and Larry Silva, visitors from Tiverton, R.I., look over
some of the mussels that Larry gathered from a morning outing. |
A paradise for
picnic-goers, boaters and campers all, outdoor enthusiasts sometimes
confuse it with Lamoine Beach, a nearby recreational area overseen
by the town.
They often learn of
their mistake when the state park ranger at the booth asks them to
pay a day fee ($2.50 for those 12 and older). Lamoine Beach has no
fee.
Both parks are
located at the end of Route 184, eight miles from Route 1 and at the
tip of the peninsula that juts into Frenchman Bay. Less than a mile
apart, both parks allow for a clear view of Mount Desert Island.
The biggest
difference, however, is that the state park allows camping.
There are 60 sites.
They are nicely spaced for privacy, with plenty of trees and bushes
surrounding each one.
Best of all,
campers can have live lobsters delivered to their tents and RVs in
time for dinner. Just stop at the registration booth and tell the
ranger that you’re up for a lobster or two, at $4.40 apiece—or
whatever the catch of the day is selling for.
By day’s end, one
of the local lobster fishermen will bring dinner right to you, claws
and all.
“We had clams last
night, and will have lobster tonight,” said Larry Silva of Rhode
Island.
A quick tour of the
60 sites revealed that there were plenty of sites available at
moment’s notice last week—at the peak of Maine’s tourist season. |
