Camp Liberty at King and Bartlett

 

For well over a hundred years King and Bartlett has been a place of peace, enjoyment and exceptional outdoor opportunities and experiences in Maine’s Great Northwoods.

 

Camp Liberty at King and Bartlett begins a new chapter in the storied and unique history of this special place. This 501c-3 non-profit corporation will provide a classic Maine sporting camp experience to a wide range of deserving individuals. We will provide a place where the interaction with our natural resources and amenities may be enjoyed by veterans, children, the elderly and those suffering from chronic illness. Additionally, we will also reward and celebrate both individuals and groups who have overcome challenges in their own journeys yet now strive to enhance the lives of others.


Camp Liberty at King and Bartlett proudly offers a remote lakeside compound providing comfortable amenities, warm hospitality and abundant natural resources. We are seeking opportunities and partnerships with individuals and private sector businesses to join us as we assist the missions and goals of other similarly focused non-profit organizations at our 46,000 acre paradise in the North Maine Woods. It is also our goal to demonstrate and teach the necessity of conserving and enjoying our natural heritage by practice and mission so that our constituencies, program participants and future generations may benefit.

 

(CONTACT FOR MORE INFO)

A Happy US Army Veteran "Sargent Dave" enjoying his time on the water as part of a group of 18 veterans and volunteers from Project Healing Waters held at Camp Liberty at King and Bartlett on June 17-20th.

 

Robert’s Maine Grill

Hey fellow Outdoorsies! Take a look at this great post about an up and coming movement of bringing locally grown produce to restaurants tables here in Maine and especially Robert's Maine Grill!

Robert’s Maine Grill Helps To Bridge The Gap Between Field And Plate

Hello again OutDoorsies! Jeremiah here from Bob’s Clam Hut. As summer approaches, we can all look forward to fresh, locally grown produce. Maine has more than 6,000 farms, upwards of 1.25 million acres of farmland and a quickly growing farm to table movement. At Bob’s Clam Hut and Robert’s Maine Grill we love to work with local vendors to bring in Maine grown and harvested products.  Two miles up the road from our restaurants is the Rustlewood/Johnson farm; home of Greenlaw Gardens a small, vey new, produce farm.

Greenlaw Gardens Owner Rick Greenlaw says the support of Robert’s Maine Grill enabled him to expand his small Kittery, Maine farm substantially. This summer Greenlaw Garden’s will be expanding their acreage 10-fold, adding greenhouses and  more vegetable varieties, and Robert’s Maine Grill will take full advantage of the increased variety and volume of local produce.

Typically, farm to table restaurants are small and very high end- think Fore Street in Portland or Arrows in Ogunquit, but Robert’s Maine Grill is striving to change that model. With more than 250 seats, sourcing enough locally grown produce is a huge challenge for the almost seven year old restaurant. “When we started Robert’s, the idea was to incorporate the practice of sourcing our food directly from local farmers and fishermen. We wanted to get off the Sysco truck. The challenge was finding sources that could consistently meet our demand.”  Said owner Michael Landgarten when asked about going local.

Robert’s Maine Grill is a two story building that stands in contrast to the Kittery outlet stores that surround it. Blue clapboard siding and a faux lighthouse give Robert’s an older, classic Maine feel. The menu has all the classic Maine seafood restaurant fare – lobsters, haddock, clams and lobster rolls- with an updated and creative twist. It’s the quintessential Maine restaurant, and Chef Brandon Blethen’s vision for the menu is a large reason why. “Growing up in Kittery, I’ve always had ties to local fishermen and the community. My brother was a fisherman and that was a huge influence in what food I create. Our cod and littlenecks dish is an example of that. Also my mother would forage for things like dandelion greens and create amazing food from that and simple local ingredients. The food I love has had a traditional Maine influence. I wanted our menu at Robert’s to reflect that.”

Luckily for Robert’s , Chef Brandon’s friend and local farmer Rick Greenlaw is just a stone’s throw away. Located on Wilson Road in Kittery, Greenlaw Gardens was able to supply Robert’s with hundreds of pounds of produce this past summer despite being a small, two person operation.  According to Greenlaw, the partnership with Robert’s was key in making Greenlaw Gardens viable. “I started in 2010, not having a clue what I was doing, or who would buy my vegetables. The folks at Robert’s reached out to us, and started buying whatever I could produce. Now we’re looking at making the farm our sole income, and this never would have been a remote possibility in our minds had it not been for the support of Robert’s.”

This summer, Robert’s Maine Grill plans on sourcing much more of its produce from Greenlaw Gardens because of the planned expansion of the farm. In 2013 Greenlaw Gardens will go from a ¼ acre size farm, to having 4 greenhouses and 2 ½  acres of planted crops. Greenlaw and Blethen worked together to create a crop list that would work for both Robert’s and Greenlaw Gardens. “The list that Brandon and I compiled is a comprehensive assortment of root crops, fruiting crops, and leafy vegetables, as well as a wide assortment of herbs as well. We’ve selected for over 15 types of tomatoes alone!”

For Robert’s, who already has a table-to-farm composting program and who hosts two community suppers every week, this is just the next phase in being a responsible community partner. For Landgarten, it’s partners in the community that enable Robert’s to reach that goal. “Our notion has always been to make locally grown produced at the height of freshness with minimal carbon footprint part of Robert’s. Bringing this to the traditional large Maine seafood restaurant like Robert’s is a bit of a new frontier. The Greenlaw’s and other partners of ours have made this possible and we’re very grateful. It allows us to be the kind of community member we strive to be.”

(Article Submitted by Jeremiah of Robert's Maine Grill)

Lakeside Camping...

The season is among us now. The time to break out the tents, flashlights, sleeping bags and get out to break away from the winters cabin fever. Finding a location half the battle. Some like the campgrounds and some like getting out in the backcountry to put some distance between civilization for a while. I prefer the distance myself...

 

This past weekend a few local friends and I did just that. Loaded up the boat and took a trip down Flagstaff Lake to a lake shore campsite. No power, No cable TV, No pho... Alright, a couple cell phones chirped now and then, but you get the idea. I can't think of a better way to spend a couple days or more. During the day we set off on the boat for a little fishing. In the afternoon the campfire was stoked and we sat back and watched the sun set off East Kennebago Mountain. Really, could it get any better?

Sure it can! We had the privilege to meet a couple that had decided to venture out on the lake on their canoe. Fantastic people with a good sense of adventure. Their original plan was to paddle to Hurricane Island (on Flagstaff) but the weekend proved to be rather windy. They made a reasonable decision to camp along with us to save themselves a weekend of paddling. It is funny who you will meet sometimes!

 

Alright, here is the point. Choose to live the dream. You are the only one that can hold yourself back...

 

Keep pointing North...

 

Will

 

PS~ Campfire permits may be needed. Contact the Maine Forest Service for more info.

Who is Emily MacCabe?

Emily MacCabe works for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife and is quite the advocate for outdoor activities, especially fishing! She is also a blogger and shares her stories of adventure while promoting and encouraging Outdoorsies of all ages to get out and enjoy time with friends, family and children. Emily does an excellent job writing and sharing photos of her adventures. She sure does take full advantage of what Maine has to offer!

Read all about it on her blog and be sure to follow and share!

Bob's Clam Hut

A fantastic post from Bob's Clam Hut! Summer is getting closer every day! Meet Jeremiah Fitzgerald. He takes care of marketing for Bob's and was able to stealth a little information out the back door just to share with Maine Open Air readers. Jeremiah, strong work!

 -------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hello fellow Outdoorsies and a big thank you to the Maine Open Air Blog for inviting us to contribute! This will be Bob’s Clam Hut’s first foray into the blogosphere, and we’re very excited to share some of our recipes, cooking techniques and goings on with the readers of Maine Open Air.

 

When Will first asked us if we wanted to be part of his Maine themed, outdoors blog I thought: Of course! But what on Earth are we going to post about? Bob’s doesn’t have a famous chef and generally we try not to flambé our clams. I finally decided that showcasing what we do best – consistently great clam shack fare in a fun Maine setting- would provide the Open Air readers with an interesting peak behind clam curtain.

 

Since it’s technically spring (how many feet of snow does Sugarloaf still have?), I thought that sharing a summertime recipe might be in order. Bob’s coleslaw recipe is a tried and true favorite that has been with the restaurant for more than 50 years. It’s a Bob Kraft original, so before I shared it with you all I had to get a special security waver to take it out of the vault and make it public. Coleslaw is picnic table staple and an essential BBQ addition. I hope this recipe makes it to your cookouts this season. Here’s to summer!

PS – I scaled down the recipe for home use, but the photos are of typically sized batches we make at the Clam Hut.

 

BOB’S CLAM HUT ORIGINAL COLESLAW

 

Thanks for mixing Rachael!!

For the Slaw:

2 pounds shredded cabbage

½ pound shredded carrots

For the Dressing:

2 Cups Mayo 

6 Tbsp of White Vinegar

1 Tsp Black Pepper

1 Pinch of Salt

½ Cup of Sugar

2 Tsp Celery Seed

½ Tsp Puree Onion


 



You'll Need These

-Combine cabbage and carrots in a large serving bowl.

-Combine the mayonnaise and vinegar in a mixing bowl and whisk together until the mixture is smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Add the salt, pepper, sugar, celery seed and onion. Mix thoroughly.

 

 

-Add the dressing to the cabbage and carrot mixture until the coleslaw can hold shape. And that’s it!

 

You should now have delicious coleslaw!
(If you ended up with eggs Benedict please go back to step one).

 

To learn more about Bob’s you can visit our website at www.bobsclamhut.com.
You can also visit us on Facebook and Twitter. (Click Here for More Contact Info)

Thanks for reading. Eat Clams!

-Jeremiah

 

Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives show hosted by Guy Fieri visits Bob's !!



 





(Published especially for Maine Open Air. Many thanks to the contributors!)

Who loves shopping online?

Everyone of course! Great products at awesome prices that is only a click away. Click "SHOP" on the tool bar and you're off and running to find the gear you need for your outdoor sports. Enjoy!

 



Good times with Good friends

I only wish I could have a claim to this trip. It looked like these boys had one hell of a good time! The reason I wanted to post and share this video is that this is a fine example of what Maine is all about! Good times with Good friends. I sure hope a video like this would inspire you to get out and have a great time and share your story. I personally believe that the "word of mouth" can encourage more than a "Maine Adventure" brochure. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they work, but I'm sure these boys had more fun.

 

Myself and a couple others have been hard at work for the past month or so planning the summer destinations. Much like the trip in this video, planning is critical. Late nights looking at maps, calculating distances, making lists and checking gear are all part of the plan. I personally have fallen asleep a couple times with the Maine Gazetteer on my lap. Ill just say that I was trying to absorb the maps subconsciously... My problem when I get flipping through the map pages is I cant decide where I want to go first!

 

There are other books that I keep close by just to brush up on and always online looking for more info. There's a lot out there! I will post a list of my favorites soon, they work for me, maybe they will for you too. Well, take a look at this video. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

 

Maine Adventures 2011 - Allagash Wilderness Waterway  

 



A thought to ponder...

"The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing."

- Daniel J. Boorstin

2 Days of Ice Fishing

This past weekend 3/10 & 11 was one of the nicest weekends this winter. Perfect to many things in the great outdoors like snowshoeing, snowmobiling, skiing and of course ice fishing. Now, some may think there is a lot of skill involved or even think that its just too damn cold to go sit on a slab of ice in the middle of the lake. Well, not so much the case with this particular weekend. I can say that it is a lot of fun especially when you have a good group of people, sun shining, and maybe even a few cold beverages. Anybody can learn to love this outdoor sport if they don't already...

 

This year my buddy Tom and I, his son and girlfriend made the voyage out with snowmobiles on Flagstaff Lake to find the perfect location for the ice shack. While towing the ice shack I was excited to see what spot we were going to locate this condo on skis. After careful consideration we found the place where it would spend the winter. A priceless view that remains indescribable.

 

So, skip ahead to this past weekend... A bunch of us made the trip out to what has been dubbed "The Love Shack" and couldn't ask for better weather. Warm in the sun and plenty of snow and ice to keep a few brewskis and belly warmers in. Holes were drilled, traps were set and jig poles baited and the fun begins. I can say that as soon as a trap was tripped, someone would scream "FLAG"!! and the foot race was on! The fishing was great! Flags flying and jig poles with plenty of action. Ideally we were fishing for Salmon, but managed to catch plenty of Perch & Pickerel. One Salmon did make it up through the hole, only to be released before I could get a photo of it. Damn Johnny for doing that!

Flag Spotters

Well, little did we know that the biggest excitement of the day was yet to come. After a 30 minute lull in flag action, one popped up. The one trap that was very close to the base camp and fire pit. Now I think we all assumed that another Perch had tripped the flag until Johnny had looked at the spool and yelled "We've got a runner"!! Johnny grabbed the line and the fight was on. Pulling in line with the finesse of a surgeon. Once the head of this fish had appeared through the ice hole, I was shocked as to the size! It was soon realized that we were looking at a Brook Trout! A rare find in Flagstaff Lake!

 

20", 3.5lb Male Brook Trout held by Johnny Campbell

The point of all this is simple. There is no dress code, no stress, good friends, better drinks and good food. If you already ice fish, you can completely understand. If you don't, find someone who does and go for the experience!

 

"Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers."

~ Herbert Hoover

 

 

Will Schnorr

www.facebook.com/mainejourneyman

@MaineJourneyman