In autumn, Maine fills the senses

Insight on the News, Oct 9, 1995 by Dara Schechter

Moosehead Lake, Yankee country's water world, is a foliage watcher's, sport enthusiast's and antique collector's paradise - especially in the fall.

If Maine is the mecca for leaf lovers, then Moosehead Lake is the medina for visitors anxious to view the color cavalcade. Moosehead is Maine's major lake, the single-largest body of freshwater within any Northeastern state. Spanning 117 square miles - almost 75,000 acres - it is 40 miles long and up to 12 miles wide. Nature still lays claim to the area and autumn is the best time to appreciate its deciduous artistry. Late September through early October, trees are aflame with reds, oranges and golden yellows.

This water world has attracted sports enthusiasts for years, and the drive along Route 201 north of Portland is breathtaking - especially a 60-mile stretch between the towns of Solon and Jackman, just 16 miles south of the Canadian border. Antiques and craft shops, flea markets, family diners, home bakeries and working farms punctuate the road as it winds through old-fashioned hamlets. Canopies of trees open unto distant mountains. Stop to see Moxie Falls, which feeds into Lake Moxie.

From Jackman, drive 30 miles east to Rockwood, a convenient base for adventurers who stay on Moosehead Lake. The lake is famous as a haven for seaplanes and amphibious-aircraft. Every year, the international seaplane fly-in weekend draws thousands of Mainers and people from outside the state to watch seaplanes of all sizes and models perform water maneuvers. Indeed, a good way to see the scope and beauty of Moosehead is from above. Seaplanes from local companies are available for charter at hourly rates. But the Moosehead region also is ready-made for canoeing, kayaking, river rafting, swimming, mountain climbing, backpacking, bicycling and horseback riding.

Any of these activities help to work up an appetite - good excuse to visit the Road Kill Cafe in Greenville on the southern tip of the lake. The popular restaurant conjurs up a roadside atmosphere with primal sound effects from the kitchen to accompany the menu's choices: the Chicken That Didn't Make It Across the Road, the Skunk Breath Burger and plenty more. Mooseballs? "Unquestionably the most tender cut of the moose, sauteed and graced with our own special sauce." (The delicacy, priced at $1,425, requires a 72-hour notice and a 25 percent deposit, the menu notes; the customer should take under advisement, however, that it is illegal to sell moose meat in Maine, no matter how tender the cut.) Daring diners wash down their fare with yards of beer - long-necked glasses held between two slats of wood that rest on the floor. All 38 ounces of - what else? - Moosehead beer go down quickly.

The town of Lawrence, about 10 minutes up the road from the Road Kill Cafe, is famous for its gingerbreadlike church at the fork in the road. Several proprietors own cabins here, offering a spectacular view of Mount Kineo, which resembles a shark's fin rising from the lake's midsection.

At the base of the mount is Kineo House, a six-room inn. There also is a nine-hole golf course and trails that take hikers far above the lake, overlooking the entire Kineo Peninsula. Motorboats shuttle visitors with easy to the mountain. Roughing it has never been so easy

Wanted Dead and Alive

Moosehead Lake is in the heart of a wildlife region. Those unfortunate enough to get to glimpse a Maine moose probably will do so here. Nevertheless, though many locals have spotted these cartoonish giants with long snouts, sunken backs and regal antlers, many others have seen neither hide nor hair of the solitary beasts. As big as they are, weighing up to 1,200 pounds, moose can be elusive. Not known for having sharp eyesight, they do have keen senses of smell and hearing.

To preserve their numbers, hunters are permitted to track them down only one week every autumn - this year, Oct. 2-7. Moose permits are so popular they actually are determined by lottery. Note well the hiker's alert from the region's chamber of commerce: Wear that blaze-orange hunter's cap when walking through the woods during hunting season.

Maine's Department of transportation has in recent years tried to minimize the number of moose-vehicle mishaps by posting moose-crossing signs with flashing lights along Route 201 to remind drivers to be aware. If you see a group of cars on the side of the road, however, chances are there's a moose or two nearby posing for photos.