Bookshop Tour - Maine Coast
Exploring the coastline of Maine is a lovely experience. Add in a coastal bookshop tour and I am set! Taking Route 1 along the coast in our class C motorhome gave us the opportunity to tour the land of lobster rolls, lobster buoys as decorations, general quirkiness, and books.
Freeport is about an hour from the Maine state line and is home of the LL Bean headquarters. You can also find Patagonia, The North Face, and Fjällräven Outlets. The best part for us is that Freeport provides an RV parking lot within walkable distance to the downtown area. And if that isn’t enough of a draw for you, check out the McDonald’s in a mansion!
Sherman’s is known to many as Maine’s Oldest Bookstore” and is a chain of 9 stores found only in Maine. One of their locations is right here, in Freeport.
Two and half hours north via the route 1 coastal scenic route is Fort Knox Historic site in Penobscot narrows, which is a wonderful stopping point for anyone in a camper or van. There is a nominal fee to get in (I think it was about $15 for all of us to get in). You can also pay a bit more and include a climb of the tallest public bridge observatory in the world! You can see the bridge out in the distance. It was a perfect spot to park under shade, eat some lunch in the camper, and then take the dogs for a walk in the historic site. Yes, dogs are allowed to explore with you.
And then just fifteen minutes up route 1, we found the Big Chicken Barn of Books, which boasts over 200,000 used books. At 21,000 square feet, this is Maine’s largest Bookstore. And a huge bonus for us is that the parking lot is huge and there was plenty of room for our Class C and toad to get in and out safely without having to unhook.
Ending in the northern town of Bar Harbor - famous for sharing Mount Desert Island with Acadia National Park which has almost 4 million visitors a year- I discovered quite a few bookshop options.
My favorite bookstores contain used books. Whether it’s a store with a mix of new and old, or a store that offers only used books, I just love the treasure hunt of pre-loved books. And Bar Harbor Bookshop or Mystery Cove Bookshop, located north of Bar Harbor, offered just that experience. Sadly, I think they’re closed their retail option but they are still offering book sales online.
Near the tide-influenced land bridge in Bar Harbor, I found an exquisitely tiny bookstore that sadly was not open the day I visited but a peek in the window afforded me with the opinion that it would be worth a perusal if you are nearby when it’s open.
As I mentioned earlier, Sherman’s is a chain of 9 stores found only in Maine. Bar Harbor location is the original location and is smack dab in the downtown shopping area so touristy souvenirs are displayed prominently as are their offerings of Maine authors and subjects.
