Franklin, Maine
Thing To Know For First Timers
last updated 3/20/2012
and still a work in progress
please send anything you think I should add to
Someone asked me to put up
a few things for those who might be renting or coming up to the pond
for the first time.
In Franklin proper
(wherever that is ;-) ), you can find at the Franklin
Trading
Post/CITGO station (have to check if they changed from CITGO recently)
(Hours: 0600-2000) (565-3314)
gas (for
your
car, not from the food)
well-stocked convenience store - food, beer, wine,
newspapers, etc. (but no limes! And few vegetables. So plan ahead for gin and tonics!)
DVDs
restaurant open for breakfast and lunch plus pizzas
on Friday and Saturday evenings - call ahead early (565-3314) for
pizzas hours 0600-???? (Be nice
to Becky and Karen!)
Maple
Knoll
Pizza
(565-2068) also makes
pizzas and grinders
Cell Phones - good signals
around the pond are spotty. You can get a good signal from the
blueberry field on Georges Pond Road always.
WiFi - if your camp doesn't have it or your neighbors (unencrypted), here are some spots in Ellsworth with free WiFi and sometimes a chance to sample some good food and coffee:
Ellsworth Public Library - 20 State St., 667-6363 also has PCs you can sign up for for 30 minutes and printing services (small charge/page)
Maine Grind - 192 Main St., Ellsworth. 667-0011 very nice coffee shop, too
McDonald's, 259 High St, Ellsworth
Laundromat near Reny's (in 2010)
Karen's Cafe at Paperback Booksmith near Hannaford's - good food and coffee and bookstore Booksmith has closed 2012 and I think Karen's, too
Internet access - Earthlink
has a local dial-up; AOL does not so you have to call
long-distance to Bangor or use an AOL 800 number; the Ellsworth Public
library has free wireless for those of you with laptops and a few free
desktops where you can reserve 30-minutes
blocks of time. Time Warner has cable to the pond - maybe a neighbor has wireless?
Newspapers - Bangor Daily
comes out every day but Sunday as the Saturday edition contains the
Sunday stuff. Available everywhere. Boston Globe and New York Times can
be had in Ellsworth at Shop
& Save,
and at Shaw's. Ellsworth
American is published every Thursday (usually
available late Wednesday) and contains all the local news and doings
and is available everywhere. Out
And About comes out once a month at the beginning of the month from June
through October, is
free, and has great listing of things to do and feature items - look
for it at Shaw's, Shop & Save, the Tourist Information booth across
from LL Beans and various shops usually in the Ellsworth American the first week of each month, too.
Television - read a book.
OK, if you must, over the air channels for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and PBS
come
in but might depend on where your camp is and whether you need an
antennae. My experience in 2011 is that CBS and PBS are not available
over the air, at least on South Shore Colony Road since the digital
switch - the CBS move to a UHF channel did not help at least at my camp. For now, we have Time Warner. See radio
for Red
Sox (1310AM) / Yankees baseball as not all games
carried on TV. Your camp might have cable or satellite..
Radio - for those Red Sox
games! A number of stations carry the Red Sox (1370 AM out of Ellsworth
comes in fine at my camp) and I think there is even
a (ptui) Yankees station. The local public radio station, WERU,
comes
in quite well. There are a few classical stations and an assortment of
oldies and current music stations. Favorite rock station now is WSNX at
97.7. And a great folk station, if you have internet, is WUMB.ORG out
of Boston.
Fishing licenses - you can
get it on-line.
Locally, I'm not sure but maybe the Tideway, Willey's and Walmart.
Churches - Franklin has a
Baptist
(565-8836); there is a Unitarian
Universalist in Ellsworth (667-4393) and
everything else is available in either Ellsworth or nearby
Library in Ellsworth - has free internet service (30 minute sign-up for deskstops or unlimited free wireless with your laptop) (667-6363)
Farmer's
Markets - Hancock Oil parking lot across from The
Grand on Main Street. Saturday 9:30 - 12:30. And starting June 13 also
at Maine Community Foundation, Washington Jct. Road, Monday and
Thursday 2- 5:30. For more info call 207-565-3598 Will have to update this in 2012
Movie theatres - check out
the Things to Do Page.
Ellsworth has The Grand and Mid-Coast Cinema, Milbridge has an old, fun
one, and Real Cinema in Bar Harbor is great for a movie and dinner
(pizza, salads, good beer and wine selections) that you can eat while
watching.
Propane - Viking Lumber (Rt
1 and Rt 182 intersection). Closed Sunday. EBS on Rt 1A, also.
Pottery - in "downtown"
Franklin on Rt 182 go to "Down to Earth Pottery" for that little
thank you gift and more; very nice work on-site by Keith Herklotz
(565-2422)
Public beach on
Georges
Pond at the north end of the pond Georges Pond Road - small but good
for little kids on those really windy days when
your camp is downwind and the waves are too big. Also on Donnell Pond
in Franklin but you access it from Rt 183 off Rt 1 north of Sullivan.
Jogging and Biking - you can pretty much jog and bike around the pond. The only trouble spot I know of is you have to go up South Shore Colony Road which is about 1 1/4 mile of hard-packed sand/gravel road leading out to the paved Georges Pond road. Since our camp is down South Shore Colony Road I know people do it all the time on bike and foot but watch out for the gravel trucks! It would appear that you could go down Cove Road over to Bunker Road to save yourself the 1 1/4 miles but there is one section that goes through private property right behind someone's camp - not sure how they feel about it - and the "trail" there is a little rough.
Also, the "new" Sunrise Trail
goes through Franklin and runs from Ellsworth to Calais (about 85
miles). Best place to park locally is at old railroad crossing on Rt
182 just past/before CITGO station. This is a multiuse trail so you
will encounter ATVs in the summer. I suggest weekday riding as ATV use
is heavier on the weekends. Soft shoulders so I usually stop and let
them by when I am biking (some of the ATVs slow down but not all so be
careful). Going North (East) on the trail from Franklin, there is a
great view of Schoodic Mountain and Schoodic Bog about 5 to 6 miles.
Nearby:
The Tideway (Irving Station) back at the
intersection of Rt 1 and 182 (about a 7 mile ride from Franklin)
features everything the Franklin
Trading
Post does plus an indoor and outdoor snack bar and is open later
from
xxxx-xxxx. The last time I asked they did have fishing licenses.
Sporting Goods at nearby
stores - covering all sports and camping, kayaking, canoeing,
and climbing is Cadillac
Mountain Sports (34
High Street, Ellsworth, (207)
667-7819). Willey's (at
the
Mill Mall, 248
State Street, Ellsworth, (207)
667-2511) is heavy into
fishing,
hunting, and archery (they have discontinued their clothing and boating
as of July 2006).
LL Bean has an
outlet store with some good deals but it is hit or miss. Bar
Harbor
Bicycle
Shop in Ellsworth has moved to Bar Harbor, I believe.
Olympia Sports
(225 High
Street, Ellsworth, (207)
667-7532)
has traditional sporting goods.
Bar Harbor Golf Course (51
Jordan
River Rd, Trenton, (207)
667-7505), off
Rt
3 a couple of miles out of Ellsworth going towards Bar
Harbor is 18 holes should be able to supply any of your golf needs. Bucksport Golf Course,
about 45 minutes away, is a very nice 9 hole course and cheaper and
more personable than Bar Harbor GC. For you avid golfers on your way up
or home, you really should try Clinton GC at Exit 138 off Maine Pike - 9 holes and you are treated extremely well.
Bakery - Sad day in Maine as Larry's Bakery closed in May 2006. Is there another bakery in Ellsworth? Let me know.
Hardware store and
lumber yards - at Rt 1 and 182 in Hancock is Viking Lumber but closed Sunday;
EBS
Building Supplies at 261 State, Ellsworth (667-7134). And the Big Box
store in Ellsworth - Home Depot.
Knitting and
Crafts - Shirley's
on
Rt 1 in Hancock about a half mile before Rt 182 (667-7158)
Pottery - check out Keith
Herklotz' Down To Earth Pottery in "downtown" Franklin. Get a jar of
Maine or Franklin air while you are there! 565-2422
Restaurants - see the
Food page but the closest two restaurants
besides the Trading Post and Tideway are Ruth & Wimpy's (closed Sundays) for seafood
especially (on Rt 1 just north of Rt 182) and Chester Pike's Galley
(highly recommended) (on
Rt
1 in Sullivan just past Rt 185). And a little further away near Ellsworth is Jordan's Snack Bar which is excellent. For some fine dining, go to Alva and Jessie's Kitchen Garden in Steuben (check their website, cash only, reservations a must, BYOB with setup charge). Cleonice in Ellsworth is very nice, too.
Ellsworth has just about
anything you need and is about a 15-25 minute ride from Franklin.
Healthy eating in the area - http://www.healthyhancock.org/healthy_eating/healthy_eating.htm
Here's a SoundOff webpage
about Maine: http://www.captaind.com/soundoff.html
with
info and opionions on local stuff.
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