Franklin, Maine
Thing To Know For First Timers
last updated 3/1/08
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 (Hours: 0600-2000) (565-3314)
gas (for
your car, not from the food)
well-stocked convenience store - food, beer, wine,
newspapers, etc.
videos and DVDs
fishing license (can someone confirm this for me,
please)
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 always. Local carrier is U. S. Cellular I believe. I
use Verizon (both digital and analog phones) and
never get charged for roaming from camp. I also use a small antenna
(about $30 plus a $10 cable) that I got at Radio Shack which boosts me
up to 3 bars which works fine at our place on South Shore Colony Road;
otherwise, I would be going up to the blueberry field or the gravel
pit. Please let me know what
experiences you have had with different services -
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.
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 the bookstore near Marden's, 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
(link currently broken - 3/1/2008) comes out once a 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.
Television - read a book.
OK, if you must, over the air channels for ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS come
in but might depend on where your camp is and whether you need an
antennae. See radio for Red Sox/Yankees baseball as not all games
carried on TV. Your camp might have cable.
Radio - for those Red Sox
games! A number of stations carry the Red Sox 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.
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)
Movie theatres - check out
the Things to Do Page
Propane - Viking Lumber (Rt
1 and Rt 182 intersection). Does Tideway carry bottle propane?
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
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.
Nearby:
The Tideway back at the
intersection of Rt 1 and 182 (about a 7 mile ride from Franklin)
features everything the Franklin
Trading Post does plus a 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 (193 Main Street, Ellsworth) is very good. 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 should be able to supply any of your golf needs.
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;
EBS
Building Supplies at 261 State, Ellsworth (667-7134)
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 & Wimpys for seafood
especially (on Rt 1 just north of Rt 182) and Chester Pike's Galley (on
Rt
1 in Sullivan just past Rt 185).
Ellsworth has just about
anything you need and is about a 15-25 minute ride from Franklin.
Healthy eating and Farmer's
Markets 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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