1. The Log Cabin: An Island Inn
City: Bailey Island, ME
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (207) 833-5546
Description: Part of the fun here is simply selecting a room—you can check out pictures on the Web. The variety among the nine guest quarters at this rustic retreat is cool, going from fairly modern-feeling spaces with big bay windows overlooking Casco Bay to funky retro rooms like the Wiseman where you can lie on the bed and look up at the knotty pine rafters. You could be comfortable and content in any one of them, and the amenities here are plentiful—bay vistas are common, and all have private baths, TVs, phones, and decks. Some have woodstoves, some Jacuzzis, and four have either a full kitchen or a kitchenette. An outdoor pool with views of the bay is available for dipping. Breakfast is included and is served in the dining room from 8 to 9:30 a.m. from a set menu—juice, coffee, tea, fresh fruit, pastries, and an egg dish or French toast or pancakes. Dinner, which is not included, happens between 6 and 7 p.m.; it’s a surf-and-turf affair with a full bar.
2. Sea Escape Charters
City: Bailey Island, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 833-5531
Address: P.O. Box 7
Description: Captain Les McNelly will take you out on a two-hour tour of Casco Bay and the Bailey Island area whenever you’re ready. He does sunset and seal-watch cruises as well as trips to Eagle Island, on an on-demand basis. And he also takes people out after mackerel, striped bass, and bluefish aboard his Sea Escape Too. If you can’t get enough, you can hole up for the night at one of McNelly’s cottages—they’re fantastic—and go out again the next day. Two-hour tours are $80 per person for two people, $50 each for four.
3. Sea Escape Charters
City: Bailey Island, ME
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (207) 833-5531
Address: P.O. Box 7
Description: Mackerel, striped bass, and bluefish are what Captain Les McNelly is after when he takes anglers out on the Sea Escape Too.
4. Cooks Lobster House
City: Bailey Island, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 833-2818
Address: Off Route 24
Description: When an ad agency went looking for an authentic Maine lobster pound for the Visa “It’s everywhere you want to be” campaign, it settled on Cooks. Not hard to understand why. In business since 1955, it’s everything a lobster pound wants to be: a neat old dining room of varnished pine booths with a wraparound panorama of the green-blue waters of Casco Bay. Obviously the lobster is the main attraction here, and you can get it baked, stuffed, stewed, Newburged, or plain-old boiled. A raft of other choices are there for the picking as well, from oysters to clams to fried fish. Cooks does lobster right, and they’ll even ship some home for you by overnight air if you just can’t get enough.