Paddling Down East From Inn to Inn
THE tides and wind were against us and the sun was in our eyes as we paddled into the harbor at Rockland, Me. My friend Kira and I emerged from the marina in our life jackets and spray skirts, lugging paddles, nautical charts and clothing across the street to the Old Granite Inn, our shoulders sore and heads aching from two hours of paddling in the heat.
We were so tired we thought about going straight to sleep — but then someone told us about a local restaurant, one of the best in Maine. Within the hour, we were seated at its elegant copper bar, drinking strawberry-and-rhubarb cocktails, mixed with ingredients from the garden out back.
We had paddled a quarter of the way up Penobscot Bay, starting about 60 miles northeast of Portland, because I wanted a sea-kayaking journey on the Maine coast. But I also wanted hot showers and a warm bed. I didn’t mind doing some of the hard work (the paddling), but I didn’t want to do all of it (the cooking). The answer: an inn-to-inn kayaking trip . . . [to read the full article, see Paddling Down East From Inn to Inn, The New York Times.