Midcoast Black Book

Best Outdoor Spots To Take Your Date

May is official “Date Your Mate” month and this time of year always makes me feel so tra-la-la moony like I’ve got cartoon bluebirds and bunnies cavorting around me, so I figured, why not share a few of my favorite outdoor spots to take your date and pitch some woo.

Lake St. George

Liberty, ME

Hands down, this is one of the cleanest, most spectacular spring-fed lakes in this Midcoast region. Go and rent the paddle boats or canoes for $3.00 an hour, bring a picnic and talk about the time you laughed so hard at a Disney movie you wet your pants. Better yet, don’t.

Fort Knox

Prospect, ME

Often pigeon-holed as a place only for Halloween, this is far from scary in the pale, hazy light of May. It opens May 1 and for $3.00 a person, you can explore the vast grounds and wander in and out of the Fort’s granite-walled fortification.  This is a great spot for people with active imaginations. You’ll find yourself imagining what it's like to take part in a Civil War re-enactment or you'll be dashing off a few pirate expressions and before you know it, you’ll already have your costume planned for the Medieval Festival in September.  If your date still sticks around after this, you’ve got yourself a keeper.

Fernald’s Neck: Balance Rock

Lincolnville, ME

Any time you can get your date to walk and talk, that’s where the real magic happens, and the walking trails in pristine Fernald’s Neck Preserve are the perfect strolling spots through dense softwood forests. Watch out for the cartoon bunnies and bluebirds that will inevitably be trying to lace dandelions through your hair mid-stroll. The Yellow Trail leads to a huge boulder tipped on its axis known as Balance Rock.  Make a friendly bet who can rock climb to the top first without falling. Bring First Aid Kit.

Top of Mt. Battie

Camden Hills State Park, ME

You can be a total slug and drive your date to the top or you can work off that muffin top from all the Thursday night karaoke fests at Cuzzy’s this winter and hike together up one of the meandering trails. Either way, this is a gorgey spot to try and name all the islands you can see stretching out before you in Penobscot Bay without cheating and looking at the sign that lists them all. Few people will be around this time of year—you’ll have the tower to yourselves in which you can re-enact Romeo and Juliet or Shrek and Donkey depending on how literate you are.

Lucia Beach

Owls Head, ME

This is a lovely, often deserted beach in the spring time—a great place to bring a kite or practice your Jack Black karate moves without much of an audience. There is nothing more serene than walking and picking up shells and talking about the time you once had ringworm as a kid.  Leave the digital camera at home though. No one needs another YouTube video in which the narrator is describing exactly what the viewer is seeing. “And here we have Lucia Beach--as you can see, there are lots of rocks and lots of sandy beach.”

Balance Rock