Camden, Maine Dining Packages
Midcoast Maine Foodie Experiences
We opened our fine dining bed and breakfast with epicurean experiences in mind. Understandably, we possess a passion for everything related to food and wine. Every day, we explore the Camden culinary scene in detail. Likewise, we enjoy visiting farms and farmers’ markets. Finally, we thrive on touring local food and wine producers.
Midcoast Maine is rich in regional food experiences. We know many of you share our passion as “foodies.” As a result, we are proud to offer this program.
Extraordinary Epicurean Experiences
The activities below are priced individually and are in addition to your room rate. Available only by advance reservation and offered nearly year-round.
Mushroom Hunting
Fall Mushroom Hunting
Mushroom hunting is a sport — one in which the mushrooms may actually have a chance of “winning” if the person eating does a poor job of species identification. However, picking mushrooms and eating them is a safe occupation, provided one knows the toxic types, properly identifies the species and stays with the most common edible ones.
Literally thousands of species of mushrooms are regularly consumed by mushroom hunters. The king bolete (porcini) is a popular delicacy. Sulphur Shelf (Chicken of the Woods) is often gathered because it occurs in bulk, recurs year after year, and has a wide variety of culinary uses. Chanterelles and morels are among the most popular types of mushrooms to gather, the latter being fairly hard to misidentify by anyone with practice.
Identification is not the only element of mushroom hunting that takes practice — knowing where to search does as well. Most mushroom species require very specific conditions — some will only grow at the base of a certain type of tree, for example. Finding a desired species that is known to grow in a certain region can be a challenge and that is where our Mushroom Expert steps in.
Camden Hills State Park (located 3 minutes from the Inn) is a great place to find Porcini, Hen of the Woods, Chicken of the Woods and many, many other wild mushrooms. Our guide will lead you through the woods for 2 hours, pointing out different mushrooms species (edible and poisonous) and instruct you on species identification.
$145 per couple for a 2-hour experience
Winery Tasting & Tour
Cellardoor Winery Tastings and Tour
Visit the Cellardoor Winery during your stay at our Camden bed and breakfast and enjoy their 1790 barn and farmhouse set on 68 acres. The vineyard is open 10 to 5 daily, mid-May through December. You are also invited to walk in their vineyards and enjoy a picnic in their gardens. Complimentary wine tastings are available daily and include one-on-one discussion about the winemaking process.
Wine Tour Package
We’ll send you off on your adventure with a picnic blanket, a gourmet picnic backpack (yours to keep) filled with a large gourmet picnic for two and a bottle of Cellardoor wine. Package price is $105 per couple.
Chef for the Day
Chef for the Day with Chef Michael
Join Chef Michael Salmon in his Camden, Maine restaurant kitchen for a private one-on-one cooking class. The chef for a day program runs from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, and is available with advance reservation. Students will assist Michael in preparations for that evening’s dinner and will also get specialized training on prearranged topics. The afternoon begins with a review of the evening’s dinner menu and assignment of duties. After a quick tour of the kitchen and orientation, you will work side-by-side with Michael preparing dinner. If you have a preference to learn about one of Chef Michael’s recipes or a specific type of cuisine, Michael can work with you in advance to make those arrangements. We recommend you join us for dinner that evening to enjoy the dishes you helped prepare.
Course Includes:
- 4-hour one-on-one instruction
- Menu of the Day
- Personalized-Signed copy of Chef Michael’s Cookbook
- Hartstone Inn apron
- Food tasting
Course Cost: $350 for first person — add a second person for $50 (second apron included).
To book online please enter please enter “CHEF” in the Special Requests section, select your room, and the rate will calculate.
Picnic Adventures
Gourmet Picnic Basket Adventures
Our “Picnic Basket Adventures” start with one of our homemade picnic lunches and are paired with your choice of the Maine coast adventures listed below. You choose the picnic and the adventure and we’ll pack your lunch and make all of the arrangements for your trip.
Picnic Lunch Choices:
- Picnic Lunch – Our standard lunch includes an Italian Grinder, homemade dill and Maine potato salad, fresh seasonal fruit and for dessert our strawberry shortcake biscuit.
- Lobster Picnic Pail Lunch – Everyone comes to Maine to eat lobster and we make it easy with our most popular lunch pail. Lunch includes twin Maine lobster rolls, fresh dill and Maine potato salad and Maine’s famous Whoopie pie.
- Gourmet Picnic Backpack Lunch – For a sophisticated picnic, you can’t beat our gourmet picnic backpack lunch. The lunch comes with a fully stocked picnic backpack (yours to keep) filled with a complete gourmet lunch which includes: Chef Michael’s Skillet Corn Bread, Maine Seafood & Lobster Chowder, Lobster Caesar Salad, Deviled Eggs with Lobster, Fried Capers & Chives and Raspberry Macaroons. Beverage of choice is also included: white wine, red wine, sparkling cider, soda, beer or water.
Adventure Options:
- Kayaking tour in Camden Harbor with picnic lunch on the water — standard picnic $30, lobster pail $120, gourmet lunch $150
- Picnic at the top of Mt. Battie with panoramic views of Penobscot Bay — standard picnic $30, lobster pail $50, gourmet lunch $150
- Self-guided Lighthouse tour with a picnic at the base of a scenic lighthouse — standard picnic $30, lobster pail $50, gourmet lunch $150
- Two-hour sail and picnic aboard a historic Maine Windjammer — standard picnic $100, lobster pail $120, gourmet lunch $175
- Bicycle adventure and picnic — standard picnic $70, lobster pail $90, gourmet lunch $145
- Snowshoeing or cross country skiing adventure and picnic — standard picnic $85 lobster pail $105, gourmet lunch $160
- Downhill skiing adventure and picnic — standard picnic $95, lobster pail $115, gourmet lunch $170 (equipment rental is additional)
- Museum Tours with Lunch
- Farnsworth Art Museum — standard picnic $50, lobster pail $70, gourmet lunch $125
- Owl’s Head Transportation Museum — standard picnic $44, lobster pail $64, gourmet lunch $119
- Searsport Marine Museum — standard picnic $46, lobster pail $66, gourmet lunch $121
* Pricing includes activities and picnic for two people.
Lobstering & Lunch
Lobstering & Lunch “Onboard”
Learn First-Hand how to Lobster in Penobscot Bay. Watch lobsters, sea life, breathtaking sights on the bay for 1.5 hours.
An informative cruise out on Camden’s beautiful Penobscot Bay. Help the captain steer the boat, help the crew haul our lobster trap, learn some knots, or how to navigate. We then journey to islands to see seals and seal pups, eagles, ospreys and nesting sea birds. Binoculars and cameras are a must.
A Maine Lunch
Let us pack your lunch — enjoy a lunch of Lobster aboard the “Lively Lady Too”. Our Lobster Picnic Pail includes twin Maine lobster rolls, fresh dill and Maine potato salad and Maine’s famous “Whoopie Pie” for dessert. Soda and bottled water are available also, the adventurous can try a can of Moxie!
$60 per person includes lobster lunch and adventure cruise.
Sugar House Tour
Sugar House Tour – Maple Syrup
Join Maine’s maple producers each spring as they celebrate Maine Maple. Here’s your chance to see firsthand how 40 gallons of maple sap is turned into just one gallon of that golden delight you pour over hot pancakes…or ice cream.
The trees are tapped and ready to produce sap in the beginning of March. The season can run up to 6 weeks. Two of the farms near us offer tours anytime during the “season” — and it usually lasts during the month of March and beyond.
Maine Maple Sunday is always the fourth Sunday in March — the day when sugar makers around the state open the doors of their sugarhouses for the public to join them in their rites of spring — making maple syrup.
Most sugarhouses offer free tastings and a live demonstration of how syrup is produced, from tap to table. Many offer a variety of other treats and activities, including syrup on pancakes or ice cream, sugarbush tours, sleigh or wagon rides and lots more. Many sugarhouses will arrange special tours and demonstrations for groups on other days as well. Contact numbers are below — call them yourselves or let us call them to make your arrangements.
Freyenhagen Family Farm
Phone: 207-785-4559
Sample maple syrup on ice cream. Demonstration of syrup-making process.
Union: 51 Wottons Mill Road
Rock Maple Acres
Phone: 207-845-2865
Ride through maple orchard with oxen and wagon. Maple syrup over ice cream. Coffee and drinks served. Baked beans with maple syrup samples.
Appleton: Rte 105 – Burkettville Road
Tours are Free