Food & Fun

There are great places to enjoy in Eastport for food, fun and recreation. This little island community offers everything from deli and pizza, to upscale (but affordable) places to eat and enjoy an evening out.

For great Pizza, Deli and affordable daily specials we have Moose Island Country Store, Bank Square Deli, The Happy Crab and the Waco. The Waco is a great place for an early morning breakfast. They also offer lunch and dinner. Moose Island Country Store has sandwiches and pizza to go, as well as homemade pastry and breakfast sandwiches. Bank Square Deli has a full selection of deli sandwiches, pizza and daily specials. The Happy Crab also offers daily specials, pizza and great fish & chips. On Saturday nights, The Happy Crab has Mexican Night with a full menu of very affordable and tasty Tex-Mex items. Their entire lunch and dinner menu can be ordered to-go. The IGA also has a great deli section with hot foods and daily specials.

All of the local churches and civic organizations offer traditional New England Baked Bean, Spaghetti and Casserole Suppers throughout the year. These are one of the best deals for plentiful homemade food at a great price.

More upscale, but still affordable food venues include The Eastport Chowder House, The Rose Garden Cafe and the soon to open Pickled Herring. The Chowder House sits right on the water and is a great place to enjoy Maine Lobster, seafood, and steaks. The Rose Garden offers an international menu that change weekly. You can enjoy authentic Thai cuisine one week and Northern Italian the next. With the opening of The Pickled Herring you'll have a great selection of food items grilled on an open wood fire.

In the evening from May to October there are five great places to gather with friends, play pool, share a game of darts and listen to great music. The Happy Crab, The Chowder House and The Rose Garden Cafe all have pool tables. The Happy Crab, The Waco and The Chowder House offer outside decks in season and weekly entertainment. The Rose Garden is one of the best places north of New York City to listen to great Jazz, Blue Grass and Folk music. When the Pickled Herring opens, it will also provide evening entertainment. The Happy Crab, The Rose Garden and the Pickled Herring all have wide-screen TV's to watch your favorite sports event. During the winter months The Chowder House is closed.

For eating at home, the local IGA market offers a full-line of grocery items with great money saving sales every week. They also have all major sundry items and DVD rentals. Thirty-five miles up the road in Calais you'll also find an expanded selection at the Super Hannaford's and Bell's IGA. You'll also find two Chinese restaurants with all of your favorite dishes and all you can eat buffets at great prices.

There are many exciting events here on the island throughout the year. Everything from the Eastport Pirate Festival, Salmon Festival, Halloween Party and Festival of Lights, to the Valentine's Speedo Run, The Grand 5 Day 4th of July Celebration, Coast Guard Day, Indian Days Celebration and Eastport Fly-In. Please check out our Eastport Events section for more details.

People that live on Moose Island take advantage of all of the great things to do. The Eastport Arts Center provides a rich calendar of year-round offerings. Eastport was the cultural center for the area during the 1800s and early 1900s. Professional performers from Boston and New York as well as amateurs, made theater, operas, and musical performances commonplace here. In the late twenties and thirties, George Pierce Ennis ran a summer branch of his famous New York City Grand Central School of Art in Eastport.

After a long period of economic struggle for this historic sea coast community, that cultural tradition has re-established itself. In 1985, a small group of local artists opened a gallery in downtown Eastport, occasionally offering concerts and films. Artists, both visual and performing, began to move to town, and in 1990, Stage East's community theater was born. Artists and people wishing to live in a culturally rich community continued to make Eastport their home, and the Eastport Arts Center was incorporated as an umbrella organization for these and other newly forming and innovative programs.

In early 2005, the Eastport Arts Center purchased a permanent home, an 1837 church, formerly known as the Washington Street Baptist Church. Its 9,200 square feet houses six of the nine constituent arts organizations as well as space for community use. With great excitement, the Eastport Arts Center feesl that they have embarked upon a venture that will provide a place where the arts can flourish and continue to enrich the lives of individuals and our community. They are always looking to cast new talent in their productions if you have an interest in getting involved with local theatre.

For a complete list of events check out Eastport Arts Center

For those of you that enjoy the great outdoors... Eastport is the place to be. The island offers great hiking trails at Shackford Head State Park, just behind The Boat School - Husson campus.

Shackford Head, a 90-acre undeveloped peninsula in Eastport, is located off Maine Route 190. The site includes beaches, protected coves, and a bold headland. A hiking trail from the parking area through the woods to the rocky headland allows beautiful views of Cobscook Bay.

This park was named for sea captain John Shackford who was born in 1753 at Newbury/Newburyport, Massachusetts. Shackford acquired the head not long after he came to Eastport and used Broad Cove for his ship's anchorage and he came with his family about 1783.

Shackford Head Overlook offers a spectacular view of the Canadian islands of Campobello and Grand Manan, New Brunswick. Here you can see Atlantic Salmon cages; the Eastport cargo pier on Estes Head; Treats island; the town of Lubec; Roosevelt Cottage and International Park. On the beach below you will discover the first of two fossil areas that are within the park boundaries. The other area is on the Schooner Trail near the two land bridges. The park also includes a memorial to the five Civil War ships that were burned for salvage here in the early 1900s.

The waters around Eastport and Moose Island offer some of the best sea kayaking adventures in the world. Whales, Eagles, Seals, Sun Rises that inspire for a life-time, and quiet gentle solitude. People love this area for paddle adventures and many of our students bring their own kayaks and take advantage of this recreational opportunity. Cobscook Hikes and Paddles is a local business that will provide you with training and adventure outings if you want to learn how to kayak while you are here. They can be contacted at www.cobscookhikesandpaddles.com

There are many ways to get out on the ocean and enjoy the Big Blue that surrounds us. We have some of the best sailing waters in the world. Be it in a small day sailor or on the deck of an historic Maine Windjammer, Eastport will be your jumping off point. Eastport Windjammers offers two sailings a day. One Whale Watch Cruise and a Sunset Cruise that will provide you with a look at life at sea a hundred years ago when their Windjammer the Sylvina Beal was built here on the Coast of Maine.

The island is a great place for biking. Our many streets and roads take you along the waterfront and past historic homes and superb 18th and 19th century architecture. Bike adventures off-island will allow you to weave your way through cool evergreen forests, around crystal clear lakes, and past lush wetlands-home to beavers, Eagles, chipmunks, moose, bear and deer. Here on the island, everyone waves and says Hello, no matter how long you've been here... a day or 100 years.

In the winter, cross country skiing is enjoyed all over Downeast, Maine. We have many public lands that have easy access and provide for a great day of Nordic skiing adventures.

The coastal town of Eastport, though small in size, possesses the deepest port on the East Coast. It is located on Cobscook Bay, which is notorious for its ripping tides and powerful currents. The bay's powerful surges have given birth to a rare phenomenon: reversing falls. Near Pembroke, the rapids that course over Cobscook's rocky bottom actually reverse direction with the tide. The churning water kicks food to the surface, supporting rare forms of aquatic life and attracting seals and eagles at high tide. The tidal flats around this area are an excellent place to search for fossils and view migrating shorebirds.

Passengers on the ferry between Eastport and Deer Island, Canada will catch sight of another natural wonder-Old Sow, believed to be the biggest whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere. Eastport is also home to America's only remaining mill producing stone ground mustard-Raye's Mustard Mill. Tours of the working museum are available. North of Eastport, more than 700 members of the Passamaquoddy Indian tribe reside in the Pleasant Point Indian Reservation. The Waponahki Museum preserves their history, and authentic native baskets are sold nearby.

Just an hour from the border at Calais is the Canadian Maritime City of St. John, New Brunswick. Here you can enjoy and international adventure for a weekend overnight get-away. Four people sharing a room at one of the local hotels makes it very affordable. Here you'll find semi-pro hockey at Harbour Station, the Imperial Theatre with presentations from Broadway and around the world, Jet Boating, Dragon Boat Races, ethnic restaurants, great live music and a Festival of one kind or another every week on The Board Walk during the Season. Everything from the Annual Buskers Festival to the Annual Fog Festival. Make sure you bring your Passport. Just over the border in the town of St. Andrews, New Brunswick you'll find great cuisine and adventure sports. Everything from chasing the local 30 foot tides to playing golf on one of the best courses in North America. We actually have 4 great golf courses close to Eastport at St. Andrews, Campobello, St. Stephen in New Brunswick and Calais here in Maine.