-I'm in a destination that has been a favorite for generations of travelers for centuries, and no wonder.

Few places compare to its wild beauty.

This is where mountains meet oceans, marine animals have island retreats, and the air comes perfectly salted.

It's known as Summer Vacationland, and yet for its residents, it's a yearlong effort to create art, iconic tastes, and experiences, both past and present.

It's where lighthouses live and schooners are often spotted.

I'm on the glorious coast of Maine.

[ Upbeat tune plays ] I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world.

And I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" is made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ♪♪ ...pedal... and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

♪♪ -All the untamed beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, experienced on a journey by rail.

♪♪ Rocky Mountaineer, proud sponsor of "Places to Love."

♪♪ -Maine's coastline is over 3,400 miles.

I'll be doing a relatively small but action-packed part of it, starting in Bar Harbor, following Route 1 down to Bath, and wrapping up in Kittery with some side trips along the way, but first, in a state that's known for its views, here is one of the best.

♪♪ So right now we are standing on top of what is the tallest mountain along the East Coast... -Exactly.

-...Cadillac Mountain.

-Right.

-And what are we looking out over?

-These are called the Porcupine Islands because they kind of look like porcupines, and most of those islands belong to Acadia National Park, and that long stretch of land out there is known as the Schoodic Peninsula.

-Uh-huh.

-And it's the only part of Acadia National Park that's actually on the mainland of Maine.

I'm Christie Anastasia, and I work here at Acadia National Park, and I've worked for the National Parks for over 20 years.

Acadia National Park was my first park, and I immediately fell in love.

I knew that I wanted to be a park ranger because I wanted to be in a position where I could somehow help create or facilitate those experiences for other people who were going to come to the park.

Here on Mount Desert Island, Acadia National Park is roughly about a little less than half the island, and we also share this island with a lot of other communities where people live year-round.

-And what makes it so unique, one of the many things, is that it encompasses mountains and lakes and shoreline and forests.

It really has just a little bit of everything here.

-Yes.

-One of the points that I love so much about being here on Cadillac is that you just see lots and lots of people.

For me, I love that because it means that it's accessible to all.

It doesn't matter if you're in a wheelchair.

It doesn't matter if you're a 4-year-old.

We all get to experience the exact same moment, and I've always felt that was a really powerful point of travel when all walks of life can feel the same emotion of awe at the same time.

-Yeah, absolutely.

There are places in Acadia where people come together, and they want to see and be seen, and there are also places in Acadia National Park where you kind of just want to go and be by yourself.

-I'm going to Jordan Pond after this.

What do you find special about that particular spot?

♪♪ -Jordan Pond is a really amazing, fun place.

You know, you kind of come into that space, and you have this amazing view down to the pond, and you're in a little bit of a valley formed by the glaciers, and you just... You know, it's almost like the rivers of Cadillac Mountain.

Up here you're looking out and feeling the vastness, and there you're kind of nestled by the vastness a little bit.

♪♪ -Oh, is that Cadillac Mountain right there?

-It is.

You can see all the mountains from Acadia National Park from here, from one side of Mount Desert Island to the other.

-Oh, that's fantastic.

-I'm Eli Strauss.

When I get a day off, what I do is pack my family onto a little boat that I got for my 16th birthday.

We go out to the islands on the coast of Maine.

We go ashore and try and feel like we're the first people who have ever been there.

So when people ride our boat, we take them out around the islands, and we try and help them to appreciate that same feeling that I've had when I was a little kid and I think is one of the best in the world and is the reason I live in Maine.

-So this is one of your favorite islands?

-Yeah.

Green Islands are...

They sit outside of the bay kind of on their own, so you really get that feeling sometimes when you're out here like you're the only person in the world, and you're just out with the... in the wilderness and out of the middle of the ocean, kind of a rocky outpost out here.

-We're being watched by a lot of seals right now.

-Yeah.

-Are they babies?

-The harbor seals pup along the coast of Maine late May, early June, so a lot of the little ones that you see around, they're maybe a week or two old.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

They're born in the water, and they're going to spend maybe a week, 10 days with their mothers in the water, and then they start climbing out on the ledges to rest.

♪♪ -That's the perfect lighthouse.

I need an easel and a paintbrush.

-That's Bass Harbor Head Light.

It was built out here in 1858, and when that was put together, it was...

The light was made by whale-oil-burning lamps.

-Wow, perfect, and so that was the lightkeeper's house.

-That's right.

It's automated now, so the light just goes on and off all the time.

-And ships and boats still need them, right?

-They do.

You can't imagine, even with the GPS chart plotters and everything else, the feeling of having a fixed point of land to be able to see.

It doesn't move, and you know where it is, and you know where it is.

It makes all the difference, even today.

-Is there a reason why it's a red light?

-There is.

A lighthouse has to have a fingerprint, so when you pick up a navigation aid when you're coming in from sea, you're going to be looking at a whole bunch of lights, and if you assume the wrong one, you're going to run into the rocks.

-Oh, that makes sense.

-So this one is red.

That helps, and it's also on for 4 seconds, off briefly and then right back on again, so if you look on any navigation chart in the world at Bass Harbor Head Light, it will say, "Red, 4-second occulting."

-Wow.

-So you can make sure you're looking at the right one.

-Are we on Acadia?

Is this looking at Acadia National Park here?

-It's owned by Acadia National Park, and this is the only lighthouse in Acadia National Park that you can actually drive to and visit.

If you come early in the morning, you can watch the sun rise over the Gulf of Maine, or if you come this time of day, you can watch it set over Blue Hill.

♪♪ [ Whimsical music plays ] ♪♪ -What is steampunk?

-Steampunk, I guess, is...

I don't know.

It's recreating something that was once had a purpose into something else.

You're recreating something, giving it a new meaning and a new way of life.

-Mm-hmm.

-I guess I don't know what steampunk is because I didn't know it was steampunk until about 4 or 5 years ago, and someone come in there.

They were writing a bible on steampunk, and they wanted to include me, and they told me I was steampunk, so I put the word steampunk out there.

I like it better than antiques.

It brings people in.

-So what is your inspiration then?

-My inspiration?

I don't know.

I've often thought about that.

When I see something that's had its use, It's had its life.

It's been cast aside and discarded, right?

And with a touch of a torch and a bit of imagination, I give it a new life and make someone happy.

-What are these?

Are these -- These are valves?

These are fuse?

-Vacuum tubes, something nice from the past, and the gauges, I just love gauges.

I collect gauges all over the place and of course my spoons, you know?

Everything has a second meaning, a second chance.

I'm not a sculptor, not an artist.

-Mm-hmm.

-I'm selling happiness.

♪♪ -Do you know where everything is in your shop?

-Not really.

I have things that have been here for years, so I'll pick them up, and later I'll use them.

-Your sign says, "Motorcycles, trains and then frogs."

-Yeah.

-Why frogs?

-Because I do a lot of frogs.

-You like doing frogs?

-No, other people like frogs.

-Okay.

Really?

-I have one frog in there, but he's in a wheelchair.

I also wanted to do something in a wheelchair, okay?

-And I don't want to offend anybody, but a frog in a wheelchair protesting against Frogs Against Gourmet Eating, and he's already lost one leg.

-That's funny.

-Yeah.

Everything I do is funny because I'm silly.

[ Both laugh ] -I've been spending a few days here on Mount Desert Island.

Did I say that -- I didn't say that right.

[ Rewinding ] I've been spending a few days here on Mount Desert Island, and not only is this island the home of Acadia National Park, but it also shares the space with one of the pearls of the Maine coast, Bar Harbor.

In a state overflowing with beautiful fishing towns, Bar Harbor is considered one of the best.

Shops, restaurants and a beautiful harbor are made even more perfect with made-in-Maine mist and fog.

Maine has a huge coast that's so perfect for exploring.

There are peninsulas to curve cautiously around and small coastal villages to awe over, and then there's the simple yet life-reinforcing fact that when you are on the coast of Maine, you are never far from a lighthouse.

Standing proud on the rocky tip of the St. George Peninsula is the Marshall Point Lighthouse.

Originally built in 1832, this new tower was constructed in 1858.

Out of the 65 lighthouses in Maine, this could be the most famous as it was in a scene in an Oscar-winning movie.

Can you guess which one?

Here's a hint.

[ Footsteps clattering ] It was "Forrest Gump."

Get it?

It's "Forrest Gump."

Okay.

♪♪ But lighthouses are far from being the only attraction coastal Maine has to offer.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Hello!

-Morning.

-Hi!

How are you?

-Nice to see you.

-Good.

-Whoa!

Does it smell amazing in here!

-Thank you!

-I've clearly come to the right place.

-I'm Becky Alley.

I have a little hidden bakery on the Back Ridge Road.

You should come check it out.

-How long have you been doing this?

-About 25 or 30 years, around that long.

-Wow.

And how did you start?

-Well, I just thought baking was a lot of fun, so I thought, "Well, I'll do it for a job, you know, make my own business and everything," so I come home one day and said, "I'm taking out the living room and putting in a bakery," and I got these pizza ovens.

They're triple decker.

We had to haul them in the house, put them in, hook them up, and then we built this section on when people started coming.

-And this is your sister?

-Yeah.

-You work with your sister.

Nice.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Are you the older sister as well?

-I am.

-Yes.

-Oh, yeah.

-Of course she's the boss.

-Of course.

-Do you feel like there's one thing that people come through your door to ask for that they've heard about that they want to try?

-Yes, everybody comes for the blueberry pie and the blueberry scones.

-Okay.

-Everything is blueberry.

Would you like a piece of pie?

Are you glad I asked?

-Now how long have you worked on this blueberry-pie recipe?

-Oh, it was my grandmother's.

There's only a little bit of flour in it and a little bit of sugar.

There's no flavoring.

-So the blueberry really comes out?

-It is fresh.

-Yeah.

♪♪ ♪♪ Hopefully it's good.

[ Chuckles ] -Are you sitting there going, "Hopefully it's good"?

That is beautiful.

-Oh.

It's perfect when you can taste all the different little blueberries.

They don't become mush.

They don't become one blob in your mouth.

-Right.

-You can taste the individual blueberries, perfect.

-That's what we try to go for.

-Mm-hmm.

-And that's why I don't add any spices or anything to it because we like to taste the blueberry.

-And your crust, can you -- I mean, I don't want to give away any secrets.

-I don't use lard in my -- I just can't do it.

I use vegetable shortening.

-Sign of the times.

-Yep.

-Right?

-Yep.

-I think Maine is one of those places where you really demand that everything you have is from scratch, from the heart... -Yep.

-...you know, nothing corporate about it.

We just want the real, the authentic.

-The real deal.

-Yeah, the real deal.

-Yeah.

♪♪ Perfect.

♪♪ -Kurt, this is a sculpture of what was the largest wooden sailing vessel built in North America?

-Actually the largest wooden sailing vessel built in the world.

-Is that right?

-Yeah.

-What was it built for?

-The Wyoming was originally built to carry coal to Maine and then take other materials away.

-I would imagine this is a formidable shipyard at the time.

-Yeah, but at one point, Bath was one of the larger shipbuilding ports in the United States.

-And all the buildings we are seeing now are a part of the original shipyard?

-Almost all the buildings here were built in the 1800s.

-In fact, the Maine Maritime Museum encompasses the only intact shipyard left in the entire country that built large wooden sailing vessels.

-Anybody that lived in the surrounding area within 50 miles had relatives, close friends that worked in the trades, whether it was building the vessels, whether it was sail-making, whether it was making rope, that kind of thing.

-Mm-hmm.

-It was intertwined in everybody's lives around here.

-This shipyard and this schooner really represents what Maine was built on and this coastline.

-Yeah, really rugged, and the people that built the Wyoming were pretty rugged.

They were working 10-hour days 6 days a week obviously out in the open 12 months a year.

♪♪ -This shipyard built that ship, but it also built this schooner?

-Yes.

-Amazing the difference between the sizes.

-Right.

-What makes them both schooners?

-A schooner rig is basically defined by the sail configuration and the masts.

-Okay.

So she's 1906, and why is she special?

-The Mary E is the last surviving schooner built on the Kennebec River.

If you think about the hundreds of years, the thousands of vessels that were built, this is the only intact schooner that is left.

-That's incredible.

-It was restored in the 1960s and then restored again in 2017.

It cost upwards of $2 million to bring her here, restore her.

So just like the Wyoming that had lots of craftsmen on it, this vessel had people from all over the state working with her, building the sails or blacksmith making all the hardware to the actual shipwrights that were pounding nails and putting the screws in.

-Now the Mary E is a living exhibit.

Any visitor to the museum can board 7 days a week and talk to the docents about what a coastal schooner was like and what it was used for.

Making the museum even more enjoyable is the incredible volunteer staff.

-So the museum has over 250 volunteers that work 12 months a year.

-It's a great lesson that the Maine Maritime Museum imparts in all of us, that it was a massive group of people who came together with all different sets of skills making something that was outstanding that was then just a part of this landscape.

-Exactly.

Yeah, we're lucky to have all of this, from a sculpture to a historic vessel to a space to just show people the way it used to be done.

♪♪ ♪♪ -I think my love affair with Maine began in 1982.

I was 12 years old, and my family, we would do these Sunday drives.

We would leave New Hampshire, and we would come up to Maine, and we would explore the beautiful coastline, and then one time we decided, highly recommended, to stop here, to this really unassuming little shed of a place.

-Yep, yeah.

-And this place has been in my life for 37 years, and you are celebrating your 60th anniversary.

-Yes.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

46 years for myself cooking.

-Right, and behind the counter right now is your daughter, Kim... -Yes.

-...who will be -- who is taking the helm.

-Yeah.

She will take it over eventually.

-Wonderful.

-Yeah.

-But everyone coming here, just about everyone coming here, comes here to have Flo's Special.

-Yeah.

90 -- I would say 90 percent.

-Explain what Flo's Special is.

-That is the steamed hot dog with mayonnaise.

You put a little mayonnaise on the dog, then Flo's relish and a sprinkle of celery salt.

-Yeah.

-That is a true Flo dog.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-And some will go, "Mayonnaise on a hot dog?"

-Mm-hmm.

-I say, "Just try it once," and usually if I can get them to try it, 99 percent of them, I have them hooked.

-And how would you describe Flo's relish?

-I describe it as sweet and sour.

It's a little tangy, but if you do it with the mayonnaise, it makes it sweeter.

-This is a secret recipe that goes back how many years?

-72.

-72 years?

-You buy the recipe with the business.

-How many people know the recipe of Flo's relish?

-I know the recipe, and there's one man.

He goes in and puts the stuff together, and then his help comes in, and they do the cooking, and then they jar it and everything.

My husband doesn't know it.

My daughter doesn't know it.

-So there are only two people alive today that know the recipe of Flo's?

-Yes.

-And Kim is not one of them?

-Kim is not one, and my husband is not one.

-Kim, you don't know the recipe to Flo's famous relish?

-No, I have to buy the place.

-You have -- -I had to pay for the recipe.

-Specifically Gail had to pay her mother-in-law, Flo, for that recipe.

Flo opened Flo's in 1959 to feed a new breed of traveler at that time -- the traveling businessman.

Since then, it has become a favorite for hard-core Mainers as well as sunburnt vacationers.

The hours are only 11 to 3, closed on Tuesdays, and in the summer, there will always be a line, and just so there's no doubt of my history and love of this place, Flo was an honorary guest at my wedding where her special sauce was served with pigs in a blanket.

For me, the combination of a steamed hot dog and steamed bun with mayo, relish and celery salt is my idea of being home.

Don't give me that look about mayonnaise.

It is so good on a hot dog.

And of course you have the ambiance of Route 1.

They're soft and warm and just... mmm!

♪♪ Tod, right now we are looking out over your domain here.

-My domain.

Thank you.

-Congratulations on owning your own brewery.

-Oh, thank you.

It's been a long journey.

I'm Tod Mott, and I own this brewery.

I've been brewing for about 30 years.

I started as a homely, lonely home brewer, and I turned that fire into my passion.

-And how many barrels are we looking at?

-We produce about, oh, 850 to 900 barrels of beer a year, so we are a micro.

Just about a millennia ago, I designed a beer for Harpoon, their IPA, and that was a beer that just was not available in New England.

The West Coast had their hops and were producing a lot of that style of beer, but New England didn't have it, and I was the fortunate one to actually bring that style back to New England.

-And what are we looking over now?

-So this is the vessel that the grain and the hot water combined in to make an extract.

You steep barley in warm water, trick it into its growth cycle.

Then they kiln-dry it, which preserves the naturally occurring enzymes and the starches, and then we utilize the mashing process to reignite those enzymes to break the starches into simple and complex sugars.

-I've been with, like, a rocket scientist in NASA standing underneath the Saturn V, and I understood more about how to get a rocket to the Moon than I just understood anything... -It's just rocket science, art and science.

-Art and science.

-So now we're going to taste a little bit of very, very young Mott the Lesser, which is our imperial stout.

-Finally, the part about beer I do understand.

-This is my baby.

-This is one people know you for... -Yeah.

-...that people line up for?

-Absolutely.

-Mott the Lesser is brewed twice a year.

It comes out in April and October and is totally sold out in a matter of days.

Tributary Brewery has a tasting room with eight beers on tap, an outdoor deck and space to enjoy an adult beverage even at my level of understanding.

I'm meeting my family tonight at Chauncey's Creek.

What beer should I bring?

-Well, signature, of course, pale ale.

-Okay.

-But one of the coolest beers we make has Brave Boat Water Harbor that empties into Chauncey.

-No.

-It's a gose, and it would just pair beautifully with lobster.

-Okay.

-All right.

-Thank you.

-Whoa!

-I have family all up and down the New England coast from Maine to New Hampshire to Massachusetts, and one of our favorite spots to come together from our busy schedules of work and family is Chauncey Creek.

Whatever is not on the menu you're invited to bring, so families roll out tablecloths.

They bring wine, beer and summer salad, and my sister, Katie, never fails to bring her not-so-famous ambrosia salad.

-Oh, boy.

Did I too close?

-You did.

-That's my order.

-Thank you so much.

You're an amazing family.

Thank you for being here.

And here is to Doug picking up the bill!

-Yay!

-Yay!

[ Laughter ] -I really love Maine because it's an outdoors kind of state.

People love to hike, pick blueberries, picnic outside.

It's just very much an outdoor state.

The weather here really works for me.

I worked in the Alaska National Parks, and I've always said that I wouldn't live any more south than Maine.

-And Maine is one of those pristine areas.

There's only 1.3 million people here.

We have beautiful water.

We have beautiful mountains, and we hope that perhaps you can make a journey to Maine and enjoy what we love.

-It's a wonderful place for a vacation, but for the people who live here and who are able to present that experience for a couple of months during the year, it means a lifetime of hard work.

It's difficult living conditions.

The winters are long.

You've got to have 10 different disciplines to be able to pull everything together, and you're never going to get rich doing it, but if you ask them to the person, most people around here will say they would never live anywhere else or do it any other way.

-I have never taken for granted growing up so close to all the beauty that is the coast of Maine.

It's where the islands are rocky, the water always cold, and thick fog just makes the day better.

Never mistake the no-nonsense attitude of Mainers as indifference.

They have a passion for this place that sustains them long after the summer smiles are gone.

When a mountain allows anyone to climb to its top and watch time go by, when the past is still deeply appreciated, even the second time around, when the postcards don't lie, that is when we share a love of travel, and that's why the coast of Maine is a place to love.

-For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" was made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ♪♪ ...pedal... and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

♪♪ -All the untamed beauty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, experienced on a journey by rail.

♪♪ Rocky Mountaineer, proud sponsor of "Places to Love."

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪