Not so long ago, the ideal holiday, in the collective American imagination, looked something like this: an all-inclusive luxury cruise with all-you-can-eat buffets, waterparks and large-screen theaters, or perhaps a whirlwind Parisian getaway with fine dining and high-end shopping on…

“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.” When Thoreau wrote those words in a 10-by-15-foot cabin furnished with little more than a bed, a table and three chairs, he…

In 1896, the Second Annual Sportsmen’s Exposition opened its doors at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The state of Maine was prominently featured with a peeled-log cabin, taxidermy trophies and a charismatic woman named Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby. A…

In 1846, Henry David Thoreau set out to climb Mount Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak, deep in the northern interior forests. With two companions and a guide, they traced moose trails, scaled granite boulders and climbed up the sides of waterfalls,…

Stroll down Portland, Maine’s wide brick-laid sidewalks these days, and you’re likely to see—and smell—the signs of the city’s culinary boom. In onetime factory buildings and warehouses just inland from the wharfs, young Turks of the food world are serving…