Romance needs an infusion every now and then.  Getting away isn't enough. You've got to go somewhere that instills romance in the blood.

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You've been working like a dog, around the clock.  Gulping down meals. Playing telephone tag with each others' voice mail. Sitting at the computer for hours -- your only connection. You can hardly remember what your partner looks like, let alone recall what romance is.

Or perhaps you're just starting out, with plans for a wedding -- the idea of romance lost amid frenzied wedding preparations.

Whether honeymooning or planning a getaway with a partner -- or somewhere in-between -- here are tips and a featured trip to help you cultivate romance on the road.

Whether you are escaping at a cozy B&B in town for the weekend or a weeklong vacation away from the job or kids, there are some small, lightweight items to take along on your trip with your significant other to ensure it is romantic and memorable.

[  ]  Small scented candles and matches.  Set them around a hotel bathroom or balcony to heat up the evening!

[  ]  A bottle of your favorite wine, a corkscrew, and collapsible Lexan wineglasses.  Whether you are at the summit of a mountain peak or on the beach in a deck chair, a glass of wine, good conversation, and some quiet time can bring you closer.  Outdoor stores such as REI and Eastern Mountain Sports sell collapsible Lexan wine glasses and corkscrew sets in stuff sacks. For in-room delivery, champagne or wine is always a welcome surprise.  Check with your concierge or the front desk at your hotel or guest accommodations for information.

[  ]  A tube of your favorite massage oil.  After a long day of walking and seeing the sights, a massage may be just what the doctor ordered for sore feet and backs – and a great prelude to romance.  Kama Sutra makes a fine collation of body oils that get soother and warmer with movement, in a variety of exotic scents.  www.kamasutra.com

[  ]  Portable CD player with your favorite romantic tunes.  The problem with hotels is they are so sterile.  Your own favorite music can create a feeling of intimacy – and drown out the sound of the kids down the hall raiding the snack machines.  Check out a collection of CD players at www.buy.com

[  ]  Sunscreen and aloe.  If you are headed to a tropical vacation spot, nothing kills the prospect of romance faster than a painful sunburn.

[  ]  Fine chocolates.  If your significant other is pre-menstrual, she will find you to be a hero.  If she is not, she will love you anyway.  Turn up the heat a notch and bring along chocolate body paint.  You can buy fine chocolates at www.godiva.com or check out Good Vibrations for body paint at www.goodvibrations.com

[  ]  Flowers to surprise him or her.  Have flowers pre-delivered to your room to await your arrival!  The hotel or guest accommodations would be happy to assist.  You can order flowers for delivery anywhere in the U.S. from www.flowers.com  For overseas accommodations, check with the concierge at your hotel.

[  ]  Last but not least, birth control.  Let’s face it; nothing is worse than realizing you left it at home. 

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Painting a Picture for Romance 
in Downeast Maine

Cove at Acadia               Dina Horwedel, by Ramon Mena Owens
 
 

The sign welcoming visitors as they cross the border from New Hampshire does not lie:  “Maine: The way life should be.” 

After a few days in Maine, relaxing along the sea, you can breathe in and feel your lungs expand with sweet, fresh sea air, and you feel young again. And Maine makes your romance the way it should be.  Free and unfettered.

The rugged coastline, the towering pines, the smell of saltwater, quaint fishing villages, plenty of hiking trails, windjammer cruises, sea kayaking, antique shops, outlet shops, lighthouses, white sand beaches and fresh seafood make Maine an ideal location for a romantic vacation to explore, relax, and enjoy all that this beautiful place has to offer.

Most people arriving into Maine choose to drive along the rugged coastline on Highway 1, stopping in from town to town, all the way from Ogunquit to Freeport and up through towns such as Blue Hill, Camden and on through to Acadia National Park.  Designer outlets in Freeport, Kittery and Ellsworth, combined with the boutiques and specialty stores of Bangor and Portland's Old Port, and an abundance of antique shops with especially good Shaker furniture and maritime antiques make Maine a great place to shop for bargain hunters and antique mavens alike. 

For people with a taste for the arts, there are fine galleries and artist communities located along the coast, meaning great finds in the best handiwork available.  Local handicrafts are also readily available.   Blue Hill is one town along Highway One chock-full of galleries and artisans shops, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and renowned Maine quaintness.

We chose a Maine holiday or a honeymoon because of the tranquility of the ocean.  We went in August, after the black fly season was over, but unfortunately still encountered quite a few of the fabled Maine mosquitoes on our evening walks along the coves of Georgetown and on the beautiful beaches of Reid State Park. 

Georgetown is a tiny town nestled along the Atlantic coast with beautiful views and a wonderful pottery shop, Georgetown Pottery, where I stocked up on pottery in the Maine blueberry design.  We visited the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and the adjacent fisherman’s museum, then for lunch devoured fresh lobster rolls seaside on Bailey Island, a place locals call the best lobster in the state. 

All restaurants in Maine offer lobster, which I learned is the maritime relative of the cockroach (EEEW!) served in a variety of ways: stuffed like a turkey, boiled and served in the traditional style with hot drawn butter, as a salad served on a roll, in lobster Newburg, lobster pie, lobster chowder, and more. 

In addition to eating lobster and watching lobstermen drag their haul in for the evening in dripping lobster traps, you can also get a variety of other fresh seafood., such as cod, scrod, flounder, sole, and more.  For dessert, we indulged in fresh Maine blueberry pie a la mode.

Along our tour, we stayed in the small community of Stonington, a tiny artisan and fishing village.  Stonington’s popular bed and breakfast, the Inn on the Harbor, offers views overlooking Penobscot Bay, a backdrop for fishing trawls and restored clipper ships. 

We slept on beds covered with old-fashioned quilts, lulled to sleep by the sound of clanging buoys and foghorns.  In the morning our hostess served fresh muffins and steaming coffee, and one of my favorites was pumpkin and chocolate muffins. The Inn’s rooms are in the low $100 price range.  You can check out views and rooms at www.innontheharbor.com/index.html.

We headed off for a stroll among the antique shops that dot the town, and met an artist that is skilled in pen and ink drawings of seascapes, then headed out of town for a walk that brought us to a spectacular pond filled with water lillies.

In the evening, we wanted more seafood, and dined at The Fisherman’s Friend, which boasted a long waiting line of people with brown bags in hand.  When we inquired, we learned that the restaurant does not have a liquor license, but does allow folks to “bring their own.” 

Loved by locals and visitors alike, The Fisherman’s Friend features fish so fresh the fishermen are emptying the nets on the wharf behind the restaurant.  It is located on the main street on the harbor and is open April 1 thru October 31. 

You can catch the mail boat from Stonington to Isle au Haut (meaning “High Island” in French because of its rocky mountainous perch), which is part of the Acadia National Park.  It features hiking trails along the interior of the island as well as along its rocky beaches.  There are camping facilities available on the island, but they must be reserved in advance.  There are no services on the island and the mail boat only stops twice a day, so plan your trip accordingly.  You can purchase your fare right on the wharf on Stonington Harbor, where schedules are posted. 

If you are not quite up for the solitude and wilderness, the rest of Acadia National Park is a 45 minute drive from Stonington to Mount Desert Island.  Once a popular vacation spot for the wealthy at the turn of the century, the land was acquired in 1913 and became a national park in 1919. 

You can hike and climb up popular Cadillac Mountain, 1,530 feet above sea level, and which from October 7 to March 6 is the first place in the United States where you can see the sun rise. If you decide to  take a driving tour, visit Thunder Hole, a popular site in the park in which tides and waves sruge in a elightful burst of ocean spray. 

The park also features many ponds, stony mountains, and spectacular views.  For detailed information Acadia National Park, including hiking trails, camping accommodations, and more, check out the National Park Service Web site at www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm.
 
 

For a romantic Maine experience, you can stay in an authentic lighthouse keeper’s house.  The Keeper’s House Inn is located on Isle au Haut and is an operating lighthouse and in in its original condition.  Built in 1907, the lighthouse does not have electricity, passing roads, or crowds of tourists.  Lighting is provided by gaslights, candles, kerosene lamps, and on occasion, the northern lights.  The inn is rustic and for the adventurous with few amenities and is aimed for those who take their solitude seriously.  All meals and bicycle rentals are included in the price of $250 per night (double occupancy).  We biked and hiked the island, and found a delightful abandoned stretch of beach where we watched seals play in the water.  For more information, check out The Keeper’s House at cimarron.net/usa/me/kh.html

If you thrill to the throng of tourists and shops, then the towns of Bar Harbor and Camden are the spots for you.  Both are quaint Maine towns filled with antique shops, cute eateries, clapboard houses, bed and breakfasts, and startling views of the achingly blue Penobscot Bay, which explains why they are so popular with the tourists.

No matter what you enjoy – from sea kayaking (just beware of the tides, they are some of the strongest and most dangerous in the United States!), canoeing on quiet coves, bird watching (more than 273 species of bird have been identified in Acadia National Park and its adjacent waters alone), cruising on a windjammer along the Atlantic, photography (Camden is home to a world-renowned photo workshop), hiking, antiquing, shopping, or just relaxing, the quiet downeast charm of Maine adds to your romantic mood.
 
 

- Dina Horwedel

Keepers House photo courtesy of The Keepers House

More about lobsters: http://www.mainelobsterpromo.com/facts.html

Thought you've seen it all on the Internet? How about a live "lobstercam"?
http://www.midcoast.com/lobcam/

Sometimes Even Romance is 
Location, Location, Location 
(And Budget and Timing)
 

What can you reasonably afford?  Obviously you must choose a location that is within your budget.

How far can you afford to travel? 

Sometimes a room at a nearby inn for the weekend can make for a lovely retreat.  As long as the place has a special significance or the right mood for romance, it can definitely make a good escape. Racking up huge bills you cannot afford will definitely kill romance once you return home.

Is the timing right? 

If you have a big project due at work, maybe the trip would be better planned when you are not likely to be distracted and can fully relax.  Similarly, plan a trip to celebrate an anniversary, a birthday, a special event. 

A friend pulled off a major surprise trip for his wife for their anniversary.  He is a consultant and living and working in Washington State temporarily.  He bought a ticket for his wife, had her sister pack her suitcase and put it in the trunk of her car, then had her boss escort her to the parking lot at lunch time to meet her sister, all without her knowing what was going on until she arrived at the airport to catch her flight to Washington for cross-country skiing in the Cascades.  That is one anniversary she will never forget. 

What are the interests of you and your partner? 

You may love sports and she might not.  One man planned a honeymoon for he and his new bride at his alma mater during the football playoffs, and bought tickets for every game.  She hates sports. 

The lesson here is to consider what your partner enjoys doing and make sure that you both have the opportunity to relax and have fun -- or one of you will end up feeling resentful, which is definitely not an ingredient of romance.

Re-establishing Romance

There are some things that will definitely kill the mood if you are trying to re-establish your relationship.  Follow these simple tips to keep the romance sailing smoothly:

[  ] Don't call the office, and don't even think about talking about work.

[  ] Turn off your cell phone, wireless pager, and leave the PDA or computer behind.

[  ] Don't talk about the kids the whole time.  Limit the time, or determine not to discuss them at all.

[  ] Do reminisce about good times.

[  ] Tell your significant other how much he or she means to you, in your own words.

[  ] Focus on enjoying the area: discussing things to do, discussing your feelings about each other, and focusing on relaxing and on each other.