Over the course of the past year, Down East delved into stories that ran the gamut: small islands, big ideas, long drives, and so much more. Whenever we take stock of what resonates with readers, it always turns out that you share our wide-ranging interests in all things Maine. So the list of 2023’s most-read stories is, completely unsurprisingly, full of the people and places making this state of ours a fun, fascinating, beautiful place to live. Whether you’re finding some of these stories for the first time or maybe taking another spin through a personal favorite, many thanks for reading. And here’s to more great stories in 2024.
10. Lynne Drexler Saw the World Through Kaleidoscope Eyes
By Will Grunewald
The art establishment ignored Lynne Drexler in life and, for more than two decades, also in death. But suddenly, the brilliantly colored canvases she kept piled in her ramshackle Monhegan home are fetching millions. Who was the enigmatic painter, and why is her immense talent only beginning to get its due?
9. Remembering Maine’s Failed 1980s Attempt to Reintroduce Caribou
As told to Ron Joseph
More than 30 years later, the biologist who spearheaded the effort reflects on the challenges — and what might have been.
8. 8 Scenic (and Undersung) Maine Drives That Are Worth the Detour
By Will Grunewald, Jesse Ellison, Brian Kevin, Kat Englishman, Adrienne Perron, and Sarah Stebbins
Photos by Dave Waddell, Clayton Simoncic, and Benjamin Williamson
They’re not the state’s heralded scenic byways or well-worn tourist routes. They’re not the stuff of epic road trips — in fact, none are more than a few miles long. They’re just a few of our favorite back roads, the stretches we never get tired of traveling, where the traffic thins out and Vacationland becomes Maine.
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7. The Maine Coast’s Best Bar Isn’t a Bar At All
By Brian Kevin
Photos by Dave Waddell
Swan’s Island has been legally dry since 1987. That doesn’t stop the proprietors and patrons of Daint’s Place from having more fun than should be legal anywhere.
6. Why Are Tens of Thousands Tuning In to Watch Maine Deer Feeding on YouTube?
By Nora Saks
Photos by Dave Waddell
At last tally, Brownville’s Food Pantry for Deer had almost 100,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 50,000 Facebook followers, with wildlife lovers from 158 countries tuning in.
5. Philosopher Daniel Dennett On the Illusion of Consciousness
By Rachel Slade
Photos by Tara Rice
The cognitive scientist has written stacks of influential books, but his new one is in an unfamiliar genre: memoir. We visited him on Eggemoggin Reach for a porch chat about consciousness, artificial intelligence, farm tools, and Maine as a lifelong refuge.
4. 24 Maine Restaurants That Have Stood the Test of Time
By Bridget Burns, Will Grunewald, Brian Kevin, Adrienne Perron, and Virginia M. Wright
Restaurants come and restaurants go, but these true Maine classics only get better with age.
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3. This Woman Wants to Destroy Your Lawn
By Peter Andrey Smith
Photos by Michael D. Wilson
Why Heather McCargo and the Wild Seed Project want us all to think differently about what we plant (and yeah, to think about it in the winter).
2. A Former Goop Editor, a Maine Island, Two Cafés, and a Lot of Bad Blood
By Lindsay Crudele
Photos by Isabel Butler
Ana Hito came to Vinalhaven last summer with a vision. But when the young, hard-charging restaurateur bucked community expectations, tempers on the island flared.
1. A Quiet Maine Island With a Billion-Year-Old Secret
By Laura Poppick
Photos by Jacob Bond Hessler
On its surface, 700 Acre Island is much like vegetated piles of rock all across the Gulf of Maine. When famed Life magazine illustrator Charles Dana Gibson bought a piece of it as a summer getaway, in 1903, he was likely enticed by the classic Maine views and the access to woods, waters, and solitude. But he couldn’t have known that, beneath its surface, this island was unlike most any other island in Maine.
Happy New Year from all of us at Down East!
