Camp Laurel South casco main usa 1 upscaling ai

July 9th, 2011
If you know Camp Laurel or Laurel South, youre familiar with Mount Vernon or Casco. You might think of them as way stations on your way to or from camp but theyre much more than that.

Elizabeth Arden health spa hereMount Vernon is a gem in the Kennebec River valley. The tiny beach next to the community center; the former church with Victorian stick-work; the 200-year-old gristmill; the brick general store selling everything you could possibly think of (from bait to pesto) all make it worth more than drive-through on the way somewhere else.

Filled with artists, writers, educators, farmers and retirees, its got a quirky, eclectic but very real community feel. Its also got plenty of history. Elizabeth Arden built a health spa here. Her guests included Eleanor Roosevelt, Judy Garland and Ava Gardner.

Olde Post Office CaféMount Vernon has a hippie sensibility really a spirit of independence and self-reliance that dates back to the 1700s, Downeast Magazine has written. With only 1,500 residents along with moose, deer and bald eagles the town packs a lot into its hilltop meadows, wooded valleys, ponds and lakes.

If you have time for only one thing in Mount Vernon, head to the Olde Post Office Café. Its the unofficial town center for breakfast or lunch. You wont regret it.

Casco, in the Sebago Lakes Region, also dates its founding to the 1700s. It too was a mill town. In the 1840s, steamboats on Sebago Lake and the canals carried tourists and freight. The lake since 1938, part of a state park helps shape the towns character, and provides plenty of recreational opportunities.

Sebago Lake, Casco, ME

Point Sebago Resort offers many of the amenities of Laurel South (for those who are not of camp age), while the town itself about the same size as Mount Vernon has a variety of good restaurants. One of our favorite stops is Webbs Mills Variety just down the road from camp. Its meatloaf sandwich is a favorite. And how about Crescent Lake? It is truly one of southern Maines most beautiful. Theres really nothing like it.

Blacksmiths WineryYou also cant leave Casco without a quick stop at Blacksmiths Winery for a sip on the famous Porch or in the Tasting Room.

Cascos not far from Portland providing a nice counterpart to city and ocean tourism for anyone heading back and forth from Laurel South.

So, join us at camp this summer for a visitand get a taste of the local color in Mt Vernon or Casco.