FRIDAY
Drive to Waterville and Lockwood Hotel

Waterville, on the banks of the Kennebec River, is just a little over an hour from my home in Portland. I pick up my oldest daughter early from school. This weekend, she’ll learn about Waterville’s architectural, art, and design history, which helps lessen my guilt about cutting her school day short. We arrive at the Lockwood Hotel, located on Main Street in the heart of downtown. The 53-room boutique hotel is owned by Colby College and celebrates the city’s art scene with works drawn from the Colby College Museum of Art’s collection. The hotel was once the home of the clothing store Levine’s, and it honors the site’s past by using the granite from the original facade in the outside seating area’s hardscape. I note that this would be a perfect place to relax with a good book and iced coffee (or a glass of wine).

We quickly drop our stuff off in our room before meeting Jessica Segers and George Sopko from the communications department at Colby College to experience Waterville’s First Friday. My daughter doesn’t want to leave our luxurious room overlooking downtown, but I promise we’ll make it an early night.

First Friday

Jessica and George are waiting for us in the lobby. We learn about Colby College’s long-term plan to create artistic opportunities that inspire, uplift, and revitalize Waterville’s historic downtown while at the same time advancing Colby’s expansive academic mission. The town-and-gown relationship is often a fraught one, but it’s changing with this revitalization plan. Our first stop is just across from the hotel, the Greene Block + Studios. This is both the home of the Lunder Institute’s Residential Fellowship Program for practicing artists and the Colby College art department’s offices. Walking through the entrance, we find a row of dancers performing a moving meditation dance on (Black) hope, resiliency, and grief using the choreography of the Electric Slide. First Friday visitors are invited to join in the performance for as long as they wish. The first floor of the building is always open to the public, with a performance space at the entrance and a book and printmaker space in the back. The second, third, and fourth floors are occupied by artists’ studios for the fellowship program and Colby faculty. It’s fun peeking into the studios and speaking with the fellows about the work they have created over the last few months. Soon, a new set of fellows will be joining the program.

We walk a couple of blocks down the street to the newly opened Paul J. Schupf Center, designed by New York–based architect Susan T. Rodriguez in collaboration with OPAL Architecture of Belfast. The building is home to Waterville Creates, a multivenue cultural hub. On the first floor is the Ticonic Gallery + Studios, which includes a clay studio, art classroom, and exhibition space; upstairs we find the Maine Film Center and a pedestrian bridge to the historic 800-seat Waterville Opera House. We’re greeted by the president and CEO of Waterville Creates, Shannon Haines. Haines explains that the center has been vital to the success of these three organizations. We tour the building, which includes the Maine Film Center’s three-screen cinema on the second floor. This month the Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) returns to Waterville for its 27th edition from July 12 to 21.

After we part ways, we make our way back to the hotel, but we can’t resist popping into Hinge Collaborative, a working print shop with limited-edition prints, stickers, and jewelry for sale. There’s a pair of poppy earrings that I remind myself to come back for.

Dinner and Dessert to Go

The Lockwood Hotel is home to Front & Main, a premier restaurant focusing on hyper-local Maine ingredients. Our server gives us the heads up to start with the street tacos (which change daily) and one of their fun cocktails. I went with the Maine Street Mule made using Cold River vodka, blueberry, and Maine Root ginger beer, while my daughter went with the non-alcoholic Betty Go Lightly, a mix of pomegranate, blood orange, lemon, and fennel. You can’t go wrong with the burger according to my daughter, but the bucatini with shrimp is where it’s at. The fresh pasta is a mixed lemon-dill cream sauce with cauliflower, local mushrooms, caramelized onion, and kale, and topped with parmesan. We can’t eat another bite but see the desserts at the table next to us and decide to get the frozen key lime pie to go. Once we get back to our room, we get into our pajamas and watch reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond while eating our dessert in bed.

SATURDAY
Breakfast and Antiquing

We wake up, and obviously my first thought is coffee. My daughter is craving a croissant and hot chocolate, so we walk across the street to Wild Clover Café. The entrance and counter are adorned with pink peonies. We feel ready for the day after enjoying our giant croissants (I suggest getting the almond, it won’t disappoint).

Our first stop is Hathaway Mill Antiques, about a ten-minute walk from where we are on Maine Street. We enter the mill and walk into a room with 16-foot ceilings and exposed brick walls throughout. We have our eyes on several pieces, including a bright red tomato teapot and creamer set, two machine-age armchairs, and a maroon streamlined McCoy pitcher. I decided on a small red vintage Pyrex rectangular dish, and my daughter scores a brass anchor hook for her room.

Next, we walk back to Main Street and make our way to the Modern Underground (which is indeed underground). I’ve heard wonderful things over the years about the knowledgeable owner and his finds. I immediately find an incredible piece, a flawless midcentury solid oak desk by Heywood Wakefield, but unfortunately it has a “sold” sticker on it. The price is at least $500 less than the ones I see online in worse condition. There’s also a set of well-priced white powder-coated vintage Bertoia side chairs with their original Knoll green seat pads. Around the corner is the Pink Crow Collective. I immediately know it will be a fun mix of handmade, vintage, and modern goods. We walk out with two sleek hand sanitizers, a big bag of freeze-dried Nerd clusters, and a few funny greeting cards.

Lunch and Colby College

Now it’s time to meet my youngest daughter and husband for a quick lunch at the Proper Pig. The pulled pork sandwich and boneless buffalo chicken wings wash down nicely with our sodas. Colby’s campus is a quick drive from downtown Waterville. We park at the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts. This new 74,000-square-foot building is home to Colby’s music, cinema studies, theater, and dance departments. The exterior of the building is a visual force made of large sheets of glass, limestone, and brick. Next, we explore the rest of the campus, including Johnson Pond and the Miller Library. My sister-in-law attended Colby College in the 1990s, so we stop by her old dorm for a picture.

Art Museum and Dinner

The three-story glass pavilion of the Colby College Museum of Art is in direct contrast with the Federal-style architecture throughout the campus. The design feels clearly symbolic; admission is free for everyone, and art is accessible to all. “The museum is a school: the artist learns to communicate; the public learns to make connections” reads the motto etched on the front facade of the building. The museum has an acclaimed permanent collection with works by James McNeill Whistler, Alex Katz, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Kiki Smith.

Our visit happens to be timed with two remarkable temporary exhibitions: The World Outside: Louise Nevelson at Midcentury and Painted: Our Bodies, Hearts, and Village. Over the years, I’ve been lucky to see Nevelson’s work in both private and public collections, but always one or two pieces at a time. This exhibition included over 60 works—her large wooden sculptures made from found objects appear not only in her classic black but also in white and gold. There is an interactive section in the corner of the exhibition for adults and kids, where visitors can use a variety of carved wooden blocks/shapes to create their own Nevelson-like masterpieces. We make ours, photograph it with our phone, and upload it to the museum’s site as instructed so visitors can view it. MH+D recently covered the Painted exhibition in its June issue, and the show will remain up until end of July. Painted presents work by Anglo American painters in the early twentieth century that depict Native Americans in dialogue with works by twentieth- and twenty-first-century Native American artists. The museum’s building incorporates permanent art installations as well. One that particularly impacts my oldest daughter is a rainbow-colored wall drawing by minimalist Sol Lewitt that fills the entire wall of a stairwell, the colors and patterns visible from outside while walking across the campus.

Cocktails, Dinner, and Dessert

The kids want to relax in the hotel room before dinner. My husband and I grab this opportunity for a cocktail in the lobby while our eldest babysits. There’s a variety of couches and seating available, but we decide to sit at the bar. I’m in the mood for a crisp white wine, and the restaurant’s director, John Phillips-Sandy, suggests the Prisma Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. It is perfection. My husband decides to go with an IPA by Maine Beer Company. After the girls join us, we walk a few blocks to the Greek restaurant OPA. We start with the house-made tzatziki and warm pita bread and follow with a selection of chicken souvlaki, moussaka, and horiatika (Greek traditional salad). Since we’re too full for dessert, we decide to walk and check out some shops. Music lures us into Incense and Peppermints, an old-fashioned candy and ice cream shop. Everyone picks out their favorite candy. I decide to try the Turkish delight I’ve been curious to taste since reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. (Note: I won’t be eating it again—it tastes like a bar of rose soap!) The shopkeeper bags our candy and urges us to have “sweet dreams.”

SUNDAY
Breakfast and Drive Back

We hear we can get some of the best acai bowls down the street at Selah Tea. We order a couple of bowls, an avocado and egg sandwich, and some chai tea. The bowls are filled to the brim with fruit, granola, and coconut. Our trip has come to an end. It has been a great 48 hours in Waterville but now it’s time to get on the road so we can prep for the work and school week ahead.