Every year in an Outside Magazine readers' poll, Rockland, Maine ranks among the top 100 best small towns to live in. This is the town where the then controversial 1957 Lana Turner soap opera flick, Peyton Place, was filmed — back when the most dangerous thing in a small town was . . . gossip! The producers wanted to give small, hometown America a risqué shock that today is a comical celluloid version of homespun Americana, a mild comparison to what is on the Internet today.

Maine joins only one other state in the lower 48, the only state to do so. It is the only state with a single syllable. Life in Maine is a simple life, not many complexities. Rockland has not changed much since the '50s. I guess that is why the PP producers chose it for their mighty cult genre.

I was sitting in a local café one fine summer day, gazing upon the black and white photos on the wall of a bygone era of the historic Main Street. There used to be an electric trolley line down the main drag, and the gossip is they are bringing it back. I can see Peyton Place in the frozen-in-time snapshots. Rockland is still a great place to live. Main Street is now on the National Register of Historic Places, with most of the old brick buildings housing ice cream shops, bookstores, cafés and bars, museums and art galleries. Rockland is a wonderful place to visit in the summer — just for all those farm fresh flavors of ice cream!

But beneath the surface, the community has a lot going for it. MBNA moved into town and is the main employer, the largest privately owned credit card issuer is the U.S., with their corporate restored stark white Greek Revivalist-style headquarters near the water, giving it a campus-like feel. It is fun to walk around Rockland, to view the old mansions and buildings; duck into a canoe and dory building shop to see dense, white Maine cedar turned into a recreational work of art.

One place not to be missed is the Farnsworth Art Museum, rather museums. Farnsworth is a respected name in Rockland, and you will find a three-story art gallery museum in the old bank building on Main Street, and then a few blocks to the back is the magnificent Pirate Museum (entrance $7).

The Pirate Museum is a vast collection of dramatic seafaring oil paintings, mostly create by the notable Wyeths (The museum is known as the Wyeth Center.), a three generational collection of their canvases that portrays the days of yore and lore on the high seas. Rockland still maintains its links to windjammers and packet boats. Many summertime windjammers load up a cargo of tourists for cruises through the Penobscot Bay islands. Later in the day I watched ferry boats load trucks and cars for the largest island, Vinalhaven, where in the past much of the famous Maine granite was quarried.

The regional airport is located just outside Rockland at the Knox County Airport; the terminal is a throw back to simpler times. I think they still shoo cows off the runway, but the security problems of the world have hit home — four TSA agents checked my bags on the flight out — I was the only passenger on the plane, so they had plenty of time to unzip everything. On my flight to Maine I met returning residents bound for some of the coastal islands. The main Maine airline into the terminal is Colgan, a rubber-band express service of USAir, with connecting flights primarily to Boston. The local bus terminal is located at the Ferry terminal, which is probably really the main hub of the town because a marina is located close by.

Maine's Old Granite Inn in Rockland is a classic Colonial Federalist B&B, filled with antiques in 11 comfy guest rooms.

Maine Atlas and Gazetteer Jetsetters Magazine Recommendation.

	Let's Explore Maine		Jetstreams.com Discount Travel Adventure Guide to Maine Unsolved History: Death of the USS Maine DVD Fodor's Road Guide USA: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 1st Edition Appalachian Trail Guide to Maine At Home, at Sea: Recipes from the Maine Windjammer J.. Riggin Northeast Guide to Saltwater Fishing and Boating Longstreet Highroad Guide to Maine Coast Remembering Dud Dean: Arthur Macdougall's Famous Tales of Everybody's Favorite Maine Guide Maine; An Explorer's Guide The Complete Guide to Hunting in Maine: The Successful Hunter's Handbook of Maine's Best Game Species Quiet Water Canoe Guide, Maine: Best Paddling Lakes and Ponds for All Ages Building the Maine Guide Canoe The Guide to Maine Golf Courses Sign up for your FREE Jetsetters Magazine Travel Newsletter! Name: E-mail Address: