Where is East Bay Located?
People ask me this more than you’d think. They come in having heard about the place, a friend who mentioned it or something they read, and they want to know where exactly to find us on a map.
I always tell them the same thing: we’re on the Midcoast, tucked into a fold of the Maine shoreline that most GPS units either argue about or ignore entirely. Close enough to Boothbay Harbor that you could make a day of it. Far enough away that most people don’t.
That’s not a complaint. That’s just East Bay.
If you’re driving up from Portland, you take Route 1 north past the outlet stores and the tourist pull-offs, past the place where the road starts to smell like salt and low tide, and then you turn where the sign tells you to. It’s a modest sign. We’ve replaced it twice since I’ve been librarian. The town always votes to keep it the same size.
On the Water
East Bay sits at the edge of a protected harbor, deep enough for the lobster boats and calm enough that the water goes glassy some mornings before the wind picks up. The breakwater runs out to the south, and past it you can see open ocean on clear days, or nothing but gray on the days Maine is more famous for.
The harbor has been working since before anyone currently living can remember. The lobster boats go out early, before the diner opens even, and the diner opens before dawn. By the time most visitors are having their first cup of coffee, the serious business of the day is already half done out on the water.
There’s a lighthouse at the point. It’s automated now, has been for decades, but people still photograph it like it’s keeping watch by hand.
The Town Itself
East Bay proper is small. The kind of small where you learn people’s names because you have to, and then you’re glad you did. We have a main street with the things a main street needs and not much more. A hardware store that stocks surprising things. A pharmacy where the pharmacist will ask how your mother is doing and mean it. The library, which I am perhaps biased toward.
We have a school. The teams are the Lobsters. This is a source of pride and also, for visitors, some confusion.
The Annual Lobster Festival happens in late summer and draws people from far enough away that we need the extra parking. The Fourth of July parade goes down Harbor Street and ends at the park near the water. Everyone comes. That includes people who moved away and come back for it, which tells you something.
The old mill trail runs along the creek inland from the harbor, through second-growth woods, past the ruins of the mill itself. People use it year-round. In mud season they use it anyway and complain about it fondly.
Up on the hill above town, if you know where to look, there’s the observatory. It’s been there longer than the library. On clear nights in winter, when there’s no moon and the air is that particular Maine cold that clarifies everything, you can see more stars than seems reasonable.
Getting Here
We are, practically speaking, not difficult to reach. Midcoast Maine is well-connected by Route 1, and from there the turn-off to East Bay is clearly marked (see above: modest sign). There is no train. There is no direct bus. This is Maine.
If you’re coming by water, the harbor has guest moorings. Check with the harbormaster before you assume anything is available in July.
Cell service is adequate in town and variable on the water. The library has WiFi. I mention this because people ask.
The best time to visit is a matter of opinion. Summer is when most people come, and it’s beautiful, but it is also when East Bay is most like the version of itself that’s easiest to photograph. Come in October if you want to see the place thinking. Come in February if you want to understand it.
A Note
East Bay, Maine is a fictional town created for the Charles Mandrake Book Series. The books are set here, the characters live here, and this website exists to bring the town to life between the pages. If you’ve found your way here through the books, welcome. You already know the place better than most. If you found your way here first, the books are a good next step.
You can learn more about the series at .
Mrs. Parker has served as Head Librarian of the East Bay Public Library for longer than she intends to admit. She can recommend something to read for any weather.