Weekends with Yankee

NARRATOR: Coming up on Weekends with Yankee, Richard visits Mill City Park, New England's first whitewater park, for a day of activities including whitewater rafting and boogie boarding.

RICHARD WIESE: Whoo!

NARRATOR: In Maine, Amy harvests lobsters on Penobscot Bay.

Slide it on there and then spin it, yep.

AMY TRAVERSO: Oh!

All right.

NARRATOR: Then cooks them up at Camden Harbour Inn.

Cheers, everyone.

TRAVERSO: Cheers.

Thank you for joining.

NARRATOR: In Vermont, we visit the husband-and-wife duo who founded Red House to learn about the story behind their handmade wax canvas bags.

It's still magical to me, every time she flips something inside out, and I'm, like, "Oh, oh, my God.

There it is, again."

NARRATOR: So come along with us for a once-in-a-lifetime journey through New England as you've never experienced it before, a true insider's guide from the editors of Yankee magazine.

Join explorer and adventurer Richard Wiese and Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso for behind-the-scenes access to the unique attractions that define this region.

It's the ultimate travel guide from the people who know it best.

Weekends With Yankee.

Major funding provided by: Massachusetts is home to a lot of firsts.

The first public park in America.

The first fried clams.

The first university in America.

The first basketball game.

What's first for you?

Grady-White, crafting offshore sport fishing boats for over 60 years.

The Barn Yard, builders of timber-frame barns and garages.

And by American Cruise Lines, exploring the historic shores of New England.

WIESE: I'm in Franklin, New Hampshire, which is home to the first whitewater park in all of New England.

You've never heard of a whitewater park?

Well, essentially, it's a playground for kayakers.

Hey, Marty.

Hey, Richard.

Welcome.

WIESE: Yeah, thanks.

What a beautiful day we picked.

We're going to have a lot of fun today, for sure.

NARRATOR: Mill City Park in Franklin is a nonprofit organization whose mission is simple-- let the Winnipesaukee River repower their community.

WIESE: What is a whitewater park?

Whitewater parks have been across the globe since 1976.

The first one was in Germany, the Munich Wave, and essentially, a whitewater park is a place where you can create a hydraulic jump.

The most important thing is the Winnipesaukee River.

So when we're out there, right?

Mile over mile, it'll drop 77 feet in the gradient.

And that'll change the rapids, it'll change the flow, it'll push the water faster downhill, and so an environment like that is perfect for a whitewater park.

NARRATOR: Marty is an engineer whose vision will transform 13 acres in Franklin Falls for recreational use.

His goal is to reimagine the town's future and connect the community to the river.

Right, when you're sitting next to a river that's very dynamic and people are in it, you just notice everything changes, right?

Businesses start to pop up, people start to pull over, because they don't know what it is.

Not everyone's going to be a whitewater kayaker, not everyone's going to be a surfer, but it's a really cool, dynamic place to watch people do something you wouldn't get to see anywhere else in New England.

Whitewater rafting is kind of how we get a lot of people adjusted to the environment out there.

NARRATOR: Stuart Hickey has paddled all over the United States, but he now works as a guide here.

He knows how important the whitewater park is to Franklin.

Mill City Waterpark is the new lifeblood of Franklin.

The Winnipesaukee River has been the heart of this town for generations.

Humans are not supposed to be in water.

We are not made for that.

And to be able to utilize what the river is doing for enjoyment in a way different sense than just floating down the river is pretty special to me.

NARRATOR: Stuart reminds Richard how important safety is on the water.

But the most important thing to remember is, do not stand up in the river.

Rule number two involves a very important piece of equipment, our paddle.

Do not let go of that T grip, okay?

Do not let go of the T grip, do not let go of the T grip, do not let go of the T grip.

Bracing in, this is what keeps you in the boat.

It also allows you to use your full body to take great big paddle strokes today.

So let's go rafting, man.

WIESE: All right, let's do it.

I'm ready.

NARRATOR: Experiencing the Winnipesaukee River is exciting, scenic, and provides a glimpse into New England's history.

It combines a love for outdoor adventure and stories of the river's past.

The historical significance of this river started back in, in the Indigenous communities that existed long before European settlers.

This was a huge fishing river.

The structure or the dynamics of the river is, creates great habitat for fish.

As European settlers started moving up here, we started damming the river up and using mills on it.

And so you can see the history of this river as you paddle down it, from the trestles to that old paper mill that's still standing, to all of the dam structures that exist along that river.

There's a lot of creativity that you can harness in that low-volume river.

The way I see the water and how I can utilize that water has created a sense of artistic ability for me and some creativity that I never thought that I had.

WIESE: When you go through here, there are sections that make you feel like you're in the most remote parts of New England, but then you see pages of old history, old mills that existed along there.

It's fun.

NARRATOR: Another sport offered here is whitewater kayaking, though not easy for beginners or the faint of heart.

It's a, has a high barrier to entry.

It's a, it's a grind, right?

You got to be committed, you have to learn how to roll, right?

And that's when a boat capsizes, you have to be able to flip it back over.

So that's pretty difficult in the beginnings.

Folks that have no idea what whitewater paddling even is come here, and they witness it, and it opens up a whole new world of outdoor recreation for them.

NARRATOR: In addition to being a rafting guide, Stu is also a whitewater kayaker.

What whitewater paddling has taught me has actually been something I did not learn in school, and that was applied physics: equal and opposite reactions, and hydrology, and how water moves, and what's happening underneath the surface that you can't see.

It's how to utilize different features of the river for different forms of entertainment, and how we can use the rocks and the low volume and the small eddy lines to create that entertainment for anyone from 60, 70 years old down to 12 years old.

NARRATOR: Whitewater kayaking takes practice and skill, but there are easier activities to try.

What we know about whitewater kayaking is, not everyone will get in the water, right?

Boogie boarding's easier, rafting is probably the easiest, but to, like, really enjoy the wave and surf on it, you need some skill.

NARRATOR: Boogie boarding is a sport that started in Hawaii on the shores of the Pacific, but Richard is about to get a lesson on the Winnipesaukee River.

WIESE: So how the heck do you boogie board on a river that's going down?

So you have both downstream and upstream currents.

You have water going down the river and water going upstream, the white foamy stuff.

And so you're looking to find that seam in between the two and have both forces acting on you.

WIESE: All right, you have me interested.

All right.

WIESE: How do you do it?

How do you do it?

I mean...

It's going to be a challenge today.

Are you a good swimmer?

WIESE: Uh, I can swim.

Are you strong?

Strong swimmer?

WIESE: I am more mentally strong.

Okay.

NARRATOR: The lesson starts with getting a feel for the water and the current.

WIESE: As part of the "safety exercise"... Sure.

WIESE: ...you're going to dump me upriver... Yeah.

WIESE: ...to go over a waterfall or something?

Oh, big one, big one, huge.

WIESE: Big waterfall.

Huge waterfall.

We're going to go just upstream of the surf wave, and we're going to get in, and we'll sort of swim out to the middle of the river, and then we'll assume sort of the free float position, where we'll float right down through the rapid, on our back with our feet up out of the water, so that you can feel a little bit of the power of the current before you commit yourself to boogie boarding.

It's just a very sort of soulful way to be pushed and pulled... WIESE: All right.

...is to surf the wave.

WIESE: I'm ready-- I'm ready to be soulful.

Let's do it.

WIESE: And I am at your mercy and in your hands.

All right, okay.

Keep going, you're doing it!

Yeah!

NARRATOR: It's a lot harder than it looks, and Richard takes a beating in the current, but he's determined to succeed.

WIESE: Man, when you start going down the river and you're trying to get back over the side, and you're starting to be bumping into rocks, and now suddenly you see a lifeline coming out for you, definitely is a wake-up.

So, uh, I'm willing to give it another go.

Keep going up, keep going up.

Keep going up, keep going up!

The trick is getting yourself established on the wave.

That's really the, that's the trick, is getting yourself where you've got the right sort of body position and the right momentum as you exit the eddy on the side of the river and enter the wave.

I mean, it's really, it's about getting your brain and body to operate on the same page.

Get yourself oriented-- like Marty said, look for these trees here... WIESE: Yep.

...and swim into that eddy.

Kick your feet and let go of the rope.

Let go of the rope!

You got it!

Kick your feet, kick your feet!

Go!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Whooo!

WIESE: Whooo!

Come on!

WIESE (exclaims): I'm so happy I tried again.

And if there's ever a motto for life, is, keep trying, man.

Keep trying-- that was awesome.

I think that for anybody who wants to have a fantastic day, whether it's whitewater rafting, an experienced kayaker, someone who's, uh, you know, a semi-athletic boogie boarder, this is such an awesome place, with the instruction, and a welcoming town.

It's just a great experience.

TRAVERSO: I'm here in Rockport, Maine, on this foggy morning, and I'm going to be going out on the Moondog, a lobstering boat captained by Jonathan Laurence, who's also a very accomplished photographer.

Then I'm going to head over to the Camden Harbour Inn, a beautiful spot in Camden, Maine.

I'll meet Chef Jose Ochoa, who is a master at cooking with lobster.

Let's get going.

Nice to meet you, I'm Amy.

Nice to meet you.

Jonathan.

TRAVERSO: Great.

Can I come on board?

Yeah, absolutely.

TRAVERSO: So we can go out on this foggy day, huh?

Yeah.

TRAVERSO (laughing): No problem.

No problems.

(engine starting) TRAVERSO: It may be shrouded in fog today, but I really...

This has got to be one of the most beautiful harbors in Maine.

You know, you have good days, bad days, but... TRAVERSO: Right.

Honestly, I think some of the foggy days are beautiful, especially when they lift a little bit so you can see, but... TRAVERSO: Yeah.

There's something haunting about the boats kind of emerging out of the fog.

Yeah, it's nice when they're not moving towards you.

TRAVERSO (laughing): Yes.

NARRATOR: Jonathan gets some help from Amy bringing up the lobster traps the hard way.

TRAVERSO: So this is, like...

It's a good workout.

It's not impossible, but it's definitely hard to imagine how commercial lobstermen... Oh, they, they use hydraulics, so... TRAVERSO: Yeah.

(laughs) But back in the day, like... It's still a lot of work.

TRAVERSO: ...people going out on dories, maybe, had to do this.

Yeah.

So we take our gauge here, which helps us tell what's a legal lobster, not a legal lobster, oversize, or select lobster.

So, it's three-and-a-quarter inches from the eye socket to the back of the carapace.

TRAVERSO: Uh-huh.

And so this one is legal.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

But then after that, we have to check the gender to make sure that it's a non-breeding female.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

And so this is a male, actually.

See, you can tell by these two front swimmerets here.

TRAVERSO: Oh, okay.

So this guy is all good.

TRAVERSO: And so the legality of it is basically about keeping the breeding ones... Yeah.

TRAVERSO: ...or the babies growing, right?

Keeping the breeding females in the stock to let them kind of do their thing... TRAVERSO: Right.

...and put out more and more lobsters so that the fishery stays, stays around.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

So you're from Maine originally, right?

Yeah.

TRAVERSO: And like a lot of Mainers I've met, you have worn and continue to wear a lot of different hats.

So tell me about the kind of two major streams of your career.

This is a, kind of a new venture for me, the tourism and excursion market.

But for 20 years or so, I've been working in arts and arts nonprofits.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

And the creative side of Maine, and so, helping to build out the creativity of the community here in the Midcoast, as well as creating my own personal work.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

So what's your medium?

It's a little bit of everything, kind of like all the hats I wear.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

But I do a lot of photography and time-based media, but with a little bit more of an abstract focus on things.

So I'm not really your, uh, "get up at sunrise and grab that, that sunrise lighthouse shot."

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What's special about both the landscape and the light of Maine?

The light of Maine is, I mean, it's been bringing people here forever, I mean, you've got islands out here that are just-- and peninsulas-- that are just full of artists: painters, photographers, sculptors, everyone that's just totally inspired by this landscape.

TRAVERSO: You've also worked in the commercial fishing industry?

I did, yeah.

So, after years of working in arts nonprofits and behind a screen, like, many, many hours a week, I decided I wanted something that was completely the opposite, that was just full of textures, taste, smells, and feels, and so... You know, if you want to go get yourself beat up for a while, you can... TRAVERSO (laughing): Yeah.

...go work on the back of a lobster boat, and, um, kind of humble yourself quite a bit.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

But also just be immersed in a very beautiful landscape that changes every day, and, you know, it just...

It's not a bad place to call an office.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

You know?

And I, I love being on the water, but this is a little bit different from commercial fishing.

And a little bit...

I like being my own boss.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

And so it's kind of nice to call the shots a little bit more than being on the hook all the time.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

Whenever you see a lobster, kind of, like, in a magazine, on a menu, it's red.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

But they actually have, you know, lots of different colors and textures, you know.

So, you've seen-- you know, you've got calico lobsters.

TRAVERSO: Right.

Like, really orange lobsters.

All right.

So if you want to... TRAVERSO: Okay.

Slide it on there and then spin it.

TRAVERSO: Spin it.

Yep.

TRAVERSO: Oh!

All right.

TRAVERSO: That works.

Okay.

That one looks little.

Yeah.

Nope, and you always measure both sides, 'cause the shell, sometimes, is irregular, and... TRAVERSO: Oh, interesting.

So as long as it's three-and-a-quarter on one of the sides... TRAVERSO: Oh.

It's fine.

Okay.

TRAVERSO: Tell me about the food at the Camden Harbour Inn, because that's where I'm headed next.

All right.

The food at the Camden Harbour Inn is, you know, it's quite exquisite and it's very different from the rest of Maine cuisine.

It's more of an art form.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

And the way that they process things, I mean, you've got lobster foam, you've got kind of little bits of things, and, you know, everything that comes out, you look at it, and you're, like, "Should I eat this, "or should I just look at it for a little while?"

TRAVERSO (laughing): Right.

And then you eat it, and it's... You know, it's, it's always fantastic.

TRAVERSO: Wow, oh, God, I'm excited to get over there.

Yeah, you should be.

TRAVERSO: All right, get me back to harbor.

(laughs) All right, let's get out of here.

Thank God we can see the harbor now.

TRAVERSO: Oh!

So we should be able to get back there.

TRAVERSO: It's cleared up!

Yeah.

TRAVERSO: Beautiful.

NARRATOR: As the morning fog burned off, Amy and Jonathan enjoy a smooth voyage back to picturesque Camden Harbor.

TRAVERSO: Gonna head over to the inn, and thank you so much for...

This is the nicest gift, ever.

Yeah.

TRAVERSO: Fresh lobster.

Well, hopefully you guys enjoy them.

TRAVERSO: Thank you.

I'm sure the chef's gonna make them pretty magical.

TRAVERSO (laughing): Yeah.

This has been an absolute peak experience.

I mean, the...

It was so beautiful.

It was the most beautiful ride out of this harbor I've ever done.

All right.

TRAVERSO: And it was just, I'll always remember it.

Thank you so much.

Thank you guys for coming.

And, you know, now, I told you it'd be a sunny day.

(Traverso laughs) I said, "Can you make it sunny?"

Now it's sunny.

TRAVERSO: You did it.

Thank you.

There we go.

TRAVERSO: Take care.

Take care.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

NARRATOR: Amy heads to the resplendent Camden Harbour Inn, where she meets the owner, Raymond Brunyanszki, and learns why he loves it here.

Maine is beautiful, the people are so friendly, and there's such a strong community sense.

That's a quality that the world is, you know, more and more lacking.

Life's really good here, in that sense, and beautiful surroundings, and... TRAVERSO: Yeah.

Tell me the story of how you came to own this inn and how you came to live in Camden.

So I'm originally from the Netherlands, and in 2003, I went on vacation here.

And we had a beautiful trip, and when I was in Maine and in Acadia Park, standing on the cliffs looking over the ocean... TRAVERSO: Uh-huh.

...over the Atlantic, I was, like, you know, "They have everything here.

"It's so beautiful, people are so nice.

We should move here."

It's in my DNA now.

It's, I wake up with it and I go to bed with it.

No matter where I am in the world, I think of it.

So, yeah.

That is probably the most difficult part of, if I would go some, somewhere else, to give that up, and... TRAVERSO: Right.

I'm not ready for that yet.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

(chuckles) TRAVERSO: Well, thank you for your hospitality.

Thank you.

Thank you.

TRAVERSO: And I'm excited.

I'm going to go meet Chef... Yeah!

TRAVERSO: And I think we're going to cook something delicious together.

Absolutely, yeah.

TRAVERSO: So, what are we going to be making today?

So, today we'll be making spinach garganelli with lobster... TRAVERSO: Yum.

...and lobster bisque.

TRAVERSO: All right, well, let's get started.

What's our first step?

So, we're going to chop some vegetables.

TRAVERSO: It's fun watching very experienced chefs chop vegetables because, you know, those knife skills that you've spent years developing, that you can so quickly produce those little perfect quarter-inch, you know, cubes, is really impressive.

Are there ingredients that you didn't typically cook with that you now cook with more often because you're here in Maine?

Lobster.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

(laughing): That makes sense.

Just a pretty basic lobster stock.

Just mirepoix-- garlic, celery, onion, carrots-- some of the lobster bodies, and fennel fronds, or just the tops of the fennel.

TRAVERSO: Mm.

So we utilize the whole product.

TRAVERSO: Okay, so it's been cooking for a bit, reduced a bit, and now blend it until smooth?

Yes.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

(blender whirring) Beautifully extracted tails.

How do you get them so clean?

Patience.

(Traverso laughs) So we're just going to put a little bit of the soup on the bottom now, to hold the pasta.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

And then we just put a couple of noodles.

And then plate the main piece, which is the lobster.

TRAVERSO: Oh, it looks so pretty, the green with the red.

And then we'll finish.

TRAVERSO: So colorful.

Pour a little bit more of the sauce, 'cause, you know, it's soup, and everyone likes a soup.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

I like to add a little bit of the fresh herbs, so we just bring a little bit of freshness to it.

TRAVERSO: Mm.

And then we finish it with the chip on the plate.

TRAVERSO: Mm, gorgeous.

And that's it.

TRAVERSO: So, do we get to eat?

Yes.

TRAVERSO (laughing): Okay.

My favorite part.

What we have today is spinach garganelli with Maine lobster and a lobster bisque on the bottom, and a local kelp crisp.

Cheers, everyone.

TRAVERSO: Cheers.

Cheers.

Thanks for joining.

(glasses clink) NARRATOR: In Vermont, husband and wife Matt and Britt Witt hand-make waxed canvas bags to order in their home studio.

But their road to a successful business tucked away in the forest began far from New England.

We were both in this place in our lives.

We were raising our young kids, having success.

We were happy, we had a house, cars, but there was something completely inauthentic about it, and we couldn't put our fingers on it.

And we just weren't living how we wanted to.

We were living in Phoenix.

We just dreamed of, of something like this.

And it's hard to explain, but we were looking at properties around the country, really, mostly in, like, Pacific Northwest.

But then, when we started looking in New England, we saw something in Vermont.

We just never looked back.

It was, like, "We're moving to Vermont.

"We're from Arizona, we're moving to Vermont.

This is it."

Just go all in, sell everything, sell the house, pack it up, and come here sight unseen.

And it was insane, and then the greatest thing we've ever done.

And I just started making things for the home.

You know, she'd make a, a fetcher, she'd make me a lunchbox to bring to the office, you know, out of it.

And it just really picked up speed, and people started noticing.

You know, we created a, an online presence.

And I think a lot of, of Red House came into being as this connection between the two of us, because, you know, we're going to help each other.

We're connected at the hip.

We're, you know, very seldom apart from each other.

So if Brittany's going to start doing something, well, I'm going to start doing it, too.

Once the snow fell for the first year and we were working up here full time, we couldn't get our car up the driveway, so we would find a common space down at the bottom, we'd park there, we'd walk up, we'd work-- especially during holiday-- till 10:00, 11:00 at night, and then we would lash 20 boxes to a toboggan and drag it down the driveway in order to put it in our car and take to the post office the next day.

Yes, so if you purchased a Red House bag around, like, winter 2019, it was most likely hand-tobogganed.

You know, whatever it takes to make this vision happen.

We specialize in waxed canvas handbags.

Waxed canvas shell, beautiful, 100% woven French ticking liner.

They're both very industrious materials, you know, sort of sturdy.

And then we hand-cut leather to make the straps and finishings on the bag.

And I'm the type of person that likes sort of simple and plain, and no frills, and also something I can go back and repurchase, you know, and it'll be there for long time.

And so that's kind of what we try to produce.

Britt has an absolutely intuitive ability to sew inside out and backwards, and I can't, I can't even wrap my head around it when I watch her do it for seven years.

I still, it's still magical to me, every time she flips something inside out, and I'm, like, "Oh, oh, my God, there it is again.

You did it."

(laughs) And it literally is the two of us.

And still to this day, it's made to order.

It's bespoke.

We don't carry inventory.

We create production lists every week and we hammer them out.

And that's where the magic is, you know?

That when somebody gets a bag, they know who made it, and it's sort of this shiny, sparkly thing.

It doesn't just get pulled from a shelf, from inventory, and I think people really like that.

To do this gig, you gotta be 24/7.

I mean, and the way this whole thing actually took off in the first place was because Matt and I would talk about it literally in our sleep to each other.

And having the studio so close, we're back and forth all day long for different things, and I like being able to come home and have lunch here and do, like, our meetings here.

And there is an absolute magic walking in between these buildings.

Yeah.

And, I mean, we're in this, like, daily state of gratitude, and so it's important for us to be close to where we work because of the hours, but then it's also important for us to be in this environment, because it's so inspirational to us and it's so motivational.

NARRATOR: For exclusive videos, recipes, travel ideas, tips from the editors, and access to the Weekends With Yankee digital magazine, go to weekendswithyankee.com.

And follow us on social media, @yankeemagazine.

Yankee magazine, the inspiration for the television series, provides recipes, feature articles, and the best of New England from the people who know it best.

One year for $20.

Call 1-800-221-8154. Credit cards accepted.

Major funding provided by: Massachusetts is home to a lot of firsts.

The first public park in America.

The first fried clams.

The first university in America.

The first basketball game.

What's first for you?

Grady-White, crafting offshore sport fishing boats for over 60 years.

The Barn Yard.

Builders of timber frame barns and garages.

And by American Cruise Lines, exploring the historic shores of New England.