Hollywood meets small town: Berlin

By Paul W. Ross
Special to the Coastal Point

Berlin is an incredibly interesting town that has been the location for two movies: “Tuck Everlasting” and “The Runaway Bride.” Both movies are well worth a DVD or VHS rental at your local video store. For the movie “Tuck Everlasting,” it was necessary to figuratively move the town back 100 years in time by filling the paved streets with sand and dirt.

We arrived at lunchtime, and having had a rather light breakfast, we made a beeline for the Drummer’s Café, located in the Atlantic Hotel.

The “Drummer” doesn’t refer to the musical instrument, but to the term used for traveling salesmen, “drumming up trade” at the turn of the last century. The café offers a varied selection of soups, sandwiches and salads, as well as entrees. A special treat is their homemade potato chips.

The Atlantic Hotel is a restored 1895 Victorian hotel. If you choose to stay overnight, there are 17 guest rooms, all with private baths. Call (800) 814-7672 for reservations. The Atlantic Hotel also offers fine dining in a more relaxed atmosphere in their main dining room. (Reservations are suggested for the main dining room).

There are many other great eating places in Berlin, but this is our favorite for lunch or dinner.

There is a great Italian bakery on the main street (carbohydrates and calories really don’t count while on vacation), and a couple of excellent delicatessens. Ice cream is to be had as well — though, somehow, we managed to pass on this after the excellent lunch. Oh well, maybe another time… Chocolate works for me.

What else to do and see in Berlin?

Well, for those who like antiques shops and collect all sorts of odd things like we do, there are at least a half-dozen likely spots along Main Street. “Antiques mall” would best describe some of the larger shops that have collectibles from many different dealers.

One of the most interesting buildings, just off Main Street on Broad Street, is the Globe Theater. This is one of our favorites.

The Globe is a restored movie theater, housing a fine art gallery and a gourmet café, as well as a selection of books, gifts, music and other home décor items. Live music is presented in a coffeehouse setting in the restored theater.

A delightful feature of many of the shops is hanging flower baskets in full bloom as we walked along the street.

After our tour of the antiques and other shops on Main Street, we walked north to the corner of Main and Baker streets – to the Calvin B. Taylor house, which serves as the Berlin town museum.

The Taylor house has been beautifully restored to the date of its construction in 1832 — an enchanting step backward in time to a more gentle era. For the architecturally inclined, it is a feast for the senses, with a wealth of detail and period furnishings. Upstairs, there are a number of exhibits showing photographs and memorabilia from the early days of Berlin.

This is definitely a “must see” on your trip to Berlin. A modest donation of $2 is requested to continue to finance the restoration and upkeep of the house and grounds.

If you make it a point to be in Berlin on a Wednesday or a Friday during July and August, there is an excellent open-air market with heaps of local produce. If you like fresh, this is it. Do plan on lunch, at least in Berlin, and a leisurely morning or afternoon of shopping.