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By MATTHEW STONE Staff Writer 07/04/2008

enlarge Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Janet Edelstein shows off a smoking jacket behind a patriotic suede jacket at her shop Antique Interiors on Thursday afternoon in Belgrade Lakes village.The Route 27 shop features antiques, architectural elements, home & garden furnishings and accessories.

enlarge Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Tina Best, left, Nate Best and Gary Best, of Whitefield, enjoys their ice cream at LakeSide Scoops on Thursday afternoon in Belgrade Lakes village. Gary Best said that they were on their way back home from a camping trip at Mt. Blue State Park.

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BELGRADE LAKES — Maine Turnpike traffic might not be breaking records at the start of this holiday weekend, but that must mean vacationers are finding another route on their way to this tourist haven.

At Lakeside Cottage Rentals, business appears to be on track for a strong season.

“We’ve gone past the numbers that we hit for last year,” owner Ted McCarthy said Thursday in his office on Route 27.

Innkeeper Martha Skeel, at the Belgrade Lakes House down the road, reports a similar phenomenon.

“I think our reservations are up this year,” she said.

And at Antique Interiors, owner Janet Edelstein said the stream of customers last weekend, which she considered the kickoff to the summer tourist season, was nearly too much to handle.

“People from away,” she said, “it’s like they think I’m the best thing since sliced bread.”

McCarthy said a combination of high gas prices and a slow economy did not appear to be putting a damper on his cottage rental business. He rents out 50 cottages.

“People seem like they’ve made their plans and are going to follow through on them,” he said. “I don’t know if paying $20 more in gas is going to affect their plans.”

McCarthy said approximately a quarter of his renters are Mainers. Most others hail from Mid-Atlantic and other New England states within reasonable driving distance. A small number of Australians, Britons and Canadians are part of the mix.

Skeel said this season she is beginning to book reservations for European visitors after a multiple-year period without many trans-Atlantic visits.

And Skeel and her husband have a contingent of customers who will faithfully come each season despite the price of gas, she said.

“A lot of people have so much money, it wouldn’t matter what the gas prices are,” she said.

Among the faithful patrons are the parents of children attending nearby summer camps, such as New England Music Camp in Sidney.

“They know their child is a prodigy and is coming back,” she said.

The license plates on cars parked around town Thursday showed a mix of Northeastern states. Ohio appeared to be the most distant.

John Karoff, of Milton, Mass., said he has visited the area for 20 years. He, his family and friends enjoy the mix of activities during the Fourth of July weekend, he said.

“Gas is up there, but it didn’t stop us,” he said as he licked an ice cream cone at the LakeSide Scoops ice cream shop.

Gary and Tina Best said they opted for “the one-tank getaway” when they chose to camp with their 3-year-old son, Nate, at Mount Blue State Park. They stopped for ice cream in Belgrade Lakes en route to their Whitefield home.

“It’s not the two-nation destination,” Gary Best said as he and his family ordered fast-melting ice cream at LakeSide Scoops. “We love camping at Maine state parks.”

And Edelstein is relishing the rush in business at her antiques shop.

“Look at the mess,” she said. “I can’t even keep up with it.”

She said she finds herself shipping a number of items to customers’ homes in New York and New Jersey following her strong season opener.

“I was blown away last weekend,” she said. “It’s always strong, but this year it was particularly strong.”

Matthew Stone — 623-3811, Ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com

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