Welcome to Pie Town

John Breymaier has his work cut out for him this month. January might be a quieter season for travelers visiting northern Maine, where he and his wife, Tammy, took over the Berry Manor Inn in Rockland last November, but the annual Pies on Parade event means John is on extra pastry-making duty for that weekend.

Pies on Parade coincides with National Pie Day (Jan. 23), which is something of a passing thought for most people. Sure, who doesn’t like pie?

The innkeepers and businesses of Rockland and Camden, however, have turned the day into a weekend-long treasure hunt, with pies being the treasure chest.

It’s not surprising that the Food Network nicknamed Rockland Pie Town USA.

The 16th annual Pies on Parade, Jan. 24-26, begins with a Friday night silent auction and Pie Gala at the Rock Harbour Tap Room in Rockland, followed by Saturday’s Pie Scavenger Hunt in Camden, and the actual Pies on Parade on Sunday in Rockland, from 1 –4 p.m.

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The weekend’s proceeds benefit the Area Interfaith Outreach Food Pantry, as usual.

For the headliner event on Sunday, the Historic Inns of Rockland, which includes Berry Manor Inn, LimeRock Inn and Granite Inn, are joined by around 25 additional Rockland and Camden businesses and restaurants, whose collective efforts add up to more than 50 different pies.

There are apple pies, spaghetti pie, every kind of berry pie, shepherds pie, pizza pies, seafood pies, egg pies, whoopee pies and the Key LimeRock Pie, the signature dish from Rockland’s LimeRock Inn.

A standout, the utterly cute puffin cream pies are made in the shape of a puffin by the Project Puffin Visitor Center volunteers. The center is part of Project Puffin, which has helped protect the breeding grounds and restore the puffin population, as well as those of other native Maine seabirds impacted by human activity and hunting.

Walking between venues is a fun way of exploring these towns, but the All Aboard Trolley, which stops at key venues, is useful for longer distances or those with walking difficulties.

Rockland and Camden are just under 10 miles apart on West Penobscot Bay, just north of Boothbay Harbor. A leisurely drive from Portland along Route 1 takes about an hour and 40 minutes.

The area is much favored in summertime for its ocean breezes, but the coastline can be cloaked in drama during winter storms. But, somehow, coastal Maine seems more real outside of the tourist season and it certainly is blissfully quieter, and lodging costs lower.

Fortunately, John has enjoyed cooking since he was 14 years old, always as a home cook, not as a professional. He knows pie making is not to be taken casually: “The most important thing about a pie is the pastry,” he says wisely. “There’s a technique to it.”

Since November, he’s put in lots of practice. Berry Manor Inn’s former innkeeper, Pies on Parade founder Cheryl Michaelsen, made pies a daily, year 'round treat for guests to nibble on.

“The first thing we were asked when we took over was, are we going to keep doing the pies,” says John. “We couldn’t disappoint the guests. We have pies seven days a week, 24 hours a day. We put them out for guests to help themselves to.”

For Pies on Parade, John figures he will have to make 80 pies for guests and an extra 100 for the event. He prefers to makes small individual pies in muffin pans to cut out the cutting up stage.

“I think people like having their own personal pie,” the Maryland native says. “I’m doing a mixed berry for the sweet pie and a quiche Lorraine for the savory.”

After many years living in England and Germany working as defense contractors, John and Tammy decided to become innkeepers in semi retirement, firstly in the Adirondacks and now on coastal Maine.

“I liked to idea of living in a big old house like this,” John says, but admits the inn in the Adirondacks had a nice big wine cellar: “That I do miss.”

Still at least he has pies now. John says that despite the daily bake load, he has yet to grow tired of eating pies.

“We are both pie lovers,” he says of himself and Tammy. “I had to sample some today to make sure we have the flavors right. But it’s all about moderation.”

Pies on Parade events

When: Jan. 24-26

Where: Rockland and Camden, Maine

How much: Day tickets cost $30 for adults, $15 for children 10 and younger. Tickets sell out quickly, including the Pies on Parade lodging packages offered by the three Historic Inns of Rockland and participating Camden inns, including the Hawthorn Inn, Towne Motel and Norumbega Inn. Two- and three-night packages include guaranteed tickets to all weekend events and special extras like a 2020 commemorative pie poster, and welcome pies on arrival.

For tickets and more information, call (207) 596-6611 or visit www.PiesonParade.com.