"Boothbay Harbor, as you might expect, has plenty of hotels, motels and boatels. But it boasts only 1 Mootel, which is owned and operated by Elliott and Lib Barlow, who I nominate here and now Mr. and Mrs. Dirigo, so accurately do they exemplify the spirit of Maine.
The Mootel is designated Hidden Acres Mootel and it is possibly the only such design in the State of Maine if not the entire U.S.A.
What is a Mootel? In this particular case, it is a hotel for Happy Herefords:What is a hereford? To use a farmer's expression, he is a beef critter with a reddish colored coat and a white face which he keeps solemnly turned toward you every minute that you spend in the feedlot. The Barlow Hereford's are known as "polled" herefords, which simply means, "Look Ma, no horns!"
Elliott and Lib Barlow are living examples of the doctrine of hard work never hurt anybody. They are a medium- young couple who own a large tract of land principally located on Route 27 in Boothbay Harbor. Elliott believes that if you own land, you should make it work for you. His land, at various times, has been the site of a successful mink ranch, tourist cabins, a filling station, and just prior to the Mootel venture, a poultry business. The tourist cabins and filling station had to make way for a brand new First National Store which now sits on what was once a portion of the Barlow property. Mink ranching went out of favor due to its highly specialized nature and the egg business was changed to beef cattle to make use of all of the hay on the place. The Barlows had always cut and sold better than 100 tons of hay from their acres every year. Gradually the demand for hay dwindled to almost nothing in the Boothbay Region and Elliott made the decision to change from poultry to beef to utilize all the hay on his own place..."
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