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Guest Program Ideas
Please note: Southern and Central Maine and the Greater Portland Area offer
numerous activities for interesting, educational and enjoyable trips of a variety of
lengths. Because of the relatively small number of “guests”, we are free to set
our own agendas for each day.
Central Maine History and Culture
We’ll ride north from Portland to Maine’s capital city of Augusta,
seeing what remains of Maine’s fall foliage en route. In Augusta, we’ll visit
the State Capital Building for a brief tour, then the Maine State Museum,
where exhibits include:
- natural history scenes that include a Paleo-Indian meat cache, a
reconstruction of an archaeological dig, and more than two thousand
artifacts and specimens dating from the end of the Ice Age through the
1800s.
- the historical origins of Maine’s resource-based industries and
agriculture, including a variety of home, shop, mill, and factory settings,
complemented by displays of Maine-made products, surrounding a reassembled
1840s water-powered woodworking mill.
- gemstones -- a well-known feature of Maine's natural world. The
pegmatites (course-grained granites) of western Maine have yielded an
abundance of gem quality minerals including tourmaline, aquamarine,
morganite, smoky quartz, rose quartz, and amethyst.
Leaving the museum, we’ll visit Hallowell, once known as the antique
capital of the world. After lunch at one of several local restaurants, we’ll
have time to poke among the antique shops, boutiques and emporiums of
this village business district.
Our ride back to Portland will take us along the banks of the
Kennebec River.
- Total time including travel: 6-7 hours
- Out of pocket expenses: $2.00 museum fee
- lunch on your own in Hallowell
The Portland Experience
We have the opportunity to mix-and-match the following:
- Victoria Mansion, also known as the Morse-Libby House, bills itself
as the finest example of residential design from the pre-Civil War era in
America. It features superb architecture and well-preserved original
interiors that were among the most lavish and sophisticated in their day.
Visits to Victoria Mansion during the regular season are by guided tour,
lasting approximately 45 minutes. Tours begin at quarter after and quarter
to the hour. ($10.00 admission fee)
- The Wadsworth Longfellow House, home to noted poet Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow and two other generations of his family. Virtually all
of the household items and artifacts are original to the Wadsworth and
Longfellow families. It is also home to the Maine Historical Society, which
now owns the complex. A guided tour and access to the Wadsworth
Museum are included in the $8.00 admission fee.
- The Portland Museum of Art, observing three centuries of art and
architecture. The Museum's collection contains more than 15,000 fine and
decorative works of art dating from the 18th century to the present. The
collection includes paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, glass and
ceramics, artists' books, and furniture. Works by artists such as Frederic
Edwin Church, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, Rockwell Kent, Louise
Nevelson, John Singer Sargent, Andrew Wyeth, and Marguerite Zorach.
The major European movements, from Impressionism through Surrealism,
are represented by Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, René Magritte, Claude
Monet, Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, among
others. Current displays include Arts of the New Republic, American
Landscape, Winslow Homer, French and American Impressionism,
Modernism, Cubism, and Maine Art among others. ($10.00 admission fee)
- Portland’s “Old Port” -- Portland’s Old Port is one of the most
successful revitalized warehouse districts in the country. Just steps from
the water, one can stroll the cobblestone streets and experience the quaint
charm of this district. Sample the boutique shopping, one- of-a-kind stores,
and restaurants serving Maine’s famous lobster dishes or the latest
nouveau cuisine.
- Numerous lunch opportunities as desired
- Total travel time from hotel: 1/2 hour or less
- Total trip time: determined by choices above
- Out of pocket costs: lunch and shopping
Southern Maine Lighthouse, Coast and Shopping
We’ll look at two or more southern Maine lighthouses, including the
famed Portland Head Light, built in the late 1700’s. The lighthouse and
surrounding park are always open; the lighthouse museum ($2.00 fee) is
open from 10:00-4:00.
Leaving South Portland, we’ll head south along Route 1, with our next
destination in Kennebunkport and a drive past Walker’s Point, summer
home of former-President George and Barbara Bush. Actual viewing time
may be limited by Presidential Security regulations, but we’ll have time for a
look and maybe some quick pictures.
Continuing south, we’ll visit the coastal village of Ogunquit, with an
opportunity to visit the shops and sample the restaurants of Perkin’s Cove.
Further south along Route 1, we’ll drive by the beaches of southern
Maine, with a stop at the famed Nubble Light Lighthouse, built in 1879.
This tour involves a fair amount of riding, but offers good views of
lighthouses and the southern Maine coast.
- Total time including travel: 5-6 hours
- Out of pocket expenses: lunch
- Portland Head Light Museum $2.00 fee
The Downeast Duck! Maine’s only amphibious tour
SPLASH into history on this fun and fully-narrated 65-minute
adventure through Portland, Maine!
As you twist and turn through the Old Port, we'll tell you about the
legends and lore that have shaped Portland into one of the most historical
cities in the nation. Learn about places of interest to visit and many little
known facts about the city that is nicknamed "The Phoenix." Then, hold
onto your tail feathers as we DRIVE into the waters of Casco Bay to view
Portland's working waterfront, Calendar Islands and marine wildlife.
Reservations recommended.
- Total time including travel: 1 1/2 hours
- Out of pocket expenses: $24.00
Maine Wildlife Park
The Maine Wildlife Park is owned and operated by the State of Maine
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
It features over 25 species of native Maine wildlife, including moose,
lynx, white-tailed deer, opossum, black bear, porcupines, raccoon, barred
and great horned owls, a bald eagle, skunk, woodchuck, wild turkey and
gray fox. Many of the animals in the park were brought there because they
were injured or orphaned. The park serves as a permanent home for
creatures that cannot survive in the wild, but also provides an opportunity
for us to see and learn more about them.
Park features include self-guided wildlife trails, an opportunity to feed
some of the park residents, a Maine Game Warden museum, and a variety
of gardens. A Nature Store offers a variety of nature-related items for all
ages.
- Total time including travel: approx 2 1/2 hours
- Out of pocket expenses: lunch
- $6.00 admission fee
Let’s Take a Boat Ride
We’ll head for Portland’s waterfront and board a Casco Bay Lines
ferry to piggyback on their regular service for folks living on the islands of
Casco Bay. Casco Bay Lines ferries are the islands' lifeline, carrying
groceries, lumber and mail, transporting residents and school children to
and from the mainland.
- The Mailboat Run departs at 10:00AM and 2:15PM daily and
carries passengers, freight and mail to the islands of Casco Bay. As the
longest-operating service of its kind in America, this tour is a wonderful way
to see the sights of the bay while the Mailboat tends to the business of
providing supplies to the islands. It’s a three hour trip for a fee of adults
$13.00, children $6.50.
- The Diamond Pass Run departs daily at 11:00AM and 1:15 PM
and is a 1-hour, 45-minute trip that includes an inner bay route past the
lovely Victorian cottages along the shorelines of Little and Great Diamond
Islands. Get a close-up glimpse of island life as we travel to four different
stops. Tickets are adults $12.00, children $5.50. Note that although the
11:00 AM trip spans the lunch hour, no food is sold on board.
- Total travel time from hotel: about 15 minutes
- Total trip time: determined by choices above
- Out of pocket costs: lunch and boat fare
Maine’s Rocky Coast
We’ll head north along Route 1 and coastal Maine. Our destination is
a point of land known as Land’s End, at the easternmost tip of Bailey
Island. If it’s an exceptionally clear day, we’ll be able to see Halfway Rock
lighthouse in the distance.
Along the way, we’ll pass through Brunswick, home of Bowdoin
College and cross Great Island and Orr’s Island, connected by a one- of-a kind
cribstone bridge.
From Land’s End, we’ll continue north to the coastal town of
Wiscasset, with the opportunity to visit its Main Street shops.
From there it’s down another Maine peninsula to the town of
Boothbay, home of Ocean Point and it’s scenic ocean views, with a short
side trip to Boothbay Harbor.
Several opportunities for a Maine seafood lunch.
- Total travel time: 4-4 1/2 hours
- Out of pocket costs: lunch & shopping
Old Orchard Beach
Do you remember those thoughts and dreams of a favorite vacation?
First, there had to be things to do – lots of things to do like relaxing on the
beach, amusements, games, rides, and shopping.
Then, there had to be
food – the type of food that you wanted, like lobster rolls, french fries, fried
dough, pizza, cotton candy, and caramel popcorn. And there had to be a
beach – a big, broad stretch of sand where you could build castles, run for
as long as you could, or just sit and feel the sand’s warmth as it ran from
your fingers onto your leg. That vacation still exists at Old Orchard Beach
and is waiting for your children and the child still inside of you.
Catering to tourists and families is a way of life in Old Orchard Beach.
The seven-mile long stretch of wide sandy beach is the major attraction.
Old Orchard’s Pier is the center of the recreational activities. Extending
nearly 500 feet over the Atlantic Ocean, the Pier features shops, fast food,
and games of skill. The arcades, amusement rides, and special events are
planned to entertain and mesmerize everyone in the family. Besides the
Pier, the beach-front businesses offer gift and souvenir shops, restaurants,
nightclubs, and arcades.
- Total travel time: 1 hours
- Out of pocket costs: lunch & shopping
Visitor’s Choice
If there’s something else you’ve heard about, read about, or seen
about Maine that you’d like to suggest, we’re open to ideas.
The Guest Van and driver are up for almost anything you’d like to do.
We will, however, make every effort to confine our travel to the State of
Maine and to assure that we’re back at the hotel well in advance of any
evening or other guest-related functions each day.
But if you have a question, idea or suggestion, speak up. We’ll put it
before the group and see what everyone wants to do.
This page last updated on
4/14/08
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