Maine Foliage Update, New England Foliage Map

The fall foliage season is well under way in Maine and throughout New England.

Normally, in Maine, the colors change from north to south and from west to east. While this is predominantly the case this year, there are significant areas in the middle of the state, in the Highlands area, that are a bit ahead of schedule. Similarly, New Hampshire's Kancamagus Highway is having an early change, too.

Maine's foliage area information is updated weekly on the state's foliage site and map. Today we learned that Yankee Magazine (the magazine of New England) has a foliage map of the New England region, as well.

As both of these maps reflect, the area along the Maine coast from Freeport to Belfast has only small amounts of color at this point. You would have trouble convincing visitors of this, however. Driving from Portland to Freeport yesterday, there was a lot of green left on the trees (at least 70%), but there was a lot of nice color, too.

What this seems to indicate is that we should have a nice, long, foliage season, with colors changing a bit each day, and different stretches of highway changing into peak color at different times. We think this is the ideal pattern, to maximize the time for great viewing of the fall colors.

Armed with the foliage maps for the area, you can certainly plan your visit to be in the area you want at the right time for peak foliage, but be careful if you want to visit on October weekends, as college homecoming and parents' weekends, Columbus Day weekend, and other events compete with foliage viewers for guest rooms in hotels and B&B's throughout the region.

Our various foliage tour packages (from $389, all inclusive) have filled many of our weekend rooms, but there are still a few available, with more selection on weekdays.

Enjoy the spectacular show of fall foliage color in Maine!

Historic Maine Bed and Breakfasts: Brewster B&B's

Today we had the exceptional opportunity to join together (at least for a few hours) two Maine bed and breakfasts with similar names, and related histories.

As many of our guests will know from our history of the Brewster family, Jarvis Brewster, who built the house in 1888, was descended from William Brewster, who arrived in 1620 on the Mayflower, and whose descendants migrated to Maine thereafter.

The year 1888 also was the year of birth of another Brewster descendant, Ralph Owen Brewster, of Maine. Owen (as he was known) was Governor of Maine and later a U.S. Senator. His disputes with Howard Hughes were shown in the film, The Aviator. Owen's home in Dexter, Maine, is also a Bed and Breakfast today, known as the Brewster Inn.

Mark Stephens, who, with his wife Judith, owns the Brewster Inn, spent a night with us while in the area for business commitments this week. We enjoyed Mark's brief visit, exchanging innkeeping ideas and discussing the possibility of working together on a history package, emphasizing the Brewster family and its Mayflower connections.

The Brewster Inn is located in Dexter, the Maine Highlands region, about an hour and forty minutes drive north and west of Brewster House Bed & Breakfast in Freeport.

Fall Colors are Starting in Maine!

Autumn has officially begun, and the Maine colors are starting to show!

What began with just the tips of the trees (and our neighbor's old maple, that began to turn about the first of September), is beginning to spread to more trees, and to be a bit more full. The State of Maine is predicting that, as one good thing that resulted from all the early season rain, we should have a spectacular foliage season, calling it "Showtime in Vacationland."

Interest in visiting the New England colors, and especially Maine's unique combination of magnificent foliage and breathtaking coastlines, is on the rise. Many ask when the peak time for foliage viewing will be. Of course, it is difficult to predict, but in the Freeport and Mid-Coast area, the second and third week in October are reliably excellent, with the peak usually right around the popular Columbus Day weekend.

At Brewster House we always celebrate the foliage season with several Fall Foliage packages. Fall Foliage Surf & Turf combines two nights at Brewster House, a two-hour sail on an antique schooner in Casco Bay, gift certificates for dinner at Azure Cafe and shopping at L.L. Bean, a driving tour of foliage areas, and a gasoline card, all-inclusive for $649. Add a third night at Brewster House for only an additional $100 with our Fall Foliage Surf & Turf Extended package. If you are trying to get in a foliage package without the frills, try our Fall Foliage Lite package, with two days at Brewster House, the self-driving foliage tour, and a $25 gasoline card, all-inclusive for $389.

As a practical matter, the foliage season in Freeport is usually good from early October through the month. Sometimes there is even good foliage at the end of September (as it is starting to appear will be the case this year), and even into early November.

If you want to check on the status of foliage here, we are in Zone 1 on the Maine foliage web site, which is updated weekly with status of the foliage in Maine's different regions.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Quiche With Goat Cheese

Like many innkeepers, we find that a number of our guests need gluten-free meals. In searching for this type of thing, Ruth came across this quiche from Martha Stewart, which we served today, to high praise from all the guests!

We served it as presented this morning, but will be trying it in the near future with fresh spinach and sun-dried tomatoes added, as well.

Gluten-Free Quiche with Goat Cheese

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened, plus more for pan


• 1 package (1 pound) frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed


• 12 large eggs


• Coarse salt and ground pepper


• 1 1/2 cups reduced-fat sour cream


• 1 package (4-5 ounces) soft goat cheese, room temperature


• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Brush a 9 by 2 1/2 inch springform pan with butter. Line the sides of the pan with strips of waxed paper (the same height as the pan); brush paper with butter.


2. Squeeze excess moisture from hash browns. Mix in a bowl with butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pat into bottom and up sides of prepared pan, using a moistened dry measuring cup. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until set, 15 to 20 minutes.


3. In a large bowl, whisk sour cream, goat cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until well combined; whisk in 11 remaining eggs. Pour into crust, and sprinkle with scallions. Bake until set, 45 to 50 minutes. Unmold quiche, and peel off waxed paper before serving.

Serves 6-8, depending on serving size.

Enjoy!

Sparkle With Us In Freeport, December 2009

It seems too early in the year to be thinking about Christmas, but we're well into September, and for those making plans for early December, it is already time to begin thinking about Freeport's 16th annual Sparkle Weekend.

This year Sparkle is December 4, 5 and 6. Typically the weekend includes L.L. Bean's Northern Lights celebration nightly (from November 20 - January 1), horsedrawn wagon rides, hot cocoa, an open house and tour of Freeport's historic bed and breakfast inns, a talking Christmas tree, a parade (with Santa arriving in a lobster boat!), visits with Santa, Freeport Community Players' Old Time Radio Show, a Jingle Bell fun run, a craft fair, a tuba concert, and more!

In 2008 L.L. Bean displayed the largest Christmas tree east of the Mississippi River, lit with energy-efficient LED lights, and provided entertaining ice carving demonstrations, as well as other instruction and demonstrations around the tree.

All this is in addition to the nearly 200 shops and restaurants in Freeport, a number of which will be offering special bargains and packages for the occasion.

Many guests book rooms for Sparkle Weekend for the next year as they depart from the previous year, so rooms can be in short supply. Be sure to plan early, to be sure your room is available.

Lighthouses, Music and Art in Maine

If you're near the Maine coast this weekend, there will be a lot of activity to keep you busy.

We've previously mentioned the Maine Open Lighthouse Day, Saturday, September 12. Some 52 of Maine's more than 60 lighthouses will be open to the public (FREE!), including many that are rarely seen. The State of Maine, the U.S. Coast Guard (who maintains the lights), and the American Lighthouse Foundation are combining to provide the first ever open house, as a way to increase awareness of Maine’s maritime heritage and the rich history of its lighthouses and lighthouse keepers.

You'll have to find your own transportation to the lighthouses, but several tour operators are running excursions to the more remote lighthouses. There is more information on the Open Lighthouse Day page.

Our map of Maine Lighthouses may be useful for finding locations or getting driving directions.

This Saturday (September 12) is also the 11th annual Fall in the Village Music and Art Festival in Freeport's Discovery Park. Located adjacent to the L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport, Discovery Park will host talented artists from Maine and elsewhere in New England, as well as music from the park's stage.

L.L. Bean has also arranged for this to coincide with the Grand Opening of the new L.L. Bean Home Store, across Discovery Park from the Flagship store, so shopping is supremely convenient for the visitors to the Music and Art Festival.

See you at one of the lighthouses, or else at Discovery Park! Decisions, decisions!

Visit Maine Like A Mainer! Plan Your Trip - Optional Additions

As we conclude the "Plan Your Trip" mini-series, within the Visit Maine Like A Mainer! series, we have some side trips to suggest, if they tickle your fancy.

Kennebunk and Kennebunkport

Starting near the southern part of the state, one of the popular side trips (or a destination, in itself, of course) is the Kennebunks. Aside from being beautiful old New England towns, filled with lovely older homes, they are charming and quaint, with a wonderful drive along Route 35 connecting the two towns. There is also Walker Point, the home of former President George H.W. Bush, and Cape Porpoise, home of both a nice lighthouse and a good lobster shack. There are also a good collection of antique shops along the outlying roads.

Babbs Bridge

If you enjoy the old covered bridges, Babbs Bridge is one with an interesting history. Built in 1864, it was burned by vandals in 1973 and rebuilt, then reopened in 1976. It is one of the nine remaining covered bridges in Maine.

Boothbay Harbor

Just north of Wiscasset on US-1 is a turn marked "Boothbay Region", where Route 27 heads out toward Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor. In Boothbay you'll find the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden, with its dramatic ocean views and lovely gardens, and in Boothbay Harbor there are interesting local shops, ice cream parlors, restaurants, lobster places, and boat tours of the area.

Penobscot Narrows Bridge, and environs

Near Bucksport is the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, which opened in 2007, replacing the much older bridge nearby. The new bridge has an elevator taking you 420 feet in the air, then two more flights of stairs to the observatory, providing a 360 degree view, with identification panels showing how to locate nearby mountains, lakes and towns.

Nearby is Fort Knox, a defensive fortress defending the area from water attack.

Not much farther north on US-1 is Searsport, home to many antique stores - so much so that it could take days to explore them all.

The Northern Coast

There are a number of quaint and beautiful locations along the northern coast of Maine to stop and explore. One which we like is West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, the easternmost point in the US. The small towns and villages along the coast are sparsely populated and picturesque.

Wherever you travel in Maine, we hope you fall in love with it, as we have! Let us know your favorite places in the comments!

Have You Ever Thought About Running a B&B?

What a question!

But we're often asked what it is like to run a B&B. That is usually followed by a statement that the person/couple has dreamed of running a Bed & Breakfast for years.

Sometimes you get the impression the person has been watching too many reruns of the Newhart Show (for the uninitiated, this sitcom from a number of years ago stars Bob Newhart, a comedian with a very dry delivery, as an innkeeper who, with his wife, operates a small inn, which seems to have very few guests, so the innkeepers spend most of their time drinking coffee and chatting with the staff and neighbors).

This weekend a group of aspiring innkeepers will have the chance to find out exactly what operating a B&B is like. They are students in a three-day Inn Your Dreams course for aspiring innkeepers, taking place at Brewster House. They will spend their nights at the inn, and will tour not only Brewster House but other nearby B&B's, while also hearing presentations on innkeeping operations, computer software, reservation software, marketing, financial matters, and all the things that an innkeeper does that is not normally apparent to the guest.

Some of these people will be just testing the waters, to see if they think innkeeping is for them. Others will be in the process of finding the inn of their dreams. Still others may have bought their inn, and are seeking detailed information to be sure they are well-prepared to begin their adventure.

Before we began operating Brewster House, we took an Inn Your Dreams course, and found that it gave us a great sense of confidence to find that other aspiring innkeepers were just ordinary people, like us. It also provided a wealth of practical information for the day-to-day operations of the inn. As we've become more experienced, naturally we've adapted the things we learned to our own style and preferences, but the starting point we had was an excellent one, and the course is one we highly recommend.

So... if you think you'd like to see what innkeeping is about (besides drinking coffee and chatting with neighbors, that is), check out Inn Your Dreams.

Visit Maine Like A Mainer! Plan Your Trip (Part 2)!

We're wrapping up our Visit Maine Like A Mainer! series with suggested itineraries, to help plan your trip to Maine.

Last time we proposed a wilderness itinerary, heading up through the wooded mountains and lakes of Maine. This time we'll proceed north along the coastal route, and our final installment will give several optional side trips and extensions to find even more of the areas that make this state a true "Vacationland" (as it says on our car license plates).

Days 1 and 2: The Maine Beaches

Crossing the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Kittery on US-1 (we're not going to be on the Interstates, except when necessary), you may catch sight of Whaleback Ledge lighthouse, in the mouth of the river, between the two states. Coming north (after the Kittery outlet shopping) you'll reach Cape Neddick, home of Nubble Lighthouse, on an island known as "the Nubble", just offshore. Spend the night in Kennebunkport, and enjoy the fine dining, Cape Porpoise (and Goat Island Lighthouse and Nunan's Lobster Hut), the beach, Walker Point, and all the beautiful old homes along Route 35 between Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.

Days 3, 4 and 5: Freeport, Portland, and surrounding area

We'll stay in Freeport for our next stop (OK, so we're a bit prejudiced...). Not only are there nearly 200 shops, outlets and restaurants in Freeport, but it is also the home of L.L. Bean, and its several stores. Plan either a day, or parts of multiple days, for shopping. For one day, we'll go to Portland, visiting Portland Head Lighthouse (commissioned by George Washington) and Cape Elizabeth (Two Lights) Lighthouse, and catching sight of Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse, Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, and Portland Breakwater Lighthouse. Walk along Commercial Street in the Old Port, enjoying the eclectic shops, restaurants, and art galleries. The Longfellow House and Museum are also very interesting, as is the Portland Museum of Art.

Spend a couple of hours on one of Portland Schooner Co.'s antique schooners, touring Casco Bay, and possibly viewing some of the lighthouses from the water.

Another day will give time for a drive out Orrs Island and Bailey Island, north of Freeport, where you can drive to Land's End over the world's only cribstone bridge. Farther north on US-1 is Bath, whose Maritime Museum gives the rich heritage of shipbuilding in the region. Out the peninsula south of the Kennebec River (from Bath) is Popham Beach State Park and Civil War Fort Popham. On the other side of the river, driving out Georgetown Island, is Reid State Park, its rocks and beaches, and Five Islands, with its wonderful views and lobster shack.

Farther north on US-1 is Wiscassett, home of Red's Eats, another famous lobster shack, and also home of numerous antique shops. A bit farther on is Boothbay Harbor, a wonderful working Maine harbor.

Returning to US-1 and going north, exit at Damariscotta, noting the picture postcard view as you exit US-1, then pass through town, out the Pemaquid Peninsula, to visit Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, commissioned by John Adams. Returning, take Route 32 through New Harbor to Waldoboro, stopping for blueberry pie at Moody's Diner. In Thomaston, don't miss the Maine State Prison Store, where there are great buys on goods made by the prisoners. Turning off US-1 you can find your way to Port Clyde, and Marshall Point Lighthouse.

On the way back toward US-1, head for Owl's Head, where you can visit the Owl's Head Transportation Museum, and Owl's Head Lighthouse, with its commanding views of Penobscot Bay. In nearby Rockland, visit the Farnsworth Art Museum, home to many Wyeth works.

Days 6, 7, 8: Camden, Mount Desert Island

After spending the evening in Camden (eat in one of the many fine restaurants there) with its shops, enjoy the views from the town park overlooking Camden harbor, or on the way out of town, visit Camden Hills State Park, where you climb up above the town for an even more impressive view. Later stop in Belfast for a quaint town with a beautiful harbor. Travel on the Mount Desert Island, staying in nearly any of the towns or villages there, including Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Somesville, or Bass Harbor. Enjoy the magnificent views all around the island, but don't miss a sunrise (or sunset for those who are not morning people) at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Enjoy tea and popovers at Jordan Pond.

Be sure to visit the Schoodic Peninsula, just north of Mount Desert Island (for that matter, also the Blue Hill Peninsula, just south of Mount Desert Island, as well). Its isolated beauty harkens back to a Maine of days gone by.

We'll add a few extensions and side trips in our next (and final) post in this series. Get ready to make your plans to visit Maine!