Maine Travel Resources: Summer 2013 Vacation Planning

Happy Spring Everyone!

After such a long, cold, snowy winter, it's nice to see some springtime signals arriving. Crocuses are coming up in some sheltered spots. I have heard some of the warmer weather bird songs in the mornings. The best sign is that I don't find it necessary to layer on so much protective gear before leaving the house.

At this time of year, many people have already begun planning their summer vacations, whether as a mood altering exercise of cabin fever, or because their experiences have taught them that it really does behoove them to plan and reserve ahead. Though I am a fan of the spontaneous departure (in theory anyway) working in the tourism industry has taught me a few things. So, whether you'd like to begin dreaming about your summer vacation in Maine or you're in the deep planning stages, you might find some of these resources helpful.

My top 10 Maine vacation planning resources:

• Visit Maine: www.visitmaine.com - this is the site of the Maine Office of Tourism, a state agency tasked with gathering and providing tourism related information for all eight tourism regions of the state. This is a great starting point to begin planning your Maine vacation. With lodging, events, maps, dining and things to do all in one place, you can see that we've got a lot going on here. From the site, you can delve much further and find exactly what's the best route for you and your family. 

• Maine Arts Commission: Live music, dance, galleries, lectures, classes, performing arts, and just about everything that can fall under the classification of an art form is here. This events calendar is a handy one to bookmark and return to. 
• Maine Agricultural Fairs: I love going to the fair. Fresh squeezed lemonade, fried dough, sizzling sausages, cotton candy - can you tell I like to go for the food? Oh yeah, and the animals and the 4H contests. Rides, shows, and the midway - no matter which fair you choose to check out, you'll surely find what you expect in a fair, but will also be surprised. The Bangor State Fair is the one I am most familiar with and one of the biggest in the state. It takes place in late July - early August each year. The Fryeburg Fair is another biggie in Maine, slated for a bit later in the season, it often showcases some of the agricultural freaks of the summer growing season like the state's largest pumpkin. Both always have live music, spectacular events and not to harp on the food, but THE FOOD.
• The Maine Camping Guide at http://www.campmaine.com is the place to go to find out about camping in Maine. Whether you're the tenting type of folk or want to bring the RV this site can link you to all the campgrounds, RV resorts, and other camping resources.

• Maine Camps & Cottages - a sister site to the Maine Camping Guide, this is the place to go if you're looking to rent a cottage or go "upta camp" in Maine. Lake front, beach front, or into the woods it's got info about all types of places you can start your family traditions.
• The Maine Innkeepers Association is a fabulous resource for hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts, and inns throughout the state. Traveling on a budget or in high style, you may be surprised at the range of offerings here. Really a great site.

• Part of the Maine Restaurant Association, Feast on Maine is the ultimate Maine dining guide. Last year they introduced the app you can use while in state and on the hunt for great food. Maine is earning quite a reputation as a foodie destination, with a strong farm to table movement and the state's allure to creative and industrious types of people, it's not a surprise to me that its getting more and more recognition.
• Up for some sports? The Maine Sports Commission is a relatively new arrival on the tourism scene in Maine. Not only focused on traditional sports, this site will provide you all you need to know and where you can find out more about what's going on in sports in Maine this summer. 
• I'm a huge fan of North Woods Law, the Discovery Channel show that's on the lives and work of Maine Game Wardens. Just thought I'd throw that one in there as a plug for the really good guys who do their best out there. When you visit Maine, if you're coming for the fishing, hunting, and other outdoor wildlife, the website for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will provide you with the laws, seasons, and whatever else you need to know about enjoying Maine's abundant outdoor resources.
• Last on this list, but only the beginning the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands will give you locations, hours, amenities, and various programs offered at Maine's State Parks. 

So, if that's not enough to get you started, stay tuned. I will be posting more in the coming weeks as we approach the summer. If this is all too overwhelming and you don't know where to turn, simply email me at celesteATcelestecotaphotography.com. I would be happy to help you with some itinerary suggestions, personal recommendations, and additional resources to help you plan your vacation in Maine.

Travel Tips: Things you might not think to pack

In this case, my husband’s fears are justified. With airlines charging more and more for overweight checked baggage, my tendency to push it to the weight limit pushes him over the edge. I’ve never been able to travel light. My husband can leave the house for the weekend with a plastic shopping bag’s worth of his belongings and not think once about a change in the weather that would have him chilled and needing a sweater or a change in dinner plans that might require a tie. His theory is that if we’re not going to a place where he can stop into a store to buy what he needs, he doesn’t need it. If the dinner plans now require a tie, either change the plan or go buy a tie – but never take one with you “in case.”

Ah, it’s always the “in case” that gets me. Maybe being a mother does that to a person. Maybe its having experienced the exhausting search for a department store in a strange town just to find men’s socks because he only packed one pair for the whole weekend and they got soaked in the rain on the first day. Maybe it’s just my nature to be prepared.

I can tell you this: my “over packing” or “preparedness” as I like to refer to it has allowed me to save the day on some of our travels. Ok, perhaps the day wouldn’t have been ruined had I not thought to bring a length of rope and some clothespins so that our swimsuits could drip dry on the patio and be ready for an evening swim after dinner.

Here’s a list of some things I always pack for a trip away from home:

1. Small kid’s safety scissors – it just so happens that not so long ago I had a small kid and we have a few pairs of these hanging around. They’re the perfect size to fit into your toiletries bag and you’ll be happy to have them when you need to cut open that plastic encased set of earphones you had to buy because the ones your brought got left in the plane.
2. Clothespins and a 3 – 4 foot length of rope – I have a zip bag in my regular suitcase with a dozen small wooden clothespins and a thin but strong rope. It’s been tied to chairs on a patio to dry our damp clothes and to lamps and a bedpost to dry travel documents that wafted into a puddle.
3. Air freshener – it could be the air freshener/disinfectant combo to pull double duty but here I’m recommending anything to freshen a stale or musty hotel room and – more importantly – the smells that occur when people are traveling on vacation, staying in a small room, being thrown off their regular routines and diets, and well . . . perhaps you know where I’m going with this. Just get some – they come in travel size. If you’re concerned about your liquids for carryon, even a candle (don’t forget matches) will do.
4. Zip bags – ALWAYS have zip bags. I have a handful of heavy duty zip bags in different sizes that I use over and over again. A larger one is used for my case of vitamins and medicine. (Have you ever had one of these open up in your luggage? I have.)  Another holds my contact lens stuff together and there’s one I use for things that have the potential of exploding in your suitcase, like lotions and hair care products. Smaller ones hold jewelry or pens or an impromptu sewing kit. I have a small drawer that I keep my travel things in and when I return from a trip and unpack my stuff, I put the bags in there as well as the travel sized products I return with. AND I always travel with a few to spare for situations that arise. I’ve used them to protect my camera, printed passes, travel documents when at theme parks on wet rides. They’ve protected dinner leftovers and keep all my tech thingamabobs from raveling everything together into one ball of cords and plugs. They’re great to use to collect seashells and also keep souvenirs and receipts dry and in one place. I can’t possibly list all their uses when traveling. Best thing ever invented.
5. Duct tape –Works to hold together a hair gel bottle that got crushed (and is now oozing) in transit. Works to identify your luggage on the airport carousel – just wrap the handle or stick it somewhere you’ll be able to see as it rounds the corner. It patches tears in clothing, shoes and bags, can be a child safety cover for the outlets in your hotel room, and can take the lint off of anything.
6. Wipes (baby or not) – my mother raised four kids and then helped raise dozens more running a daycare and loving her grandchildren. The woman was always ready with a wet facecloth in a plastic bag. From wiping our faces at a barbeque to cleaning off the trays on the kids highchairs in restaurants, they served an innumerable amount of purposes. Now I rarely leave the house without some sort of wipes within reach. Disinfectant wipes to clean, well, everything. Baby wipes for the faces and hands. In the car they can save upholstery from costly stains, clean the dusty console when you’re stopped at traffic lights, and wipe sticky fingerprints or paw prints from the windows. Lysol or other disinfecting wipes are a necessity in a hotel room, from the door knobs to the remote control (yuck!) to the bathroom counters and toilet seat. Whether you’re there for a week or a day, it’s most likely that someone was there before you. I’m not a germ freak at all, and maybe I should be given the number of things that can live on for days on the surfaces we touch, but some things need wiping.
7. Safety pins – as part of your travel sewing kit or not, safety pins are a multifunctional tool. Clasp the zippers of your day pack together to deter thieves; use in place of a missing button, zipper pull, or to mend other wardrobe malfunctions; tack kids' pant legs up when hiking through mucky terrain; even prevent static cling in a dress or skirt by slipping the safety pin into the seam of your slip (the metal has repelling properties). Bring a few to share. You could make someone’s day so much better by having one to offer a fellow traveler. Build up your travel karma bank. 
8. Luggage scale – referring back to my husband’s fears of the overweight suitcase, I bought this travel luggage scale from L.L. Bean. It serves triple duty – it’s got a built in alarm clock and flashlight. I find it especially useful on the return flight when I’ve added items I’ve purchased into the suitcase and there might be some wet clothes in there to just add to the weight. For years, I weighed the bag at home (me on the scale holding bag, me on the scale not holding bag, do the math = weight of bag) and that was fine. I’d often cut it close (47 pounds when the limit is 50 is one I remember) and then sweat it out as we approach the baggage scale at the airport, crossing my fingers that our scales weren’t too far off each other. So now I bring this luggage scale along, use it before the first flight then before the flight home, and in between to wake me for whatever adventure is next.
9. Small soft sided cooler – we have a half dozen coolers: the big red plastic take-to-the-lake cooler, the huge soft side dual compartment cooler, several mid sized, just-enough-for-a-beach-day cooler, and a handful of take-it-to-work-for-lunch coolers. The one I usually pack for a trip – if flying – is a soft sided cooler without the molded plastic interior. I can fold it flat in the bottom of my suitcase and it acts as a cushion against bumps and jolts, then when we arrive and unpack, we have a cooler to use for our day trips. On the return trip it has held the damp and sandy swimsuits and flip flops and the muddy hiking boots so that they don’t ruin the rest of the bag’s contents.
10. As always- The Book of Joy – a flexibly bound binder that holds – in order of their necessity (and in plastic sleeves) the boarding passes, the rental car reservation information, maps or directions to the hotel or resort, hotel reservation info with check in times and any prepaid excursions, passes or tickets. Make extra copies of each to give to your traveling companion. Include a copy of your passport and driver’s license, in case they’re lost. Reverse the order of the paperwork for the return trip (hotel, rental car drop off info, flight home info). NOTE: Somewhere else on your person carry a sheet of contact numbers, account numbers, logins and passwords to your credit cards, bank accounts, and your travel miles or frequent flier info.  You could put it into your phone, too, but have a backup copy printed somewhere that someone you can contact can reach in case you need to have it. Another idea on this: often, if booking online as I do most of the time, I get an email confirmation of the travel info. I forward that to one of the email accounts I have that will not be cleared off the server by your Outlook or other account. Gmail, Yahoo, etc work fine like this. That way if you lose some of your documents and your phone, you can usually access these accounts from any pc and you can then forward the info to wherever you are or print it directly from the business center at the hotel or write down the numbers you need.

So, if you’re wondering – I’ve never gone over the weight limit of my checked baggage either coming or going on a trip. I know that what I’ve stuffed into my carry on is at times, heavy and cumbersome, but the peace of mind I get knowing I’m prepared outweighs the pounds I’m carrying. 

And once in a while . . . I get to be a hero. Need scissors? Oh sure, I've got that.

Hotel Review: The Seaport Boston Hotel

 

this is puppy.  he is our traveling companion.

I always get excited about staying at a hotel.  Whether it’s for a family vacation or a business trip, like the one I’m about to tell you about, I just love hotels.  I love travel in general, and hotels are just one fabulous part of it all.  Maybe it’s the crisp clean sheets (hopefully!) or the fact there’s no pressure to do stuff like laundry and dishes.

So recently I had to go to Boston on a business trip.  My work in tourism marketing has me attending or participating in events to promote my region.  In this case, my region agreed to send a volunteer to help man the Maine booth at the Boston Globe Travel Show.  I’ll tell you more about the show later but today’s post is about my swanky accommodations while I was in Boston representing my state to the traveling public.  The show was at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston harbor and I booked a special rate room at the Seaport Boston Hotel. 

orchids in hallway

Getting to Boston from where I live in Maine was easy.  At the very final moments of the road trip, my gps told me to go right when I knew it was left, but I figured it had some kind of lock on one way streets and such so I followed and found myself in a multi block loop of right turns.  When I wrangled us out of that I was a little flustered.  I found the hotel and pulled up near the curb.  I got out and asked the valet how to find the garage.  He smiled and said “a right and a right.  Follow me” and I did, really relieved to have found a helpful person. 

He wasn’t the only helpful person at this hotel.  Check in was smooth and easy.  We had quite a few bags and I can usually handle that myself but a porter brought the stuff up.  Service is included in the price, so there’s no tipping expected which was kind of nice.  I never know how much to tip this person or that person.  

 

upon first arriving to our hotel room

The room wasn’t huge, but I didn’t expect huge.  What I did expect was clean, modern and nice and I got it.  It had a Keurig coffee machine with a couple of choices of their Kcups, including tea.  I don’t have one of those at home and it’s a treat to be able to make different flavors just one cup at a time.  The bad thing that I discovered the next morning was that there was only one little packet of powdered creamer and sugar, barely enough for one cup, and not really a good one at that.  I like my coffee light and sweet (like my men) and despite the cool little machine, the coffee sucked.  I would recommend that if you like coffee in your room in the morning and don’t want to go out to get that first cup, you bring some cream with you somehow.  Or you can get room service and I’ll write about that later.

nice terry robes

shampoo & conditioner

Some nice touches included the two very plush terry robes, a special black towel in the bathroom to wash off makeup (1. sorry my photo of this didn’t come out clear 2. you can buy them in the gift shop for $6), and the shampoo and conditioner wall dispensers in the shower. If you’ve ever tried to stretch one tiny bottle of shampoo over two or three people, you’ll recognize that this is a wonderful thing.  I usually pack my own shampoo and conditioner for this very reason.  It was plentifully dispensed.  The brand they advertised and used was Gilchrest and Soames, a UK based creator.  I did wish, however, that the whole product line, the soaps, lotions, shampoo & conditioner, though very nice, would have been a Boston or at least New England based manufacturer.  I understand the hotel’s desire to be perceived as internationally sophisticated and that they’re not promoting it as organic or local or anything, but I would have really liked some US made toiletries.  Given that they’re not a big chain hotel, they could have sourced something more locally created and made a big difference to a manufacturer in their own back yard.

my daughter's bed with pjs and puppy

Beds were very comfortable, with nice cotton sheets and duvet and an extra blanket.  They actually have a “pillow library” according to their website where you can go an select the type of pillow you prefer.  I didn’t see it mentioned anywhere in the room, though, or anywhere in the hotel for that matter, only on the website. 

the view

to the right:  the harbor

to the right with zoom

The view from our room wasn’t very nice.  Being that we were right across from the harbor, I would have loved a nice water view, lights twinkling on the horizon and all that.  I do understand the fact that a building has four sides and only one can face the water and there are only so many of those rooms available.  Add to that the fact that I got a discounted room because of my affiliation with the show and well, I suppose I should be happy we could at least SEE the water.  We did get a 9^th floor room, though, which was pretty cool. 

A couple more notes on the room;  perhaps I’m used to staying at hotels that are more family oriented but two things would have been great:  a small refrigerator and dare I say, a microwave.  I know that’s pushing it.  Our bottled water got warm and our dinner doggy bags got cold.  Something I really appreciated was the flat screen TV with easy to clean remote (have you read about how disgusting hotel room remotes are?) and the free wifi with no password/login was great.  I hate having to set up a new wireless at every hotel and then fight with my laptop when I get back and it’s still looking for the hotel wifi.  Something that wasn’t so hot was that our room was near the ice machine and the housekeeping station, also near the elevators, so it was noisy, people coming and going all night and early in the morning.  I suppose SOMEONE has to have the room near all that, but it would have been better had it not been me.  As a woman traveling with a child, those voices and bumps in the night have a way of disrupting sleep. 

the lap pool

I had read reviews about the indoor pool being really small and it was.  It was obviously catering to the guests that come for business and want a workout swim along with their use of the gym.  The night we went, however, we pretty much had the pool to ourselves, and swam for quite a while.  I noticed that the hotel was promoting a school vacation special – pool, play, breakfast, etc – and while I applaud their outreach to this market, I think any parents coming here thinking they could unleash the kids on the pool for the afternoon would be disappointed, or rather, the kids would be. 

I’ve got to say this, though:  the ladies locker room was FABULOUS!  Ok, I only went in to use the bathroom and didn’t take full advantage of it all, but really . . . nice finished wood lockers and cubes for stashing your stuff, wall dispensers for lotion – a really nice touch that I wish all locker rooms would provide – hair dryers, plenty of counter space and mirrors (magnified ones, even!) and large roomy showers.

I wish I could have photographed them for when I win the lottery and want to build a home gym and locker room or just to post here to show you all, but I hadn’t brought my camera into the locker room and would have felt a bit voyeuristic using it in there.  Something about a woman’s right to privacy . . . but really, if you go, check it out.

One more note about the gym at the Seaport Boston’s gym;  at the entrance, they have a large glass container with lemon water.  I thought this was a nice treat.  I would have appreciated it more had I actually used the gym for a good workout but nonetheless had a couple of cups worth while sitting by the pool.

cool knives

my daughter's plate

Breakfast at Aura was not what I had planned, thinking by looking at the menu, that the prices were too high for just me and my picky 12 year old daughter.  On the first morning there, I went and surveyed the options for breakfast.  It was either Aura or the Seaport Café, a quicky convenience mini Starbucks coffee (grande 4.25 thank you).  Knowing that it would be the only chance of this trip to have a sit down breakfast (the next day I had to be at the booth early) I decided, okay, lets do it.  The breakfast offerings – eggs benedict $14, huevos rancheros $16 – weren’t cheap, but we don’t do that sort of thing often and I knew my daughter would be happy about it.  As we were seated and began to place our order, the waiter told us that the breakfast buffet was ½ price for kids and would save us a few bucks.  I thought it was really nice of him to make the suggestion and we happily opted for the buffet (I love buffets!).  It was beautifully displayed and kept warm and fresh, and was downright delicious.  I cleaned my plate and don’t usually do that.  Pancakes with warm blueberry sauce, cheese blintzes, crispy hash browns and my favorite:  piles of perfectly cooked bacon.  The buffet price is $19 per person.

my breakfast plate

The next morning, given my no cream experience of the day before, I did something I’ve never done, ordered room service.  Just a small pot of coffee with cream and sugar.  It arrived early, around 7:30 and was the perfect amount for me.  Two little pitchers of cream, nice cups, all was good.  The room service order form said it was $6.25, which I figured was better than two grande lattes at the café, but when I got the bill upon check out, it totaled over $11 after the gratuity, room taxes and other crap was added.  Lesson learned:  perhaps it wasn’t better than two grande lattes.  Easier, but not cheaper. 

A couple more things;  check out is at noon and I had to work at the show until 1pm so I asked the front desk if I could possibly have a late check out and was given until 1:30, a courtesy that I appreciated.  It just eased my mind and allowed me to avoid some morning hassle of checking out, loading up the car, finding something for my daughter to do while I was at the show, etc.  When I left the show and came back to the hotel, I had a very heavy box of brochures that I was taking with me.  The concierge offered to keep them at his station so that I didn’t have to carry them up to the room and then down with my luggage and kid in tow.  Just a little thing, but certainly labor saving and appreciated.

Overall my experience at the Seaport Boston Hotel was a good one, and I’d be happy to recommend the place to others and will plan on staying there for next year’s show. 

Stay tuned for my reviews of the restaurants we enjoyed while in the area and of the travel show. 

fishy graphics on the glass at the pool

Spend the day: Six Flags New England

I suppose you could call me a theme park snob. I guess I am approaching that level in my quest for higher drops, more inversions, the smoothest, tallest, fastest . . roller coasters. It started a few years ago, in the first few years of my relationship with my now husband. My previous roller coaster experience was tame, and the only loop I think I had done was a dozen years behind me. Not that it frightened me, in fact I recall enjoying it very much, just that my life at that time did not include targeted trips to theme parks. Not really. Fast forward and I fell in love with the feeling of the launch on the Incredible Hulk coaster at Universal Studios in Orlando. Rode it over and over that first day.






Since then it’s been a fascination and a focus of our travels. We went to both Busch Gardens in one year, riding Sheikra in Tampa and then the Griffin in Williamsburg. Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster was a top thrill and there I found my favorite coaster to date, Millennium Force.



So I was kind of skeptical about going to Six Flags New England Six Flags New England.  in Springfield, Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend. The ulterior motive was to buy season passes that would save us money when we go to California later this summer and spend a few days at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, home to some record breaking, incredibly innovative coasters. We knew that Six Flags New England (SFNE) had a few coasters, and we had heard they were okay, enough to satisfy a winter’s worth of thrill craving, but my skepticism went deeper. I remember when this park was not a Six Flags, but a run down little local New England amusement park called Riverside. When I lived in Connecticut, we had gone a few times, a Friday night here and there, rode the Cyclone, ate cotton candy, and played carnival games on the midway, that kind of stuff. My memories include heaping trash cans and having to park way down the street on someone’s lawn, kind of like when you go to the fair, long and dusty and hot and sticky.

I’m pleased to say that on this trip, I was quite surprised and we had a great time. The “we” in this case is my husband and 11 year old daughter.

Boy has the place grown up and cleaned up and prettied up. Entering the parking area – a large PAVED – well organized setting (although the $15.00 parking fee is a bit much for this part of the country) – we joined other early visitors on the tram to the entrance. The tram dropped us off at a footbridge over the road – wide and nice, with lots of available trash cans for your refuse, none of which we bulging over with trash – and brought us to the ticketing area. We found our way through the turnstiles and into the season ticket buyers office, got our photos taken, were given a coupon book to use throughout the season – some we can use in California – and once the park was officially opened, with the cutting of the opening ribbon for the day, we were off to the biggest roller coaster in the park, Bizarro. The roller coaster that was once named Superman, and had won consecutive best steel coaster awards, had been renamed a few years before and given a new persona with a soundtrack . We didn’t care who the hero or villain was, we just wanted a great drop (221 feet) and a little air and a lot of exhilaration. It did the trick. And the wait wasn’t too long – about 20 minutes the first time, longer on consecutive rides as the parked got busier during the day.

We rode Bizaro three times that day and twice the next. We also enjoyed Batman another steel coaster with a semi – floorless coaster with some great corkscrew turns. We rode that one a couple of times as the lines were pretty long. We tried Minderaser but all three of us came out feeling like we’d been beat up, and I was really looking forward to it, as I like the seating style, suspended from above with feet dangling. It was just too rough. I don’t like wooden roller coasters for the same reason, too brutal, headache inducing not worth the no thrill, so we didn’t go on either wooden coaster in the park. And for smaller metal coasters with a fun twist, both the Flashback and Pandemonium proved to be really fun. The only ride that gave me pause was not even a roller coaster. It was the twenty story drop tower, aptly named Scream, which wasn’t as bad as I expected. And up that high over the Connecticut River, I swear I could see Hartford, the city where I worked for ten years and where my daughter was born.

I’ve been proven wrong. The park was clean, even the bathrooms, which had attendants and touchless everything – soap dispensers, water, air dryer. The food was typical park fare – burgers, fries, pizza, etc. All overpriced and under portioned, but that’s the theme park way, except for Busch Gardens parks – awesome food – another review . .



Overall, visiting Six Flags New England was a great experience. We had fun. It was well managed and well organized. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop in and give it a try. Before you go, you might want to revisit my THEME PARK TIPS.



Also worth a look is the Roller Coaster Database, where you can find info about the record holders, what’s new, and some park history. http://www.rcdb.com/



I’d love to hear from anyone about their memories at Riverside in Agawam, MA or your experiences at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

MAINE TRAVEL: SPEND THE DAY – You can BELIEVE IN FAIRIES

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of sorts. It seems like I’m trying to cram in all the summer fun that I can before school starts, work gets more demanding, and the winter looms. Writing about the neat places we’ve been has two benefits; one is that by passing on information about these places, a reader or two might be inclined to check them out – kind of my pay it forward idea; the other benefit is that I get to relive the day, thereby extending the good feelings.

Here is a little info about one of our recent day trips:

COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS, Boothbay Maine - www.mainegardens.org/

I’ve been wanting the check this place out for some time now. It’s relatively new, and continues to grow. The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens opened in June of 2007, after 16 years of planting and building.

The Visitor Center houses a gift shop, café, and event space for weddings and birthday parties. It’s a beautiful building and fits perfectly into the Maine Coast feeling of the location. Just outside the Visitor Center is the Great Lawn & Ledge Garden.

 

Although we hadn’t planned it, we were thrilled to find that the day we visited was part of the Maine Fairy House Festival Weekend. The Great Lawn was skirted with craft vendors offering all manner of fairy attire: wings, wands, fairy house crafts and books. Someone had ingeniously set up a step ladder rigged with a power source that propelled a wheel of bubble wands and kept a continuous flow of bubbles floating throughout the lawn area. Families picnicked and enjoyed the space. A local ice cream vendor was set up with a line of customers that didn’t dwindle the whole time we were there. I had the blueberry ice cream, in case you’re wondering. Children and adults alike frolicked. Bubbles flitted and popped.

The Burpee Kitchen Garden was not only visually stunning in its design but a sensual summer feast of scents that lingered on hands rubbed on the warm leaves of lemon basil, thyme, sage, lavender and marjoram. From there we couldn’t help but be pulled into the brand new Harold and Bibby Alfond Children’s Garden. What a fabulous place! Twisty walkways, a misting rock garden with swings, a pond with lily pads and pitcher plants, a treehouse, a Wabanaki hut, bear cave, huge vegetable garden with playful identifying signs, a weather station, and it went on and on. My daughter’s favorite part, and the place we spent the most time, was at the fairy house area.

 A small wooded section had been designated for fairy house building. Since this was the third day of the Maine Fairy House Festival, there were quite a few houses already built, and we had to search a bit for some prime fairy house real estate. There were piles of house building supplies – pine cones, tree bark, twigs, moss, any manner of natural object found in the forests, which, in Coastal Maine, includes shells, dried seaweed, and smooth beach rocks.

Children had built fairy houses of all sorts and had included walkways, hammocks, tables and chairs, bridges and fences. What amazes me about these fairy villages is the imagination of children as they design and dream of the fairies that will visit.

After spending quite a while building her fairy house, my daughter sat back, pleased with her creation. I watched kids of all ages, from toddlers to tweens hard at work and deeply entrenched in their projects. One little boy squatted near us, very interesting in the building process, and even more so in the bright green caterpillar that had dropped out of the tree overhead onto the soft moss that had become the playground.

We worked our way through the Children’s Garden and toward the trails that zig zagged their way down to the waterfront. We checked out the Haney Hillside Garden and followed the Shoreland Trail along the water. We worked our way up to Birch Allee then caught a ride on one of the Garden’s shuttles, which run around the property and deliver guests to various locations on the grounds.

We truly could have spent quite a bit more time there, having lunch and enjoying all of the 250 acres that are available to explore.

Of note here: my husband is not a gardener, nor is he a photographer and I had thought that he would be bored and anxious to leave. That was not the case at all. The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens was exciting and vibrant, and managed to hold the interest of even the biggest of kids.

My advice: take all the kids, it’s worth the admission. Spend the day.

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens are open year from, every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you’re a member, it’s free to enter the gardens. Non members are $10 for adults and $5 for children 3 -1 7. Under age 3 is free. Note that a family of 2adults and 2 kids under 18 can get in for $25. Groups of 10 or more are $7 per person.

Check out the calendar of events for all of the goings on at the gardens.

Williamsburg Wow; Part 1

With this vacation behind me, I'm realizing that I didn't take nearly enough photos.  I was in vacation mode, not I'm-going-to-write-about-this-stuff mode.  Today I'm writing about our accomodations and really only have photos of the pool, so my details will have to suffice.  Use your imagination.  Enjoy the pool shots!

THE STAY:

The Wyndham Kingsgate
619 Georgetown Crescent, Williamsburg VA

Reviews about this complex have been mixed. It ranked #11 on TripAdvisor out of 96 hotels listed in Williamsburg on the site. Most of the negative comments related to the pressure sales for timeshare upgrades. We’re not owners in this timeshare property and had secured our stay through Wyndham’s rental arm Endless Vacations. But having read the warnings, we planned to approach the facility management with caution, prepared for some delay due to sales pitches and wriggling out of the clutches of staff intent on taking what they claimed would be an hour of our precious vacation time. We also prepared ourselves for a less than perfect experience within the unit. We got a good deal, we figured, and it couldn’t be horrible. We weren’t expecting perfection, just a decent, clean, relatively comfortable place to stay during our vacation in Williamsburg.



We found it.

Our stay at the Wyndham Kingsgate was great! The unit was a small one bedroom, a size that was perfect for my husband, my daughter, and me for the week. The living area had a sofa and chair, coffee table, entertainment unit with large flat screen TV, 5 disk cd player, and DVD player. The small kitchenette was nice. There was a dining table that would seat 4 if needed. The counter had a 2 burner stove, a microwave convection oven above it, small bar sized sink, dishwasher and small – but not a mini - refrigerator. All were compact, but for us this was fine. It was not my intention to go on vacation and prepare a multi course meal. We just wanted to be able to have breakfast, make sandwiches for picnics, and a snack or two when we got back from our day. The kitchen was equipped with a coffee machine, toaster, and blender. In the cupboards and drawers was complete service for four – plates, bowls, coffee cups, glasses, and utensils. There was also cookware – saucepan, frying pan, pyrex bakeware and bowls, a serving platter and bowl and plenty of cooking utensils – knives, large spoons, whisk, can opener, ice cream scoop, everything you need to get by on vacation. The only complaint I would have about the kitchen is that with the appliances, there left very little counter space to put the food you buy. We used the top of the refrigerator and some space on the table when needed. Under the sink, there was dishwashing detergent, both for the dishwasher and for hand washing, which we did most of the time, given that we only dirtied a few items at a time. There were dish towels and paper towels. If I could bring myself to live so efficiently at home, I would. Nice countertops, good solid furniture in decent condition, and clean.

The bedroom had a queen sized bed with comfy cotton sheets and duvet. There’s a huge closet and extra bedding for the pull out sofa, which we used for my daughter to sleep on. There’s a TV and roomy drawers. The bathroom was a decent size, with full shower, and a stacking washer dryer that we used every day. The unit was stocked with a couple of packets of washing detergent. We brought some of our own, too. They do not refresh the towels or sheets during your stay, as it is expected that you will wash whatever is necessary. We did wash towels along with our clothes and beach stuff. A nice benefit to the washer and dryer was that we came back with very little dirty clothes and were able to pack much lighter knowing that we would be able to wash our clothes at least once during our stay.





The grounds were nicely landscaped and it was quiet. We spent considerable time at the pools as part of a group. The first few days, the outdoor pool was a bit cloudy, but otherwise clean and nice. There are many chaise lounge chairs set up around the pool and a few tables with umbrellas. There is a bar right there and a small hut to get towels. A separate, gated area is for the hot tub, which was quite hot and felt great. There is easy access to the indoor pool and from there, you can go into the recreation center to use the bathrooms, arcades, fitness center and rent movies and games. Unfortunately we didn’t stay long enough, or have enough time to really enjoy the offerings of the rec center. There are tennis courts and a miniature golf course that are part of the grounds. A separate gated pool is segregated for adults only. As I mentioned, we were part of a group, and that group contained kids, so we didn’t spend any time at that pool, but I do understand the need for it. The main pool was insanely busy at times.

We found that the location was convenient for us, given that our intention was to get to Busch Gardens and Water Cuntry, to Jamestown, and to Virginia Beach. The location was easy access to Bypass and Richmond Roads, home to many a pancake house and buffet. There was a Kmart very close by, and a Bloom supermarket just down the road. We were able to stock up on our first day. I’ll review our dining experiences on another post.



Overall, our experience was a good one. The unit was nice and fit our needs. The grounds were well maintained and felt safe and friendly. And after all of the posted comments about the time share sales hassles, not one person even asked us to attend a meeting or “stop by” or anytime. This is most likely because we are not timeshare owners and had nothing to upgrade to. A man I spoke to at the pool said he attended a session and received free passes to Busch Gardens for a day.

I mentioned that we were part of a group and other members of our party, namely my sister in law and her husband and grandchildren were not as fortunate as we were with regards to our unit. They were right above us in our building; a request made prior to our arrival, and had problems with things throughout the week. They had one more kid than we did with them, which made it a bit tighter than they were comfortable with. Their shower squealed like a tea kettle when running, forcing my sister in law to take a bath one morning so as not to wake the kids. Their air conditioning wasn’t working for three of the seven days they were there. With no screens on the windows, and mid ninety degree weather throughout the week, it was hot for them. Add to this that two years prior, they stayed at a sister resort just down the street, in a similar, but larger unit, and had a great stay, so had high expectations for this one. I could understand how their experience could result in a very negative review. They contacted the staff and repairs were underway, but not resolved very quickly. It was frustrating for them, understandably so. We almost felt guilty for our good fortune. 



I think that we would certainly consider staying at the Wydham Kingsgate on our next stay, although we did wonder to each other how we could be sure that we’d have just as good an experience as we did, and not run into the troubles my sister in law did. In this case, it seems that your experience might truly depend on which unit you are assigned, and how things are running at the time of your stay. So, my suggestion would be to give it a try, you could get lucky.

A quiet moment at the pool.