chris's blog

We're always being asked, "We're really just stopping over in Boothbay Harbor on our way to Acadia for a week this summer.  Why would we want to spend more than one night at Bayberry House?"  Well, let me tell you there is so much to do in Boothbay Harbor that you should really consider splitting your time between Boothbay and Bar Harbor.  That way, you get the best of both places!  

Here is a sample three day itinerary in and around Boothbay Harbor:

Day 1

Arrive at Bayberry House

Boothbay Harbor's annual WIndjammer Days festival is nearly here and boy, am I excited!  Beginning June 24th, it is an action packed week of the kind of small-town events that are becoming increasingly hard to find in America.  There are all sorts of contests, from oyster shucking to lobster eating to cod fish races, all topped off by a massive tug of war and Windjammer's Got Talent competition.  Sit on the front porch at Bayberry House and watch the iconic street parade go up Townsend Avenue, Opera House concerts as well as free concerts at the Whale Park will get ev

People sometimes ask what is the best time to visit Boothbay Harbor.  After thinking about it a bit (and scratching my head for effect), I have to say mid-May to June would be my favorite.  The weather is getting warm, everything seems fresh and alive after the long winter, and the crowds are still relatively light.  Some of our favorite places in the area are opening as well:

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens:  Opened April 15th

Ports of Italy Restaurant:  Opening April 26th

In case you didn't know, Boothbay Harbor doesn't roll up its sidewalks after Columbus Day, leaving its residents to hunker down around the pot-bellied stove until the Spring thaw.  From November 17th until December 31st, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens comes to life with over 350,000 colored lights in its Gardens Aglow extravaganza.  Open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays each week of the period (except for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve), the Botanical Gardens truly become a winter wonderland.

Since purchasing Bayberry House a little over four years ago, we have been so pleased with the friendliness and thoughtfulness of our wonderful guests.  The amazing comments they have left on TripAdvisor, Booking.com, and other review sites have been extremely humbling.  The fact that we seem to be providing a guest experience that our customers appreciates has been one of the most rewarding things about being inn owners.

One of our favorite places to visit in the local area is the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath.  Being only a little over a half hour from Bayberry House, its perfect for a rainy day, or anytime for that matter.  Most people know there are numerous exhibits tracing Maine's extensive history of shipbuilding, fishing, and maritime commerce.  But did you realize how many more things there are to do there than an informative stroll through the galleries?  Just some of the amazing other things to see and do are:

At last!  For those of you ready to put the winter behind you, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens will be opening on the 1st of May, 2017.  With a later start this year, guests at the gardens are guaranteed to see a sea of spring flowers in full bloom.  The Garden's 295 acres will come alive with tulips, daffodils, rhodedendrons, azaleas, and many more beautiful flowers to numerous to mention.  No trip to Boothbay Harbor is complete without visiting the Botanical Gardens and the springtime is the best time of all to come.

So many of our first time guests say the same thing: If we would have known how much there was to do in the Boothbay area, we would have planned to stay here longer.  Too often, however, they plan their trips around a few days in the Kennebunk area (an ex-president lives there, you know) and an extended stay in Bar Harbor.  Boothbay Harbor becomes an after-thought, someplacce to spend a night to break-up the journey.  So they arrive at 5:00 pm, head off to dinner, then return for a good night's sleep and an early morning departure.

First, for those of you too polite to ask, what is a "windjammer?"  Well, according to the official definition, "A windjammer is a type of large sailing ship, with an iron or, for the most part, steel hull, built to carry cargo in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Windjammers were the grandest of merchant sailing ships, with between three and five large masts and square sails, giving them a characteristic profile."  So that's a windjammer, but what are "Windjammer Days?"

According to the Portland (Maine) Press Herald this past Thursday, there is a good chance the 2016 lobster season will start "extremely early."  

Researchers say warmer waters in the Gulf of Maine indicate that lobsters will arrive weeks sooner than usual, triggering the beginning of the season in June, rather than in July as is customary.