WOW, MAINE RESTAURANT WEEK!!
February 8, 2016 by Kelleigh Dulany
Maine Restaurant Week is an annual celebration of food & drink that takes place early every March, and is a fabulous excuse to “get out of Dodge” and enjoy the growing warmth of the sun, by the sea here! It runs from March 1 – 12, and some ticket sales are limited, so don’t wait too long to commit or your options may be limited.
The festivities open on February 28th with “Spirit Quest,” @ 2PM on Sunday in Old Port, with a walk including combinations of delicious “bites” and cocktails through some of the finest restaurants in Portland. The list of participating establishments is growing, but already includes such notables as David’s, TIQA, 555 and Liquid Riot! Looks like $40/ participant to us.
The list of participating restaurants is growing, as we speak, but will include some of the most amazing restaurants in the State of Maine, offering 3 course dinners for $25, $35, $45 or $55, + special MRW lunches for only $15! For sure our favorite, the Azure Cafe in Freeport will be participating. Some special MRW menus are already online, with more appearing daily, as more restaurants sign up.
Hey, on Sunday, March 13th, @ 2PM the “Coffee & Desert Pairing Event” is to be held in Portland. This sounds like a hot one to a boy with a very serious sweet tooth!! “Coffee by Design’s” roastery team is creating their best brews to go with bite sized tastes of the most incredible desert entrees from the likes of Dean’s Sweets, Two Fat Cats, Love Cupcakes and Scratch. More are signing up every day too! Tix are $35 and to sweeten the deal, this is benefit supporting the fine work of Preble Street (homeless shelter).
Brewster House’s Lemon Ricotta Stuffed French Toast!
At Brewster House, we have the breakfast gig well covered, with your 3 course gourmet breakfast, and fresh ground coffee prepared in a french press, and home baked cookies and cakes for your afternoon delight! There are no more comfortable beds and linens, nor more commodious baths on the coast of Maine!and let’s not forget the fireplaces….. Make you reservation today. As a note, we will be away from 2/19 until 3/1, but our “Spring Serenity Special” kicks in on that date, meaning we offer 3 night stays for the price of 2 nights. See our Spring Serenity package for details!
PORTLAND VISIT OF TALL SHIPS
April 11, 2015 by Kelleigh Dulany
July 18 – July 20th will mark the Portland visit of Tall Ships 2015, the first return of this event in 15 years, and the final stop of the 2015 Tall Ships Challenge! The Challenge being a series of races beginning in Cape Charles,Virginia which makes stops up the East coast in Philadelphia, Camden, NJ, and Greenport, NY before finishing in Portland. These races are crewed by young people in a friendly competition, as a means of sail training and education.
TALLSHIPS RACING
Portland will host at least eight tall ships, being lead by the US Coast Guard barque Eagle (295’) , and including the Oliver Hazard Perry (210’ square rigger out of Newport, RI), the Picton Castle (179’ baroque home-ported in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia), and the El Galeon (180’ from Seville, Spain). The list of participating sailing ships is still being finalized, but will likely include the Bowdoin, 100’ schooner famed for it’s Arctic explorations and formerly captained by Donald MacMillan http://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/biographies/macmillan.shtml (who grew up beside Brewster House), and other Maine based windjammers.
If you’ve never had the privilege of seeing and hearing these amazing specters from our past under sail, you owe yourself the opportunity to experience what is a deeply evocative and emotional experience! It is truly a unique historical moment you will never forget!! The fleet will sail in parade fashion into Portland Harbor on July 18th at 1PM, and dock for tours along the Portland waterfront. You may tour the Eagle for free, but tickets to tour all of the ships may be found at www.tallshipsportland.com for $15 (which will support sail training and education). Ship tours will be offered from 9AM to 9PM on Sunday, and 9AM to 6PM on Monday. The event will also include live music and food, which is remarkable in Portland, SO DON’T MISS THIS SUMMER HIGH POINT!
As I write this blog, Brewster House still has several rooms available, so make this getaway complete by booking your stay with us NOW!
Visit the 28th Maine Boatbuilders Show in Portland
March 10, 2015 by insideout
Each year, the Maine Boatbuilders Show in Portland is a success, drawing crowds to admire the varied styles of boatbuilding craftsmanship. Exhibits, seminars, and events combine to give boatbuilders and boating enthusiasts a chance to see some of the wonders of Maine’s most talented boatbuilders. If that weren’t reason enough to come to the show, this year Capt. Dave Carraro of “Wicked Tuna” will be present to meet attendees, give a couple of seminars, and sell his fv-tuna.com merchandise.
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Boating Portland, Part 1
June 21, 2014 by Kelleigh Dulany
Brewster House Bed & Breakfast, Freeport, Maine
Wow, boating Portland offers so many great boating opportunities, this blog will be confined to that City, and I’ll follow up with a subsequent blog for boating choices from Freeport, and East. Commercial St. is 20 minutes from our door, so after the bustle of a day on the water, and lunch or dinner around the Portland waterfront, there is no better respite than a glass of wine on the porch of Brewster House on the quiet north side of little ole Freeport!
Please refer back to my piece of July 29th, 2013. In that blog I referred both to Atlantic Seal Cruises and The Portland Schooner Company.
Wendameen on a port tack
The Portland Schooner Company runs two vintage, beautiful schooners “Bagheera” & “Wendameen” several times a day, including sunset cruises http://www.portlandschooner.com. Sailing is a beautiful & unique experience in which the power of nature is both moving and soothing! See their website for schedules. This experience is very economical and exhilarating, when there is wind!! Our Seafarer Adventure Package includes a trip with Portland Schooners for two!
A simple and inexpensive approach to appreciating Casco Bay by ferry would be Casco Bay Ferry Lines http://www.cascobaylines.com. They offer a great variety of adventures, everything from the “Mailboat Run” (to most of the inhabited islands in the Bay) for a 3 hour round trip for just $16, to “Sunset” and “Sunrise” runs. Can you think of a better way to while away a few hours, taking in the Bay on a summer day? I’ll bet you can bring your own cooler too!
Of the same ilk, but a hair more tourist oriented would be Portland Discovery Land & Sea Tours http://www.portlanddiscovery.com. While much of their business is bus based, they do sell a couple of “Lighthouse Tours” of the Portland Casco Bay area, one of which is a sunset tour! All for a piddling sum!
Lucky Catch Lobstering
One of our favorite themes is lobsters, so the Lucky Catch Lobstering Tours www.luckycatch.com are a hoot! For $30 (adult), you’ll get to participate in being a lobstaman (or lobtsawoman) and even take home a lobster for dock price!! These tours are 1 hour 45 minutes, and they also lead seal watches as well. Seals remind me of dogs a bit.
Odyssey Whale Watch
There are whale watch boats from both Boothbay Harbor and Portland, but for this installment, we’ll confine our attention to the latter. Odyssey Whale Watch Tours http://www.odysseywhalewatch.com operate a good size boat (above) out of a Commercial Street wharf. They leave at 2PM in season, and go out up to 20 miles out for a 4 hour trip, during which you may see humpbacks, fin whales, minke whales, and often porpoises. Remember, on any of these trips, once you leave the dock, the air temperature will reflect the sea temperature (which is now in low 50’s), so bring an extra layer! It is an amazing experience to hang at the bow of the boat looking down at porpoises riding the bow wave, as they turn and look back at you!
Whatever your taste in ocean adventure, Brewster House has the best beds (choice of pillows, choice of layered blankets, ironed sheets), quietest rooms and most incredibly delicious breakfast in Freeport, so come back to recoup!! We’ll deal with the Nova Scotia Ferry as a whole other subject! Remember, this is only Part One! Next blog, we’ll work up from Freeport North and East to New Harbor, stay tuned!!