The Spooky Side of Maine: Hauntings & Urban Legends from the Pine Tree State

Ayers Island – Penobscot Bay – Orono, Maine. Ayers Island is a 62-acre island located in the Penobscot River in the Town of Orono. (About two miles from the University of Maine Orono campus.) It was named for one of the original settlers of Orono, Joshua Ayers, who constructed the first structure on the island sometime in 1774.  The island has been used for numerous ventures over the years starting with a saw/lumber mill, then a pulp and paper mill, and finally as the Striar Textile Mill until its closure in 1996. According to local lore, the island has long-been …

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Castle Tucker

Have you been to Castle Tucker in Wiscasset?  It is part of Historic New England, a trust that preserves historic houses and architectural designs. TheCastlepoet writes, “Perhaps the most original and prominent historic house in Wiscasset, Maine, Castle Tucker dates from 1807. It was built at the behest of Judge Silas Lee, a leading jurist and politician of the Federal period, when Wiscasset was the busiest port in the United States north of Boston. In 1858 Captain Richard H. Tucker, a local shipping magnate, purchased the house. Tucker subsequently enlarged the home, adding the Italian features that give it its …

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Maine Maple Sunday

Sunday, March 24th 2019, is Maine Maple Sunday. For those of us who might be interested in touring a sugarhouse, a list of participants can be found here – Maine Maple Sunday Participants.  This is a great map of the many and varied sugarhouses open for tours. For those of us who might be more interested in reading about Maple, here are a few titles to choose from. Anytime Mapleson by Mordicai Gerstein.  Have you ever invited bears for breakfast?  Check out this picture book, and enjoy the story. Maple by Lori Nichols.  A young girl and her maple tree …

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Latest Snowfall In Maine

Yes, we are tired of it. Yes, it seems it will never go away.  But, have you ever wondered when was the latest recorded snowfall in Maine?  This was featured on B98.5 FM Central Maine’s Country Radio Station’s website: The latest recorded snowfall in Maine goes to Caribou, Maine, on May 25, 1974 they recorded 0.2 inches of snow. So, if you do see some flakes tomorrow and your furnace kicks on, it’s nothing we can’t handle. We’re Mainers! And this confirms it from the National Weather Service Late Season Snowfall across northern Maine …2nd latest measurable snowfall on record …

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Narrow Gauge Cinema

The Kennebec Journal announced on July 7th that the Narrow Gauge Cinema in Farmington was opening a new drive-in theater in the lot behind the cinema.  It brought back all the memories of childhood that involved my parents loading the 4 kids and the dog into the station wagon with bags of popcorn to go to a drive-in theater.  The one we visited had a playground in front of the huge screen that the kids would all play on until dusk arrived and the first movie started.  We always tried to stay awake through intermission to see the second movie …

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Peaks Island

My last blog of the summer encourages you to drive to Portland and take the Casco Bay Lines ferry to Peaks Island.  There are several other ferry trips via Casco Bay Lines to other islands off the mainland of Portland, so do investigate those also sometime.  The ferry trip to Peaks is $7.70 round trip.  You can’t beat that for a day’s fun! The ferry ride to Peaks Island takes only about 20 minutes, so it is the perfect choice for a short day trip.  Once you land, you can visit the shops for a short while and perhaps have …

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