Press Release
MAINE'S MIDCOAST ON THE HOUSE
50 Free Things to Do In Midcoast Maine
  1. Pick up a free map/guide from the Damariscotta River Association and explore the dozen or more easily accessible places on their more than 1,000 acres.  Be sure not to miss the Oyster Shell Heaps, remains of feasts left by generations of Native Americans. Take your dog for a walk on one of Dodge Point Preserve’s numerous trails along the shore of the Damariscotta River.
  2. Tour the Midcoast’s many art galleries.  Blue Water Fine Arts featuring Barbara Ernst Prey’s watercolors in Port Clyde, Harbor Square Gallery in Rockland, Neal Parent’s Gallery in Belfast, and Bayview Gallery in Brunswick are only a few.
  3. Attend a free summer concert at the Bath Gazebo or in Brunswick’s downtown park.
  4. Visit Cellardoor Winery on Youngtown Road in Lincolnville or Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery in Union.  Free wine tasting daily mid-May through mid-October.
  5. Visit the Belfast Historical Museum and pick up a historic walking tour brochure.  In the late 1800s shipbuilders and merchants built beautiful Greek Revival mansions in the coastal towns.  Belfast and Searsport boast a rich and abundant collection of nineteenth-century architecture.
  6. Attend a boat launching at the Apprenticeshop of Atlantic Challenge, a traditional boat building school located on the North End of Rockland.
  7.  Ride your bike on Isleboro  or Vinalhaven.
  8. If you are an owner of a vehicles that meet age and theme requirements may exhibit free (and have access to the Museum) at any of the Owls Head Transportation Museum’s ten vehicle rallies scheduled from May to October. 
  9. Spend a day birding on Monhegan Island, home to a variety of rare and uncommon species including the Bridled Tern.  In the fall sit on a cliff and watch flocks migrate south. 
  10. Treat yourself to a day of art in the Boothbay Harbor Region.  Pick up a copy of the Studio & Gallery Art Trail in the Region Guide at the Boothbay Harbor Region  Chamber of Commerce. See watercolors, blown glass, animal sculptures, photographs, ceramics, and woodworking all made by Maine artists.
  11. Lace up your walking shoes and challenge yourself to a long march over Mount Megunticook, a sprawling mountain that dominates the Camden Hills range and is the highest of the summits.  Park free of charge in a small, grassy field to the left and in front of the gatehouse.
  12. Watch sweets being made at the Daffy Taffy and Fudge Factory in Boothbay.
  13. Take a walk through Brunswick’s Pine Grove Cemetery, and discover some of the most elaborate monuments found along the coast.  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the revered Union general frequently credited with turning the tide of the Battle of Gettysburg is buried a short distance from the main entrance.  Be sure not to miss the Joshua L. Chamberlain commemorative statue, by Maine artist Joseph Query, located at the intersection of Park Row and Maine Streets.
  14. Open year-round, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Newcastle (just north of Damariscotta) is the oldest surviving Catholic Church in New England.  Built in 1808, it showcases a Paul Revere bell and pews and stained glass dating back to 1896.
  15. In June step back in history and watch members of the majestic windjammer fleet sail into Boothbay Harbor amid fanfare, street parade, and fireworks.  Tour these beautiful vessels while at dock.
  16. Gather sea glass and friendship stones at Birch Point State Park, also known as Lucia Beach, off Ash Point Road in Owls Head. 
  17. Attend the Pumpkin Festival Columbus Day Weekend in Damariscotta. On October 12 huge pumpkins (700 plus pounds) are turned into boats and raced!
  18. Take a bike ride on North Haven, down past the gigantic summer homes, which line this eight-mile-long and six-mile-wide island, to scenic Indian Point.
  19. Watch the sunrise from one of the free turnouts near the grounds of Bristol’s Pemaquid Point Light (the lighthouse on the back of the Maine quarter), built at the end of a long stretch of rocky ledge constantly pounded by the surf, this is undoubtedly one of the most photographed and visited lights in the state.  Visitors have the chance to see whales playing in the deep water nearby. 
  20. Have a picnic in Searsport’s Mosman Park on the Penobscot Bay shore.  No admission fee.
  21. In February check out the costumes, have a complimentary hot dog, and cheer on one of the hundred or so teams competing in the annual National Toboggan Championships at the Camden Snow Bowl.
  22.  Listen to the ambient music at the North Atlantic Blues Festival in Rockland in July.
  23. Stop by the First Parish Church in Brunswick.  This graceful neo-Gothic building was designed in the 1840s by Richard Upjohn, architect of New York City’s Trinity Church.
  24. Take a drive through Bath’s Historic District featuring impressive mansions from the 18th and 19th centuries to house successful shipbuilding and seafaring families.  Pick up one of the historical society’s brochures from the chamber of commerce.
  25. Mid-May through June at the Brunswick-Topsham Hydro Station watch salmon and small mouth bass climb the 40-foot-high fish ladder that leads to a holding tank beside the viewing room.
  26. Tour Windsor Chairmakers’ workshop and showroom in Lincolnville.
  27. Browse the shops along Rockland’s Main Street.  Trillium Soaps, featuring all-natural soaps (like essential oil of pine with comfrey leaf and alfalfa juice) offers free samples.
  28. Bring a picnic and take a self-guided farm tour of Wiscasset’s Morris Farm, a 50-acre organic farm of cow pastures and hay fields including a pond, waterfall, and streams.
  29. Visit the Olson House on Hawthorn Point Road in Cushing, where Andrew Wyeth painted Christina’s World.  $4 over age 18, free under.
  30. Practically free.  Blueberry picking at Staples Homestead in Stockton Springs just north of Searsport.  Berries are in-season in August.  Only $1 a quart!  The owners will provide a free lesson on the process of blueberry raking.
  31. Walk the Rockland Breakwater to the Rockland Lighthouse.
  32. Free admission:  For one to the Penobscot Marine Museum for those staying in a Searsport accommodation.
  33. Visit the Rachel Carson Memorial Salt Pond.  Just north of New Harbor, you can find blue mussels, hermit crabs, starfish, and green sea urchins at low tide.  Spend an afternoon exploring the tidal pools with your parents or grandparents.
  34. Visit the Belted Galloway Cows at Aldermere Farm in Rockport.
  35. Dust off the tennis rackets and head for an open tennis court in Bath or Brunswick (Bath has night lights till 9PM).  The courts are closed for three months.
  36. Hike Sears Island in Searsport, park at the trail head off Island Road (on Rt.1) and walk across the causeway.  Uninhabited this is a great place to see some of the northern part of Penobscot Bay.
  37. On Father’s Day the Rockland based coastal ketch Morning in Maine fathers ride free when accompanied by their family.
  38. Pick up a free map when you rent a bike at BIKESENJAVA just off Rt.17 in Rockland.
  39. In mid-September take part in the Country Roads Artists & Artisans Tour.  A free open studio tour of 22 elite local artists and artisans in Camden, Rockport, Lincolnville, Appleton, Warren, and Hope.
  40. Count the number of American flags in Bayside, a beautiful area four miles south of Belfast on Penobscot Bay.  The flags are displayed; weather permitting, from some of the 350 gingerbread cottages dating back to the mid-19th century.  Don’t forget your camera for this stop.
  41. Visit the Hendricks Hill Museum on Route 27 on Southport Island just outside Boothbay.   Open July through Labor Day Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  No admission charge, donations accepted.  Built in 1810, the house is full of village memorabilia including photographs and farm tools. View the impressive collection of butterflies at the Southport Memorial Library.
  42. During the summer attend a Friday night slide show at The Maine Photographic Workshops. 
  43. For a nominal donation visit the Fort Edgecomb State Memorial, built in 1808, just off Rt. 1 by the Sheepscot River.  Open May 30th through Labor Day.
  44. Children under 4 are free at the Marine Resources Aquarium off McKown Point Road in West Boothbay Harbor.  Larry, a 20-pound lobster, lives in one of the tanks.
  45. Check out the variety of wooden decoys, coffee tables, stools, and lamps, all carved by inmates at the Maine State Prison Shop on Route 1 in Thomaston.
  46. Smell the fresh cut flowers and check out the current contemporary art show at Chase’s Daily on Main St. in Belfast.
  47. Visit Fort Popham, a granite Civil War-era fort (with picnic benches) on the edge of the Kennebec River.  There is also a park and beach and ocean fishing access.
  48. Take advantage of public access to property held by the region’s various land and conservation trusts including Coastal Mountains, Georges River and Boothbay Region Land Trusts.
  49. Take in the romantic view of a full moon on top of the Penobscot Narrows Observatory near Bucksport on Rt. 1.
  50. Bike the Androscoggin River Bicycle Path, a 2.6, 14-foot-wide paved bicycle/pedestrian trail, begins as Lower Water Street in Brunswick and runs along the river to Grover Lane in Cooks Corner.  It is maintained year-round and is open to the public free of charge.