The first ever St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in Boston in 1737. Since then, Americans (Irish and non-Irish alike) have embraced the traditions of the holiday with vigor.

Maine hosts a large variety of St. Patrick’s Day events on March 17th. Here are the top three:

1. Ri Ra’s Irish Pub Party in Portland, ME. Ri Ra’s opens at 8 am on Wednesday morning, kicking off the  festivities with an Irish breakfast. Celebrations continue all day with traditional Irish music (including bagpipers) and dancing. Bailey’s Mistake kicks off the night’s performances at 8 pm. And you can be sure the Guinness will be flowing throughout the day and long into the night.

2. The Bath Blarney Days in Bath, ME. The whole town of Bath gets involved in it’s community celebration of St. Patrick’s day. The Pot o’ Gold Passport Challenge lets visitors to Bath tour local businesses throughout the downtown area and enter for a chance to win prizes and gift certificates. Cap off your tour through historic Bath with a visit to Byrne’s Irish Pub, where the beer will be flowing steadily all day.

3. An Irish Wicked Walking Tour in Portland, ME. At 8 pm on Wednesday, in Bell Buoy Park, bring the family (and a warm jacket) and take a spooky tour of the Old Port’s Irish haunts. Tickets are just $13 for children and $15 for adults, for what promises to be entertaining evening.

These are just some of the events that Maine hosts every March the 17th, so cheers everyone, to our Irish ancestors, and be sure to wear some green on Wednesday as we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

Know of other great local events taking place this St. Patrick’s day? We’d love to hear about them! Post your comments here! And don’t forget to check back next week for reviews of Maine’s best maple syrups!

Did you remember to spring forward? As Mainers we love Daylight Savings Time – We’ll take all of the daylight at the end of the day we can get.  This is especially true in Lubec where we have extremely short winter days!

250 yards of mulch! That’s how much mulch the Portland Flower Show will use this weekend to bring winter-weary Mainers a taste of Spring – real spring flowers and all!

Spring Color

This year’s theme of Gardens Gone Wild has given area garden centers and stone masons a real treat to work with and from the looks of the 18 display gardens they have hit the mark with creativity and imagination.

At the judging this year O’Donald’s Nursery and Landmarcs of Gorham, Maine won the best of show – a well deserved recognition with this imaginative garden spot called the Hobbit House , a great mix of flowers and stone.

Hobbit House

I personally prefer the pond work here as I am trying to do the same thing in my own backyard….right now I have two holes in the ground!

Wish my pond looked like this!

If you get a chance visit the Portland Co complex at 58 Fore street and enjoy the sights and sounds of Spring!

Don’t look now travelMainers, but Spring is budding across the state! As Daylight Savings and the first official day of Spring draw ever closer, pause for a moment and appreciate the finer points of a dawning new season.

To start, put away your snow shovels, ice scrapers and other winter survival tools. Then do a happy dance for every rainy forecast—because in March, rain can only mean one thing—it’s not snowing! No more icy roads and chilling winter winds to interfere with even the best laid travel plans.

So instead of planning a late season ski trip in the coming weeks, dust off your cruising car and watch the thermometer climb into the high forties. Just high enough, if you ask me, to roll down the windows or drop your convertible’s top, blast the radio and take some deep breaths of fresh Spring air. Take a leisurely drive on a Sunday afternoon and peek around for the growing traces of spring.

Some of these traces can certainly be greeted with a warm welcome as we watch the last snow drift turn to mud in our backyards. Ice cream shacks and joints throughout Maine are throwing open their shutters as March winds hint at warmer seasons to come. Keep an eye out for that perfect, sunny and warm Spring day and don’t waste the opportunity! Whether you’re at Beal’s in downtown Portland, or Gifford’s in Yarmouth, relish the joy of that first taste of creamy, Maine-made ice cream. Keep an eye out this month for opening day specials, as many places offer free or discounted cones to celebrate the arrival of Spring!

You may also have noticed another sweet confection in the works as warmer weather abounds. Across the state, the sap is flowing. And with sap comes Maine made Maple Syrup, fresh from the farms.

So please, travelMainers, take note of the exciting signs of Spring—winter is drawing to a close, and with a new season comes a host of new activities, foods and events to participate in.

Coming Soon: We’ll be featuring a complete blog entry with reviews and suggestions for great places to find genuine, delicious Maine Maple Syrup, and we welcome any suggestions or recommendations from you!

This has been a strange and delightful Winter here in Maine. I’ve been able to look outside and see lawn for most of the season and have even done some yard work. Most days have been in the low 40’s and we have not had a significant snowfall since January and that last one was washed away in the next days rain! I always wondered what it would be like to live in a place that does not get snow four months straight. It’s awesome!

We were forecasted to get 6 to 10 inches of snow on Tuesday which made me go over my mental checklist of “Snow Storm Things To Do.” I figured the party was over, Winter was back -  Gas for the snow blower -yup, snow shovel handy -yup, House buttoned up -yup, wood ready for the fireplace in case the power goes out -yup. …ready. Except it didn’t snow! Ah! -  missed us again!

This got me to thinking about the folks south of us that have had to deal with several feet of snow with their weekly snowstorms.  How could they possibly be ready? I have to admit I’ve enjoyed watching them–but it’s clear they really do not know how to deal with Mother Nature in February.

I thought I would help out and pass along some tips from many years of Maine snow storm experience.

1. Really… don’t try to shovel the driveway while the snow is still falling-you can’t beat it.

2.You need to use a snow shovel -that garden spade won’t do the trick.

3.Local TV forecasts are usually incorrect…you’re talking about people that stand outside in snowstorms to tell you it’s snowing -think about it.

4.If snow is forecast – Run to the grocery store and buy a months worth of provisions…including all the toilet paper and milk you can carry, we do this but I’m not sure why – I think it’s a Maine tradition.

5.If you do not have a plow or snow blower, your best bet is to hire the kid next door to shovel; it’s much less stress on the back and the heart.

6.Snow melts, But, if you leave it on your driveway for a couple of days it will turn into ice with the consistency of concrete and you will spend the next month chopping it off with a variety of tools.

7. You cannot drive over the snowbank the plow leaves at the end of the driveway. There is no Olympic medal for this so don’t try. You will be stuck and have to rock your car back and forth for an hour. Then call a tow truck.

8.You’ll find that newspaper at the end of you driveway…in April.

9. Snow tires are a good thing, they will help you get to the grocery store to buy toilet paper and milk.

10. Be patient – It will all melt by April Fools Day…really….or at least, hopefully…

These are some excellent tips from a long time survivor of Maine’s wacky winters…and now I’m off to do some more yardwork!

A great way to travelMaine may be by sled…dog sled!

Thousands of people turned out for the Musher’s Bowl and Winter Carnival Races  in Bridgton, Maine last weekend.

The event is produced by the Greater Bridgton Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce and is a huge sucess.  Highlights of the event are dog sledding, skijoring, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and for the brave taking a polar plunge! The Freezing for a Reason plunge at Highland Lake Beach raises money for the Harvest Hills Animal Shelter.

If you can learn a few commands,  you can become a Musher and go Mushing (dog sled riding) or try Skijoring (cross country skiing by a dog team).  So here you go…

Mush!: many people think this is the term used to get a team going  – HIKE! is the most commonly used.

GEE- The command to turn right.

HAW-The command to turn left.

EASY-The command to slow down.

ON BY!- The command to go by another team or distraction.

Maybe it would be safer to travelMaine as a passenger on a sled and it would be more fun to catch a dogsled ride with an experienced Musher.

You can make a reservation and go for a 30 minute cruise…or for the really brave take the plunge. Until then…MUSH …errr…I mean HIKE!

Maine lost an old friend recently.

An American Elm, named Herbie by a schoolgirl in the 1950’s, was a massive tree that stretched over 100 feet into the sky, Capturing the imagination of a state’s residents and earned the title of New England’s champion American Elm. Herbie was cut down last week  after a long battle with Dutch Elm disease. The rings were counted and this tree was 212 years old. To put this in perspective, Joshua Chamberlain of Civil War fame most likely rode by this Elm on his way home to Brunswick.  Based on its age, it is believed that Herbie sprouted around 1798, not long after the 13 original colonies battled for their independence.  Over the years, generations of Mainers traveled under the shade tree. It’s fun to think of who may have passed by.

Its top limbs ranged between 25 and 50 feet long, as big as most typical yard trees. The final cut that brought down its trunk was made by a logger wielding a 5-foot-long chain saw. The trunk weighed a massive 10 tons.

In attendance, witnessing the tree’s historic passing was Frank Knight, the town’s former tree warden, who cared for the beloved American Elm for a half-century. Herbie’s 101-year-old caretaker came to say farewell.  With its massive limbs removed, the tree’s  trunk was so heavy that it shook the ground when it fell with a dull thud.

Herbie won’t end up as firewood neatly stacked in cords, instead this Elm will be made into furniture, salad bowls, pens and Christmas ornaments so that more generations of Mainers can keep the story of the American Elms that lined our streets alive. The best news is proceeds for the sales of these items will be used to plant some disease resistant American Elms.

This is truly the ultimate Maine recycling project.

John Ford in the snow

snowy barn

In an effort to follow through with yesterday’s blog on yet again another snowy day.  Here are a couple of photographs taken while enjoying Winter in Maine!

You really can’t beat travelingMaine!

Ok. I was fine with January; the month seemed to be flying by. I was busy–in fact a little too busy to update this blog after the new year and then it happened…A January thaw with a couple of 45 degree days had me thinking  some early spring thoughts. Like will we go the rest of the month of January without significant snow fall? Here in Maine?

OH NO!

The forecast all this week called for a storm to brush south of us leaving us with a measliy dusting of an inch or two. I was pretty happy about that! And then it happened. I opened the garage this morning to find twelve inches of fresh powder! Now we’re back to reality in the midst of a Good old Maine Winter, with more snow forecast for mid week  and I’m now thinking it’s going to be a long one. My thoughts have veered from hoping for early spring to…I hope the snowblower keeps on truckin for a couple more months!

So now we need to think positive and come up with some thoughts to cure those Winter Blues!

Summer is coming but you may want to keep the electric blanket handy.

Cook some chilli or chowder it can heat you up one way or another!  Or just pick up our dineMaine guide for tons of great dining locations.

Buy a new plant – A nice tropical plant looks great in front of that snowy scene outside.

The hottub – if you have one use it– a water temperature of 90 degrees should do the trick.

Stay connected to friends and family.

Pick up a seed catalog, you can dream (a little) about that garden you’ll have this Summer.

Embrace the season, Maine is great for birding, skiing, sledding and taking photographs of all the fresh snow we have!

And my personal favorite…calculating the extra daylight we’ve gained since the Winter Solstice…we’re gaining on it–when I walk our dogs,seems like it doesn’t get dark until 4:30 these days! It only gets better from here!

It’s always baseball season for me but a great barometer that we have endured another Winter is that pitchers and catchers report for spring training exactly one month from today! So does that make this early Spring??????