Bed and Breakfast Maine Holiday Events Southern Maine Lodging

Old Orchard Beach Tree

Red Hat Ladies

It doesn’t feel like Christmas in Old Orchard Beach Maine until Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at the Chamber of Commerce by Fire Engine. The parade will make its way down Old Orchard Street on the first Sunday in December. The Parade includes Jameson Singers, The salvation Army Brass Band, OOB Loranger Middle School Band, Pets on Parade, the Red Hat Society, local Cub Scouts  and Girl Scouts , floats, Rudolph and Frosty and the grand arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus by Fire Engine at the Chamber of Commerce. 

OOB365 Float

Enjoy free horse drawn hay wagon rides or take a Holiday trolley ride after the parade. Visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus and have your picture taken, Have free popcorn, cookies, coffee, cocoa and cider and other goodies such as  tattoos,  face painting and free balloons at the Chamber of Commerce Open House and be welcomed by holiday music at the door.

Bonfire on The Beach

Enjoy the bonfire on the beach and remember to bring your own camera to capture the fun and excitement! Please join us to kick off the holiday season with the annual tree lighting in the town square at 3:30pm

Atlantic Birches Inn

With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season almost upon us here at the Atlantic Birches Inn in Old Orchard Beach there is one thing that my Wife, Daughter and I will never miss the lighting of Nubble Lighthouse at Cape Neddick in York County, Maine.  

For us it’s not watching the Thanksgivng Day Parades or cutting into the Thanksgiving Turkey, or fighting our way early Black Friday morning through the crowds for the door buster bargains that signifies the start of the Christmas Holiday Season.  For us, it doesn’t feel like the Christmas Holidays until we have watched them flip the switch at Nubble Lighthouse on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. Hearing the  huddled  crowd cheering and seeing the children grinning from ear to ear as Santa arrives on a Fire Engine and counts down to flip the switch that set the  lighthouse  ablaze with twinkly white Christmas lights, is a feeling and sight that bring tears to us and the crowds every year.

Numble Lighthouse

There’s nothing like standing bundled like sardines in a can shivering with my Wife and Daughter as we snuggle together fighting the blustery, bone chilling winds blowing off the Atlantic, while sipping steaming cups of hot cocoa and nibbling on cookies, and hearing the faint sounds of Christmas Carols and songs coming from the cars of those not brave enough to stand outside and wait for the lighting like the rest of us die-hard Nubble Lighthouse Lighting Fans. It’s a tradition that I hope my Daughter will continue when she has a family.

After the lightnig when the crowd starts their trek back to their cars and shuttle bus I try to get close up to the edge of the rocks to snap that once in a lifetime picture of the lighthouse lighted and the decorated houses lighted along the Cape Neddick Coast.

Nubble Light With Snow

Lighted Decorated Houses

Atlantic Birches Inn

The Atlantic Birches Inn Bed and Breakfast in Old Orchard Beach Maine would like to show you the Better Way To Stay while attending your Portland Maine Christmas Holiday Event.

Portland hosts many different Christmas shows and events throughout the Christmas season. From the Portland Stage Theater to Merrill Auditorium to selection of Handel’s Messiah sings at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, these Christmas shows and events are sure to entertain you and fill you with holiday spirit.

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

This charming version of the holiday classic A Christmas Carol tells the story of the redemption of a human soul. The play follows the ever-powerful story of Scrooge, a lonely miser, who, through the help of spirits and visions from his past, present and future, finds a second chance to become a loving, generous human being.  A Christmas Carol is the perfect holiday treat for the entire family—and a great way to catch the Christmas spirit at the Portland Stage Company.

The Santaland Diaries

The Santaland Dairies

Spend an irreverent evening with Crumpet as one of Santa’s little helpers working during the holiday rush at Macy’s Department Store as he copes with thousands of shoppers (and their kiddies) with whacked out, wicked wit. This show is holidays treat for grownups that will put you in the Christmas spirit, so leave the little angels at home for a behind-the-scenes peek at an elf gone bad at the Portland Stage Company.

The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker

The Maine State Ballet again brings the classic holiday story of Clara, the Nutcracker Prince and the Sugar Plum Fairy to Merrill Auditorium. Maine State Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker, with the live musical accompaniment by the Maine State Ballet Orchestra conducted by Karla Kelley, is a perennial favorite of Portland’s holiday season.

Magic of Christmas

Magic of Christmas

Maine’s favorite holiday tradition is a yuletide treat for the whole family! Happy patrons declared last year’s Magic “upbeat and fun” and “the best yet!” Find out what Robert Moody has in store this year, when the Portland Symphony Orchestra and special guests celebrate “Simple Holiday Joys.  

Polar Express – Maine Narrow Gauge

The Polar Express™ will come to life again when the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad trains departs from its Portland depot for a journey to the “North Pole,” but with some delightful changes. Holiday decorations along the train’s route will fit the Polar Express story as they light up the night. Individually decorated cars will add to the magic of the experience as you listen to the enchanting story read over our sound system.

Christmas at the Cathedral

Choral Art Singers

This year the Choral Art Singers will present a wide variety of holiday and seasonal pieces, including a Gregorian chant, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat and a set of Appalachian carols. Audiences can also expect to hear traditional holiday songs, “Ave Maria” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” among several other favorites. A concert highlight for many is the candle lit procession to “Silent Night,” concluding the evening 

For some families – like ours – visiting a local snow covered Christmas tree farm to choose and cut or select your own fresh cut Christmas tree is a yearly quintessential New England tradition that my wife, daughter and I look forward to with great anticipation each year.  

Maine’s fragrant balsam firs and Currier and Ives-like wintry landscape draw people from all over New England when it comes to picking out your Christmas tree at a classic New England Maine Tree Farm with its rolling hillsides and sometimes rocky terrains.  The first thing you will want to do is to make sure that everyone bundles up well and has gloves, coats  hats and boots because you don’t want  to get sick. You will not need to bring along your own saw, the farm you are going to should provide you with one. If you don’t feel like cutting down your own tree you can always purchase one that has already been cut down which should be located around the barnyard. Some of the barns offer fun winter activities, like sleigh rides, hayrides and wagon rides and will also have a shop filled with fresh handmade pine wreaths, garland, bows, tree stands, maple syrup,  pinecones,  wines from local wineries, holiday keepsake ornaments, and a harvest kitchen Christmas canteen serving mulled cider, hot chocolate, coffee, fresh made donuts, homemade pies and fudge

You want to make sure that everyone in your party sticks together so that nobody gets lost. Some places will have horse draw wagons or tractors to drag your tree back to the barn where they will bale it and tie it up on your car for the trip home.  You need to make sure you water your tree at least twice per day. If you do not, the needles will dry out and cause a fire hazard.

Below we have listed some of the best local Christmas Tree Farms and Tree Lots in the Southern and Mid Coast Maine area.

View Atlantic Birches Inn – Old Orchard Beach Local U-Cut Christmas Tree Farms in a larger map

Our love for the beach and sand need not be packed away in our trunk or closet for the winter along with the shorts, tee-shirts, bathing suits, sandals, flip- flops and memories of the past summer.  We need only to layer ourselves in comfortable soft layers of wool, fleece and down, with hot chocolate or mulled cider in hand while we make our way down to the beach just slightly within the smell and reach of the salty ocean spray of the Atlantic Ocean.  We can also keep warm by the Bonfire while caroling waiting for the Christmas Tree Lighting and the start of the Christmas Holiday Madness.  

The month of November begins slowly, but Thanksgiving weekend is usually the start of Christmas Holiday Madness that is filled with activities that mark the beginning of the Holiday Season here in Maine. Tree lighting ceremonies, Cape Neddick Nubble Light-House lighting, Rockland Lobster Trap Tree Lighting Ceremonies, Ogunquit chowder chocolate fest, holiday craft fairs, and Christmas shopping events, begin to take place in many towns and cities in Maine.  When December rolls in more Christmas fairs and bazaars, old fashioned carriage rides, holiday food and craft fair shows, Holiday Mansion tours, frosty and Rudolph figures, Historic Homes, Santa parades, face-painting and holiday plays, musicals, concerts are among the annual December activities and events in Maine.

Capture the spirit and feel of Christmas while attending some of Maine’s wonderful Christmas Holiday Events

Portland Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony – November 26, 5:30PM, Monument Square

Rockland Festival of Lights Celebration – Nov 26 thru Nov 28 2010 Downtown Rockland

Saco Museum Festival of Trees – Nov 26 thru Dec 31, 2010   Saco Museum and Dyer Library Saco

Cape Neddick Lighting of the Nubble Light  – Nov 27, 2010 – Dec 31 Cape Neddick

Christmas in Kennebunk Celebration – Nov 27, 2010. Kennebunk’s Downtown Plaza..

Caribou Tree Lighting & Santa Parade – Nov 27, 2010 Downtown Caribou

Gorham Tree Lighting and Light Parade – Nov 28, 2010 Main Street Gorham

Christmas Prelude in Kennebunkport Dec 02 thru Dec 12, 2010 Kennebunkport

Freeport Sparkle Weekend – Dec 03 thru Dec 05, 2010 Downtown Freeport

Old Orchard Beach Christmas by the Sea – Dec 05, 2010 Town Square

Ogunquit Christmas by the Sea Celebration – Dec 10 thru Dec 12, 2010 Downtown Ogunquit

Victorian Main House

Bed and Breakfast Maine namely Atlantic Birches Inn invites you to Old Orchard Beach Maine during the fall foliage season where there are miles and miles of scenic roads ,parks and coast line that we can send you on to see trees displaying their fall colors.  Some of our favorite spots to see the autumn fall colors in Southern Maine and Mid Coast Maine are Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, Bradbury Mountain State Park, Mount Agamenticus Park, and Ferry Beach State Park , because of their close proximity to us at the Atlantic Birches Inn a Southern Maine Bed and Breakfast.

Pumpkin Valley Corn Maze

Along the way one can stop at one of the many pick you own apple orchards, and picnic under the apple trees.  Sometimes these orchards are situated atop of or along side the hills and provide spectacular autunm view of the surrouding mountains and valleys.  One can also stop along the many farm stands or pick your own pumpkin patches for autumn\halloween gourds, pumpkins, or maize corn. If you really want to try something fun and dirferent you can try to navigate some of the eloborate corn mazes that farmers have created in their corn fields.

Portland Head Light

During your touring stop and see some of the nearby Must See Maine Lighthouses, Maine Wooden Covered Bridges, 

Hemlock Bridge Fryeburg Maine

Maine Waterfalls and Swimming Holes or nearby Walking and Bicycling Trails. If you get hungry or thirsty along your travels you might want to stop at one of Maine’s Ten Best Lobster Shacks, or take a tour  one of Maine’s Wineries or Micro Breweries and sample some of Maine’s best wines and beers.