Bed and Breakfast Maine Events Holiday Events New Year's Eve Southern Maine Lodging

Old Orchard Beach Maine – New Year’s First Night Activities

 

Happy New Year

The Atlantic Birches Inn a Southern Maine Bed and Breakfast would like to show you the Better Way To Stay while celebrating the bringing in of the New Year in Old Orchard Beach Maine.  Enjoy fine dining at Yellow Fin’s Restaurant and don’t forget to bring your favorite bottle of wine, there is no corkage fee at Yellow Fin’s.  

This years Old Orchard Beaches New Year’s event starts on Friday and ends Sunday.

New Tears Eve Fireworks

There will be two fireworks shows this year. The earlier time will allow for people of  all ages to come and enjoy a Beach Bonfire, Marshmallow Toasting and Hot Cocoa with the first fireworks show going off at 6:15. Last year, this event brought almost 1000 people (locals and travelers) to the beach.

Beach Bonfire

The second Fireworks show will be at Midnight. The second show will give people a chance to visit restaurants and nightspots while they wait to bring in 2011 in Old Orchard Beach.

New Years Day Lobster Dip

On Saturday, the 22nd annual Special Olympics Lobster Dip  sponsored by Portland’s Rugby Club will bring the daredevils, about 500 of them out to the beach. The Brunswick will be host to three different Bands for that day including the great Don Campbell Band,  KilCollins & Tickle.  OOB365 volunteers will be there with hot cocoa and cider served on the beach to add some much needed warmth. OOB365 volunteers will be selling First Night Buttons for this event for $10 each to help cover the costs of the Fireworks and Advertising.

Lighthouse Holiday Lighting – Nubble Light

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

Portland Maine – Christmas Performances

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 The Polar ExpressRailroad 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 

 

Maine Christmas Holiday Events

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 CeremonyNovember 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 CelebrationNov 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

Southern Maine Bed and Breakfast Fall Foliage

The Maine.gov  website has determined that that the Maine leaf color has hit its peak.

Heidi and I went out for one of our rare October drives this Tuesday on Route 9 and Shore Road to see Nubble Light House in Cape Neddick  and we were surprised to still see an abundance of bright colors and lots of leaves still on the trees.  We’re usually here attending to guests here at the Atlantic Birches Inn a Southern Maine Bed and Breakfast, for most of the October leaf-peeping season. We were amazed at the brilliance of leaf color even at higher elevations.  Along the beach here in Old Orchard Beach many of the trees have just begun to hit their color potential. We have Ash, Maple, Birch and Oak trees on our property that are in their full Fall display of bright fall colors. The road that we are located all the trees  are taking on those orangingy, red and yellow Crayola Crayon shades that over-shadows all other leaf colors.

Numerous guests have taken area drives on scenic inland and coastal roads this past weekend and brought back spectacular photos of waterfalls, swimming-holes, covered wooden bridges,  landscapes, hiking trails, and all the photos bore a palette of bright colors.

Never mind the experts. We have gotten the word straight from the source, our guests:

The leaves tell us that the show will go on for another week or two. Don’t miss them.

Maine Restaurant Week

 
The Atlantic Birches Inn would like to help you  celebrate Maine Restaurant Week  here in Old Orchard Beach Maine. This Southern Maine Bed and Breakfast is perfect for romantic weekend getaways, business trips, family vacations, relocation and corporate housing and business travelers.  Stay 2 nights at this  Old Orchard Beach Lodging and receive $20.10 off your stay at our published room rate and enjoy our fresh baked muffins along with our continental breakfast.
 
During restaurant week, some restuarants go above and beyond, by offering specially priced fixed three-course meals. The restaurant week concept originated in New York City in the early nineties. The big idea finally caught on in Maine which, as everyone knows, is home to some of the finest restaurants anywhere. Eat at some of our favorite places in Old Orchard Beach  Yellow Fin’s, Josesph’s By the Sea, The Landmark or the  Fairways Restaurant at Dunegrass Country Club
 
We are only a 15 minute drive to Portland’s Old Port District where you can sample the premier cuisine of James Beard and award winning chefs like Rob Evans of Hugo’s, Sam Hayward’s of Fore Street or Food & Wine best new chef Steve Corry of Five-Fifty-Five, plus many more of Portland’s many fine restaurants, shopping and cultural attractions such as the birthplace of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Casco Bay Lines, Merrill Auditorium, Cumberland Civic Center, Portland Museum of Art and Shipyard  Brewery.

Portland Maine Harvest on the Harbor – 2010

       

The Atlantic Birches Inn a Southern Maine Lodging welcomes you to the third annual Harvest on The Harbor food festival, in Portland Maine, this event spans three days October 21 – 23.   Experience the flavors of Maine, an expanded “Savory Samplings”  at Saturday’s Market-Place with over 140 savory samplings, and triple the number of wine, beers, and spirits from the previous year  while  enjoying  all this on the magnificent Maine Coast. 

Samples will include everything from cheese, bread, chocolates, deserts  to tastings from from menus of area restaurants such as Hanvana South, Portland Lobster, Co., and 157 Cafe. 

Tickets for Harvest on the Harbor events range from $35 to $65 with some of the proceeds funding scholarships for four culinary students from Southern Maine Community College. 

 

 

Schedule of Events Dates & Times

Bed and Breakfast Maine Boston Portsmouth Air Show – 2010

Blue Angels

Bed and Breakfast Maine namely the Atlantic Birches Inn a Old Orchard Beach ME. Bed and Breakfast  is happy to inform you of the  Boston Portsmouth Air Show.  The United States Navy Blue Angels along with the Brazilian Smoke Squadron will bring their high adrenaline, action packed flying performance to the Boston Portsmouth Air Show at Portsmouth’s International Airport at Pease on  August 28 & 29 for the first time in 20 years.  

Castrol Aviator

There will also be precision aerobatic flying by John Klatt in his Staudacher S-300D, Michael Goulian in his Castrol Aviator Extra 330SC, and Sean D. Tucker in his custom built 400 horsepower Challenger II Biplane.

Staudacher S-300D

The air Show will host ground displays of many different aircraft including today’s military jets, Vintage Warbirds, Bi Planes, and Civilian Aircraft.  Many of the display will allow hands on and walkthroughs.  

Golden Knights

 The U.S. Army Golden Knights Precision Parachute Team will be parachuting in on this years show.

KC-135R Stratotanker

Impressive demonstrations of the mighty roar of the USAF F-15 will be put on, along with the display of power and maneuverability of the F-16 that combines to make this Jet one of the world’s most lethal aircraft, also the Navy’s top fighter and attack aircraft the F/A-18 Super Hornet will captivate the audience with it powerful, precise demonstration of it’s speed and skill.  An also must see demonstration is the KC-135R Stratotanker, the fuel lifeline of the United States Air Force in action in an exciting fly-by.

Bed and Breakfast Maine Fall Foliage

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.


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The Atlantic Birches Inn Bed and Breakfast
20 Portland Avenue
Old Orchard Beach, Maine 04064
Phone (207) 934-5295 or (888) 934-5295
fax (207) 934-3781
info@atlanticbirches.com