Freeport, Maine Kid Things to Do

Always looking for things to do with kids in Freeport. Although the lobster petting zoo is no longer, kids can still get to see and touch lobsters at a variety of places. (And not just on their plates at a restaurant!)

 

This is a fairly rare, 2-toned lobster. It was 2-toned on the underside as well, even the 'meat' not just the shell. There were also blue lobsters and calico lobsters in the tank. (The squiggly white lines are a reflection of the overhead lights on the water, not some weird life form!)The lobsters here are fed haddock. In the wild they'll go after any kind of bait fish.

Other ideas for things to do with kids while you're on vacation in Freeport:

1. Help catch the lobsters on a lobster boat cruise.
2. Check out the migration of the alewives in May & June.
3. Make sand castles, play in the waves, head to the beach.
4. Deliver the mail to the Casco Bay Islands on the mail boat.
5. Find animal tracks in the snow, learn to snowshoe.
6. Check out the old time cars, planes, motorcycles and more.
7. Build a fairy house out in the woods.
8. Sweat it out in the desert.
9. Lots of kid-tested things to do around Freeport! Just ask.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wordless Wednesday- Lights of Freeport, Maine

Chocolate Cheesecake

Tell me you don't want to just take a bite out of the computer monitor right now! This is a completely yum cheesecake, relatively easy to make and just the ticket for a special dessert.

Ingredients:

18 Oreo-style cookies, crushed (I use a plastic freezer bag and the flat end of a wooden mallet)
2 tbsp melted butter
4- 8 oz pkgs of cream cheese (not the whipped kind)
1 c sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz semi sweet chocolate, melted
4 eggs
powdered sugar
whipped cream

How to:

Preheat oven to 325.

Mix crushed cookies with melted butter, press into bottom of springform pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla in a large bowl until well mixed. Add melted chocolate and beat until mixed, scrap bottom of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, mix well on low. 

Pour over crust, return to oven for 55-60 minutes. You can test doneness by wiggling the pan slightly. If the middle is still like jello, return to oven for an additional 3-5 minutes at a time. The center will be a little jiggly when done. You may also notice the cheesecake is pulling away from the sides of the pan.

Overcooking will cause the cheesecake to burn on the edges and crack.

Cool cake before removing ring. Refrigerate for 4 hours to cool completely and set up properly.

Makes 16-18 slices (or fewer if you're really a chocoholic!)

Slice cheesecake, top with powdered sugar and whipped cream. Serve immediately. 

Options: raspberry sauce, sliced strawberries.

White Cedar Inn bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

Westport, Maine

Took a drive today to Westport, Maine. Found this gorgeous view along the Sasanoa River. It seems like every side road off Rt 1 has another wonderful bit of nature to discover.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

Christmastime in Freeport, Maine

Take a ride through town in a horse-drawn wagon! Courtesy of LL Bean. The wagon stops right in front of Coffee by Design on the ground floor of LL Bean. (This is really fun at night when all the lights in town are lit up. Fri, Sat & Sun until 7 PM.)

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

Wordless Wednesday- A Tribute

Maine Firefighter's 49th Annual Convention

September 7, 8 and 9, 2012 are the dates for the 49th Annual Maine State Federation of Fire Fighters Convention, to be held in Freeport, Maine.

Each town fire department hosting the convention has the opportunity to showcase their town and all the amenities to be found there.

So, what's on tap for the fire fighters and their spouses when they come to Freeport? Well, the convention details are a bit of a secret. It seems the Freeport FD wants to surprise the conventioneers with some activities that are above and beyond the usual! I did hear mention of a parade, a fantastic banquet, a muster and the usual activities. What else they have up their sleeves, we'll need to wait and see!

I do know what the conventioneers can find around town in Freeport! Great restaurants, excellent shopping, beautiful outdoor scenery with hiking and kayaking, live theater, a new movie theater and much more.

Because 2012 is also LL Bean's 100th anniversary, there are all kinds of activities planned there all year long.

We hope you're planning to come to Freeport for the 49th Annual Convention, either as a conventioneer or to watch the parades and muster and other activities as a visitor.

We're offering a patch from the Wiccopee VFD in NY for those conventioneers staying here at White Cedar Inn over the convention weekend. If you're a collector, here's an opportunity to add to your collection. Patches are limited, first come, first served. Limit one patch per room. When you make your reservation, please mention you're a FD member attending the convention. (PS- if you'd like to trade a patch from your FD for the one from Wiccopee, my dad would really appreciate that!)


Take a look here for information about the inn. You can make your reservation online or give us a call.A full breakfast is included in the rate as well as afternoon refreshments, WiFi and parking. Walk to the Freeport FD, restaurants, shops, movie theater and more.

Thank you for your service to your community and the great state of Maine!

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

Wordless Wednesday

Searching for Meaning

What does it all mean? You're sitting there in a diner munching happily away on your onion rings and this pops up. It's a sign, I'm sure, but of what? The circle of life? Infinity? Too much grease in the deep fryer? 

If you study numerology (I don't) it seems that the number 8 is a sign of prosperity and balance. Harmony and abundance. But all of those need to be achieved through hard work and perseverance, which the number 8 gives rise to by being a continuous loop.

So, am I just supposed to stop noodling around here and get back to work or what?

What do you think?

(BTW, we showed this to the waitress and she went and got the cook and we all had a ponder as to the meaning!)

Wordless Wednesday

InnSIGHTS Blog- West Virginia

Coffee Talk Blog- Virginia

Shootin' the Breeze Blog- Louisiana

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

Bre: 1998-2011

Bre

1998-2011

How do you say goodbye to a good friend? This was a tough week at the inn as we had to say goodbye to our best buddy, Bre. We'd had some really nice weather the past 2 weeks so we were able to take her for hikes at Winslow Park and she went for her early morning stroll with Rock over to Bow Street Market for her coffee & biscuit. But, she had a really difficult weekend and we knew it was time. 

It's changing the routine that's hard. Every morning she'd be at the top of the stairs waiting to go out. Or, she'd be poking her nose under the covers to remind us it was time to get up. Then, after her breakfast she'd come over to my side of the bed and belch in my face. Always loved to share her happiness with everyone. (Asleep or not.) 

After cleaning up the inn breakfast I always came over to the office to give her a leftover buttermilk biscuit or peanut butter cookie and then she'd park herself under the desk while I checked the email and phone calls and got set up for the day.

For years she followed us all over the inn, supervising our work to make sure we were doing everything right. But, the degenerative nerve disease that finally did her in stopped that about a year ago. No more trips up and down the stairs and it got too hard for her to maintain her balance on the hardwood floors.

Bre rescued us back in Vermont in 1999. We found ourselves at lost ends after my old dog, Sammie, died from cancer. A friend told me the shelter in Morrisville had a litter of 12 Golden puppies. By the time I called they were all gone. But, we drove out there in January and found Bre instead- 8 months old and looking for a better life. She was the ultimate Beta dog. Never tried to lead, always happy to just go where we were going no matter where that was. 

She was the perfect dog for me. Hated the heat & humidity and liked nothing better than lounging in front of the fire on a cold, winter's day after a morning of snowshoeing. And, when we lived in Vermont, she loved going out to the general store for coffee and a donut every weekend morning with Rock.

We weren't sure how she would take to Maine, but the day we came here to look at properties we stopped at York Beach to stretch our legs. The granite stairs down to the beach were frozen solid with seaspray and she almost broke a leg racing to get to the water. She was home. Just like me.

Her favorite place in Maine was Popham Beach. When we would turn down the last stretch of 209 she would start doing the happy dance in the way back of the car. We'd walk along the beach eating oyster crackers (she'd walk backwards to be sure we didn't get more crackers than she did!) and enjoying the day.

Rock & I sat around trading stories last night. We have a million of them, some of them you've heard about: the day she ate a baker's dozen of bran muffins; how she would let my now 13 year old nephew walk up and down her back like she was a mountain he was climbing when he was 11 months old; how she would race around and around the car until you finally opened the door and then she'd jump in your lap; how she once sat looking up at Rock stranded on the roof after the ladder fell over in the wind, nothing but patience waiting for him to come down; how she liked Rock's brother, Kevin, so much it was embarrassing to watch her when he was around; snorkeling underwater in the Brown's River; walking on our snowshoes or x-c skis so she could avoid the extra work. A million memories.

Apologies to all of you who think you have the best dog in the world. We just said goodbye to the best dog in the world. And we're missing her quite a lot.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main Street Freeport, Maine 04032

Pumpkin Cookies

Absolutely yummy!

These cookies are easy to bake and take to any fall event you're attending. Makes about 30-36.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch salt
1 1/2 c sugar
1 stick butter
1 c canned pumpkin (15 oz can works well, use the remaining pumpkin as a snack)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Grease baking sheets. Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together sugar & butter in large mixing bowl. Mix in pumpkin, egg & vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg & salt to pumpkin mixture, beat until well-mixed. 

Using a cookie scoop, drop rounded mixture on baking sheets, leaving room for expansion. Bake for 15 minutes until edges are set.

Let cookies cool and then drizzle on glaze. I used a condiment squeeze bottle, but a plastic bag with the corner cut off works well, too. 

Glaze:

2 c confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp whole milk
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Transfer to 'dispenser' to glaze. 

Keep in mind that 15 ozs of canned pumpkin is by weight. You'll be using 1 cup by volume so there will not be that much left over. Mix it in with some Greek yogurt for a really creamy, seasonal snack.


(BTW, I put about a dozen of these out at 3 PM. By 3:15 there was one left. I put the rest out and they were all gone by 6 PM.)

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main Street Freeport, Maine 04032 

A Little Silliness

Sometimes the innkeepers get out of the house and go for a walk on the beach. This little vignette took place on the shores of Sebago Lake. We felt impelled to capture the ultimate showdown between Arachnid Man and the Pescatarian.

SUP- Freeport, Maine

So, with 1-3 inches of snow predicted for tomorrow here along the coast, what are Mainers doing to prepare? You got it, they're out on the water paddling!


Stand Up Paddling aka SUP.

Standing up on the hill overlooking the beach in Winslow Park I saw this enterprising and remarkably well-balanced SUP'er paddling along. (LL Bean has a whole line of SUP boards in the Bike & Boat store.) Although folks think it's a little too cold here for this type of activity, this paddler was appropriately dressed and looked quite at ease. Something to think about trying next summer! (Uh, that would be you, not me!)

Lessons offered at: 
Seaspray Kayaking-  will deliver paddleboards to the water as well as kayaks. We also have daily guided tours and instruction out of Brunswick, but would be willing to arrange customized trips, sunset paddles and even paddleboard yoga.
www.seaspraykayaking.com

 
SOPOSUP in South Portland.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main St Freeport, Maine 04032

Last sail

There will be a few more days like this one coming up before it's just too chilly to be out on the water. Great view from the benches on Staples Point.Go on, put on your hiking boots and get out of the house!

Along the Harraseeket River.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main Street Freeport, Maine 04032

Lemon Cake with Blueberry Sauce

Big hit, easy to make, tastes great when it sits overnight to soak up all the lemony goodness!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 c plain yogurt (I used Greek style, should use whole milk, not fat free)

1 c sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c vegetable oil

How to:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease & flour a standard size loaf pan.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla. Whisk dry ingredients into the wet. Fold oil into batter with a spatula. (I found I had too much oil, so pour slowly, fold and stop adding oil when it no longer incorporates totally into the batter. Pour off excess if it doesn't incorporate. Yup, just as hard as it sounds!)

Pour batter into pan and bake about 50 minutes. Toothpick inserted into cake should come out clean.

Blueberry sauce:

2 c whole blueberries fresh or frozen, mashed. (Frozen should be thawed first.)

1/3 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp lemon juice

Put blueberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan to boil. Rolling boil for 1 minute, remove from heat, add vanilla. Reheat to serve or serve immediately poured over lemon cake (or ice cream, or pancakes, or waffles, or...you get the picture!)

We get 15 slices out of this recipe (using a really good knife when the cake was cold). Can be doubled and frozen for later use.

Printable recipe page.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main Street Freeport, Maine 04032 

Fall walks in Freeport, Maine

Took the opportunity today to head out to Winslow Park for a walk with Bre. It's more exercise than you might think as Bre can no longer get in and out of the car by herself. Can you say 'Moose!' Holy cow she weighs a ton. Of course part (all) of that is my fault because she doesn't get out and get enough walks and she does like her buttermilk biscuits for breakfast!

We did the short loop around Winslow Park on Staples Point Rd- just about 5.5 miles from the inn. Great day. It was warm and sunny with a gentle breeze blowing the salty air around. What a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. You can pick up a picnic lunch right on the corner at the Old World Deli. (It must be noted that the park is 'closed' for the season. This means no trash cans, so pack it out with you when you leave. And no restrooms, so go before you leave the house, like your mother always told you to do!)

All of the docks pulled up for the year. It's nice and quiet to walk through the woods trails in October. Relatively few people out midweek and most of them were walking their dogs or having lunch with their little kids at the picnic tables overlooking the water.

Why not recharge your human batteries with a walk in the woods this October! If you head all the way out to the 'Point' on Staples Point Rd, you can still see the marina filled with sailboats. But, not for long. They'll all be put away soon.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main Street Freeport, Maine 04032-1407

Edward Hopper at Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Headed up to Bowdoin College today to see the Edward Hopper exhibit. Easy drive from here and an excellent show. (Exhibit runs through Oct 16, 2011.)

Better still, with the Art Museum's interactive map, you can visit all of the sites where he painted during his vacations in Maine. This is an artist whose vision of Maine coincides with mine, which explains why I liked the exhibit! I loved his comment that all he wanted to do was paint sunlight on the sides of houses. Once you read that, the sunlight jumps out at you even through the darkening skies.

Wandered around the campus a little and popped into the Peary MacMillan Arctic Museum (just across the quad from the Art Museum). There is an exhibit going on now of Canadian Inuit Art.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main Street Freeport, Maine 04032

Maine Vacation Photos

Photos taken by our guests on their vacation in Maine. Please enjoy, but do not copy! Check them out on our website and in the dining room on our e-frame!

Desert of Maine

Desert of Maine in Freeport

Do you live someplace with a really interesting attraction that only tourists go to? It seems that I do. We've been here for seven years and I used to come here on vacation. And yet, I had never been to the Desert of Maine until Wednesday.

We had 3 of the grandkids here for a few hours and we decided to take them to the Desert. (Really, my mom suggested it. Every once in awhile I listen.)

There is a tram tour around the perimeter of the Desert, but you may also walk it if you prefer. There are several trails that go off into the wooded area so be sure to pick up a trail map at the desk in the gift shop, where you also get your tickets.

First stop was the butterfly 'zoo'.

Interactive signs are placed around the trails to show different parts of the history and to highlight where various parts of the old farm have disappeared under the sand.

Our tour guide explained the desert originally formed during the last period of glaciation in Maine but was uncovered due to poor farming practices in the late 1800's. What I've heard in other places is that when the owner of the farm threw over his older wife for a younger model, the first wife cursed the farm and the desert slowly revealed itself from the spot on which she stood.

Given this is New England and stories like this abound (The House of the Seven Gables is one such tale) I'm inclined to believe the curse. You can make your own decision on that one!

The tour guide asked where all of us were from and a fairly large percent of the guests that day were from nearby in Maine. And we all had a guest from 'away' in tow!

From here it's a short drive to the Desert (about 4 miles). Wear sunscreen and a hat and bring your sunglasses so you can enjoy the day. It was 15 degrees warmer on the mica-flecked desert than it was in the parking lot. 

The kids tried the huge 'View Master' shown below. Just for fun, they tried looking at 2 pictures at the same time. They said it was 'interesting'.

Don't miss the barn and the panoramic 'View Master'!

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Maine Street Freeport, Maine 04032

To Review or Not to Review, Is That the Question?

Online reviewing and social media sites are rampant these days. Many of you choose to live your lives in real time instead of on the web. How could reviews impact you if you never use them?

Oddly, reviews, or lack thereof, can make some of your favorite websites slowly disappear. Obviously, places like restaurants and lodging are very dependent on word of mouth to get new customers in the door. (Most of the time, we're pretty sure that once you're actually here we can make your vacation time with us special!)

However, it's getting your attention, grabbing your eyeballs (as the techies say) that we struggle at. And that's where online reviews come in. Word of mouth is now online for many people. You're willing to try something new if your friend's Facebook friend tried it and liked it. And you don't even know your friend's friend!

All of those search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc, take into account how many reviews a site has. Does it get mentioned on Facebook? Twitter? How many times does a new person look at that site. How many times does a new person go further into the site to look for more info. Did you look for directions so you could go there?

Having no reviews (or other online mentions) when everyone else around you has them, makes your (my) site less 'valuable' to future searchers. If no one finds my business important enough to review, then it must not be very important.

Odd, how no news in not good news in this instance!

So, if you're considering reviewing a business online, consider this as well- not reviewing that business may make it slowly disappear from the online world. And online is where a lot of the world lives right now.

Freeport Chocolate Bread Pudding

You didn't know there was a specifically Freeport-based version of bread pudding did you? Actually, you can make this anywhere you can get your hands on When Pigs Fly chocolate bread!

• 8 oz stale Italian bread, shredded
• 1/2 loaf of When Pigs Fly chocolate bread, shredded
• 3 c whole milk
• 1/4 c heavy cream
• 1/2 c cold coffee (for extra zip)
• 1 c light brown sugar
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsps cinnamon
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 oz chopped semisweet baking chocolate whipped cream (optional) (Yeah, right, optional. Like you'd skip the whipped cream!)

Preheat oven to 325.

Lightly grease 13x9" baking dish and place bread in dish, covering the bottom. (Alternate chocolate bread with Italian bread so it's evenly dispersed.) In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cream and coffee. Add the sugar & cocoa powder and mix well. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and add the vanilla extract and the cinnamon. Combine egg mixture with the milk & sugar mixture, mix well.

Pour the mixture over the bread in the pan. Sprinkle chocolate chunks on top. Let stand for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to soak all of the bread evenly. All of the liquid should be mostly absorbed before baking. Bake for 1 hour or until set (no liquid should be evident). An inserted knife should come out clean.

Serve warm topped with whipped cream. A raspberry sauce will also work. 

Click here for printable recipe

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main Street Freeport, Maine 04032

Three Bite Apple Turnovers

3-Bite Apple Turnovers ala mode

In the continuing quest for 'easy things to make for breakfast' I give you the latest entry...Three Bite Apple Turnovers. This is a light, fluffy, easy to make and eat turnover. You could cut the dough in half and make hors d'oeuvres as well. Pull the dough up so the four corners meet at the top and make Apple Pie Purses. The options are endless!

The fillings could be anything you want from sweet fruit fillings to savory meat fillings to gooey cheese fillings. You think it up and voila! you've got a great starter, full meal, after school snack or mini bites to pass around at your next party.

Ingredients:

For the pastry: frozen puff pastry (or, make your own)

1 egg

turbinado sugar ('Sugar in the Raw')

For the filling:

I used the apple pie topper we put on pancakes.

(Basic recipe: 2 cups cubed apples, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tbsp cornstarch. Mix fruit, sugar, cornstarch and lemon in a saucepan and cook until fruit is tender but not mushy. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, cool. To make it more like apple pie filling, add 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp nutmeg.)

Directions:

Make up your fruit or savory filling in advance so it has a chance to cool before working with it.

Defrost the frozen puff pastry in the fridge. (Takes about 3 hours.)

Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment (you need this step or the pastries will stick to the pan).

Remove pastry from the box, unfold. Using the folds lines as guides, cut into 9 squares. (They will be about 3"x3")

Lay one square on the parchment paper closest to you, spoon 1 tbsp of apple pie mix onto the lower portion of the square, fold top edge of square down to meet the bottom edge (forming a rectangle), with a fork press along the edges to seal (if you skip this, the apple mixture oozes out everywhere).

Make 3 diagonal cuts in the top of the pastry (steam vents).

Repeat until you have as many pastries as you want. 1 box makes 18. (If you want bite size portions, cut your rectangles in half and reseal the edges.) With 2 cups of fruit, you may have some leftover, use it to drizzle on top.

Whisk egg and brush the top surface of your pastries. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 30 minutes or so until golden brown.

Serving suggestion: sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and serve with ice cream.

Options: the blueberry mix from the blueberry breakfast cake would be great in these!

With this recipe there is absolutely no reason to ever buy a Pop Tart again! 

Printable recipe page.

White Cedar Inn Bed and Breakfast 178 Main Street Freeport, Maine 04032