Tag: movies

Looking for free stuff? Here’s a list of free monthly activities to do in Maine for 2017.

5 Comments

Last September, my family and I did the Living Well Spending Zero challenge from Ruth Soukup. As part of the challenge, we spent minimal money for the entire month. No groceries, no entertainment, no take-out. We allowed ourselves a small amount of cash at the start of the month for minor necessities, and activities that had already been planned, but that was it. We ate through the food in our refrigerator and pantry, learned to ration our seltzer, and went to some free events like the Fork Food Lab grand opening.

Overall, we did a great job, or at least until the last day of the month when our cat came down with a UTI, and we had to do an emergency visit to the vet complete with x-rays, anesthesia, and multiple antibiotics, all of which negated most of our savings from our zero spend month. Still it was a fun, creative experiment and one we would definitely try again. More importantly, our cat, other than one minor setback, is doing great now.

Continue reading →

The joy of spending a summer evening at the drive-in.

12 Comments

Everyone of a certain age has their “bouncing around the back” of a station wagon story. Usually one that entails fake wood siding, and sibling squabbles that rival those of Cain and Abel. I’m sure I have a few myself, but the reality is that my memory just isn’t that good. I keep only about five to ten years back in active usage, another ten are sometimes brought up for the occasional recollection, and the rest are more vague. What I have instead are moments in time, and composites of things that probably happened again and again but have been entwined into one memory.

That’s how it is with the drive-in for me. It was one of our regular family outings when I was young, and the only thing I still associate with station wagons.

Continue reading →

#atozchallenge | S is for Smitty’s Dinner and Movie

22 Comments

Dinner and a movie has been around forever. Even before movies were invented, I suspect cavemen sat around roasting their dinner and watching the hieroglyphics on the walls. Today, dinner and a movie usually means to separate events, but there is one local movie destination where you can do both in one stop. Smitty’s Cinema, which is a small chain with theaters throughout Maine and one in New Hampshire, has table seating and a full menu so you can order dinner while enjoying the latest movie release.

Continue reading →

Young's Lobster Pound

Weekend Trip to Belfast Maine

3 Comments

Pedestrian Bridge BelfastEach summer we try to do at least one weekend get away to someplace in Maine that we don’t get to often. There are so many amazing places within the state. A few summers ago, we made it up to Belfast for a couple of nights. My husband had been wanting to go to Marshall Wharf Brewing in Belfast, and I hadn’t been up to the area since I was in college.

We headed up to Belfast for a weekend in early in August and, in an effort to keep the cost down, we stayed at the Yankee Clipper Motel which worked out really well although our girls were a little thrown by the setup as it was their first motel stay. It was clean and convenient. While it was not located in the main downtown Belfast area, it was a quick walk to the pedestrian bridge which goes across the Passagassawaukeag River and connects to downtown Belfast.  It wasn’t a perfect solution as you have to walk along Route 1 for a bit. Route 1 is a busy road with no sidewalks, but you just need to be careful. I would have been a little more nervous if my girls were younger. But, for us, it worked out great and was definitely better than driving.

Continue reading →