Tag: spring

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

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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.

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Spring Festival at Wolfe’s Neck Farm

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What’s a fun thing to do on a lovely spring day? Head to Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport. Their annual spring festival was scheduled for early June, and we decided to take a ride up and check out the festivities.

The description of the farm from their brochure reads,

“Wolfe’s Neck Farm is a nonprofit educational farm dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture, farm-based learning, and outdoor recreation while preserving 626 acres of open space and historic buildings.”

I was familiar with the farm but had actually never visited so I was looking forward to the road trip. As we got closer to the farm, we were greeted by stunning ocean views. There is a campground at Wolfe’s Neck Farm, Recompence Shore Campground, which is along the oceanfront and looks like an amazing place to stay. I might have to add that to my to-do list. Although I gave away my tent, after storing it unopened in my basement for ten years, there are a few cabins available to rent at the campground.

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Hiking Swan Island for Father’s Day

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Free is a happy word. I’m always up for finding a bargain so I was excited to learn that Maine Resident’s Day, offering free admission at many Maine State Parks and Historic Sites, was scheduled for Father’s Day. We decided to take advantage of the free admission and try a new destination. While Swan Island is generally excluded from the free admission, I noticed on their website that they too were offering free access on Father’s Day. Admission is normally $8 per person, but on this sunny Father’s Day it was discounted 100%.

In planning our hike, I learned that for this particular trip, apostrophes are important because there are actually two destinations where you could end up if you google Swan Island and they’re located fairly far from one another.

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An Afternoon at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay

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I do not have a green thumb. It’s not even slightly tinged. It doesn’t stop me from trying to grow things. Every spring, I over commit to my garden and fill my stash of ceramic pots with whatever catches my eye at the garden store with little understanding of what I actually need to do to keep the various plants alive. Given this approach, it’s probably no surprise that my results are spotty.

I enjoy the chance to see truly well designed and maintained gardens even if I know I’ll never achieve that type of success with my own personal landscaping. When I read that the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens was hosting Maine Days over Memorial Day weekend, with free admission for Maine residents, I knew I wanted to head up and take a peak at what was growing. Admission is normally $16 for adults although free for members.

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Kite Festival at Bug Light Park, South Portland

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We own a kite that sadly has gotten little use over the years. We purchased it when our girls were young because kite flying seemed to be just something you do with toddlers. We did attempt to fly it a few times but never to much success other than a few perfectly windy days at the beach, so eventually it went into storage in our garage. Somewhere along the line we picked up a friend for our little kite. I don’t remember where, but most likely it was from a yard sale find that was just too good to pass up. Even though the one kite we owned wasn’t getting much use, a second one somehow seemed like a good idea.

I never thought much more about it, until I found out that South Portland has a spring Kite Festival at Bug Light Park. It felt like the perfect time to pull our kites out of storage and let them fly free again. There was a reason we had kept them all these years.

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