Saturday, March 5, 2011

March Maine update

Well, Angie & I are making progress on our Maine vacation plans. We've narrowed down our destinations and activities. Rather than hitting the sandy beaches of Southern Maine (& the crowds), we've decided to do the middle to upper coastal regions. With our airfare booked (using our credit card points for free flights), this past week we reserved a car rental.  Prices have been rising rapidly over the past few weeks so we didn't want to hesitate any longer. We were able to find the cheapest rate through Alamo (using an Entertainment Book coupon). As an added bonus, the reservation can be canceled, without penalty, should we find a cheaper rate later. Next we are turning our attention toward lodging. We would like to stay in comfortable, clean hotels, in scenic areas, without spending an arm and a leg. We found one such place near Booth Bay Harbor, which is one of our primary destinations. We plan to go on a whale/puffin watching cruise while there. The hotel is outside of town so we're way from the hustle and bustle of the shops and includes kayak and canoe rentals. It is surrounded by trees, has a large wooden deck facing the water, and has a sloping grassy hill down to the waterline. There is a nearby nature preserve, and I am confident that I will find some nice areas to run while staying there.  Speaking of running, I happened upon a Rails to Trails website and searched for trails in Maine. There are many trails listed. However, they are listed by county and I have not yet familiarized myself with the county names in the areas we plan to visit. That can wait for another day.  Another one of our primary destinations is Arcadia National Park.  We found a Comfort Inn in the nearby town of Belfast. It has an indoor, heated pool (with hot tub), private ocean view balconies, an on-site restaurant (breakfast included in the $99 rate). It's one of the few chain hotels we found in the region. The kicker reason we are deciding to stay there is that we can redeem our Choice Hotel credit card points that we have accumulated for three free nights, so there you go! Free nights...woo hoo!  We'll probably stay in or near the Portland area our last day in Maine so that we won't be stressed out driving a long distance to get to the airport on time. We have yet to make our choice for that lodging.  We'll be making our hotel bookings this weekend. It's getting exciting having our plans come together and actually start to make the bookings!

No comments:

Post a Comment