Front Porch Restaurant is all new!!!

If you haven’t been to the newly renovated Front Porch Restaurant, you are in for a surprise. Owner Wayne Wescot has knocked out the wall between the restaurant and the store next door, and has more than doubled the seating capacity. The Front Porch, both before and now is a wonderful place, but the restaurant always felt cramped and crowed. Not any more.

The new space has been given a complete makeover. The ceilings and floors are covered in worn pine, the wall painted a soft blue, and nautical touches abound. There are oversize stunningly beautiful black leather booths, and the lighting is made to look like portholes. The feeling is akin to being on the deck of a ship, except that it’s not raining and a fire is burning in the fireplace.

The food has some surprises, too!!

The menu has been heavily revamped by the new chef and includes appetizers such as Crispy Duck Spring rolls, Oysters on the half shell and creamy Vidalia Onion soup. Interesting salads such as Beets and Balsamic, as well as the standard Garden and Ceasar salads are also available.

Main courses include a variety of Flatbreads, Rissotto of the Day, Chicken Penne, Carab and Linguini, pan-seared salmon and Black and Blue Ahi Tuna.

Many of the staff have returned from last year, and the service is excellent. Put that together with the new surroundings, and a chef with a great technique and good ideas, and you have the mmakings of a legend. Of course, it already was a legend!!!

SNOW!!!

Well, its finally here.  We got about 2 feet of snow this past week!  Shouldn’t that all be up in the Mountains????

*Cold Weather Packing List*

Remember when you were a kid and your mother would dress you in multiple layers from head to toe with every piece of exposed skin covered and by the time you made it out of the house you looked like the “Michelin Man”?  Well, she was right!  Because those were the days you stayed outside for hours, had a great time and received all the wonderful benefits of fresh air, sunlight, and exercise.  So when you’re packing, just bring what your mom would want you to wear…Everything!

 · Always dress in layers…you can always take it off if you get too warm but you can’t put in on if you didn’t bring it!

· Long underwear, wool blend socks, and moisture wicking materials go a long way for your core layer.· Warm boots, gloves, hats, and scarves are key to extending your outdoor playtime.  Be sure your boots and gloves are waterproof if you like being dry!· Your outer layer should be waterproof and breathable.  This includes pants!  Rain pants and snow or ski pants are crucial if you really want to have fun and enjoy all of Maine’s moods.

·  Fleece makes for a great layering garment because of its light weight and warm characteristics.

·  Don’t forget a good umbrella.  You only have to use it once to be worth its weight in gold.   

Ice Storm 2008

Have you heard? On Thursday, December 11 at 2:00 a.m., we had extensive power outages here in Maine (other parts of New England, too) from a powerful ice storm. As of today, December 17 only a small number of households remain without—Here at the resort, power was restored on Saturday night at 8:15  p.m.

What A Friday and Saturday we had! Central tried to help us out contacting owners, exchanges and renters (we had no telephone services either) to let them know of the situation and to suggest that they not come (no water, no heat, no electricity!). A few brave soulds showed up anyway- a couple actually stayed!!! But on Saturday we had to ask everyone to leave because the sprinkler system was no longer operational. We here in the front office had no electric, or heat, but we stuck it out with candles and the residual heat  from the ever cooling swimming pool. Some even went to their cars to warm up from time to time.

Once power returned, we had locals coming by because their power at home was still out and they needed the warmth of our beautiful suites and the pleasure of a hot shower! But Mainers are a tough lot-we stick together and survive somehow (I personally had a houseful of people and dogs). The Christmas by the Sea weekend was postponed to next weekend- Businesses held their chins up and vowed to wait it out. Don’t you know, today is the first of three new snow storms to roll through! Only a few inches now, but six to eight more Friday afternoon to Saturday morning and yet another for Sunday…. Gosh, winter hasn’t even started yet!!!!

We’re full of hot air!

We installed new hand dryers down at the pool area.  Just a small way we can help to reduce paper waste.  Look for more energy saving improvements coming soon.

Christmas Prelude-Kennbunkport

Staring this Friday, December 5th,  and continuing through December 14th, Kennebunkport celebrates their annual Christmas Prelude celebration. It’s ten days  packed with daily events highlighted by the Treelighting in Dock Square at 5:30 on Friday December 5th and the arrival of Santa by lobster boat on Sunday December 7th at 2:00. Go to www.christmasprelude.com for the complete listing (and it’s long…) of special events.

The Falls has availability to coincide with this fun filled , extended weekend that flows right into Ogunquit’s Christmas by the Sea weekend, starting on December 12th. Check out our Christmas by the Sea blog recently posted!

Maine’s Covered Bridges

Once there were a hundred and twenty covered bridges in the state of Maine, but fire, flood, ice, progress and the Great Freshet of 1896 have removed all but eight original bridges. Two other covered bridges, recently lost to fire and flood, have been reconstructed  and are considered to have historical importance. 

The roof and siding of a covered bridge are the features that give the structure its familiar outlines. Some are thought to be more picturesque than others-Maine’s Artist’s Covered Bridge over the Sunday River in Newry. for example, has always been a favorite, and someone has said that artists have daubed more paint on their canvases depicting structure than was ever slapped on its venerable sides. Other bridges look a little like barns unexpectedly left stranded across a stream.

The bridges were covered for one reason- to keep the rain and snow from the massive working timbers. The alternative wetting and drying out of uncovered wooden structures would have resulted in rot and failure decades sooner.

Many people think of covered bridges as quaint relics of the past. Others become expert in describing the manner in which they were built. But, In either case, they represent  the inventiveness and know-how of out forefathers, and it seems fitting that they should be saluted for their engineering as well as their charm.

The ingenious way the old bridges were fitted together becomes apparent as soon as you pass through one of their portals. There, under the  protecting roof, on either side, are the posts and crisscrossed braces extending from top to bottom “chord” ( the chords are the heavy beams parallel to the line in the roadway). The planks of the floor are supported by the bottom chord in the typical covered bridge, which makes it a “through” truss structure.

Now, with all of this detail, the most interesting thing about covered bridges is their charm and the warm, old-fashioned feeling one gets when going through one of them. If you “Google” Maine Covered Bridges, you’ll get access to a list of wooden covered bridges with photos, location and description.

The rest is up to you…….