If I was ever going to run a marathon, it would have to be something special... something so scenic…read morethat no matter how much pain I was in, I could enjoy it. Well I'd say the Mount Desert Island Marathon was pretty perfect in that regard, allow me to set the stage: This smaller race congregates on Main Street in Bar Harbor, literal footsteps from our hotel (Bar Harbor Grand) and there's no worries about parking or restrooms if you're staying nearby. HUGE for a first time marathoner! I love not lining up around thousands of people and jockeying for position, and smaller races like this will always call my name. The course itself has some plusses and minuses. To kick off with a positive, it's a point to point race and not an out-and-back. That helps mentally knowing you have all new scenery throughout your run. However, in my opinion, a very challenging course. The whole back half of the marathon is a heartbreak hill, and just unrelenting ups and downs. There's never a steep climb, just long, slow, gradual ones that'll test your will to be sure. It's estimated to be over 1600 feet of elevation gain, versus the Chicago Marathon which has around 100 feet. Some of the course winds through charming island towns with beautiful, million dollar + homes, and some of it cuts through Acadia in what looks like a cover for Runner's World magazine. You also go by Somes Sound on the water with views of perfect foliage throughout. The weather on 10/20/19 was low 40's in the morning, mid 50's by my finish, so in other words: PERFECT for running. Something that irked me throughout a lot of the run was that there were hardly any road closures for the 26.2 miles. A lot of it is semi-remote and not a concern, but a lot of it, especially at the end, is a 50 mph highway without any markers or safety. That was not fun to run on dead legs, and I'd recommend changing that part up a bit in the future. The race is pretty well supported with detailed instructions for runners and spectators, enthusiastic supporters, gels and Gatorade and water stations every few miles, and bathrooms although I opted for a quick stop in the Maine wilderness instead. I also LOVED the whole finish in Southwest Harbor. Very charming area, where the final mile slopes downward to the finish. The medal, the Gold Crusher Claw has become iconic, and a local spot did free engravings with our name and times on it. There was a med tent which I visited for ice on the knee and Tylenol, and I grabbed a peanut butter bagel and chocolate milk immediately after. Oh, and there are bakeries and cool shops nearby that weren't too crowded and made for a great chance to get the heart rate back to baseline. All in all, this was a one-and-done for me but I'm glad to have done it. I feel like my summer of training was rewarded with one hell of a challenge, and while I was about 20 minutes behind my goal time, I left it all out there and gave it everything I had through a very painful knee injury in the final hours of the race.

Ahhh Maine. This 26.2 mile footrace had been on my bucket list ever since I had completed the 50…read morestates marathon challenge in October 2014. Friends on social media hyped this race up due to its scenery and race management, so I pushed the button to run it in 2016. I found my way to Maine from Honolulu on one October day, flying from Honolulu to Seattle to Detroit to Manchester, NH. Then the 4 1/2 hour drive here. This Maine marathon is the 2nd time I've been in Maine and couldn't be happier with the results. This was my 89th marathon/ultra completed and 9th state in the 2nd round of 50 states. Love the travel and hanging out with friends along the course is even better while completing an ongoing goal. Mount Desert Island marathon here in Maine is a unique island experience, where all of the 26.2 miles are on the island. It starts in downtown Bar Harbor, Maine and weaves through Highway portions not closed to traffic (but coned). Along the way, it was breathtakingly gorgeous with the fall foliage in full display. The weather was near perfect with average race day temperatures in the 50's F, but the day started in the upper 40's F. While I didn't particularly enjoy the hills, most notably at miles 19 and 20, I enjoyed myself and approaching the finish line was amazing - as usual. :) The overall experience here at the Mount Desert Island marathon and half marathon was as good as ever. The hype was real and the course was breath taking. You have your mixture of highway and fall foliage, while some parts of the course, you're treated to oceanfront I love the bay of the ocean. The Mount desert island marathon and half marathon is usually on the second Sunday in October. Usually is favorable weather for running. Especially in Maine when the fall foliage is very much alive and very close to what your time where weather conditions are very very favorable. Prices to enter The marathon are very favorable, under $100, if you register early. That's the main thing just register early, to commit to it and to save money. Procrastination is evil. Depending on your hotel and logistics, I was very close to the finish line. But some may want to be at the start line then be bused back to the start line after they finish the race. The Mount Desert Island marathon course is a point to point course, meaning that there's no out and back's to run. Basically one-way ticket from Bar Harbor to Southwest Harbor Maine. There are yellow MDI arrows marked on the asphalt, so you would know where to go on race day, along with barricades and traffic cones. The aid stations were 2 miles apart and there were sparse areas where people can spectate and cheer on the runners as they passed by. The marathon had a time limit of seven hours, but also had an early start of an hour earlier. So in essence, participants had eight hours to finish the course. This year however, I have heard that they had allowed the last finisher 7 1/2 hours for the regular start to finish. That is generous of them. The finish line is spectacular as always, I am finishing the marathon no matter how fast or how slow is great. It was nice to have the finish line announcer say that I was from Hawaii as I crossed the line and that finish line crowd cheered. It was as great as it can be. The finish line food was pretty good, we got bagels, bananas, and even a stick of fudge. Also chocolate milk. Yummy. The finishers medal for the marathon is a golden claw that's etched with MDI and 26.2. If you are a marathon maniac / half fanatic or a 50 states marathon / half runner, or just a casual marathon or half marathon runner looking for a destination race in the fall, consider running Mount Desert Island marathon or half marathon in the state of Maine. I promise you lobster after the race or before. Load up a lobster and you may have a great race. I did. Support local! A+

Visit the small town of Winter Harbor for their annual lobster festival! Craft vendors, boat…read moreraces, good food and a parade make for a fun filled day! Blueberry pancake breakfast to a lobster dinner! If those do not appeal, there are food trucks and local restaurants. While you are there, enjoy some local shopping. The Winter Harbor 5&10 has everything Winter Harbor! If you have time, visit Schoodic Point and enjoy the view and the waves crashing on the rocks. This happens every August. Be sure you are there!! So much fun!!!

Every August the town of Winter Harbor hosts their annual Lobster Festival and this year we had the…read morepleasure of attending the 51st celebration. We started out the day by shopping at all the outdoor vendors. After wandering for an hour we decided to watch the lobster boat races and then finished out the day with their lobster dinner and some music from their musicians. In the end, we loved this little festival and although we had no idea how to watch and judge the lobster boat races, we felt like part of the community. In the future we hope to attend this festival again because it was a blast!

For the most part, we enjoyed our stay here. It was quiet, felt clean and the workers were mostly…read moreall pleasant. The casino was a nice size for people who get overwhelmed easily as the pathways are clear so it is easy to learn the layout and the noise isn't too bad so it doesn't feel intimidating in my opinion. The restaurants inside are convenient but there are not really any options for vegan/vegetarian eaters which was disappointing. I had a very unpleasant experience with a fellow player next to me being wildly inappropriate as soon as my partner went to go cash in his tickets. It involved what you might guess. He was pulling his pants (my nice way of saying what he was doing) and trying to get my attention which was terribly uncomfortable and disheartening. This isn't the fault of the casino but maybe since there are cameras everywhere they would be wise to discontinue to entertain people who do things like this. Overall, a decent place to stay for us as we live about an hour away so it is a potential staycation in the future depending on how I process the unsavory experience I had with the crappy crotch monster.

Since I did really well at the MGM Springfield and I was up, we went here to play as I wanted to…read moresee if I can get a jackpot. We did not stay here because I hardly play at Penn properties. The casino itself is small and only has around 700 machines as stated. They have a nice parking garage to park. The casino is not 24/7 and they close at midnight and open at 8am I believe. Hours are due to change due to the change of the seasons. Before entering make sure you present your ID as that is required everything you enter the casino. There are the bathrooms and the soda machine nearby. Unfortunately, that is the only bathrooms and soda machine in the casino. They do not have a high limit room, but have high limit machines in a certain area. Their assortment of machines range from low to high volatile. They had some interesting old school IGT machines that I enjoyed to play. Their bets are from low to high betting, so it is a casino for everyone. They also have newer machines like Phoenix Link and the new Huff N Puff Machines. I did not play them as I saw them on Youtube that the bonuses are really difficult. I got lucky on a couple of machines like All Aboard and Pinball, but the rest of the machines were just okay. I ended up lasting for quite some time and did not get slaughtered. I would have probably left within an hour if I did not got a good hit on All Aboard. Overall, I had a good time. I was able to go to the next tier and played 1300 points for 5 hours which is pretty good. I would have probably been ahead if I stopped at 1000 tier the min to reach Advantage, but I really wanted to get the bonuses on some of the machines.

1/8 mile drag strip Plenty of room for drag cars and…read moretrailers, good areas for spectators to check it out. Lots of fun. Bring some ear plugs!

$200 for an oil change? And your website claims competitive pricing. Yeah, okay. Never coming back.read more

They have done a couple of service needs on my ATV and my neighbor has had his boat serviced there…read more Brian is very knowledgeable about diagnosing any problem and fixing them in a timely and for a very fair price. I recommend them and will definitely use them in the future.

Eastport is having something of a revival, with the formerly empty storefronts getting filled with…read moreall sorts of knickknack shops, antique stores, art galleries and studios and restaurants. What a great occasion, and I hope they get continued business. Eastport is yet another isolated DownEast Maine town that has lost out in the ongoing economic difficulties that already faced Maine long before the recession hit. However, as it is one of several ways to get into Canada, tourism is one of its engines. With 50 minutes to kill while waiting to take the ferry to Canada, we had time to walk down Water street and glance in at most of the places here. The lovely 100 year old buildings add character to the stores, and most are nicely updated inside, creating a warm mixture of the old and new. The Commons is one such place, and I enjoyed the many local Passamaquoddy Indian baskets and other artifacts on sale here. The reservation is about 3 miles away, and as we didn't have time to stop there on our way, we could at least see some of the finer handycrafts they produce on display here. Local artist paintings, jewelry, pottery and other items here made it a worthwhile stop; you won't find anything but locally made objects. The shopkeeper was very nice, and although I wanted to get something as a memento and a contribution to the local economy, I didn't have time to examine or fully appreciate all the items here. So I ended getting something you smell all the time along the roads here, sweetgrass. A braided weave of collected grass strands, it smells deliciously sweet and heady, a welcome reminder during my time away of the beauty of this State. Purchase in hand I raced out the door, collected my passengers and drove up the road to the waiting ferry. And made a mental note to spend a good day in Eastport and the area next year.

A medium sized store with a good number of high-end locally made craft items. Not a destination in…read moreitself, but if you are in Eastport and appreciate fine artisan work, definitely worth a stop. My favorite items were some beautiful woven scarves, some suede squares that could either be potholders or wall decorations (with contrast color designs, e.g., crows, lobster claws etc), and some beautiful oil small oil paintings. There was also jewelry, but I can't assess it because I didn't really look at it closely. You could definitely buy someone a beautiful gift here.

Wow!!! This is a must-visit if you are a car enthusiast! I grew up going to car shows, but I have…read morenever seen anything like this! There are more cars than I had imagined, and they are all very pristine. I did not expect to see bicycles and buggies as well, plus airplanes. I think there was even more that we didn't see because there was a car auction going on. $20 is a great price. This would've been 35 or $40 in Georgia. The history was amazing! We were there for over an hour but could easily spend 2+ hours there.

We just held my fathers celebration of life at the museum this weekend and the staff couldn't have…read morebeen more professional. We held it in the children's area which have interactive items for the kids and a lot of the adults too. The tables, chairs, audio etc were all set up and ready to go early. Our caterer Taco Joe was also all set up filling the museum with an amazing aroma. My dad was a member of the museum and would have been thrilled to have his life remembered here