FINAL UPDATE!  The long-range weather forecast for this weekend is looking pretty nice! And, as of this writing, the Down Easter Inn in Damariscotta, where we'll be staying this Saturday during the fabulous club motor tour of Maine we've got planned, still has rooms available!

But wait—there's more!  When the tenth AONE member to make reservations at the Inn called, he was told that we're all now entitled to a 10% discount! That's great news on two fronts: We have at least ten Alfas signed up for our tour, and we're getting a discount—and that's on top of the very reasonable room rate the Inn is giving us to begin with!

So don't dawdle—make your reservations now at the Inn (207-563-5332 or deinn@midcoast.com), since they may well fill up, given the weather outlook. This will be the first two-day overnight tour our club has done in many moons, and it's really something you shouldn't miss!

we’re getting close to the running of our AONE overnight motor tour of Maine that Mike Torrusio is putting together for us on the weekend of June 23rd-24th! It may not be not too late to sign up for this terrific event, but you must act now!!! The Down Easter Inn in Damariscotta, where we’ll be staying on Saturday night, has been very accommodating to us, but they can’t hold those rooms forever! If you don’t make your reservation NOW for the night of June 23rd, you probably won’t get in! Contact the Inn at 207-563-5332 or deinn@midcoast.com—do it while you’re thinking about it!

Here’s what it’s all about: We’ll be hitting the high and low roads of Maine for a two-day jaunt that will not only take us along Maine’s wonderful, rocky seacoast (replete with ocean views, lighthouses, and small lobster and seafood shacks), but will also scoot us along some of mid-Maine’s twisting, turning, watch-out-for-that-cow back trails. To experience both of these wonders requires more than a day, which is why we are hosting a two-day extravaganza filled with winding roads, photographic vistas, shopping repasts, and more down-shifting in one weekend than you’d do in a month.

Although the route is finalized, we’re keeping the details a mystery, but it’ll go something like this: We will start off with a meet-and-greet rendezvous on Saturday at 10 am in Saco, Maine at the Golden Rooster Restaurant—a friendly, home-style place where you can have a cuppa, nibble on some toast, or down something more substantial. After that, it’s kick tires and light fires as we whip through the Old Orchard Beach area, around Route 77 and Shore Road to the Portland Headlight—a great spot for gift shopping and photography (not to mention a pit stop). We’ll avoid Portland itself, saving it for some other time, and whiz around Scarborough, and then northward through North Pownal, Lisbon Falls, Bowdoinham and into Richmond for a late lunch at a jazzy little place called the Railway Cafe, whose owner is himself the proud owner of a 1969 Alfa Spider!

After sating ourselves, we will cross the Kennebec River, working our way toward Wiscasset, and then shoot northward along the Sheepscot River, where we will cross over at the Reversing Falls. A few more turns through the mid-coast back roads will bring us to the end of the day at The Down Easter Inn in Damariscotta. They have rooms for us and the price is very, very right for Maine at this time of the year ($100 double, $110 king). Damariscotta and New Castle are twin cities, and each offers fun places to eat and to explore. We’ll find a place where we will feast upon the best culinary treats that Maine has to offer.

After spending a restful night and downing our Down Easter continental breakfast, we will start the second day by wandering southwest through Bath (with maybe a tourist stop), and then finding Route 24 straight to Bailey Island for a late lobster lunch on the water. Filled to the gills with those red crustaceans (or scallops, clams, mussels, hake, haddock, oysters, or what-have-you), we will cull the seaweed-strewn rocky coast for sea glass, or just hang out at the waterside, before turning the key and pointing south to head home.

Sounds great, is great, but you must act now! Make your reservations at the Inn per above, and contact Mike at miket@maine.rr.com or 207-252-5787 to let him know that you’re signed up so that he can get a head count for restaurant planning purposes.

Here is a list of links to the various attractions mentioned above:

Golden Rooster Restaurant 
Portland Head Light
Railway Cafe
Reversing Falls
The Down Easter Inn
Damariscotta
Newcastle

Ay-up, this is going to be one fine Alfa weekend! Hope to see you Down East!

Directions

As most of us will be coming from the South, here are the directions from there. (Any Northerners can call Mike and perhaps hook up with him for the ride down.) Take Exit 36 from the Maine Turnpike (I-95) to merge onto I-195 East toward Saco/Old Orchard Beach. Take Exit 2A for US-1 South toward Saco/Downtown. Turn right onto Blue Star Memorial Hwy/Main St/ME-5/US-1. Continue to follow Main St about a half mile to the Golden Rooster. You can check out the restaurant’s web site to learn a bit more and see a map.

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