We have a lot of guests that ask what there is to do in our part of Maine while staying with us. By the time we have finished telling them, they have booked numerous nights. We always suggest to our guests to use us as a base to go out and explore. Dexter is the geographical center point of Maine so everywhere is within easy reach. No need to go checking in and out of different accommodations every day. Just stay with us, treat the Brewster Inn as your home, go out and explore and use our knowledge to get the absolute best from your Maine adventures. There are numerous things to do but we’ve whittled it down to 11 and sharing the first 6 for now.
- Stephen King tour. The excellent author lives just 40min from the Brewster Inn. Stu at SKTours does minivan tours of locations featured in SK’s books and films. We have done the tour ourselves and Stu likes it to be very interactive. Of course, you will get to see King’s home and there are plenty of photo opportunities. If you are really lucky, you may get to see Stephen King himself, just like we did. There are also 2 film locations in and near Dexter as well.
Standing in front of famous Maine author Stephen King’s Home in Bangor Maine
- State Parks. There are 2 within an hour of the Brewster Inn. Both are situated on beautiful lakes with ample hiking opportunities. Peaks Kenny State Park is on Sebec Lake which has a wonderful sandy beach and swimming area, kayak rentals as well. Lily Bay State Park is on Moosehead Lake, the largest lake in Maine. There are two more State Parks which make great day trips. Mt Kineo State Park which is accessible by dirt road or ferry. You get to hike Kineo at the same time or play a round of golf at Mt Kineo golf course right by the mountain. And then there is Baxter State Park, home to Mt Katahdin, the largest mountain in Maine and the endpoint of the Appalachian Trail which starts in Georgia. Baxter has over 200,000 acres of amazing scenery, viewpoints and moose as well as other wildlife.
Looking out at Sebec Lake from Peaks Kenny State Park
Peaks Kenny State Park Beach
- We have an abundance of great wine producers (all with opportunities for tastings) in our part of Maine from Anthony Lee here in Dexter, Dragonfly in Stetson and The Spotted Cat in Greenville which is right on the way to the B52 crash site. More on that further down.
Wine options for guests
- The Maine coast. We have always been shouting out that “Maine is more than just a coastline” because that is totally true, but there are some many amazing places to see on the coast from lighthouses, beaches, coastal towns like Bar Harbor, Camden, Rockland and Boothbay that are just a short ride away. The coast at its nearest point is just 50min away and we have some great itineraries using the Brewster Inn as a base to go and explore this part of Maine.
- The Penobscot Narrows Bridge, Observatory and Fort Knox State Park. All together on the same site and one ticket provides entrance to it all. The observatory is 420 ft. high and is the tallest occupied structure in Maine. According to the Maine DOT website, it is only 1 of 4 bridge observatories in the world. The other three are in China, Thailand and Slovakia. It also says it’s the highest bridge observatory in the world. Fort Knox State Park is amazing. You’ll spend a good while walking around it. Still an incredible structure. Take a flashlight with you if you have one as there are some tunnels inside where the lighting provided isn’t the best and the brick floors are uneven. Fort Knox was established in 1844 to protect the Penobscot River Valley against a possible future British naval incursion. It is a great place for a visit as you explore all around the fort, inside and out. There are even some cannons left in place. While you are over that way, we have ideas for No 6.
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One of the cannons left at Fort Knox Maine
The Cannon Areas on the lower level outside outside Fort Knox Maine
- We have a lot of great brewers in Maine. As we have a Maine State liquor license, we get to try a good variety of brews and have a focus on Maine brewers here at the Brewster Inn showcasing Rising Tide, Austin St, Foundation and Masons breweries currently. Over the coming weeks, we plan to go more into this with a blog post especially on it including showing brewers that are open for tastings that are all less than an hour away. Looking, further along, we also want to add distilleries to that list as well as we have now come across a couple of local ones. As a side note to finish No. 5 above when you are at Piscataquis Narrows Bridge and Fort Knox, stop off in Winterport on your way there or back to here and check out Winterport Winery and Penobscot Bay brewery. You go right past their door.
In our next post, we will cover 7-11 which includes hiking, moose watching, atv riding, kayaking/canoeing and exploring a B52 crash site that’s now a memorial.
As we said, there are many things for guests to do in the beautiful state of Maine while staying with us. We hope to see you soon and share our love for Maine.
Mark and Tina
*Always remember to book direct at www.brewsterinn.com for the best price.
The Brewster Inn
37 Zions Hill Rd
Dexter ME 04930
207-924-3130
We took an enjoyable boat cruise on Moosehead Lake