People who love to sing in harmony gather every Sunday afternoon year-round at the New Church on Stevens Avenue in Portland to sing hymns and anthems from the Sacred Harp. Shape Note Music , which a reviewer once called America’s best-kept musical secret, is part of an American tradition that was brought to the attention of the general public in the movie “Cold Mountain”. Sacred Harp is enjoying a revival nationwide. This is not a performance; it is an afternoon of singing just for the enjoyment of participants. Show up any time between 1 and 4 p.m. and pick up a songbook. Phone: 207-985-7002.

America’s Favorite Homer

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Several paintings that are considered American national treasures will be on display at the Portland Museum at 7 Congress Square in Portland in the exhibition “Winslow Homer and the Poetics of Place, open from June 5 through September 6, 2010. This exhibition will showcase 20 works from the Museum’s collection of Homer watercolors and oils on canvas. Based upon the gift of 17 works, the exhibition will feature paintings understood to be national treasures, such as Artists Sketching in the White Mountains (1868) and Weatherbeaten (1894) as well as The Sharpshooter (1862), Homer’s first oil painting. Open daily. Phone: 207-775-6148.

International Crypotozoology Museum

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Cyrptozoology? What's that? The short answer is “the study of hidden animals,” and the longer answer can be found at the International Museum of Crypotozoology on Congress Street in Portland. The centerpiece of the collection is the once-elusive, Crookston Bigfoot, created by Wisconsin artist Curtis Christensen. Special drawings, bronzes, paintings, and sculpture creations by the world's leading cryptozoology artists are featured in the collection. The museum also includes exhibits on the discoveries of "living fossils." Open daily except Mondays.

Long Walk to Freedom

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The Portland Freedom Trail is a self-guided walking trail of 13 marked sites highlighting the people, places, and events associated with the Underground Railroad and anti-slavery movement in Portland. Among the sites on the trail are the Franklin Street Wharf, Barber Shop of Jacob C. Dickson at 243 Fore Street, Hack Stand of Charles H. L. Pierre at 29 Middle Street, Abyssinian Meeting House at 73 Newbury Street, Eastern Cemetery at Congress and Mountfort streets, Friends Meeting House at Federal and Pearl streets, Hack Stand at Federal and Temple streets, and Mariners' Church at Fore and Market streets. Phone: 207-91-9980.

That’s a Seriously Big Globe

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Astronomers: you need to make a visit to planet Eartha , a 3-dimensional scale model of Earth that rotates and revolves, representing Earth as it is seen from space. Housed in a three-story glass atrium at the headquarters The DeLorme Mapping Company in Yarmouth, Eartha is 41.5 feet in diameter. Every continent is beautifully detailed, with vivid colors illustrating all levels of vegetation. Ocean depths are also completely represented. Open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed New Years, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Phone: 800-642-0970

Trail to 53,000 Works of Art

Trail to 53,000 Works of Art The Maine Art Museum Trail offers more than 53,000 works of art, from ancient to contemporary, in a dazzling array of collections at seven leading art museums. Museums on the trail include Bates College Museum of Art (Lewiston), Bowdoin College Museum of Art (Brunswick), Colby College Museum of Art (Waterville), Farnsworth Art Museum (Rockland), Ogunquit Museum of American Art (Ogunquit), Portland Museum of Art (Portland), and University of Maine Museum of Art (Bangor). The museums’ permanent collections include works of art by the many artists who have vacationed or worked in Maine. They also feature masterpieces by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Pablo Picasso, Greek and Roman sculpture, early American silver and furniture, and contemporary textiles, prints, ceramics, and sculpture. Some museums also offer free admission during selected hours.

Traipsing Around the Island

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For a wonderful walk and stunning views of Casco Bay and Portland, take the causeway from Falmouth at the mouth of the Presumpscot River to Mackworth Island . The one-mile trail that encircles the island takes about an hour to complete and the views are gorgeous. Along the way, stop to watch boats and ferries motor though the Atlantic waters while seagulls, osprey, and shorebirds glide overhead. Open year-round. Phone: 207-624-6076