MAINE

A business called Maine Dogsledding Adventures in Millinocket stands ready to offer you a four-day adventure driving a dogsled in the northern Maine woods. Trip members lodge in Millinocket the night before the morning rendezvous at the trailhead, when guests are then transported by snowmobile eight miles to camp, where they settle into private cabins. After lunch, the afternoon is spent learning the basics of harnessing, hooking up, and driving your own team. The next two days are spent exploring the surrounding wilderness by dogsled. This is a hands-on dogsled trip for those interested in being fully involved in driving and managing their own 5 to 6-dog team. Are you ready for adventure? Phone: 207-731-8888.

The Penobscot Theatre, located at 131 Main Street in downtown Bangor, started in 1973 and has been going strong ever since, particularly with its acquisition in1997 of the hisoric Bangor Opera House on Main Street, an early example of Art Deco/Egyptian Revival architecture. The theater offers post-show discussions, student matinees, summer theater workshops, and, of course, great entertainment. In 2012, theater-goers can look forward to productions "Boeing-Boeing," "Ink," and "Xanadu." Phone: 207-947-6618.

Morning Crescent Sled Dogs, a kennel on Patte Brook Road in Albany Township, near the town of Bethel, wants to show you the fun and adventure of dog sledding. The company offers rides and instruction for people of all ages and abilities. The half-day tour is an introduction to dog sledding that includes basic instruction and time on the trail totaling about three hours. The full-day tour allows more hands-on teaching and more time on the trail (about five or six hours) learning the art, skill and magic that is dog sledding. Phone: 207-824-7292.

With seven interactive exhibit areas on three floors, Maine Discovery Museum at 74 Main Street in downtown Bangor is the largest children's museum north of Boston. Seven permanent exhibits invite children to explore nature, geography, children's literature, music, art, science and anatomy. Among the exhibits are: Nature Trails, to explore Maine's ecosystem along a 20-foot waterway; TradeWinds, a new exhibit about Maine's global connections to Brazil, Japan, and Italy; Booktown, a village where every doorway leads into the pages of a Maine children's literary classic; Sounds Abound, exploring the world of music in a sound studio; Artscape; Mission: Discovery; and Body Journey. Open year-round; closed on Mondays. Phone: 207-262-7200.

Oh, the colorful lights; oh the devil-may-care good humor; oh the chance to hit it big. Hollywood Slots at 500 Main Street in Bangor has slot machines, including video poker and video blackjack. Everywhere you look there's endless excitement and the kind of thrills you just don't find anywhere else, like 1,000 Vegas-style slots, thrilling harness racing, and royal red carpet service. During a break from the spinning wheels, make a visit for the house restaurant, Chairman's. If the parking lot is full guests can jump on the complimentary shuttle service. Open year-round. Phone: 877-779-7771.

To say the snowmobile trails in Maine are some of the finest in the country would be an understatement at best. Maine’s Interconnected Trail System (ITS) is provided to snowmobilers through the joint effort of the Maine Snowmobile Association, headquartered in Augusta, and the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, Department of Conservation. The organization’s website provides maps and directions, information on trail conditions and planning a trip, calendars of snowmobiling events, directories of snowmobiling clubs, and much more. You can get a detailed map of the Interconnected Trail System by contacting the Maine Snowmobile Association at PO Box 80, Augusta, 04332. Phone: 207-622-6983

What's the quickest and most accessible way to scale a mountain, follow a river or get in some lake time during winter in Maine? On a snowmobile. More than 14,000 miles of marked and groomed trails await snowmobilers in every region of the state. Mountain ranges, iced-over lakes and ponds, and multi-purpose trails with beautiful vistas are all part of the trail network in Maine. Guide services provide snowmobile rentals, guided touring trips and overnight packages with local accommodations.

What's the quickest and most accessible way to scale a mountain, follow a river or get in some lake time during winter in Maine? On a snowmobile. More than 14,000 miles of marked and groomed trails await snowmobilers in every region of the state. Mountain ranges, iced-over lakes and ponds, and multi-purpose trails with beautiful vistas are all part of the trail network in Maine. Guide services provide snowmobile rentals, guided touring trips and overnight packages with local accommodations.

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.