Fall Foliage

    Thousands of visitors come to Maine in the Fall to view our beautiful and vibrant fall foliage. The trees change from green to red, yellow, orange, purple, and brown. It is one of my favorite times of the year. The weather is cool, and comfortable, you can wear a sweatshirt, or a t-shirt and be comfortable either way. It’s the time for annual fairs, apple picking (nothing like a crisp and tart apple right off the tree!), hot apple cider, and hot cocoa, but the splendor of the fall foliage is what really brings people to New England.


    According to mainefoliage.com the following types of trees produce yellow leaves: Green and black ash, basswood, beech, birches, butternut, and elm. In the maple species - boxelder, mountain, silver, striped and sugar, mountain ash, poplar, serviceberry, willow, and witch hazel. Red and scarlet leaves come from Red, mountain, and sugar maples; black, red, scarlet and white oak; hornbeam, sumac and tupelo trees. White ash and witch hazel produce purple leaves, and white and black oak generate brown leaves.

    The changes in color are a result of the trees preparing for the change of season, summer to winter. The leaves stop producing food due to the change of daylight and temperature, which affects the chlorophyll and causes the green pigment to break down and as a result we see the underlying colors. Other aspects of the weather also affect the color, vibrancy and depth of the colors, such as; amount of sunshine, moisture, and temperature (warm days and cool but not freezing nights) all affect the foliage.
     The best week for Peak Color in southern and coastal Maine is October 13th-19th according to mainefoliage.com. You will find peak color south of Portland, Sebago Lake region, Bridgton, Limerick, Waterboro, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Wells/Ogunquit, and York. So make you reservation here at The Mariner Resort, sit on the balcony with your coffee or hot cocoa and take in the beautiful foliage as you look out towards the marsh and ocean. Don’t forget to bring your camera because you’ll want to share and remember these beautiful images!

A rainy day vacation is still a vacation!

Of course we wish the most beautiful days for your vacation, and we have been having amazing weather so far this summer, but as we all know, we can’t control the weather. My motto is “Never let the rain dampen your vacation, just remember you aren’t at home!” because you could be at home cleaning or doing laundry, or at work answering phones, and compiling reports, but you’re not, and don’t let unruly weather ruin your vacation, it’s nothing anyone can control, just make sure you know what to do when the bad weather affects your trip. Here are a few ideas of things you can do if it does rain on your vacation.


Go shopping! It’s probably one of the top 2 best things to do in rainy weather. You could go to the Outlet malls in Kittery (about 20 - 25 mins. south), or take a drive up to South Portland, and go to the Maine Mall (about 45 – 55 mins. north). You can never go wrong with shopping on a rainy day!

Go to a movie or play. This is may be the most popular choice among rainy day activities. See an off Broadway show at the Ogunquit Playhouse, Hackmatack Playhouse, Arundel Barn Playhouse, or the Booth Theater. What could brighten up a cloudy day more than an upbeat song and dance! Wells Five Star Cinema offers the latest films, a popular rainy day choice, or even just a great place to escape the heat!

Visit a museum there’s several to choose from, in Portland there is The Children’s Museum or the Portland Museum of Art. Here in Ogunquit/Wells there is: Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Wells Auto Museum, among others.

We are also only about an hour and a half from Boston, take the Amtrak Downeaster and spend the day in the city, visit the Boston Museum of Science, or the New England Aquarium. There is always something to do!

There are several activities that can busy up a rainy summer day, so don’t let it bad weather day ruin your vacation, if none of these ideas suite you, stay here at the resort and relax with a movie, we have DVD players in the office for $1 a day, and popcorn for sale in the office also.

“Oh say, can you see…”

   It looks like we may have some beautiful weather for the holiday weekend, and The Mariner Resort is filling up quickly with excited guest ready to celebrate, and with Independence Day just around the corner, I thought it’d be appropriate to do a little research of this nation’s day of independence, and why we celebrate this great day.

   Until July of 1776, 13 colonies were under the rule of King George III. These colonies were beginning to become dissatisfied with the taxes they had to pay to England. You may remember learning about “Taxation without representation” in high school, meaning these colonies were paying taxes, but had no representation in the English Parliament, and therefore had no say in what decisions were made. In 1774, the first 13 colonies formed the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1775, the King’s troop began to descend on Concord, Massachusetts, where Paul Revere’s famous words were shouted “The British are coming, the British are coming!” This marked the beginning of the struggle for independence, for the next year England and the colonies would struggle to make any agreements.

   In June of 1776, after all hope was gone for the colonies and England to repair their differences, a committee was formed and created a formal declaration of independence. The committee was headed by Thomas Jefferson and other members included: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. On July 4th a vote was taken and 9 out of the 13 colonies voted in favor of the declaration. Although the signing of the document wasn’t official completed until August, the 4th of July has been accepted as the official anniversary of our nations independence.

   Now with your brief history lesson complete, enjoy your holiday with your families and be safe! Come see us soon at The Mariner Resort!

Information obtained from.

Locally Endangered Turtles

    If you are living in or visiting Wells, York, or South Berwick Maine, you may notice some unusual crossing signs. According to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Nature Conservancy, there are endangered turtles nesting in those areas, the Spotted and Blanding turtles.
    For Spotted turtles mating occurs from March to May. During June, females leave the wetlands and travel up to a mile to a sunny site with sandy soils to lay a clutch of 3-7 eggs. Spotted turtles occasionally nest in natural forest openings, exposed bedrock areas, or sedge hummocks in swamps, but are frequently attracted to yards, pastures, gravel pits, and road edges. Nests are often concentrated in human-created habitats where nest loss may be high from predators or road grading. Incubation time depends on soil temperature, but typically lasts 88-125 days, and hatching occurs in September and October. Eggs may not hatch in cold, wet summers (IFW).

    Mating season occurs from May to July for Blanding turtles. Nesting usually occurs in mid-June when females move up to one mile from wetlands to search for exposed sunny locations and sandy soils. Prior to human alteration of the landscape, turtles selected forest openings or exposed bedrock areas to nest. Now, most nest in yards, pastures, and along road edges. During nesting excursions, females may remain out of wetlands for 3-17 days. Nest digging is initiated in the evening and completed after dark, and clutches include 5-11 eggs. Nest predation varies, but is usually high and can be 100 percent for some populations in some years. Incubation time is dependent on soil temperature, but typically lasts 68-118 days, and hatching occurs from late August to October. Hatchlings likely happen over winter in nearby wetlands (IFW).

    According to the IFW, “turtles have evolved a strategy of long life expectancy (greater than 30 years for spotted turtles) to offset a late age at first reproduction and high nest mortality. Because of this unusual life history, spotted turtle populations occur at low densities (only about 21 turtles per square mile in Maine), and are extremely vulnerable to any source of adult mortality. Road mortality and collecting for pets reduce populations, and the loss of just a few individuals every year can lead to the long-term decline and extinction of a population.”

    So when you are staying at The Mariner Resort and visit these areas, be on the look out for these endangered creatures.

Information collected from The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Nature Conservancy.

Some Interesting Facts about the Atlantic Ocean.

Interesting & Fun Facts about the Atlantic Ocean

Of all the world's oceans, Atlantic Ocean is the youngest. It is believed to have been formed during the Jurassic Period.

Atlantic Ocean receives water from about half the world's land area. Numerous rivers flow into the ocean.

The name 'Atlantic' is derived from the legendary island of 'Atlantis', as described by Plato - one of the ancient writers.

Atlantic Ocean was the first ocean to be crossed by ship and airplane.

In South Atlantic, there is a wide stretch of ocean between the tips of South Africa and South America, which causes huge waves & continuous strong winds, known as the "Roaring Forties".

The warm Gulf Stream of Atlantic Ocean keeps harbors in the Northern Europe away from ice, during winters.

Puerto Rico Trench is the deepest point in Atlantic Ocean. It is about eight and a half thousand meters deep.

The largest island in Atlantic Ocean is Greenland.

The Cancun reef of Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Yucatan (Mexico), is the world's second largest barrier reef, after the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

The first successful telegraph cable was laid under Atlantic Ocean in 1866, by The Great Eastern, the then world's largest ship.

In World War II, the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth carried US troops across the Atlantic, to Europe.

Concorde, the first supersonic flight, was across Atlantic Ocean only.

In the winter storms of the Atlantic, waves can reach a great size and do untold damage to land.

Atlantic Ocean causes the highest tides in the world, which occur in the Bay of Fundy, Canada, with a rise of around fifty feet in the spring tides.

Atlantic Ridge, the underwater mountain range which runs 10,000 miles south from Iceland, is twice as wide as the Andes Mountains.

Diamonds are scooped from the sea bed off the coast of Namibia, in southern Africa.

A triangular area in Atlantic Ocean, called The Bermuda Triangle, is held responsible for mysterious shipwrecks, disappearances and air crashes.

It was in 1919 that the first non stop flight to Atlantic Ocean was taken by John Alcock and Arthur Brown. The journey was completed in sixteen and a half hours.

In 1928, Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.

It was during 1850s that the Cunard Line began carrying passengers across the Atlantic.

Titanic, the largest ship in the world - when she was built and said to be unsinkable, sank in Atlantic Ocean in 1912, after being hit by an iceberg on her maiden voyage to America.

In 1938, a coelacanth, a type of fish that first appeared in the sea some 300 million years ago, was caught alive by the fishermen off the Southern coast of Africa. These fishes were thought to be extinct for more than 60 million years.

French Emperor Napoleon, after losing the Battle of Trafalgar, was exiled to St. Helena in Atlantic Ocean.

So when you are staying with us at The Mariner Resort, stare out at the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean, and think about how much history those waters hold.

this info is from.

A little background about The Marginal Way.

At the annual meeting of 1923, a vote of thanks was given to Josiah Chase for the “gift” which he had given to the village of gunquit. This gift of the “Marginal Way”, a mile-plus walkway along the rocky cliff, is probably the finest gift this village has ever received.
Beginning in a corner of Oarweed Cove near the harbor, the now paved footpath meanders through bayberry and bittersweet bushes, gnarled shrubs of fragrant pink and white sea roses, shaded alcoves formed by wind-twisted trees which jut slightly out onto granite outcropping, and expansive views of the Atlantic with all its varying seasonal moods. There is no better place to unwind and be overwhelmed by the immensity and vastness of nature, then come away feeling humbled and contented yet remarkably uplifted and refreshed. This precious piece of natural beauty had for decades been called “the margin” because of its patterned development along the edge of the cliff. Ironically the present day footpath was not the result of an enlightened citizenry or of far-sighted conservation planning, but of the dealings of a shrewd businessman and some stubborn, persuasive “locals”.

After the path was heavily damaged by the 1991 “no-name” October storm, the Volunteer Committee to Restore the Marginal Way was formed. It petitioned the public for $35,000 to replace 11 benches that were destroyed and to repair the boulder-pummeled gouges in the footpath. The committee received more than $105,000, much of it from fewer than one hundred donors who sent large amounts to help with the restoration and ensure that a fund was available for future maintenance.
Each year more than 100,000 people walk this “Marginal Way” along the rugged cliff line, and while Maine has several somewhat similar ocean walkways, this is unquestionably the most unique, the most popular, the most painted and the most beloved.

Many who stay with us at The Mariner Resort, enjoy this beautiful walk on Marginal Way.

www.ogunquit.org

Do you know what a Piping Plover is?

The piping plover (Charadrius melodus), is an endangered species named for its melodic mating call, it is a small, pale-colored North American shorebird. The bird's light sand-colored plumage blends in with the sandy beaches and shorelines which are its primary habitat. It weighs 1-2 ounces (43-63 grams) and is 6-6 ½ inches (17-18 centimeters) long. During the breeding season the legs are bright orange and the short stout bill is orange with a black tip. There are two single dark bands, one around the neck and one across the forehead between the eyes. Plumage and leg color help distinguish this bird from other plovers. The female's neck band is often incomplete and is usually thinner than the male's neck band. In winter, the bill turns black, the legs remain orange but pale, and the black plumage bands on the head and neck are lost. Chicks have speckled gray, buff, and brown down, black beaks, orange legs, and a white collar around the neck. Juveniles resemble wintering adults and obtain their adult plumage the spring after they fledge. So come stay with us at The Mariner Resort, and see if you can spot any piping plovers on our beaches in Ogunquit.