A dogsled trip through the Maine woods is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing for most people, a rush of winter fun on the seat of your pants, with lots of barking. Several outfits offer such rides. In Sangerville, your best bet is Ed Mathieu's Moose Country Safaris and Dog Sled Trips. The Master Maine Guide and musher will drive you north of Greenville to Kokadjo, where you'll hop into the sled for a run along groomed cross-country ski trails. Mathieu's special West Branch Pond trip is unique in that it takes place in a spot where snowmobiles are not allowed. The trip is hushed, except for the exuberant dogs and the sound of the runners on the snow. Mathieu allows you to customize your tour — he does hour-long jaunts for $100 a couple, two hours for $130, and three for $160 — and only takes a maximum of four people, so you get plenty of opportunity to ask questions. He also does trips from warming hut to warming hut, during which you can drive your own team if you like, and excursions later in the spring with a barbecue in the field. If you decide this dogsledding is for you, he'll teach you how to do it all in his dogsled seminars. The CBS Sunday Morning show thought it was worth tagging along. You will, too. Find out all about it at his Web site
www.moosecountrysafaris.com or by calling 207-876-4907.
Shutterbug GalleriesThe roots of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies go back to a 1973 folklore and oral history course at Kennebunk High School. From that humble beginning a magazine evolved, then a non-profit corporation, and then an accredited undergraduate program. Today there's an impressive list of alums and a fine gallery on Exchange Street in Portland where the result of all this history — the best of Salt's students, faculty, and grads — can be seen alongside work by some of the major documentary photographers of our day. Anyone with an interest in journalistic photography will want to pay it a visit. Four to six exhibits are hosted each year — a cool recent one was John Monroe's In the Yard, a behind-the-scenes look at Bath Iron Works — and they can be excellent stuff. Call 207-761-0660 for more information or visit Salt's Web site at
www.salt.edu/index.html . And while you're in Portland, you'd be wise to stop by the Bakery Photographic Collective, which features the work of nineteen accomplished shutterbugs (one of whom is John Monroe) in the Calderwood Bakery Building on Pleasant Street. The four-year-old club is brimming with up-and-coming talent and hosts a lecture series, special events, and even does a residency program. Find out more at
www.bakeryphoto . com or call 207-879-5487.
Morning MoviesThe Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) is in its ninth year now, and it seems on its way to summer institution status. Now, it's no Cannes, or Toronto, or Sundance, or even Edinburgh, but it's become a rallying event for Maine movie buffs, and it even attracts a few stars. (Sissy Spacek, Peter Fonda, and Lili Taylor have all made appearances.) Jonathan Demme, Terrence Malick, Ed Harris, and Amy Madigan are even on the advisory board. Last year, Railroad Square Cinema, the longtime MIFF stalwart, started a new mini film festival in January — at a time when we really need the bright lights of the movies — called MIFF in the Morning. Like its inspiration, this streamlined version brings a unique series of films to Waterville, showing them at 10 a.m. on winter weekends. Screenings happen both Saturday and Sunday mornings, every other weekend, for six weeks, starting January 7 and 8. Last year, audiences got to see the likes of Twilight Samurai, Touch the Sound, and a sneak preview of Following Sean. "I'd say it was a roaring success," says Alan Sanborn, one of MIFF's programmers. "We definitely made some money for MIFF, and people had the opportunity to see some films they wouldn't get to see otherwise." Indeed. Admission is in the $7 range, and there's a discount package for the whole series. For the lineup this year visit
www.miff.org or call Railroad Square Cinema at 207-873-6526.
North Woods SkiingWinter actually makes the North Woods more accessible, crazy as that may sound. While Mainers in the southern part of the state complain about snowy roads and travel difficulties, their northern counterparts are zipping across frozen lakes and streams, through the woods, and into remote corners otherwise difficult to reach. No place is this more evident than at the Chesuncook Lake House, a fun inn hidden away in the lost village of Chesuncook. You can only get there by boat in summer — or by foot, hiking the four miles from the Golden Road. But when the ground and the ice freeze and the snow falls, you can snowmobile, snowshoe, or ski right to the door. The latter two options are particularly nice — there are miles and miles of groomed and ungroomed trails threading through the forest here along the fabled West Branch of the Penobscot corridor and within full view of Mount Katahdin. The area is something of a Nordic skier's paradise. The hamlet itself — with its church and its paths and its handful of homes along the lakeshore — is particularly intriguing, and the inn is proof that old is often better. Built in 1864 during the lumber camp era, the hotel is a three-story, clapboard classic with a long wraparound porch. There are accommodations for as many as ten people in its four cozy rooms. Gas lamps on the main floor add to the ambience. The inn recently added a handful of cabins to its offerings, which are simple affairs; each is heated by a woodstove but with a full kitchen and a bath. Rooms at the inn are $120 per person, per night (cheaper if you stay multiple nights) and the cabins are $35 per person per night, with a minimum of four people and a two-night stay required. Call 207-745-5330 or visit
www.chesuncooklakehouse.com for details.
Food, FastSo you have a trip to Auburn to make, you're not too familiar with the Twin Cities, and you're wondering what to do about lunch. Click over to
www.mainetakeout.com and you'll quickly and easily find the answer — Roy's All Steak Hamburgers, of course. About thirty cities and towns have listings on this neat little Web site, and there are typically five or six eateries to choose from. Each entry has a menu, prices, hours, phone number, and even a map. In a place like Portland where there are to-go shops every few feet,
www.mainetakeout.com will at least help you narrow your options.
One-Stop RemodelingHome remodeling has almost taken on a vogue quality since the advent of Home & Garden TV and other such channels. Always a thing to do, it's become the thing to do, and anyone who feels this way will want to be at the Cumberland County Civic Center on the weekend of February 10 & 11 for the Maine Home, Remodeling, and Garden show. It promises to be a showcase of ideas and inspiration and an opportunity to tuck a lot of business cards in your pocket. Call 207-775-3331 for details.
