During the weekend of August 6-8, 2004 we took a trip to Poland Spring, ME. We stayed at The Inns At Poland Spring. This is a really nice place that is inexpensive. It is not a place to go if you are looking for luxury services, you bring your own towels, soap, shampoo, glass for in the room, and a pillow if you want more than one. If you want a quiet relaxing vacation, golf, good food, interesting places to see, good local entertainment, and friendly easy to get along with people at a very reasonable price you will love this place. Breakfast and supper each full day and breakfast on checkout day are included in the price. Supper the day you check in can be purchased at a very reasonable price. All meals are all you can eat good country food buffets.

We got to Maine in the early afternoon of August 6 and went to Naples before going to the inn. We had planned to take the boat that goes through the only remaining manually operated locks in America, but we missed one by about 15 minutes and the next one would return too late for us to make supper at the inn.

We had lunch and played miniature golf in Naples. The boat was leaving as we headed for the car and we got to see the swinging bridge, where the boat crosses the road on its' way to the locks, in operation.

The Inns At Poland Spring are comprised of four inns, six cottages, and a golf retreat. The inns are:

1. The Maine Inn where all the meals are served and the nightly entertainment performs. There is also a library, game room, billiards room, large lobby with comfortable couches & chairs, and a lounge. It is also where you check in and you can buy souveniers.
2. The Presidential Inn is across two fairways and a driveway from the Maine Inn. All the rooms are named for Presidents or first ladies. This is where we stayed.
3. The Roosevelt House a smaller building where Teddy Roosevelt once stayed. It is across the driveway from the Presidential Inn on the edge of one of the fairways.
4. The Motor Inn is about ¼ mile walk or ½ mile drive from the Maine Inn. The least expensive rooms, if you do not mind a small room and having to walk or drive to meals and entertainment you can save a lot of money.

We checked in and got our tickets for Friday's supper and Friday's & Saturday's entertainment. We explored the Maine Inn checking out: the library, game room, lounge, and relaxed in the lobby before going to supper.

After supper we brought our luggage to our room in the Presidential Inn and after relaxing for a little while, returned to the Maine Inn for the show and dancing.

After breakfast Saturday morning we went exploring the grounds. On the grounds is All Saints Chapel, the Maine Building from the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, and the original Poland Spring Water bottling plant.

There was a wedding at All Saints Chapel, but we were able to visit it before the guest started to arrive.

The Maine Building was taken apart and all the pieces numbered then shipped to Poland Spring and reassembled just as it was at the World's Fair in Chicago. It is now a museum of the area with emphasis on the luxurious resort that used to be on the site. The man that took us on the tour was the fire chief when the resort burned down, he was really interesting. They usually have some local art and/or craft items on display, when we were there all the railings were covered with quilts made by one lady they were beautiful and Dale especially enjoyed them.

Preservation park contains the bottling plant and some hiking trails. The bottling plant is now a Poland Spring Water museum. The original spring can be viewed in the Spring House where there is a glass covered well. The museum has stories of the Ricker family the original owners of the property, the bottling company, and the resort. They have a diner in the building where we had lunch. After lunch we walked about 2 miles on the trails in the park.

We went to our room and cleaned up, then went to the Maine Inn and relaxed in the library before supper. We relaxed in the lobby after supper then went to the show and dancing.

After breakfast Sunday morning we packed our luggage and checked out. We found a small church about 6 miles from the inn where they had a nice service and we were warmly welcomed by everyone during fellowship after the service.

We hope to make more trips to Poland Spring in the future.
(Pictures)

Return to Top