“How do I grow my business and make sure more people planning trips to Maine know about the awesomeness that is Bath?” I have been asking smart people in the tourism business.

“Go to ABA!” they have replied. And so I did.

“What are you doing next Monday at 1030am? I need a favor…” This was my query to a dozen or so friends, neighbors, former tour participants, colleagues, spouses of colleagues, friends of friends and friendly people as I aimed to gather a diverse group for an Embark promo video this summer.

I recently served as a step-on guide for a bus tour in Kennebunkport. It’s a little bit like Bath - shipbuiding history - but with a strong hard turn to tourism in the 1870s. Read on to find out why the Bush compound is called Walker’s Point and why AI will not replace the human tour guide!

July 4th has been a special day in Bath history since at least 1849. That was the year of the very first Firemen’s Muster (anywhere) and the arrival of passenger train service to Bath. The elites of Bath also celebrated the opening of something they felt they richly deserved but had been denied - a fancy hotel. On July 4th 1949, Bath citizens celebrated the “double centennial” of these events with a grand celebration.

This one mile, 90 minute walking tour focuses on the lives of 8 Bath women from varying backgrounds who stepped into public life in a variety of ways from roughly 1850 - 1920. These years also correspond with milestones in women’s history in the country, with the 1848 first Women’s Right’s convention at Seneca Falls, NY on one end, to the passage of the Women’s Suffrage Amendment in 1920. Their stories are told in the places where they lived and worked, where they felt the constraints of life as a woman and where they broke out of those constraints.

Bath’s largest annual celebration - Heritage Days - is upon us. The 4th of July festival is packed with old favorites and new gems. Any updates or changes (especially due to weather) will be posted first on Main Street Bath’s Facebook page.

Maine is lucky to get to experience a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Bath will experience a partial eclipse, but the thing to do if you are able is drive a bit north and maybe west for the full experience. The weather (no cloud cover) looks GREAT which was somewhat unexpected. The state has information for visitors

Maine has a really nice tradition - Maine Maple Sunday (and Saturday) in March where maple syrup producers state-wide (the people not the trees!) open up their doors in a sort of “open house” for visitors to see first hand what goes into maple syrup production.

March is perfect weather-wise for the sap to start running - cold nights and warmer days. 2924 is a good season so far I hear! Our buckets overflow-eth.

Main Street Bath’s Winterfest is always a great event - lots to do for everyone, capped off by a lantern parade led by our very own Yeti! We put together a “Historic Photo Hunt” all over downtown with contributions from Maine Maritime Museum, the Patten Free Library and the Bath Historical Society.

Every New Year’s Eve for the past 20+ years Bath, Maine has celebrated the New Year 12 hours early with the ringing of the Paul Revere Bell in the City Hall belfry. Was it simply cast in Paul Revere’s Foundry, or did the galloping patriot himself lay hands on it? No one knows for sure, but either way, it’s a rare and special thing. Add to that, it is only rung once a year. For the last couple of decades that honor has gone to Bath’s Citizen of the Year.

Embark Maine Tours (me!) will be offering our regular tours - but with an infusion of Bath holiday history. From December 22nd - December 28th, you can bundle up the visiting family and take our Downtown Tour or our Neighborhood Tour. Check the calendar, contact us for a custom tour date/time, and/or buy a gift card (20% off through 12/24) for a tour next year.

December has a slew of other holiday related activities in the Bath, Maine area… here are some highlights.

Fall brings the most lovely light, setting Bath off so beautifully. The holidays are around the corner and with that comes downtown Bath’s annual “early bird” sales. I am convinced you can save money by doing your shopping early, and this event is a real opportunity to do that. Post - Covid, most stores are now offering sales over the course of a day or two (or three) rather than forcing you out of bed before dawn to get the best deals. Follow your favorite store’s social media or websites - like Now You’re Cooking, Mockingbird Bookshop, and Island Treasure Toys - for details about their sales.

Bath, Maine is home to an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous cemetery (or two or three…)! The big one - Oak Grove Cemetery - is one of only three in the state designed in the rural, or garden cemetery tradition that originated in the 19th century with Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. Garden cemeteries were created to be enjoyed and explored by the living, with picturesque landscapes, winding paths, and a variety of other fascinating features, like sculptures, towers, ponds, bridges and gazebos.

Bath is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, the smallest - physical size-wise - county in Maine. (The image above is from Family Search.) It had been a part of the larger Lincoln County until 1854, when Bath and 9 other communities, all but two fronting the Kennebec River, separated off. Not surprisingly, these communities all have a rich maritime history, but also one associated with farming and mills.

Our “what’s happening” blog posts are morphing to 1x / mo. You may want to bookmark this page and return as I will be updating with new and timely events throughout the month.

Of course first and foremost always in the fall in New England is the Foliage Report - updated every Wednesday by the State of Maine. They are saying all this wacky weather may lead to gloriously wacky color! 🍁

As to events, this week, at 12noon on Thursday, September 28th, Union & Co., is hosting Bath City Manager Marc Meyers during a free casual lunchtime conversation at the Grant Building…

On Sunday, September 3rd, join all of Bath in supporting Main Street Bath - the tireless nonprofit that brings so much to our city! “All About Joel” - a Billy Joel tribute band, will be rocking the Waterfront Park - dancing is required! Doors open at 5:30 and music begins at 7:30. Learn more here and buy tickets here. You can watch some fun promo videos I made to get you in the mood! Read more…

It is a great time to visit Maine! Perhaps slightly smaller crowds as kids go back to school, and before the leaf peeping begins. Kick it off Thursday, August 24th at 7pm in Phippsburg, when the Popham Beach Library will host a talk about archaeological findings from last year’s dig near Fort Popham. The 1607 Popham colonists were the first British settlement (short-lived) in the area. (Learn more on our Downtown Tour or at the Maine’s First Ship visitor’s center in Bath.) Click here to read more…

Over the six years we have lived here in Bath, Maine, we have come to expect the fall foliage to peak in mid-October. (At least that is the advice we give to our family booking visits from California and Texas!) That said, you can get stunning sneak peeks as early as September, where the oaks and maples are just turning - a touch of color to prepare us. Read more…

The “Coastliner” passenger train servicing coastal Maine launched August 26th right here in Bath, Maine! The schedule for the day was three round trip runs from Bath to Wiscasset. This promises to be a historic event! Though this is just one step, and geared toward summer visitors and adventures, there has not been any passenger service to Bath since 2015. The railroad first came to Bath in 1849. Read more…

On Saturday, from 10am-1pm, the 10th annual Kindness Day takes place in in downtown Bath. This event is truly Bath - it started in 2013, the brainchild of a local high school student. Individuals and groups come together to offer simple acts of kindness on Front St, including pets to pet. Now You’re Cooking will offer another special event - an Edible Flower Demonstration with Borrowed Flower Farm in West Bath. Click here to read more…