Boothbay Harbor Christmas: Gardens Aglow, Lights and Winter Stays

When is Gardens Aglow at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Gardens Aglow is the big one. Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, a few minutes' drive from the inns, strings more than half a million LED lights through its paths and woods and opens them to the public each year in the second half of November. The show runs through New Year's Eve, about six weeks in all.

You walk it. The route winds through lit gardens, an illuminated forest and a series of themed displays, and most people take an hour or more at an easy pace. Dress for a Maine evening in December. The lights look better when it is cold anyway.

The Gardens layer smaller events onto the run, and the two guests ask about most are the Santa story times and the Gingerbread Spectacular. Check the Gardens' own schedule for what is on during your dates, because the programming shifts from week to week.

• Opens in the second half of November and runs through the end of December
• More than half a million lights along a walking route
• Santa story times and the Gingerbread Spectacular run alongside the lights
• A few minutes by car from Commercial Street

Boothbay Lights and the lighted boat parade

Boothbay Lights is the town-wide side of the season. Over the same six weeks, Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor hang lights on the shops, the streets and the restaurants, so the whole downtown reads as one display rather than a few decorated storefronts. Walk Commercial Street after dark and you will see what we mean.

The event people plan trips around is the Lighted Boat Parade. Boats dressed in lights motor through the harbor after dark, and the reflections off the water double the effect. Our guests watch it from the waterfront. At Admiral's Quarters Inn the harbor lawn puts you right on the water for it, with the fire pit going.

Around the parade the town runs tree lighting ceremonies, visits with Santa, holiday concerts and craft fairs, and a Winter Festival and holiday market where local artisans, food vendors and musicians set up for the day. The Chamber of Commerce keeps the master calendar, and it is the one we check.

Thanksgiving in Boothbay Harbor

Thanksgiving falls right as Gardens Aglow opens, which makes the long weekend one of the best-timed trips of the year. Arrive Wednesday. Eat well Thursday. Walk the lights Friday and shop the galleries Saturday.

Local restaurants put on seasonal Thanksgiving menus with the traditional dishes, so you do not need to cook or bring anything. Book a table ahead. The town is small, and on a holiday weekend the good tables and the good rooms go early.

The shops and galleries downtown are open and stocked with gifts and decorations, and the Boothbay Lights schedule usually has something on every day of the weekend. It is a gentler start to the season than a mall.

Christmas week in Boothbay Harbor

Christmas here is quiet in the best way. The streets are decorated, the harbor is often dusted with snow, and the waterfront walk is empty enough that you can hear the water. It is the opposite of the holiday rush, which is exactly why people come.

Days fill up easily. Gift shopping in the boutiques, a hot drink in one of the cafes, a seasonal menu at a restaurant with the fireplace lit, then the Gardens at night. Many restaurants keep special holiday menus through the season, and Maine lobster is on most of them.

Back at the inn, several Admiral's Quarters rooms have fireplaces and harbor balconies, and that is what we recommend for a Christmas stay. Rooms with a fireplace and a view of the lights on the water are the first to book, so reserve early.

Winter activities: snowshoeing, skating and winter boat tours

When there is snow, the Boothbay Region Land Trust trails are the place for it. The trust maintains miles of trails on the peninsula, and snowshoeing or cross-country skiing through those quiet woods is a real winter outing. Bring your own gear.

Ice skating happens when conditions allow, at a local rink and sometimes on the harbor itself in a hard freeze. Ask before you go. It depends entirely on the weather that week.

Winter boat tours still run on select days, and they are a different animal from the summer cruises. Seals haul out on the ledges, the winter seabirds are in, and the water is glassy and empty. Wear every layer you packed.

Even a plain winter walk along the waterfront counts. Crisp air, quiet waves, nobody else on the sidewalk.

January in Boothbay Harbor: the quiet season

Once the lights come down, January is our quietest month, and some of our regulars prefer it. Fewer people, and a town that feels like it belongs to you.

The winter activities above all carry into January. Snowshoe or ski the Land Trust trails, skate at the rink, take a winter boat tour to spot seals and winter birds, then warm up with cocoa or coffee at a cafe in town. Evenings are for a fire and a slow dinner.

Some businesses shorten their hours or close for a stretch in winter. Confirm restaurants and tours before you drive up, and check our winter dates when you book.

Where to stay for Gardens Aglow and the holidays

Both inns sit on Commercial Street on the harbor. Greenleaf Inn has ten king rooms and a third-floor sky deck, which is a fine vantage point over the lit harbor. Admiral's Quarters Inn, a few doors down, has eight rooms, a glass solarium for winter mornings and the harbor lawn with the fire pit. For the boat parade and for a room with a fireplace, we point people to Admiral's Quarters. For a bigger king room with a balcony, Greenleaf.

Holiday weekends fill early. Thanksgiving through New Year's is the busiest stretch of the off season, and the rooms with harbor views go first. Book as soon as your dates are firm.

Questions we get asked