Bridgton, ME

One of the nice things about the lakes region of Maine is that it has a history of welcoming guests from away for over 100 years. A local favorite here in the Sebago Lake region is the Tarry-A-While resort located on the shores of Highland Lake, just off the Ridge Road, in Bridgton.

Built in the 1890s to house the parents of owners who lived up nearer the Ridge, the house soon began to feel too big for the parents and they started taking in boarders during the summer. It has fulfilled that purpose ever since.

For its first 50 or more years, rooms at the Inn were let out during the summer, year after year, often to the same families. Housekeeping cottages were added, as well as a bath house for swimming and boating. Meals were provided and guests ate together in the dining room of the Inn. The Inn gained a reputation for providing "a Maine summer experience", i.e. outdoor recreation, swimming, boating, sailing, and hiking and touring.

In 1966 Tarry-A-While passed out of the hands of the family and was bought by Hans and Barbara Jenni. They continued to operate it as a summer hotel and added the Stubli Switzer restaurant, the menu reflecting Hans's Swiss roots. In 1992 the Jenni's sold to Mark and Nancy Stretch who are the current owners and who continue to operate the Inn and several cottages as rentals for summer guests.

Currently the Inn offers guests 11 rooms to choose from and five cottages. All enjoy the wonderful sand beach and recreating in clean and clear Highland Lake. On site you can also enjoy tennis, badminton, shuffleboard and croquet. Across Ridge Road is an 18 hole golf course, The Bridgton Highlands Country Club, open to the public.

If you're visiting the area and would like to have "a Maine summer experience" try Tarry-A-While.

If you prefer staying at your own place on Highland Lake, but don't own one yet, here are the properties currently for sale with lakefront on Highland Lake in Bridgton:

49 The Birches, $325,000

52 Highland Road, $535,000

87 North High Street, $589,000

59 Sunset, $1,485,000

136 Highland Road and 3,5,7,9 Gallinari Way, $2,200,000

Whether you own a camp or cottage, or are renting a condo or four season contemporary at water's edge, Moose Pond offers up four seasons of fun and recreation and is truly a lake that the whole family can enjoy.

Stretching from Bridgton and Sweden in the north to Denmark in the south, this 8 mile ribbon of water lies in the shadows of Pleasant Mountain and has been a destination for vacationers and campers for years.

The northern and southern ends are wilder and shallower, providing settings for wildlife and bird sightings, as well as great canoeing and kayaking. Powerboats are welcome too, usually carrying fishermen looking for action from bass and pickerel.

The deeper water fishery is out in the Main Basin, the widest part of Moose Pond, south of the 302 causeway. Here the deepest part of the Pond reaches 70 feet and there are magnificent views of Pleasant Mountain and the Shawnee Peak ski area. This is the area to water ski, tube, and use that wakeboard.

Beyond the Mountain Road bridge in the south the character of the Pond changes back again, to a quieter, shallower body of water better suited for smaller boats and paddle craft, wildlife and bird watching, and fishing.

In the winter enjoy snowmobiling and ice fishing on the Pond, or take advantage of the lake's proximity to Shawnee Peak Ski Area, visible from most any place on the Pond. Sunday River skiing is less than an hour away and shopping the outlets in North Conway, NH is within an easy half hour drive.

The surface area of Moose Pond is 1697 acres in all, with a maximum depth of 70 feet and a mean depth of 22 feet. The quality of water here is rated "above average" and it is consistently monitored by the Lakes Environmental Association, headquartered in Bridgton.

If you have any interest in knowing more about what lakefront properties are for sale on Moose Pond, go to our Lakefront Locator, click on Lakefront Homes and Sebago Lake Region, then scroll down and click on Moose Pond and, voila!, all the current listings on Moose Pond will appear.

If you are among the fortunate and have a history of summer vacations in the Lakes Region area, or if you have recently discovered this area for the first time, you are probably already acquainted with our local movie theater, the Magic Lantern.

Situated in downtown Bridgton, alongside Steven's Brook, the newest version of "the Magic" is a welcome addition to Main Street, Bridgton. With three screens and a pub, this theater has gone a long way in helping to revitalize downtown Bridgton.

Its predecessor was housed in a building that was razed to provide room for the new version. The old building was literally sinking into the ground and there was no helping it, so down it came. The town voted to provide tax incentives for the construction of a new theater and worked with the owners to provide the area with a first rate facility that provides a focal point for the downtown.

I grew up in this area and remember the old Brookside Theater - an open, high-ceilinged theater with a stage and a balcony. One of the first movies I ever saw in a theater was here back in the early 1960s - Disney's "The Shaggy Dog". I also remember seeing "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Easy Rider" there as a teenager. In the 1970s it was taken over by a local entrepreneur who renamed it the Magic Lantern. While it was popular with locals and visitors alike, it was operating on borrowed time as the building continued to sink, the heating system was problematic at best, and attendance could be spotty.

Now we've entered the new age of the Magic Lantern - a brand new facility with Dolby surround sound, comfortable seats, three theaters (each with their own decorative theme), and a pub where you can watch sporting events and movies on the big screen, or watch live performers while enjoying a meal or a beverage.

If you're on vacation and staying at a camp on the lake there's bound to be a rainy day or two during your stay. Don't get cabin fever, though - just get to downtown Bridgton and enjoy a film or sporting event on wide screen and be transported to a world away from that rainy day.

Signs of spring are becoming more prevelant by the day. A quick trip around the northern Sebago Lakes area today found brooks and rivers running pell mell with surging water and swift currents. The edges of lakes and ponds are ice free and there is much open water on the north end of Long Lake, where I live.

Driving across the causeway in West Bridgton one can still see the Ice Man, keeping his happy vigil, waiting for the ice to melt out from underneath him. He won't last much longer, I think, and someone who guessed a relatively early "ice out" will win the prize this year.

At Bear Pond in South Waterford the pond looks like a field of slush. A month ago, from the same vantage point, you could see a half dozen pick up trucks parked alongside ten or fifteen ice shacks. What a difference a month can make.

I heard on the radio this morning that some guy who flies an airplane around Lake Winnipesaukee says the ice is ready to go out there by next week. He flew over the big lake this past weekend and proclaimed it "ready to go".

For lakefront property buyers these signs of spring mean it's safe to come and have a look. Most private roads around area lakes are snow-free and, if they're not too muddy, can be travelled on. With the ice gone around the perimeters of the lakes, a buyer can make a good visual inspection as to the nature of the shorefront - rocky, sandy, muddy, shallow, bushy etc.

If you're a lakefront owner, this is a great time to think about fix-ups and repairs around the camp. It's not hot yet, no bugs, and the days are getting longer.

If you do plan to come up to have a look at a lakefront property, call ahead to make sure the road to where you're going is navigable. They don't call it "mud season" for nothin'.

Vacationers and lakefront owners who own porperty in southwestern Maine should be aware of the great amount of information provided online by the Lakes Environmenal Association, headquartered in Bridgton, Maine.

They have recently published their 2008 Water Testing Report on 37 Maine Lakes and Ponds in the region. This is invaluable information for anyone who cares about the health and well-being of our area lakes and ponds.

The LEA tests for and monitors such lake attributes as water clarity, chlorophyll content, and phosphorus levels. They have been doing this testing for a number of years and so can offer insights on how well our lakes and ponds are doing. In addition to just giving the test results, they also write a summary for each of the 37 lakes and ponds, giving their appraisal of the health of that water body.

Also of interest is an update on the milfoil irradication in the Songo River and the outlet of Brandy Pond. The progress has been very good, but questions remain about ongoing funding for these irradication projects.

Just click on www.mainelakes.org and go directly to the home page of the Lakes Environmental Association to find all this great information and much, much more. Once there, make sure you bookmark it for future reference. I think you'll find it's a site you will check in on often.