travel Archives - Sadler House

travel

All of the posts under the "travel" tag.

Bedtime Stories – Lighthouses of Maine

When I’m not teaching college or managing Sadler House, I write bedtime stories for the Get Sleepy Podcast and the Slumber app. The major purpose of these stories is to help people fall asleep. I originally came to sleepy podcast stories when I started constantly waking in the night. If you’re like me, you wake up and then your mind activates. Then BAM! you can’t go back to sleep.

What are Podcast Bedtime Stories?

Finding the Get Sleepy podcast changed my nights so much for the better. After nearly two years of listening to the stories many times a week, I sent in a writing sample and got hired to write the stories myself! Just last year, I wrote something in the neighborhood of 70 stories.

Lighthouses of Maine – Drift Off with History

Among those, I did a series featuring a character who is researching the lighthouses of Maine. In this post, I am sharing links to the four stories in the series. Incorporating a mix of history and travel visualization, they are the perfect way to drift off to sleep. However, I think they’re also a great way to learn about the lighthouses of Maine before you are there in person. Take them on your walk or listen to them while doing chores. I promise you’ll end up knowing more about these historic beacons and your visit will be richer for it.

In case you’re wondering why I chose these four, it’s not because I thought they were the most important or the oldest or the tallest or the most beautiful lighthouses of Maine. Rather, these were lighthouses I loved and they were the lighthouses with some of the best stories to tell. As any love of the lighthouses of Maine knows, you could make twenty more such stories. But I hope you enjoy these.

Find More Bedtime Stories

You can find Get Sleepy on any podcast platform (Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google…) or you can also listen to the episodes for free at the YouTube links, below.

Wishing you sweet dreams of Maine, my friend! If you like these, check out my other fairytales, holiday stories, nostalgic stories and more.

The Portland Head Light

The Rockland Breakwater Light

The Owls Head Light

The Cape Neddick Light

Sadler House February 6, 2023 Leave A Comment Permalink

Vacation in Maine Like a Local

I’ve always felt like there are two types of travelers in the world. There are those who are perfectly fine with being tourists, and then there are those who prefer to travel like locals, keeping a low profile and seeing the soul of a place. Admittedly, vacationing like a local is a bit of a contradiction, and it can be tough to pull off. After seven straight summers living and traveling in Maine, these are our best tips on how to vacation in Maine like you live there! Disclaimer: it appears that we spend a lot of time doing things that involve food.

Buy Fresh Food at Farmstands

People who live in Maine are serious about fresh, local food. Patronizing roadside stands is a matter of course and a matter of honor. More than that, though, it’s just fun! We are fortunate to have the divine Beth’s Farm Market near us. It’s a destination all its own. We end up leaving with everything from lobsters to produce to fresh doughnuts. Pro Tip: Beth’s sells lobsters on Sunday.

Vacation in Maine like a local - Beth's Farm Market

But there’s no need to make a huge excursion out of buying from hardworking farmstands in Maine. Just pull over and shop at one! You’ll be amazed at how great they are. Read more →

Sadler House February 22, 2018 1 Comment Permalink

Tic Tac Toe Keepsake

In order to give guests the optimal experience at your vacation rental, it’s important to pay attention to those little extras. Years ago, before we had our own place, we stayed at a vacation rental in the area of Luray, Virginia. When we arrived, the owner had left us a basket of goodies, including a pound cake she had baked, herself. Between that and the generous stack of white towels, we were immediately predisposed to enjoy our stay. We felt very welcome. Tic Tac Toe Keepsake - DIY

Now that we are sharing Sadler House with guests, we try to carry on our own gift basket tradition. We aren’t living next door, so we can’t bake each guest a fresh pound cake. Instead, I’ve tried to come up with fun little crafts that our guests will find both charming and useful. We hope that these little touches and a welcome card will make show our guests how thankful we are to be hosting them.

Recently, I was scrolling through Pinterest and I came to a stop at this craft by Megan at the blog Balancing Home. The product was an adorable little tic tac toe set that was made from rocks and carried in a teeny burlap bag.

While I was reading the post, I started pondering how I might incorporate this craft into my gift baskets. I resolved to find some sort of rocks and burlap bags on my next trip to the craft store and give it a go.

Well, we all know you rarely find exactly what you’re looking for, right? Instead of the natural burlap bags, I happened upon a stack of sea foam green ones on clearance in the cake decorating aisle, of all places. I got a bunch of them for 50 cents each. The color reminded me a bit of a Tiffany box, and I hatched a plan to make my tic tac toe kit a little fancier. Here’s what I did, and I hope you love the results as much as I do! Read more →

Sadler House November 2, 2015 2 Comments Permalink