Give the Gift of Experience
Spend more time with loved ones this holiday with the gift of a uniquely maine experience
By Joanna O’Leary
This holiday season, give your loved ones the gift of time.
No, not “time” like those interminable 47 minutes you spend waiting in line at the DMV, but a “good time,” maybe even a “great time” engaging in a uniquely Maine activity.
For the Locavore
For a versatile foodie-centered “experience present” consider a Maine farmers’ market gift certificate. This voucher is a particularly useful gift for the locavore in your life, giving them access to more than 50 different farmers markets across the state — including several that are open during winter, like the farmers’ markets in Bangor, Hampden, and Orono. Gift certificates are available for purchase online.
For the Maker
You’re never too old to go back to school, and for the right course, you just might want to. The Shaker Village — the only active community of its kind in the United States — at Sabbathday Lake near New Gloucester offers a range of virtual, on-site, and hybrid courses that make for wonderful special occasion presents. Give a crafty comrade on your “nice” list a basket-weaving workshop or a “make your own lip balm” class.
Make Memories
For fun with four-legged friends, try a gift card for an alpaca walk from Northern Solstice Alpaca Farm in Unity. These half-hour guided sessions cover basic alpaca handling and safety, then conclude with participants leading their alpacas on a promenade through the grounds. It’s a fun, unforgettable, and memory-making experience.
Get Cheesy
You can make an aspiring cheesemonger’s dreams come true with a gift certificate for an adult cheese-making program at Pineland Farms. Pineland offers a robust schedule of beginner courses for farmers cheese, chèvre, feta, and cajeta, and students are also invited to inflect their creations with herbs from the adjacent garden. Plus tons of other classes to boot. Or pick up an annual farm pass for the whole family, which includes free daily farm visits and discounts on food and other activities.
Unlike that eggnog candle, an “experience present” will garner its recipient memories to last a lifetime. (And you don’t even have to worry about wrapping paper.)
