New England presents experiences that groups would be hard-pressed to duplicate anywhere else.
Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont typify all that people associate with New England: lobster bakes, idyllic beaches, covered bridges and historic estates.
“Even the air here is different,” says Tim Shea, interim executive director for the Vermont Convention Bureau.
The three states boast so many inimitable New England experiences that one or two visits won’t be enough.
Maine
Plenty of venues make Maine memorable for groups, says Barbara Whitten, president of the Greater Portland CVB.
One of the most unusual venues in Maine, she says, is The Franciscan Monastery Retreat Center and Franciscan Guest House in Kennebunk Beach.
“The 66 acres of rolling hills is beautiful,” says Gillian Goforth-Vincent, convention sales manager for the Greater Portland CVB. “It’s located on a river and is a stone’s throw from the beaches of Kennebunkport.”
The quaint seaside town of Kennebunkport is known for its picturesque beaches and great seafood restaurants, as well as for being the summer home of former President George H.W. Bush.
In the nearby town of Wells is Village by the Sea, a group-friendly hotel-condo set on 11 acres next to a wildlife preserve and salt marsh.
Another unusual option for groups is the Maine Irish Heritage Center, a renovated former Roman Catholic church in downtown Portland, the state’s largest city.
“It’s a great place for a meeting or a trade show,” Whitten says. “It’s different than a setting for the typical meeting.”
The facility hosts 700 people for a seated event. The stained-glass windows are still intact at the 18th century structure, which houses the state’s Irish Genealogical Center and Library.
Another interesting off-site venue for groups is the Robinhood Free Meetinghouse, a restaurant with function space and cooking classes in Georgetown, about an hour north of Portland. The restaurant is a converted 1855 church.
“It’s unusual because the chef is quite a character,” Whitten says.
Chef and Maine native Michael Gagne is known for the creation of the 72-layer cream cheese biscuit. The facility provides function space and cooking classes for groups.
In addition to unique venues, Maine offers off-site venues that incorporate the state’s great outdoors.
Groups can hop aboard a schooner in Portland that will take them to the 26-acre Cow Island in Casco Bay. The island is the site of several World War II bunkers that have been converted into dinner venues.
“A dinner by candlelight underground is spectacular,” Goforth-Vincent says.
Groups can explore the coast of the island with kayaks, get up early for some yoga on the beach or just hike the various trails. The island also hosts lobster bakes, a quintessential Maine experience.
In addition to experiencing Maine’s landscapes, the state is a goldmine of culture and history. An important venue in Maine is the Portland Museum of Art.
“It’s the most popular off-site venue in the state of Maine,” Whitten says. “It’s a popular opening reception site because it’s a large space that’s centrally located with magnificent architecture.”
I.M. Pei & Partners designed the brick building with its unusual semicircular openings.
Groups can experience the life of Portland’s native son and legendary poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at the home where he grew up, the Wadsworth-Longfellow House in Portland. The Maine Historical Society operates tours of the house and grounds. The society has a number of private meeting rooms, Whitten notes.
Along with what Whitten calls “the unusual, the rustic and the cultural” venues that typify the Maine experience, a number of brand-new developments are notable for planners.
The Ocean Gateway, Portland’s new cruise ship and ferry terminal that opened in May 2008, provides visitors with a 360-degree ocean view, Whitten says. The terminal was built to look like the prow of a ship.
Set to open this spring is The Landing at Pine Point, located in scenic coastal Scarborough, about six miles south of Portland. This events venue includes 6,500 square feet of meeting and function space and welcomes corporate special events, conferences and trade shows.
Just north of Portland, Freeport-based L.L. Bean offers guided outdoor adventures. The company’s Outdoor Discovery School offers a dizzying variety of customized group outings, such as touring islands by kayak in Casco Bay and taking in Maine’s coastal views by bicycle.
Farther north are scenic coastal towns like Camden, with the nearby Samoset Resort on Penobscot Bay, a top group retreat with unique team-building programs; Boothbay Harbor, home to Spruce Point Inn Resort & Spa, an elegant, meetings-friendly seaside spot; and Bar Harbor, where waterfront properties like Bar Harbor Regency and Harborside Hotel, Spa & Marina are popular among groups.
Adjacent to Bar Harbor is Acadia National Park, one of Maine’s iconic natural attractions.
New Hampshire
“One of the great things about New Hampshire is you’re never far from very different attractions,” says Charlene Courtemanche, senior executive assistant for the Greater Manchester COC. “Apple orchards are a half-hour away from Manchester. The Seacoast Region with lovely beaches is an hour away.”
She says the attractions exhibit a decidedly New England vibe, and there is something for groups year-round.
New Hampshire’s recreational attractions include skiing and other winter sports, taking in the blazing colors of fall foliage, summer strolls and fishing along the many lakes, NASCAR thrills at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Motorcycle Week, a popular motorcycle rally held in Laconia every June.
Cultural landmarks in Manchester include the historic Palace Theatre, which originally was a vaudeville theater house that showcased the likes of Harry Houdini and the Marx Brothers, and the Currier Museum of Art, an internationally renowned museum that offers tours of the nearby Zimmerman House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The structure is the only Wright-designed house in New England open for public tours. The Currier offers an auditorium with seating for 180 and other rooms that accommodate from 25 to 60 people.
Manchester offers a lot of options for attendees who are power shoppers. (New Hampshire has no sales tax.) The city features the Mall of New Hampshire, with 125 stores, and a number of cool shops located along Canal and Commercial streets, where there’s been increasing redevelopment of the historic Amoskeag Millyard.
Moving on to the state capital, Concord, there’s plenty of New England history to explore, and indeed American history. The New Hampshire State House is notable, since it’s the nation’s oldest capitol building in which the legislature meets in its original chambers.
Concord is also the home of a site of interest that was born out of great tragedy in American history, the former Christa McAuliffe Planetarium, which was named in memory of the Concord teacher who lost her life in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. The complex held a grand opening this March on a new 45,000-square-foot addition that will change the name of the complex to the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center. (Alan Shepard was the first American in space and was also a New Hampshire citizen.) The facility hosts groups for shows in its theater and catered dinners in the exhibit area.
The scenic Bretton Woods area in the northern part of the state holds unique New England experiences for groups. The Mount Washington Resort started a new year-round adventure, the Bretton Woods Canopy Tour, which doubles as a unique team-building option. Groups can get a bird’s-eye view of the Rosebrook Canyon in the White Mountains via 10 cable ziplines and two adventure sky bridges suspended 50 feet above the forest floor.
The resort recently built its Presidential Wing, which features 30,000 square feet of meeting space, as well as a 25,000-square-foot spa.
In the White Mountains town of Lincoln, about 45 minutes southwest of Bretton Woods, the Mountain Club on Loon, which recently completed a renovation, is another favorite New Hampshire resort with an array of outdoor adventure pursuits as well as team-building opportunities. Skiing, mountain biking and kayaking are among the options, as well as zipline canopy tours.
In the far northern part of the state, The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel is another classic mountain retreat with abundant outdoor adventures and plentiful function space.
Groups can also take in New Hampshire’s heights by train on the world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway. The Mount Washington Cog Railway has been taking passengers up the summit of Mount Washington for 140 years. The Conway Scenic Railroad, operating in the Mount Washington Valley, is another rail option for groups.
Farther southeast, the New England Center is a popular conference retreat tucked into a wooded setting at the University of New Hampshire campus in Durham. In nearby New Castle, groups can opt for Wentworth-by-the-Sea, A Marriott Hotel & Spa, a 19th century landmark property.
Vermont
The Green Mountain State is the only New England state with no coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. The mammoth 120-mile-long Lake Champlain takes up half of the state’s border and provides a spectacular setting for groups. The state is also famous for its many outdoor pursuits, country farms and idyllic Green Mountains.
“Vermont has a great brand association,” says Shea of the Vermont Convention Bureau. “When you say ‘Vermont,’ it conjures up ideas of the outdoors, pristine air, fabulous scenery, the TV show Newhart.”
Shea says Vermont offers groups experiences that “can’t be replicated anywhere else.”
Groups seeking the best of the state’s outdoor adventures are well-served at the Petra Cliffs Climbing Center and Mountaineering School in Burlington, which offers team-building programs such as indoor climbing, ropes courses and team challenges. Outdoor pursuits include ice climbing, caving and exploring the backcountry. The Bolton Adventure Center, a partner with Petra Cliffs and part of the Bolton Valley Resort in the town of Bolton, offers more team-building activities.
Set in the mountains overlooking the nearby village of Stowe, the Austrian-style Trapp Family Lodge welcomes groups with activities such as skiing and snowshoeing, in addition to a rock-climbing wall.
Nearby, Topnotch Resort & Spa and Stowe Mountain Lodge are also standout mountain properties with all the requisite activities and amenities.
Burlington is Vermont’s largest city and is a convenient access point for groups coming to the state. Burlington International Airport is 10 minutes from Lake Champlain and an hour from five mountain resorts. Burlington is more than an access point; the Burlington Waterfront on the shore of Lake Champlain includes bike and walking paths and views of the lake. The waterfront is also the home of the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. The facility features group tours.
Located just 15 minutes south of Burlington, the Shelburne Museum offers a New England backdrop. Venues at the museum include the Brick House, the steamboat Ticonderoga and the Pavilion Tent. The Brick House features views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains and accommodates 220 guests. The Ticonderoga, a National Historic Landmark, accommodates 100 for a seated dinner and 250 for a reception. A number of the facility’s buildings provide space for small meetings of up to 50 guests.
Few places are more classically Vermont, Shea says, than Woodstock, located about 95 miles southeast of Burlington and only an hour and a half from Concord, N.H.
“It’s the most picturesque Vermont village,” Shea says. “There’s no place like it.”
Woodstock has been dubbed “The Prettiest Small Town in America,” by Ladies Home Journal. The streets are lined with 19th century homes, churches and antique shops. A quintessential Vermont property is the Woodstock Inn & Resort, which was opened in 1969 by Laurance S. Rockefeller, grandson of John D. Rockefeller. The property accommodates groups of up to 300.
A half-mile from the inn is the Billings Farm and Museum, where groups can take tours to learn about Vermont’s pastoral heritage and the inner workings of this dairy farm. Attendees can enjoy a Vermont cheese and cracker lunch from the museum’s dairy bar. The picnic area borders a bubbling brook.
Another uniquely Vermont venue is Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, located in Manchester, about 100 miles from Burlington. The home was built by Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln. Hildene hosts corporate events and receptions year-round, and the setting is especially stunning during the winter when snow blankets the 412-acre estate.
What ultimately impresses groups about Vermont is its incomparable beauty.
“We have some stunning estates and little villages, but the best part of Vermont isn’t something anybody built,” Shea says. “It’s the landscape: the sunsets, the mountains, the lakes.”
For More Info
Maine
Bar Harbor COC 207.288.5103 www.barharbormaine.com
CVB of Greater Portland 207.772.4994 www.visitportland.com
Greater Bangor CVB 207.947.5205 www.bangorcvb.org
Maine Office of Tourism 207.287.5711 www.visitmaine.com
New Hampshire
Greater Manchester COC 603.666.6600 www.manchester-chamber.org
Mount Washington Valley COC and Visitor’s Bureau 603.356.5701 www.mtwashingtonvalley.org
New Hampshire Tourism Network and Meeting Sites 603.356.8119 www.nhmeetingsites.com
New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development 603.271.2665 www.visitnh.gov
White Mountains Attractions Visitors Bureau 603.745.8720 www.visitwhitemountains.com
Vermont
Vermont Convention Bureau 802.860.0606 www.vermontmeetings.com
