Although they are carefully cultivated, all the various gardens look a bit wild, as if they had simply occurred in nature- that’s intentional. You can wander between the Woodland Garden, the Perennial and Rose Garden, the Burpee Kitchen Garden, the Clever Event Law n, the Great Lawn, It may not be an Olympic event, but Camden, hosts the United States National Toboggan Championships every February at the Camden Snow Bowl. Since 1991,2 ,3 .and 4 person teams have braved the 400 foot, frozen toboggan chute, with a vertical incline of more than 70 feet, on which toboggans reach speeds up to 45 miles per hour. It may not be for the faint of heart, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun.
Maine USA Flag Photo Gallery
While it is technically a championship event, with professional teams competing from all over, it’s also open to just about anyone with a team and a toboggan. More than 400 teams compete annually and the event lakes on a bit of a festival atmosphere. Most teams have funkv names and some dress in sillv costumes. There are tents from area vendors serving hot cocoa, coffee, and snacks, and there’s usually a chili and chowder cook off and some music by local talent.
Always held the first weekend in February, weather permitting, you’ll want to register your team early. Racers vie for the fastest time down the chute in qualifying and final runs, with a shinv trophy for the winning team. Don’t worry if you don’t feel likea daredevil. There’s always a crowd of people just there to watch and enjoy the scene. It’s a good cure for cabin fever.
Some 21,000 years ago, the Laurentide Ice Sheet scraped across Maine, leav ing the convoluted shoreline and lots of the rocks we have todav. Its aftermath also left hab itable land that Paleo Indians, or nomadic “Red Paint” people, began to inhabit nearly 13,000 years ago. Those first natives were replaced by the Armouchiquois in southern Maine, the Etchemin in mid to northern Maine, and the Abenaki in the interior and west. These were the precursors of our modern Maliseet. MicMac, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddv tribes.
There are several petroglyph (rock carv ing) sites in Maine, dating from pre his toric times to contact with Europeans. The islands and shoreline around Machias Bav are considered one of the most important concentrations of petroglyphs, with many of the sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. I he carvings were created by picking or carving the surface of the rock to create images.
According to the Maine Historic Pres ervation Commission, Machias is home to nineteen petroglvph sites. I he best known is called the Picture Rocks, considered the most important and sacred site in Maine, lliese drawings are between 3,000 and 5,000 years old and some may be as old as 10,000 vears.
