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Log inSummer bookings appear strong in Belgrade Lakes
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Summer bookings appear strong in Belgrade Lakes
by Outspoken on Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:51 am
Summer bookings appear strong in Belgrade Lakes
By MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
BELGRADE LAKES — Maine Turnpike traffic might not be breaking records at the start of this holiday weekend, but that must mean vacationers are finding another route on their way to this tourist haven.
At Lakeside Cottage Rentals, business appears to be on track for a strong season.
“We’ve gone past the numbers that we hit for last year,” owner Ted McCarthy said Thursday in his office on Route 27.
Innkeeper Martha Skeel, at the Belgrade Lakes House down the road, reports a similar phenomenon.
“I think our reservations are up this year,” she said.
And at Antique Interiors, owner Janet Edelstein said the stream of customers last weekend, which she considered the kickoff to the summer tourist season, was nearly too much to handle.
“People from away,” she said, “it’s like they think I’m the best thing since sliced bread.”
McCarthy said a combination of high gas prices and a slow economy did not appear to be putting a damper on his cottage rental business. He rents out 50 cottages.
“People seem like they’ve made their plans and are going to follow through on them,” he said. “I don’t know if paying $20 more in gas is going to affect their plans.”
McCarthy said approximately a quarter of his renters are Mainers. Most others hail from Mid-Atlantic and other New England states within reasonable driving distance. A small number of Australians, Britons and Canadians are part of the mix.
Skeel said this season she is beginning to book reservations for European visitors after a multiple-year period without many trans-Atlantic visits.
And Skeel and her husband have a contingent of customers who will faithfully come each season despite the price of gas, she said.
“A lot of people have so much money, it wouldn’t matter what the gas prices are,” she said.
Among the faithful patrons are the parents of children attending nearby summer camps, such as New England Music Camp in Sidney.
“They know their child is a prodigy and is coming back,” she said.
The license plates on cars parked around town Thursday showed a mix of Northeastern states. Ohio appeared to be the most distant.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/527485397.html
Staff photos by Joe Phelan
By MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
BELGRADE LAKES — Maine Turnpike traffic might not be breaking records at the start of this holiday weekend, but that must mean vacationers are finding another route on their way to this tourist haven.
At Lakeside Cottage Rentals, business appears to be on track for a strong season.
“We’ve gone past the numbers that we hit for last year,” owner Ted McCarthy said Thursday in his office on Route 27.
Innkeeper Martha Skeel, at the Belgrade Lakes House down the road, reports a similar phenomenon.
“I think our reservations are up this year,” she said.
And at Antique Interiors, owner Janet Edelstein said the stream of customers last weekend, which she considered the kickoff to the summer tourist season, was nearly too much to handle.
“People from away,” she said, “it’s like they think I’m the best thing since sliced bread.”
McCarthy said a combination of high gas prices and a slow economy did not appear to be putting a damper on his cottage rental business. He rents out 50 cottages.
“People seem like they’ve made their plans and are going to follow through on them,” he said. “I don’t know if paying $20 more in gas is going to affect their plans.”
McCarthy said approximately a quarter of his renters are Mainers. Most others hail from Mid-Atlantic and other New England states within reasonable driving distance. A small number of Australians, Britons and Canadians are part of the mix.
Skeel said this season she is beginning to book reservations for European visitors after a multiple-year period without many trans-Atlantic visits.
And Skeel and her husband have a contingent of customers who will faithfully come each season despite the price of gas, she said.
“A lot of people have so much money, it wouldn’t matter what the gas prices are,” she said.
Among the faithful patrons are the parents of children attending nearby summer camps, such as New England Music Camp in Sidney.
“They know their child is a prodigy and is coming back,” she said.
The license plates on cars parked around town Thursday showed a mix of Northeastern states. Ohio appeared to be the most distant.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/527485397.html
Staff photos by Joe Phelan
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
