PICTURESQUE HERON VIEW COTTAGE ON SCENIC MACHIAS BAY

The Outdoors and Puffin Boat Tours: Heron View Cottage is just a short drive from Jasper Beach, with its expansive, half-mile-long cobble beach and surf. There are several hiking trails located in Cutler that are only a 20 minute drive from the house. The Bold Coast, Boot Cove and Hamilton Cove trails skirt along the edge of rugged ocean cliffs and scenic vistas. They are “must” hikes when visiting the Downeast coast area.

Another “must do” while in the area is the Atlantic Puffin boat tours offered by Captain Andy Patterson of the Bold Coast Charter Company out of Cutler harbor. These beautiful and rare parrot-like seabirds only frequent a few of the rugged offshore islands along the Maine coast. Your destination of Machias Seal Island, only 9 miles off Cutler, is the largest puffin colony on the Maine coast, with thousands more birds than any other site.

Lobsters and Whales: The cottage is only a short drive to the lobster wharf in Bucks Harbor where vacationers revel at the chance to pick out their own fresh lobsters on the pier. You can also hop on a whale-watching cruise departing from Eastport daily. The cottage is only 1 hour from this popular and picturesque whale-watching port.

The Famous Machias Wild Blueberry Festival in August! And don’t miss the Downeast event of the year – the annual Machias Wild Blueberry Festival in Machias (Aug. 16-18, 2013). This is a fun-filled celebration of the blueberry. The Downeast region produces nearly 85% of the world's blueberries, and the residents of the area are proud of that fact and it shows. There’s no lack of exciting events for everyone at this event – a Main Street parade, blueberry farm tours, magic shows, fabulous food, fireworks, crafts and fine art by regional artists, live music and, of course the blueberry pie-eating contest!