travel plans? free gas.
from the AP:
PORTLAND, Maine — Resort towns worried that high gas prices will keep visitors away are offering an incentive from Maine to California: a free tank of gas.
The towns are tapping into motorists’ angst over high gas prices during the summer tourism season to offer encouragement to drive a little farther.
In Maine, Bethel’s "Tanks for the Memories" promotion gives travelers $20 cash for gas for staying with participating innkeepers.
Robin Zinchuk of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce said there’s more to the town than Maine’s Sunday River ski resort.
The gas promotion was designed to grab the attention of travelers headed to Maine’s rocky coast and give them a nudge to drive inland, she said. The money provides for enough gas for a round trip from New England’s population centers.
"It’s a gimmick. It really is," Zinchuk said. "But it’s the truth: We’ll give people $20 for their gas."
This makes me very happy, because I'm looking into travelling to Bethel this August. Probably won't happen, but it's nice to see that I might be able to save some cash. Rates on hotels (local inns) up there are pretty cheap in the summer anyway, and saving $20 on gas is an added bonus.
And, it's pretty central to everywhere I need to visit, aside from Boston, and some of the inns are near Sunday River, which my family helped build. It's also convenient to Newry, Andover, Paris, and Norway. And Errol, if I choose to go there again.