School’s out soon. Learning needn’t be. Maine, indeed all of New England, is museum country. Here’s a “curated”, very incomplete list. NB: Check websites for times and conditions of opening. Phone as well; these days things can change very suddenly.

I’ve talked about nearby museums before: Museum L-A and Bates College Art; Scribner’s Mill; New England Ski Museum. Portland is a treasure chest; you’ll need more than one trip. The Museum of Art; Maine Historical Society; The Observatory; Portland Head with museum, fort, and lighthouse; the outrageously decorated Victoria Mansion… Heading south, art and history abound in Ogunquit, the Kennebunks, York, and Kittery (Google the towns). Then comes Portsmouth, with its extraordinary historic homes and well-signposted streetscapes. Historic New England (formerly the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities) looks after many important buildings from Connecticut through to Maine; almost any trip you take could include a look at one of their properties.

Downeastward, Brunswick has art and the arctic (Bowdoin museums) and Joshua Chamberlin’s home (a must for Civil War buffs). The Maine Maritime Museum at Bath tells of history, past technologies, and adventures; good displays for kids; a variety of nautical tours to lighthouses, etc. And they organise tours of the Bath Iron Works: compare 19th and 21st Century shipyards.

Rockland offers all sorts of art at the Farnsworth (compare three generations of Wyeths) and the Contemporary. Out of town, the Owls Head Transportation Museum makes cars and trains and planes interesting for hobbyists, collectors, fanatics, and the general public.

Two great Native American museums (the Canadians say it better: “First Peoples”) require overnight trips. The Abbe at Bar Harbor collects from several Wabanaki peoples. The Mashantucket-Pequot Museum is part of the Foxwoods complex; as at Bar Harbor, places to stay and additional things to do.

“Living History” and re-enactment are entertaining and informative. Maine tells of farm life at Norlands at Livermore. In Massachusetts, Plimoth Plantation and Old Sturbridge speak of life in the 17th and 19th Centuries. And, of course, there’s Colonial Williamsburg, a more ambitious trip. Why does Virginia’s colonial capital feel so much more civilized than our current federal version?

David R Jones has enjoyed almost all of these museums; he means to get to Plymouth Plantation someday soon.