Lindbergh Crate Museum

Do you like helicopters and airplanes (large and small)?
Do you like history?
Do you like meeting great people?
Do you like driving?
The Crate Museum is off the beaten path (almost in Bangor, ME), but is an absolutely grassroots-​created museum and well maintained by people (Ross family) who honestly wish to share Charles Lindbergh’s realized dream of flying solo across the Atlantic in 1927 with anyone and everyone with a dream.
The museum itself IS the crate in which the plane fuselage was shipped back to the states from Europe. It includes a collection of the history behind the flight and the delivery of the crate to the Ross residence. Outside the crate are inspirational quotes posted onto the trees, a beautiful view toward the southeast, a motivational carrot … and the fresh Maine air and woods.
The museum can be visited at any time, but the best way to experience the museum is by attending CRATE DAY (early June, call for exact dates and times), which most recently was today.
WHAT IS CRATE DAY
Crate Day is a small, but nationally recognized «Fly-​Over» event where military planes and helicopters fly over, but the helicopters stick around. There is a maze, an amazing flag demonstration, a fire truck, a state trooper, old cars, hot rods, [bring cold water and lunch!] Other «presentation» people are invited to share their hobbies (illustration, stone carving, metal art, model airplanes/​helicopters, Engineers without Borders) with the crowd of maybe 200 people.
WHY
This day highlights the Ross family who honestly want people, especially youngsters (elementary school), to realize that they have the ability to achieve anything they believe they can do. It just takes a little encouragement, a little motivation (perhaps by carrot).
BETTER THAN YOU’D EXPECT
Man, and it is spectacular! Mostly locals attend, but the effort put into the day has clearly made its mark –
+ by the helicopter landing pad that was recently built to allow a second helicopter to stick around,
+ by US soldiers who fly for 6 hours from VIRGINIA to MAINE on a historic Chinook helicopter,
+ by the «Spirit of Canaan», the little plane RIDE on a zip line (so fun)
and of course
+ by the genuine excitement felt by everyone there
The highlight for me was all the learning I did today. I learned that those military helicopters are difficult to sit in (I hit my head on every surface trying to squeeze in), that being 15 ft in the air inside a thin wooden box of a «plane» is scary, that model helicopters cost an arm and a leg but they rock, and that the kids actually take something positive away from this great event (1 young guy who had come to Crate Day 5 years ago decided to come back just to let Larry Ross know that the day made an impact on him and he’ll never forget it).
Wow. Though it might take eight years to make it up to Canaan ME for Crate Day, you’ll be glad you did.