Bunkers, beer, botanical gardens and Bigelow. Ten years ago if you were to say those words could shape the future of Boothbay, people might have choked on their fish filets at Bet's Fish Fry.

Simple words might not spell out a prophecy, but in recent months some big changes have happened in our small town by the sea.

In case you've been stuck in a sand trap all winter, the Boothbay Country Club is under new ownership. With a brand new dining room, pro-shop and driving range already in the works, and talks of bigger plans down the road, many business owners, residents and visitors of the region have taken a keen interest in the new developments at the golf course.

Beyond the fairways to the north, another business has opened its doors. The Watershed Tavern is the new addition to the Boothbay Craft Ale brewery. Offering a complete “farm to table” menu of wood fired flat bread pizzas to go along with their local line of ales, the Watershed Tavern combines the ingenuity of Maine microbrewing with the unique flavor found only in Boothbay.

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens has become a cornerstone of the community's “to do” list. When the gardens were nothing but an idea in 1991, it must have been difficult for anyone to envision that a dusty dirt road with a few empty lots would grow to be named TripAdvisor’s number one public gardens in 2013.

Since the garden gates first opened to the public in 2007, droves of visitors have walked the pathways and experienced the wonder of the coastal Maine in full bloom.

On the other side of the peninsula, big things are happening at Bigelow Laboratories. Last December, Senator Susan Collins visited the campus in East Boothbay to present a Gold Certificate for sustainability and environmentally-friendly design. Named one of the top ten best places to work in Maine, Bigelow continues to lead the field in modern oceanography which has brought many new jobs to the region, and put Boothbay on the map for innovative and sustainable practices.