Topside Inn owners Mark Osborne and Buzz Makarewicz are already gearing up for winter.

The two are planning a special weekend in November that will be a precursor to the Harbor Lights Festival in Boothbay Harbor, and Gardens Aglow at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, that will begin the following weekend.

Osborne and Makarewicz are calling the package a Foodie/Brewery Weekend, that will take place from Nov. 9 or 10 to Nov. 12.

The weekend will begin on Thursday, Nov. 9 for people who want to spend an additional night before the weekend. That evening, the innkeepers will host a cocktail hour with complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres from 5 to 6 p.m. Dinner is not included, but suggestions for places to dine will be offered.

On Friday, breakfast, prepared by Chef Makarewicz, will be served in the morning, and cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be offered 6 to 7 p.m. Dinner is included that night at the inn.

Saturday will again begin with breakfast at the inn, from 8 to 10 a.m., and at 3 p.m. Ae Home, on Townsend Avenue, will host a reception with artist Alison Evans. At 5 p.m., guests are invited to a private tour and tasting at Boothbay Craft Brewery, where a beer and food pairing dinner will be served at 6.

Breakfast will be served at the inn on Sunday morning. Guests will check out by 3 p.m.

Last year, the inn was open for the weekend before Thanksgiving and three long weekends, Thursdays through Sundays, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Tickets to Gardens Aglow at the Botanical Gardens, and a cocktail party each evening, were included.

A problem occurred during that time, which made the owners second-think their decision to remain open. “We had a little pipe-freezing issue last year,” Osborne said. “There were seven couples here, and the last weekend was when the polar vortex came down and froze everything up.”

Guests were offered a full refund, but chose to tough it out. “They were super about it. They said, ‘Can you still cook?’ We said yes, and they said, ‘Well, we’re staying.’”

During the week before Thanksgiving this year, when Gardens Aglow opens, the inn will be hosting another special weekend. “We will have seven rooms open, and will only take seven reservations,” Osborne said. “We called those seven couples who were here for the polar vortex weekend, first, to ask if they’d be interested, and they all said yes. So we’ll be having a reunion weekend.”

Osborn and Makarewicz have owned the 19th century captain's home at 60 McKown Street since 2013.

Reservations for this winter’s special weekend are still available. “It’s going to be a fun, foodie weekend,” Osborne said. “It’s going to be a great time to be here in the harbor. We’re planning on having two nice weekends before Thanksgiving.”

Call 207-633-5404 for more information and reservations.