BANGOR – Forget the Boston Marathon and the rest of Monday’s traditional events, the city of Bangor and Maine beat Beantown to the punch as Wednesday was THE Patriots’ day.

The owner of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and three of his players made their way from Bangor International Airport to Bass Park and back again for a quick stop in the Queen City on the way to a parade in Portland.

Bangor became the fifth stop on Patriots Victory Tour 2002 as team owner Robert Kraft and players Lawyer Milloy, Super Bowl hero Adam Vinatieri and Bobby Hamilton walked off a private jet and into the airport’s General Aviation Center waiting area at 12:50 p.m. on a bright and blustery Wednesday.

The guests of honor had just five minutes to hit the restrooms and sign some autographs before it was time to go on the move again, but the weary party was still all smiles as they were patted on their backs and offered hands to shake.

“I take everything, challenges and all, that goes along with being a Super Bowl champion. It feels good,” said Milloy, a starting safety and three-year defensive captain. “I’m tired, but it’s definitely a good tired.”

From there, the small party and an enthusiastic welcoming party of 40 people piled into a pair of gleaming white stretch limousines, a van, and four other cars and were whisked away by police escort to the Bass Park grandstand, where 4,000 fans eagerly awaited a glimpse and maybe a handshake or autograph from their champions.

The twin, 30-foot Lincoln Royale Town Cars weaved through four miles of intersections, neighborhood streets, and the Bass Park stables before finally emerging through the back end of the harness racing track complex and onto the infield as red, white, blue and silver-clad fans roared in applause.

Milloy, who talked about representing all of New England, not just Boston, and shocking the world, “but not ourselves,” drew a roar when he imitated teammate Ty Law’s dance moves on stage and danced with a female fan as the PA system played “Nelly’s #1,” a rap hit.

Although it was hard to tell, the loudest applause went to Kraft as he stepped to the microphone and placed the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the dais in front of him.

The shiny silver award bore the marks of its popularity in the form of numerous fingerprints and smudges from players, personnel, and fans alike who just wanted to touch it.

“We waited 42 years to have this trophy,” Kraft told his appreciative audience, ranging from lifetime fans and retirees to schoolchildren playing hooky to get a look at their heroes.

Kraft paid tribute to Bangor High School’s football team, noting that they may have done a better job of winning a title as the Rams went undefeated, and the University of Maine’s football team, which notched its first-ever NCAA Division I-AA playoff win last fall.

Both Bangor coach Mark Hackett and UM coach Jack Cosgrove, a lifetime Pats fan, joined Kraft and the players on stage for the 35-minute ceremony, which involved team captains distributing balls autographed by the Patriots to younger children in the crowd.

Despite stops in downtown Boston and Providence, and at the White House and Fenway Park in the last two weeks, the traveling still hasn’t worn down the Patriots.

“I’ll take this kind of tired any day,” said Kraft on the way back to the airport. “Most kinds of tired bring lots of aggravation with it, but if signing autographs and saying thank you to people is tiring, I hope I’m tired like that for the rest of my life and I hope we have a chance to repeat it.”

Bangor Mayor Michael Crowley officially decreed April 10, 2002, as New England Patriots Day. He then gave Kraft and all three players plaques with keys to the city of Bangor on them – a first for both Hamilton and Milloy.

“I’ve got one other one, but that was from my hometown of Rapid City,” said Vinatieri, a South Dakota native.

Hamilton, who hails from Columbia, Miss., was all smiles as he examined his gift in the limo.

“It’s very exciting going all around man, visiting all the New England fans who believe in us and support us,” he said. “To look around and see this pride makes us proud and more hungry for next year. I think that not only Boston, but the whole New England area was ready for a champion.”

Hamilton still hasn’t gotten used to that champion word yet.

“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” the 6-foot-5, 280-pound defensive end said, closing his eyes. “I’ve got to get that ring on my finger. That’s when it’ll really sink in. Right now, it’s hard to describe how I’m feeling. I can’t quantify it.”

Vinatieri can.

“This kind of puts it all in perspective for you,” said the placekicker whose 48-yard field goal gave the Pats a 20-17 Super Bowl victory over the St. Louis Rams. “I mean, obviously we’re the New England Patriots, but to be able to see stuff like this … I mean, you’re talking thousands of miles of fans and a lot of different states, and I really think that makes it more special, rather than a one-town, one-state kind of team.”

Milloy said his seven years in the NFL have made it impossible for him not to appreciate the Patriots’ accomplishment.

“It is definitely indescribable, but I think as far as the players, the reason why it’s so gratifying – at least with me and Adam – is we went to a Super Bowl and lost it [1997] and then had years where we progressively got worse,” said the 28-year-old Milloy, who ironically is a St. Louis native. “So I think that in order for us to really get the whole feeling of being a Super Bowl champion in the fashion we did, we had to go through those troubling times and down times with the organization.

“That made this trip back to the Super Bowl more of a business trip for us. We were very focused because we realized those opportunities are very slim.”

The Patriots were greeted in Portland by a parade down Congress Street before approximately 25,000 people.

Before the Patriots arrived in Bangor, the city also honored the efforts of the Bangor and UMaine football teams.

Hackett, who was joined on stage by captains Ben Guerette, Buddy Nickerson, Chris Bombardier and Derrick Shain, warmed up the crowd by emphasizing the success of the two teams.

“We may be a smaller city and didn’t shred paper all night [like Portland], but there’s something very special here: two championship teams. Portland has neither,” Hackett said.

Hackett also pointed out the closeness of the Bangor program with UMaine as he and several of his coaches and Bangor High administrators played football for the Black Bears.

“Maine doesn’t have to look very far to see a lot of support from Bangor,” Hackett said.

Given that closeness, Hackett presented Cosgrove with a rock plucked from Mount Katahdin with a medallion inscribed “attitude is everything.”

The Bangor football team climbed Mount Katahdin at the beginning of the season because they wanted to reach the state’s highest point and duplicate that by reaching the pinnacle of success during their season.

Cosgrove praised the efforts of the Bangor football team and thanked the city for “asking the Black Bears to the party.” He also issued a lighthearted apology.

“I’d like to apologize to the Bangor School Department for the four Cosgrove children who were dismissed early today. This is a football holiday for the Cosgrove family,” he said.

Cosgrove was accompanied on stage by team captains Chad Hayes, Zack Magliaro, and Malik Nichols. Hayes, who hopes to be selected in the NFL draft, congratulated Bangor High for its success and thanked the fans for their support.

While waiting for the Patriots to arrive, Hayes fielded several requests from young autograph seekers and also posed for pictures with several children.

NEWS sports editor Joe McLaughlin contributed to this report.