Maine Vacation, September 2000

Our Maine vacation September 2000

And so it was that we escaped from LA just as record temperatures were recorded in Pasadena (107^oF), a mild earthquake hit Marina Del Ray, and the MTA strike added a few million cars on the freeways. All in all a great week not to be here.

Using some Northwest airmiles we flew to Portland, Maine via Detroit and had a fabulous week in New England. We stayed with Gwen and Bob, the parents of our friend Susan Wilder(z) in the house built by Susan's brother David. It was great to be somewhere with a bit of weather for a change..... a couple of good thunderstorms and some real rain.....believe it or not, this is quite a novelty when you live somewhere with a 9 month dry season. We learnt that Maine is famous for:

fabulous Lobster

Blueberries

3478 miles of very beautiful wiggly coastline attracting tourists in Summer

Spectacular Fall leaves - these weren't quite going yet, but they attract their own special tourists locals call "leaf-peepers".

LL Bean - a retailer that has spawned a whole collection of outlet stores in Freeport, Maine.

A sparse population - about 1 million people spread over 30,000 sq. miles who tough out some pretty chilly winters.

Other obscure facts about Maine from my "World Almanac of the USA":

Median age: 33

Live births per 1000 population: 13.1 (50th place among all states - my kind of place!!)

First Atomic Submarine (the Swordfish) was built in Maine.

Home to the first sawmill in the US

Has the world's highest tides.

Enough facts and figures...here's Eve in 7th heaven eating lobster at a place called Harraseekit in South Freeport

Here are some of the sites we saw:

Here's the LL Bean retail shop in Freeport. We visited this on a rainy Friday. It was pretty busy. There's also a separate LL Bean Outlet Store, along with a load of other outlet stores that have settled in Freeport. This Retail Store is open 24 hours a day. No locks on the doors, I checked.

We took a trip up the coast on the weekend, heading up I-95, then sticking to the coast on Route 1. At Thomaston we stopped at this imposing colonial hilltop mansion - the historic home of General Henry Knox (1930's replica of), and really should have taken the guided tour. Instead we just use their bathroom.

We went through Brunswick, Bath, Wiscasset, Newcastle, Camden Belfast, Bucksport and ended up near Arcadia National Park on Mount Desert Island. Notice the English-sounding names. We stopped for a hike at Camden Hills State Park:

We ended up at Bar Harbor and found a bed for the night. Bar Harbor is very touristy, so we lasted only about 15 minutes shuffling through the crowds in and out of the craft shoppes. We were awoke the next morning by this ferry boat, which goes to somewhere in Nova Scotia.

Acadia State Park is famous for its network of Carriage Roads, which were laid out by one John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1913. There's about 57 miles of these throughout the park, and the way they've lasted is a testament to the way they were built. They're perfect for mountain biking , horse riding and hiking. We hiked. You don't have to go too far to lose the crowds.
We drove up Cadillac Mountain, like everyone else to see the view from the top. This is the tallest point in the Eastern Seaboard - but it's only a paltry 1530 ft. We can beat that in California!

Thanks to Eve's friend Mark for telling us about Castine, which was our destination for Sunday night. Castine is home to the Maine Maritime Acadamy, one of only 7 such places in the US. We stayed in a place called the Castine Inn, which was a great B&B - no phones, no TV and no Olympics! Here's a collection of Castine pics:

On Monday we headed back down the coast, stopping at Moosepoint State Park for a wander, and then back in the other end of Camden Hills State Park for another hike. Saw many hawks like this. Moose Point gave us this: Beginner's guide to Maine Marine Wildlife 101

One of my favorite sites we came across has to be this - an abandoned London double-decker bus which used to sell Fish and Chips. It was just abondoned in the middle of nowhere:

And this pretty cool building is a B & B called Nurumbaga, where Eve's friend Ann McNiel worked at one time:

And here's a famous house called the Wedding Cake House in Kennebunk. Built in 1826 by a shipbuilder called George Bourne as a wedding gift for his wife (I'll take one too please). It's one of Maine's most photographed buildings.

Tuesday was spent with a gentle trip to the beach with Susan and her brother Andrew. Then we lobstered it again in the evening at Nunans in Kennebunk.

Last but by no means least, here's our hostess Gwen with her very British trifle she made for us in her very nice kitchen. Thanks Gwen, Bob and Susan for such a great stay.

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	Here's the LL Bean retail shop in Freeport. We visited this on a rainy Friday. It was pretty busy. There's also a separate LL Bean Outlet Store, along with a load of other outlet stores that have settled in Freeport. This Retail Store is open 24 hours a day. No locks on the doors, I checked.
	We took a trip up the coast on the weekend, heading up I-95, then sticking to the coast on Route 1. At Thomaston we stopped at this imposing colonial hilltop mansion - the historic home of General Henry Knox (1930's replica of), and really should have taken the guided tour. Instead we just use their bathroom.

One of my favorite sites we came across has to be this - an abandoned London double-decker bus which used to sell Fish and Chips. It was just abondoned in the middle of nowhere:
And this pretty cool building is a B & B called Nurumbaga, where Eve's friend Ann McNiel worked at one time:
And here's a famous house called the Wedding Cake House in Kennebunk. Built in 1826 by a shipbuilder called George Bourne as a wedding gift for his wife (I'll take one too please). It's one of Maine's most photographed buildings.