Maine - Acadia National Park

So far, I’ve talked about the places in Maine I went to in October 2007 and the places I’d like to go and visit in Maine minus one:

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

 

It’s a vacation all on its own.  It’s that big and there is so much to do there.  It will celebrate its 100^th anniversary in 2016.  It was the first national park east of the Mississippi River, and is located on more than 47,000 acres along the rugged coast of Maine.  Its home to many plants and animals, and the tallest mountain on the US Atlantic Coast.  You can hike, bike, or relax and enjoy the scenery.  But, their visitor center and some of their roads are only open from April through October every year even though they are a year round park so plan your trip accordingly.

There are two scenic byways in the area that shows the beauty of Acadia.  One is the Acadia All American Road.  It’s a 40-mile road that takes you from the shorelines, to the top of granite-capped mountains, past lakes, and through forests. 

Acadia All American Road

Also, there is the Schoodic Scenic Byway.  Along this 29-mile road, you’ll be enchanted by the mountains, local birds, coastal islands, historic buildings, and lighthouses.  Brilliant views await you at every bend and turn on both byways.

Schoodic Scenic Byway

Two lighthouses in the Acadia National Park are the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse and the Bear Island Lighthouse.  The Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse was built along a cliff in the Tremont area back in 1858.  There is free parking to view the lighthouse from different viewpoints. 

 

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

The Bear Island Lighthouse was constructed in 1889 in the Somes Sound area, which is the only fjord on the east coast of the US.  This lighthouse is closed to the public and is best viewed by boat.

Bear Island Lighthouse

The carriage roads and stone bridges within the park is a 57-mile network of woodland roads free of cars for hikers, bikers, horseback riders, carriages, cross-country skiing and limited snowmobiling.

 

Also, you can schedule a boat ride to go to the islands just off the coast to see some Atlantic Puffins (often mistaken as penguins).  Here is one such cruise.  In 2008, the Atlantic Puffin population on Eastern Egg Rock eclipsed 100 nesting pairs of puffins to view on such tours.  Many of these tour companies also offer seal cruises, lighthouse cruises, and fall coastal cruises along the shores of Maine.

 
These are just the places I visited or would like to go and visit in Maine.  If you know of anywhere else in Maine we should check out, please leave a comment below.  Next, we’ll explore what’s just round the corner in the state of Maryland.

**All photos were found online.**

Maine - Wish List

In my last post, I noted the places I visited in 2007, but I’d love to go again and visit quite a lot of places on my next trip to Maine.  Here is a shortened version of that list.

While in Maine, I visited two lighthouses, however Maine has 65 lighthouses!  Every year in September, Maine hosts an Open Lighthouse Day.  It’s a fun family event intended to increase awareness of the rich history of its lighthouses and lighthouse keepers.  Along the shores of Maine on this day, companies provide excursions to show lighthouses that are only accessible by boat, lighthouses and museums are open for tours, and some lighthouses host live music.

In the town of Prospect, about 118 miles north of Portland, is the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory.  It’s the only bridge observatory tower in the US, and there are only four bridge observatories in the world.  It also has Maine’s fastest and tallest passenger elevator taking you up to the observatory.  The 360-degree view from the observatory is so beautiful.  But, the observatory is only open from May 1^st through October 31^st every year, so make sure to plan your trip accordingly.

 

While on the subject of bridges, I also love covered bridges.  We saw quite a few in New Hampshire on our New England road trip, however, we didn’t stop to see any of the nine covered bridges in Maine that are beautiful as well.

Babb's Bridge

With Maine being the US’s largest blueberry growing state, I might be able to find my chocolate blueberry latte at one of the state’s wild blueberry festivals, one of which is the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival in Machias.  They have a ball, fun runs, pie eating contests, crafters, farm tours, and even a blueberry musical.

I bet I could also find another good Maine lobster meal at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland.  They have a pancake breakfast, cooking contest, lobster crate races, fun runs, and a big parade.  Along with lobsters, they also have clam festivals such as the Yarmouth Clam Festival in Yarmouth, which hosts the Maine State Clam Shucking Contest.  WOW!  It also has a canoe/kayak race, parade, fun runs, crafters, and even a diaper derby (a fun race for crawlers and toddlers).

 

My friends from Maine told me that Maine has a desert.  I thought they were either lying or I had heard wrong and they were saying DESSERT!  But, nope, I heard right and they weren’t lying.  The Desert of Maine is Maine’s famous natural phenomenon in Freeport.  It has nature trails, sand dunes, and a barn museum.  But, they are only open from May through October every year so keep this in mind when planning your trip.  It used to be fertile grassland in the 1700s that eroded away to show the glacier desert that was always underneath the grassland.

Also in Freeport is the LL Bean Flagship Store.  Throughout the summer, they offer outdoor activities at their Discovery Park such as farmers’ markets, festivals, concerts, and games.  Throughout the year, they offer indoor events around the topics of birding, kayaking, navigating, hiking, camping, etc.

There is one place in Maine I’m not sure about visiting because I’m not that much of an outdoors person, but I sure do love to look at pictures of it.  That’s Baxter State Park in Millinocket.  They describe it as rustic, unpaved, and no electricity.  They have 215 miles of trails that offer all kinds of hikes from short easy day hikes to difficult long hikes.  It’s 209,501 acres and includes Maine’s highest peak, Mt. Katahdin, which is also the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail that starts in the Amicaloloa Falls State Park in Dawsonville, Georgia (Georgia’s Blog Post).

Mt. Katahdin

As I’ve mentioned many times, you should go tour the state capitol buildings when you’re traveling, especially in your home state.  Most of the time, there are free tours available.  Maine’s state capitol in Augusta is no different.

 

There’s one HUGE and MAGNIFICANT area of Maine I’m leaving out of this post and saving for my next post – Acadia National Park.  So, watch for that post in the next couple of days.

**All photos were found online.**

Maine - New England Road Trip

I visited Maine in October 2007 on a New England road trip with three other women (mentioned in my Connecticut Blog Post).  Now, if you’re from Maine, like two of my friends (Molly and Julie), you probably would agree with them that I didn’t visit “true” Maine because we only visited the southern point where all the “rich snobs live” (not where the “true Maine people” live).  However, I loved what I did see of Maine and I’d go back again.

In a previous post (Delaware Blog Post), I mentioned the EZ Pass.  Maine has tollbooths throughout the state that take the EZ Pass.  So, if you’ll be traveling through the Mid-Atlantic / Northeast along I-95, you might want to think about getting an EZ Pass to save time.

Our first stop in Maine was the Nubble Light (or Cape Neddick Light Station) in York.  I love lighthouses and this one didn’t disappoint.  The lighthouse itself is not accessible to the public, but it can be photographed from Sohier Park that overlooks this picturesque lighthouse.

From there, we drove north and visited the seaside town of Kennebunkport.  We put our feet in the freezing cold water on one of the nearby beaches.

We checked out the quaint shops and cafes.  One such café had a chocolate blueberry latte called the Mainer that was DIVINE!  It was SO GOOD!  Have I ever found another chocolate blueberry latte as good?  NO!  Have I been looking for another chocolate blueberry latte ever since – ABSOLUTELY!  Yummy!  While in Kennebunkport, we ate lunch at the Clam Shack.  I remember getting a little of everything and everything was wonderful! HOWEVER, word to the wise: do not eat a lot of the fried stuff no matter how good the clams are, okay?!  I made myself sick.  I just couldn’t take that much fried food all at once.

We spent the night in Saco.  There wasn’t anything special about it, but there was a nice Hampton Inn there with very friendly staff. They told us about a place where locals go for a lobster dinner (you know the places that only have Maine license plates in the parking lot).  It was so YUMMY and came complete with lobster bibs!  Can I remember where we ate?  Nope.  Sorry.  You’ll just have to find your own locals-only place for lobster in Maine.

They also told us of a few places to pick up some wonderful blueberry pie the next morning.  So, the next morning, we headed north with the plan to pick up some blueberry pie along the way, only to find out that all of those places were CLOSED ON SUNDAYS except the last one which had run out by the time we got there.  Be careful to look at the hours and days of operation for any place you want to go to.  Lesson learned.  So, it was off to Portland to check out the Portland Head Lighthouse, which was yet another beautiful lighthouse, but boy the wind was gusting!  Our hair was all over the place.

From there it was time to keep exploring through the New England states and head west to New Hampshire.  The leaves were breathtaking throughout our entire New England road trip.  I’d love to go back in the fall and see the leaves changing again and see a bunch of other places I’ve learned about since then.  In my next post, I’ll list those places that I’d like to go see on my next trip to the majestic state of Maine.

**All pictures taken by me or my friend, Lori.**