OK, I may be up in Maine for a weekend only. Anybody from up that way who can give me a two or three day itenerary to get the flavor of the area? I’ll be driving up from Boston airport.
Shopping in Freeport or Kittery. Everything you can think of (LL Bean’s main store is in Freeport) is sold in either place.
Skiing at Sunday River in Bethel. Its a haul from Boston (about 4 to 5 hours), but its one helluva ski area.
Acadia National Park on the very east edge of the state. Nice place.
I’ve always wanted to visit Skowhegan. There isn’t a lot of stuff there, but I like to say Skowhegan.
Jeremy…
Nobody ever calls me after they’ve done something smart.
what time of year are you going to be up there?
in the summer, the whole coast up to Bangor is pretty much a tourist trap. but once you get north of said town, pretty much any coastal burg is worth visiting - find a local lobster pound, get some chow, and see the scenic sea sites. Castine is fairly nice. you can also head farther inland to avoid the toursim. check out Wayne.
if you’re into shopping, Freeport is outlet city.
for parks, Acadia/Mt. Desert Island is quite nice.
if you’re into the maritime heavily, there are about a million maritime museums. imho, the best is in Bath (i forget the name). the wooden boat school in Brooklin is also very interesting (http://www.woodenboat.com).
if you’re there in the winter, i’m not really sure. Sunday River is definitely an option (plus, there’s a Sunday River brewery). but VT has better skiing by far. 
-ellis
Y’think with visiting my in-laws in Bangor, I’d know a lot of places to go. But I just have a handful.
- Acadia Nat’l Park. If it’s not cloudy, go to the top of Cadillac Mountain. Sunrise is supposed to be beautiful there.
- The Coffee Pot cafe, Bangor. Get there just after opening and buy a “Coffee Pot” sandwich. It’s an open-faced Italian sub that’s to die for. They make a limited number per day, so get there early.
- Steven King’s house, Bangor.
Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination.
I highly recommend Mount Desert Island.
The small towns on the “quiet side” of the island – Southwest Harbor, Somesville, Bass Harbor – are charming and still Authentic Maine. (The “noisy side” features Bar Harbor, home of fudge stores and t-shirt shops, and Northeast Harbor, home of the Ridiculously Wealthy.) The Bed & Breakfasts are very nice, and the Claremont Hotel, a huge sprawling 1880s-vintage yellow clapboard tourist hotel in SW Harbor, is totally cool.
MDI is also the home of most of Acadia National Park. Take a drive around on the Park Loop Road, which features impossibly gorgeous vistas, and buy a copy of the excellent local guidebook A WALK IN THE PARK. Pick one or two of the hikes that appeal to you (these range from pleasant strolls to strenuous climbs to the sort of thing where you’re hanging by your fingernails from a rock precipice).
Have dinner at George’s in Bar Harbor. Pick up a few pounds of dried State of Maine yellow-eyed beans or Jacob’s Cattle beans to take home for the beanpot. Hit the used bookshops (Maine is THE place for used bookshops).
Maine. I like it. Can you tell?
Uke
Thanks for the tips, y’all. Some good insider info. Let me know if you ever need tips on an Atlanta/Georgia sojourn.
Acadia National park wins hands down, but if in Portalnd, visit the scenic lighthouse on the rocky coast known as Portland Head Light. Then, just a quick hop south, visit Cape Elizabeth for another scenic vista known as “Two Lights”. Freeport, Kennebunk, and Ogunquit each offer something different, too.
If headed way north up the coastline, follow Route 1 from Acadia for some scenic ocean views and take a detour to Lubec, Maine to see West Quoddy Point lighthouse.
Maine - you gotta go!
“They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV
When I was in Maine, one of the coolest things I saw was the Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor. I highly recommend it.
Chaim Mattis Keller
ckeller@kozmo.com
“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective
If you’re interested in that sort of thing, Fort Knox, not far from Bangor, is one of the finest. It’s from the last generation of stone fortifications, and very well preserved.
John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams
Yeah, Ft. Knox is just before you hit that bridge with the great view, just outside of Bucksport.
We stopped there last summer (needed a break from driving, what with the 9-year-old and the 3-year-old) and they just happened to be having a Civil War battle re-enactment. Delightfully entertaining, though I was surprised to find that Confederate forces had pushed that far north.
As you continue Down East on Route One through Bucksport, be sure to slow down as you pass the old graveyard on the north side of the road. You’ll see old Colonel Buck’s “haunted gravestone,” which bears the imprint of the leg of a witch he supposedly had put to death in the early nineteenth century. The story is bunkum, but delicious nonetheless.
Oh, yeah, speaking of delicious…stop for a meal at Moody’s Diner, just outside of Waldoboro on Route One. One of the best-preserved oldtime diners in the Northeast. EVERYONE knows about it, though, so try to hit it at off-peak times.
Uke