STATE 1: MAINE

I began my first state in 2007 with my two friends Jason and Jenny. The distance is about 602 miles from Pennsylvania, with an average of 11-12 hours of traveling time. Our first day was mainly just driving. We left at about 12 or 1 in the morning to get our journey started, passing through states like New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

 The first thing you will see when you arrive in the state of Maine is a big sign that says, "WELCOME TO MAINE: The Way Life Should Be." A sign like that surely couldn't let you down!

Some background on why I chose Maine as my first state to go to was because I had seen the movie "Sarah, Plain and Tall," and had always wanted to visit there. Sarah's character was from Maine. If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. It stars Glenn Close and Christopher Walken.

Sarah Plain and Tall Trailer

After seeing this movie, I am sure you will know why I wanted to check out these jagged rocks and coastal towns.

The first thing you have to prepare yourself for is the weather. It is cool and it rains a lot. We went in a time of year that was very hot (August), but Maine was a lot cooler than we thought it would be. Driving that first day in Maine was crazy because it rained the whole entire way up there.

Our first glimpse of what Maine was going to look like happened on our second day, and was a quick "let's pull to the side of the road" stop when we first entered into Acadia National Park. The green land, the blue skies, and the fresh air was getting us excited!

Acadia National Park was the first National Park east of the Mississippi. According to the Acadia National Park website it says, "People have been drawn to the rugged coast of Maine throughout history. Awed by its beauty and diversity, early 20th-century visionaries donated the land that became Acadia National Park. The park is home to many plants and animals, and the tallest mountain on the U.S. Atlantic coast. Today visitors come to Acadia to hike granite peaks, bike historic carriage roads, or relax and enjoy the scenery."

You can't imagine the difference between a coastline in New Jersey and a coastline in Maine. They are such polar opposites. One with white sand and blue/gray waters and the other one with huge storming rocks the size of houses.

 Jason is that tiny guy on that BIG rock.

You also wouldn't imagine how clean the water is there. At least in the area we were, it was clear as day. There is no comparison to New Jersey water, haha.

On that same day, we went out to learn about lobsters since Maine is the most famous for catching Lobsters. Lulu's Lobster Boat came highly recommended and so we threw our money in the bag and hoped the adventure would prove sea worthy.


Picture of boat is copyright of: www.lululobsterboat.com

Lulu is a traditional Downeast-style lobster boat that departs from Harborside Hotel & Marina in downtown Bar Harbor. It sails into Frenchman's Bay. We learned some interesting things like lobsters smell with their leg hairs and fisherman throw the large males back into the waters because they had a great survival rate and will produce more little lobster babies!

This is _______? His life was spared that day. Haha, actually Lulu is a tour boat and they throw all their lobsters that they catch on the tour back into the water.

Our third day we decided to hit up Fort Knox. Apparently, there are two Fort Knox's: one in Kentucky and one in Maine. But we'll keep to the correct state. This Fort Knox is a historic site. Actually, I am laughing because I just went on the official site and it boasts, "America's first Fort Knox."

Fort Knox is located on the west bank of the Penobscot River in Prospect, Maine, in an area called the Penobscot Narrows. It was named after Major General Henry Knox, America's first secretary of war. The fort was constructed between 1844-1869. At the time, Maine was involved in a fair amount of northeast border disputes with British Canada and thus it was created to protect our borders and Penobscot river valley against naval invasions. The interesting thing is that it never saw military action, so it is in really good condition and considered one of the best preserved forts. 

Of course, it was raining again!

Later that evening we went into downtown Portland.

I think every trip you go on you can almost bet on finding something funny that you won't see anywhere else. ie. fart shirts, bobble heads, crazy trinkets, etc. These are some of the ones I found that I liked: 

 And probably the biggest backpack you will ever see! 

And since it was summer, Jason had his eye on finding a great ice cream store. 

We also made sure to hit up the famous L.L. Bean outlet store. 

By the way, it's not just a boot...... it's a Bean boot! 

I sort of think L.L. Bean beats the old nursery rhyme on this one!

Our fourth day was spent at the Desert of Maine. 

 
This was one of my favorite things. It really is a desert in Maine. It is located in the town of Freeport and was originally home to the William Tuttle Farm. The Tuttle family moved onto the 300 acre farm in 1797, where they successfully raised crops of potatoes and hay for several years. They failed to rotate the crops, cleared, and overgrazed the farm which resulted in severe soil erosion that exposed a hidden desert. After that, the sand grew uncontrollable and the Tuttles couldn't handle the land that way anymore and let the Desert become natural. We also were able to camp overnight here.

Desert of Maine: Video

And if you had the question, did they have camels?

Sorry, only fakes ones!

We also went to the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum. If we had to have one major laugh about something we did while we were in Maine, this would have been it. It would be half laugh pain and half laugh funny. The reason why it was funny was because the train ride sounded really cool and it cost us $10-$15 dollars to go on this ride. When we got there we had arrived a little bit early and had to wait for the train to come. We were pretty excited because it the description of the train mentioned how it was going to ride right next to the coast of Maine.

We get on the train and it does just that....but for 10 minutes round-trip. We went about 5 minutes one way and 5 minutes the other way. We were pretty annoyed, but laughed about how bad we got jipped. The only thing nice about the train ride was that after going 5 minutes one way they stopped the train and explained how to switch tracks, while they were doing it. Overall, it was probably a 20-30min excursion but the time on the train was short. 

Later in the evening we went to a traveling circus show called "Circus Smirkus." The idea was created by Rob Mermin, who apprenticed himself in circus life in Europe. He came back to Vermont and started a troupe where kids could run off to be in the circus. The troupers range from 10-18 years old and work with professional adults also.

Our fifth day we went to the Portland Observatory Museum. 

The Portland Observatory is the only known remaining historic maritime signal tower in the United States. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 2006, the year before we went to Maine. It offers a really nice view of the Portland harbor. The Observatory is located on Munjoy Hill in the east end of Portland. I think I remember hearing the guide say that the city of Portland had a really bad fire and much was destroyed. The city had to be rebuilt. Here is what the city looks like from the observatory.

And here is Jason in the top of the observatory. He is modeling for us.... he is good looking, right? If you join my site, I can give you contact information for him. ;) Haha

You can park really close to the Observatory. So, we were having some extra fun....... my car looks like a matchbox car!

Next, we went to Portland Headlight. Portland Headlight is located in Cape Elizabeth at Fort Williams Park. Cape Elizabeth residents strongly believed in American independence from British rule and wanted to protect Portland and the nearby areas. In 1776 the residents posted 8 guards at Portland Head to warn citizens if there were to be British attacks. In 1787, the Massachusetts legislature provided money to start the construction of a lighthouse. And in 1790 Congress took over the responsibility of all lightouses. Portland Headlight is the oldest lighthouse in Maine.  According to the site it says, " The original tower measured 72' from base to lantern deck and was lit with 16 whale oil lamps. It was first lit on January 10, 1791." Portland Headlight is very picaresque. It has been used in many photos for magazines, brochures, and calendars.

The above photo of Portland Headlight is a part of Fort Williams. So, when you visit Portland Headlight you are also entering into the park of Fort Williams. Fort Williams was named after Brevet Major General Seth Williams and was considered a great military asset during World War II. It protected the shoreline of Cape Elizabeth and provided Harbor defense for Portland. After the war, many of the forts in Casco Bay were closed, including Fort Williams. It was officially deactivated on June 30, 1963. And on December 1, 1964 the town of Cape Elizabeth purchased the 90 acre park for $200,000, which also included the old military buildings as well. Here are some pictures of the sites.

While we were in the area we also checked out the Goddard Mansion. It is also located at Fort Williams Park. The mansion was built in 1853 by Col. John Goddard, colonel of the First Maine Cavalry. The roof and interior walls were made of wood with 2-foot-thick stone masonry walls. The mansion became part of Fort Williams and then Cape Elizabeth's when the town purchased Fort Williams in 1964. In 1981, deterioration and vandalism led the local Fire Dept. to conduct a controlled burn of the mansion and the basement was filled in to allow visitors access to what remained of the mansion.

And last of all, one of the most famous stops we probably made was a trip to the famous Poland Springs.  Poland Springs was founded in 1845 by Hiram Ricker and water is taken from several different areas in Maine. Hiram, himself drank a lot of spring water and became convinced that it cured him of chronic dyspepsia. He decided to begin bottling the water and his inn grew into a significant resort. I believe Poland Springs is one of the only water companies that actually bottles water from a spring source. A lot of other companies nowadays just use purified tap water.

 

    Here is the actual original spring source.

 

And they even sell them on site, how convenient!

Before our last long drive back and our journey was to come to an end, we took once nice quick hike on one of Portland's trails, did a nice stretch, and dipped our toes in some cool water.

We drove those long hours back and felt relief when we saw that familiar sign:

THE END

OF STATE #1: MAINE