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Old 07-03-2010, 08:24 AM
 
332 posts, read 991,275 times
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Yesterday after 13 hours in the truck we pulled back into our driveway in New Stinkin Jersey. Now don't get me wrong, all of our family is here, our jobs are here, and there are plenty of things we like about where we live, but compared to Maine... We stayed just north of Bar Harbor and spent most of our time in Acadia National Park where we hiked Pemetic, Sargent, and Penobscot Mountains (Cadillac doesn't count since we drove), swam in Sargent Mountain pond (with our chocolate lab, who loved it), actually saw stars the way they were meant to be seen and took in some of the most beautiful scenery either of us have ever laid eyes on. The thing that struck me the whole time driving from the New Hampshire border to MDI and back was the lack of people. I guess I expected Downeast Maine to be more like some of the rural areas I'm used to in New Jersey in terms of population-spread out but still fairly dense. I was amazed at how you don't have to go very far in order to find complete solitude. Needless to say we'll be coming back very soon and hopefully becoming at least part time residents soon after that.
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Old 07-03-2010, 09:10 AM
 
Location: Northern Maine
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Maine is bigger than the other 5 New England states combined and we have only 1.3 million people. Yes, it's easy to find solitude.
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Old 07-03-2010, 12:09 PM
 
Location: Bangor Maine
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Glad you enjoyed your visit to Maine, but we don't consider Bar Harbor to be "Downeast" Maine - You would need to go to Lubec or Stonington and that is even less populated.
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Old 07-03-2010, 02:51 PM
 
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Glad you liked your visit. I am a NJ resident and vacation in Maine as well. I can imagine you are hating the heat right now as I am. It's supposed to be 97 tomorrow. June was the hottest on record. I am tired of the mid 90's and it's only the beginning of July.

I have been the Bar Harbor and lots of people call it DownEast with the exception of some sour-faces Compared to NJ it IS very, VERY rural up there in some places. Even in our most Rural-ist of areas it is nothing compared to the solitude of up there. I look forward to our annual visit if we can scrape up the money this year.
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Old 07-03-2010, 04:47 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Newdaawn View Post
Glad you enjoyed your visit to Maine, but we don't consider Bar Harbor to be "Downeast" Maine - You would need to go to Lubec or Stonington and that is even less populated.
Isn't Downeast Maine coastal Washington County and nowhere else?
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Old 07-04-2010, 09:31 AM
 
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Lack of people?? Not this weekend! You timed your visit well. The State is bursting at the seams this weekend. Lots of traffic, accidents, break downs, heat , humidity, angry tourists, and all the other joys of a Maine summer.
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Old 07-04-2010, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,474 posts, read 61,432,180 times
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Went into the city this monring to Geagans for brunch, the place was nearly empty [except for our group].

Very few people on the roads, stopped into Walmart afterward and the hardware store in Old Town, everywhere seemed to be fairly empty.
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Old 07-05-2010, 10:55 AM
 
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According to Wikipedia Downeast is described this way:

In New England, the term Down East is applied in several different ways. In the narrowest sense, Down East refers to the coast of the U.S. state of Maine from Penobscot Bay to the Canadian border.
"Down East" can be best described as any point on the coast between Ellsworth and the Canadian border. At times, it is jokingly referred to as any point along the coast, east of the speaker.
The Down East, The Magazine of Maine FAQ explains the origin of the term: "When ships sailed from Boston to ports in Maine (which were to the east of Boston), the wind was at their backs, so they were sailing downwind, hence the term 'Down East.' And it follows that when they returned to Boston they were sailing upwind; many Mainers still speak of going 'up to Boston,' despite the fact that the city lies approximately 50 miles to the south of Maine’s southern border."
As a cultural region, Downeast Maine encompasses the rural communities of Hancock and Washington counties.[1] Principal Downeast towns include Lubec, Calais, Eastport, and Machias. Bar Harbor, Blue Hill, and Ellsworth can also be considered Downeast communities. It also includes Acadia National Park and the mainland portion of Acadia National Park known as the Schoodic Peninsula. Villages in the Schoodic area include Gouldsboro, Winter Harbor, Prospect Harbor, Steuben, and Milbridge. There are three National Wildlife Refuges (NWR's) in the region: Cross Island National Wildlife Refuge, Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, and Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge which is in Steuben (formerly Petit Manan NWR).
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Old 07-06-2010, 08:00 AM
 
Location: Bar Harbor, ME
1,920 posts, read 4,322,398 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Newdaawn View Post
Glad you enjoyed your visit to Maine, but we don't consider Bar Harbor to be "Downeast" Maine - You would need to go to Lubec or Stonington and that is even less populated.

Just wondering what it is that you consider Bar Harbor to be?
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Old 07-06-2010, 08:04 AM
 
Location: Bar Harbor, ME
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Originally Posted by Maineah View Post
Lack of people?? Not this weekend! You timed your visit well. The State is bursting at the seams this weekend. Lots of traffic, accidents, break downs, heat , humidity, angry tourists, and all the other joys of a Maine summer.
Where? I've been on MDI since Friday morning, and I have to say that its the least crowded I've ever seen it.

But I must say that the fireworks display in the Harbor(I was on the Friendship V whale boat) was the most spectacular I ahve ever seen anywhere, even at other times in Bar Harbor. Of course its my taxes, and my wife's addl 30 bucks that paid for that.

And of course, you can't blame the exceptionally warm weather on the tourists.

Zarathu
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