"the call of Maine" (Portland, Bangor: for sale, house, to live)

[maine4.us]

What is your "call to Maine"? If you are a Mainer, why would you never consider leaving, and if you are coming home to Maine, what is calling you home?

My call was to Eastport, a small town, on an island, surrounded by water, with friendly people, and cold weather is definitely a plus. Also, you go to Eastport and not through it.

[msina]

There is an undeniable love of "home" in my heart for the northern section of Maine. The land itself calls to me. The birch and pine, the granite and the rivers. I lived on the ocean, it was literally my backyard, for many years and I sometimes miss it. The mountains and forests though!! There is no place else I feel as much myself as I do here. Maybe it's the long winters that make make me somewhat introspective but, it seems people here are genuine. The more we come to accept ourselves (and our failings) the better able we are to accept others (and not expect them to be perfect).
It also seems to me, people are less stressed by life here. We know there will be ups and downs. Because there is space, and we're not jammed in like sardines, we tend to be more patient when we do run into each other. People usually take the time to say hello and smile.

[Eastport4me]

Originally Posted by msina

There is an undeniable love of "home" in my heart for the northern section of Maine. The land itself calls to me. The birch and pine, the granite and the rivers. I lived on the ocean, it was literally my backyard, for many years and I sometimes miss it. The mountains and forests though!! There is no place else I feel as much myself as I do here. Maybe it's the long winters that make make me somewhat introspective but, it seems people here are genuine. The more we come to accept ourselves (and our failings) the better able we are to accept others (and not expect them to be perfect).
It also seems to me, people are less stressed by life here. We know there will be ups and downs. Because there is space, and we're not jammed in like sardines, we tend to be more patient when we do run into each other. People usually take the time to say hello and smile.

You are a Jewel MsIna.

[7th generation]

The call of home and generations of ancestors, pulls one to want the same existence.
Mountains uninhabited and the natural beauty of the great outdoors, has a sense of calling for adventure and solitude, which can be found in other states, but the simplistic way of life, holds dear to my heart.
The ability to walk out the back door and hike or ski for many miles is exhilarating in the sense of exercise, but more importantly, the fact that one may have traversed over an area that generations hunted out of necessity to feed their family.
......

[BacktoNE]

We had severe wanderlust as neither had ever lived anywhere else. To say that our wanderlust has been cured is an understatement. Once we cross that bridge back into Maine, I swear we will never leave again.

For me, it's just the feeling of home. Plus, I am an ocean addict and desperately in need of ocean therapy. I don't know at just what point we will be back this year, but we are hoping for early Fall.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by msina

There is an undeniable love of "home" in my heart for the northern section of Maine. The land itself calls to me. The birch and pine, the granite and the rivers. I lived on the ocean, it was literally my backyard, for many years and I sometimes miss it. The mountains and forests though!! There is no place else I feel as much myself as I do here. Maybe it's the long winters that make make me somewhat introspective but, it seems people here are genuine. The more we come to accept ourselves (and our failings) the better able we are to accept others (and not expect them to be perfect).
It also seems to me, people are less stressed by life here. We know there will be ups and downs. Because there is space, and we're not jammed in like sardines, we tend to be more patient when we do run into each other. People usually take the time to say hello and smile.

You expressed my feelings as well. Maine has been on my "short list" of places I wanted to live since the 90s... as I have been packing stuff I have come across some of those old journal entries, matter of fact! has just taken me a while to get there. As I reached out in my mind, I was drawn to a particular area... away from the coast, north but not TOO far north... and when I looked at a map it was pretty much the Bangor area, or at least Bangor was at the southern end. And that was confirmed in my heart and mind when I visited in the fall... I went to Augusta but lost the "spark"...

[Northern Maine Land Man]

My neighbor shoots skeet from the back deck on his house. That is perfectly OK here. I can go 40 miles in any direction and not see a 'No Trespassing' sign. I can drink out of nearly any brook.

Several years ago a brand new state trooper was headed south on Route 1 in Waite, Maine. It was about 2 AM and coming north on Route 1 was a skidder towing a barber shop on two hemlock logs. The trooper slammed on his brakes, grabbed his citation book and jumped out. He stood there looking up at the skidder operator and the skidder operator sat looking down at the trooper as if to say, "OK; Now what?"

The trooper thought about it for a minute and pictured himself standing before the judge. "Yes, Your Honor, I did stop that barber shop for speeding on Route 1." The trooper closed his book, got into the trooper car, turned off his flashers and drove on down the road. He didn't want to be known throughout his law enforcement career for this particular traffic stop. He probably pictured his retirement party 30 years later when it would be told for the umpteenth time.

We know how to deal with these kinds of things in Maine. Sometimes it's best to just let it go.

True story. Where else between Waite, Maine and Key West, Florida would this situation have had the same outcome? Just think about that and understand that the subject of this thread is "the call of Maine".

[msina]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

We know how to deal with these kinds of things in Maine. Sometimes it's best to just let it go.

That 'bout sums it up! Thanks, good post!

[corgis]

My first trip to Maine was in 1964 and I have had this wonderful state in my mind off and on for all those years. We bought a lot of acreage in Mid-Coast in 1996, sold it in 2003 cause MidCoast was getting way too 'trendy' and started looking up the coast for just the right small city or town. Found Eastport and bought our kinda run down 4 square in March, spent the last 4 years fixing it up a room at a time still have 4 rooms to go. Don't want to be anywhere else, Eastport is home.

[Elcarim]

I went back to my posts during our trip up last March and pulled some really special things that stood out at the time. I hope there isn't a word limit for posts on here!

WOW doesn't even come close!

And this is the dead of winter!! We are not believing how absolutely beautiful it is here. If we weren't convinced before, we are now. We've seen everything on Route 1 from Portland to Acadia Park and back to Bangor. Tomorrow we check out Hampden and on up around Old Town more thoroughly. We loved the feel of Winterport, but its main street is Rt 1, which we know will be congested all summer. If we can find another similar main street town off of Rt 1, I believe we'd be in Heaven!

The other thing that bears mentioning brings up a comment on these boards that I've seen a couple of times about Mainers being "aloof". The people we've encountered on this trip have been, by far, the nicest and most polite people we've ever met. Every wait person, clerk and fellow customer in line have not only smiled and been extraordinarily friendly, but most have randomly struck up conversations with us. It beats all I've ever seen! When you smile and wave at people in Texas, they look at you like you're an alien! This is simply incredible. Our 5 year old daughter even asked today why everyone was being so nice to us. That was sad! We're really having a hard time with the thought of going back to the rude and careless people we've always been surrounded by now that we know a whole other world is waiting for us!

Snow-melting? HA! We've seen more snow here (even with 40-50 degree days) than we've seen in our lives! We just can't figure out why it doesn't all melt as warm as it's been. I guess the ground underneath is still too frozen, the best I can figure.

We did get to go sliding yesterday in the middle of Belfast. The locals directed us to a little park area where the kids slide. I could just imagine people spying on us through their windows and laughing their heads off watching us make total fools of ourselves, but it was fun! We had a blast!!

We missed a section of Searsport, I guess, so we'll check that out more thoroughly today. We don't like how crowded and cluttered Damariscotta feels. It's also in an area that seems much more grown up and touristy than we want. We lean toward Belfast more because of it's proximity to the mountains. I'm sure we'll be spending a great deal of time in Acadia. I've never seen such beauty in my life. I actually stood and cried looking out over the ocean. That's when I knew it was coastal for us, for sure!

We have to head home tomorrow and parting is so sad!! We're going to go back to Texas and start preparing our house for sale. It will be placed on the market in January, and we'll be here as soon as it sells!

Thank you all so much for your info and wonderful insight. It has made this a very productive trip for us, as well as very enjoyable!