Am I missing the Maine experience?....In Maine (Portland, Bangor: new home, camp)

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Bydand

Forest, if you don't have a DeLorme Maine Atlas and Gazetteer, they are worth their weight in gold for finding little tid-bits hidden around the State.

Having been in the habit of moving constantly during my career; I am in the habit of buying and carrying a good map.

I do have one 'DeLorme Maine Atlas and Gazetteer' next to my desk, as well as one in each of our vehicles.

I have now almost lived in Maine longer than anywhere that I have lived since I was a teenager. You can not settle into any area without a local map.

... I have wore out a few of them over the years and am on my 5th copy now. Did you know there is a B-52 bomber wreck in the state (Elephant Mountain trail)? A set of "ice caves"(T8-R14 WELS), A couple of locomotives siting in the middle of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (Between Eagle Lake and Chamberlin Lake), How about a place were they used to pan for gold (Coos Canyon, on the Swift river)? There is a ton of tucked away, not tourist swamped places that are unique and quite interesting. Get one, they are the best $20 I ever spent, then spend time reading the front few pages. The neat stuff is hidden away in the Hiking Trails, and the other areas write-ups of what they have to offer.

For me personally the Maine experience has been a mixed blessing, with the highlights being: Meeting my wife and having all our sons born here; Some irreplaceable friends; Some beautiful memories of nights spent away from anything, in the middle of "nowhere" and not wanting to be anyplace else; Being close enough to Moose and Bear to reach out and touch them if I were dumb enough to (those are stories and threads unto themselves); Just meeting some wonderful people I wouldn't have if I were not here. For me the Maine Experience has been not so much the where, and the why; but the who and the what... Who I was with, or met, and what we were doing together; regardless of where we were in the State or why we were there in the first place. Maine isn't and cannot be summed up by location, but rather by her people and natural assets.

Again I have a few of them.

We have been using them as road maps.

And simply have not taken the time to read through the index.

[libbykt]

This post makes me smile. I actually avoided it for a while, because as someone who was born and raised in the Portland area, I feel like southern Maine often gets a bad rap on this board. I don't feel any less of a Mainiac because we have sand instead of rocks on our beaches , or because I spent my Saturdays at the Maine Mall in junior high, or because I cruised the strip in Old Orchard in high school. My parents are from Bangor, my grandparents (and great great great great greats and then some) are from Machias, and my favorite memories in the world all revolve around my summers spent at the camp in Roque Bluffs. While downeast may be the quintessential Maine, I wouldn't say that Scarborough, where I grew up, is any less so just because the houses are built closer together, kwim? Maine is still Maine. Beautiful mountains and ocean, beaches sandy or rocky, great schools compared to the rest of the country, low crime no matter where you are...

I love this post!

[Maine Writer]

And don't forget far northern Maine. The Allagash, Baxter State Park and beyond are very much a part of "experiencing Maine." The Maine Experience isn't limited to particular things.

[moughie]

Originally Posted by libbykt

This post makes me smile. I actually avoided it for a while, because as someone who was born and raised in the Portland area, I feel like southern Maine often gets a bad rap on this board. I don't feel any less of a Mainiac because we have sand instead of rocks on our beaches , or because I spent my Saturdays at the Maine Mall in junior high, or because I cruised the strip in Old Orchard in high school. My parents are from Bangor, my grandparents (and great great great great greats and then some) are from Machias, and my favorite memories in the world all revolve around my summers spent at the camp in Roque Bluffs. While downeast may be the quintessential Maine, I wouldn't say that Scarborough, where I grew up, is any less so just because the houses are built closer together, kwim? Maine is still Maine. Beautiful mountains and ocean, beaches sandy or rocky, great schools compared to the rest of the country, low crime no matter where you are...

I love this post!

Thanks so much for your post libby!! So glad you have joined us!!

Too often southern Maine is portrayed in this forum as a negative clone or cousin of Boston. Those who indeed live there and know the area, know for sure that is it not anything like Boston There are many beautiful wild and still areas left untouched by humans and yet so close to explore.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

And don't forget far northern Maine. The Allagash, Baxter State Park and beyond are very much a part of "experiencing Maine." The Maine Experience isn't limited to particular things.

Thanks for the chuckle this morning Maine Writer. I have to travel SOUTH to visit the "far north" things of The Allagash or Baxter.

[Maine Writer]

I said "and beyond." Honest! I wouldn't forget you folks at the end of the world.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

I said "and beyond." Honest! I wouldn't forget you folks at the end of the world.

Oh that's OK, Augusta does all the time.

[mollysmiles]

ayuh, they forget the end of our world down here too.

[emu742]

I love this thread...just wanted to add a quote it reminded me of that I try to remind myself daily (and find very true and inspirational)... I can't remember word for word but this is the gist:
We should not live our lives as though we are in a womb with the world constantly supplying us beauty and perfection and supplying all our happiness from without. We must find that within ourselves, and project our beauty and understanding and happiness onto the place where we are, and give and contribute. We cannot take without giving back. We must be the beauty we wish to see, and beauty can be found anywhere one decides to find it.
On that note, I think perhaps an ideal place is where people live by this thinking

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

ayuh, they forget the end of our world down here too.

Ya, well, that's because we live in the W word.