Retiring in Maine - Here's My Issue! (Monroe, Alton: renting, credit)

[maineguy8888]

Originally Posted by LarryLogger

I currently live in South Carolina (Walhalla, 17 miles NW of Clemson). I am soon to retire from Clemson University and return to Maine. Too many years (30+) in the South. Summer heat begins in early April and goes until late October. I go out for my morning or evening walks and 100% of my neighbors are running their air conditioners at full blast. I can get by with a night-time fan pulling in cool air (that is, if 75 degrees can be considered "cool") because i hate seeing that electric meter spin as if I was made of money. Snow? Yes, we get a dusting now and then but if its more than an inch or two, the whole system shuts down - our "plow" is "wait for it to melt"

I'm no Maine wannabee. One of my degrees is in forestry from UMaine and I was a faculty member there for a stint. I've gone to concerts at the Red Barn in Monroe, sang (sort of) on TV while appearing on Dick Stacey's Country Jamboree out of Brewer, cruised timber in northern Penobscott County in minus 27 degree weather (59 degrees below freezing) and can't wait until I pull the plug and retire. I'm now vested in my state employee (SC) retiree health insurance so I don't have to worry about "anyoneCare". Retirement funds are sufficient so I don't have to worry about working but a little consulting forestry might be interesting.

Once I move in to my new home, I'll be quite content and still know that I'm "from away"

LarryLogger

That Dick Stacey bit certainly qualifies one as an "honorary Mainer", not from away.......

[LarryLogger]

Thanks. Nice to know that there is someone who's been around long enough to remember Dick Stacey's show. I couldn't sing too well but I did pass the required breathalyzer. I am so looking forward to living near my Ellsworth friends and playing cribbage at Camp on Branch Lake.

Retirement doesn't have to be expensive if I am able to re-join friends that I made as a naive UMO freshman (from New Jersey) 42 years ago

[slyfox2]

I see no reason why Apple cannot make a Dick Tracy Watch. And I'm not buying their phone or iWatch until they do.

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by LarryLogger

Thanks. Nice to know that there is someone who's been around long enough to remember Dick Stacey's show. I couldn't sing too well but I did pass the required breathalyzer. I am so looking forward to living near my Ellsworth friends and playing cribbage at Camp on Branch Lake.

Retirement doesn't have to be expensive if I am able to re-join friends that I made as a naive UMO freshman (from New Jersey) 42 years ago

No one else on that show sang well either. Remember the old lady that sang On the wings of a snow white dove?

[maineguy8888]

Originally Posted by AustinB

No one else on that show sang well either. Remember the old lady that sang On the wings of a snow white dove?

Who could forget Jenny??
Me and my siblings were only 11-16 years old, or so................but when Mom and Dad went out dancing on Saturday night, it was time for us to plop in front of the boob tube for Monty Python and Stacey's Country Jamboree........
(one of my friend's actually made it on the show, a couple years later........singing "Desperado". We thought she was a real celebrity!)

[LarryLogger]

I googled "Dick Stacey jamboree" and found their webpage. Bought two DVDs of the show, hoping that I might be on the video. I wasn't but a lot of the old favorites were. Enjoyed viewing the show but probably not as much as when I was living in a UMaine dorm and maybe in some altered state (meaning that, as a viewer, I wasn't required to pass that breathalyzer.

I also miss seeing ShaNaNa, the syndicated show that came on earlier on Saturday nights. Just after beans and franks in York Cafeteria and before PBR kingers

Times were simpler 40 years ago (I'm not saying better)

Now, if anyone remembers a commercial for a bar in Halifax that came on during Stacey's Jamboree. As I remember (and this is disputed by my friends), the name was "Hoagies" and the bars name was very non-PC

LarryLogger

[timsmith2]

It's not the cold that's the issue so much as the copious amounts of snow and ice. Even if you have heated a garage that might be difficult to deal with as you get old. The ice is an an even bigger hazard to someone who is older. A lot of people do spend retirement here. But in most cases it is because they have family here or because they can't afford to move. Maine is not a people come to to retire.

I really think you lack a good grasp of just how brutal winter is here. Like another poster mentioned, there are maybe 5 months a year here (at best) where the weather is not awful.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by timsmith2

It's not the cold that's the issue so much as the copious amounts of snow and ice. Even if you have heated a garage that might be difficult to deal with as you get old. The ice is an an even bigger hazard to someone who is older. A lot of people do spend retirement here. But in most cases it is because they have family here or because they can't afford to move. Maine is not a people come to to retire.

I really think you lack a good grasp of just how brutal winter is here. Like another poster mentioned, there are maybe 5 months a year here (at best) where the weather is not awful.

I moved to Maine after I retired. I know a lot of retirees who have moved to Maine for their retirement years.

Maine is the oldest state. Florida may be 'known' for it's retirees, but Maine has a higher percentage of retirees.

Retirees do not move from Kansas to Maine because their families live in Maine, they leave their families to come here, for the lifestyle.

If you were to look down South in the snow belt region, you would see places that get a lot more snow than what Maine gets.

Keep telling yourself about 'brutal' winters and maybe you can convince yourself it is true.

[G1..]

Originally Posted by suaz

I'm thinking about where to retire. I've traveled to Maine and loved it. It is gorgeous and real estate prices are reasonable. BUT the thing that I'm afraid of is that I would be moving alone and I'm afraid of the winters! I don't want to worry about staying warm. I see all different kinds of heat sources and have no clue. I'm from CA, living in AZ now, and all I've ever known was natural gas. I didn't have to worry about this. Can anyone help me out?

How much have you traveled to Maine?I ask becuase I know people who did it on a vacation ,loved it,bought a house moved to Maine and then could not take the winter.Took them a while to sell their home.They were from Maryland and had some good snows but they weren't prepared for what they got.

Why not rent for a year in a town or area you're interested in and then move if you're happy.

[Maineac]

Funny. Dick Stacey. I knew Dick pretty well. He moved to Florida when the motel in Brewer was torn down and the land sold to Rite Aid. I remember when Jud Strunk was on the show years ago, bringin' a little cultcha. I'll bet that one's on Youtube. Dick passed away around 2012.