We Loved Bangor (Portland, Augusta, Bath: car registration, hotels, houses)

[rjones1016]

Hi everyone,
We just returned from our trip around Maine. We started in Portland headed up to Bangor. After 3 days of looking at houses and looking around we really loved Bangor. It just felt right to us. My husb had a job interview while there so it looks like we will both be gainfully employed before the big move.
Then we headed down Route 1A through Hampden and Winterport to the coast. We then hit Route 1 and followed all the way to Bath. I highly recommend this beautiful scenic route over I-95 if you are not in a big hurry. We stayed in Bath at wonderful B&B and then went to the Bean outlet in Freeport, which was a zoo right before Christmas.
Then we stayed 3 days in Portland. A great city with great shopping, but did not feel like a good fit for our family.
We will be heading back to Bangor in Jan for a serious house hunting trip and hopefully will find one and buy it. We are getting ready to close up shop here in Atlanta!! Yeah!
We are so excited and hope that all of you heading up to Maine for potential relocation find it as lovely as we did.
All the Mainers were truly welcoming and we did not feel like outsiders even though we are "from away"
Best Wishes and Happy Holidays!

[ontheroad]

Good luck with the job prospects. It's always wonderful to hear happy beginnings.

Happy holidays to you, too!

[Mark S.]

Thanks for the report, rjones! Much appreciated. We're planning our trip for early next year.

Any particular places to stay and eat or things to do in Bangor that you'd recommend?

[pinkpalace]

I moved from Newport ME to Winder GA a few months ago. I only spent two years in Maine, and I loved it. There was no virtually traffic. The summer, spring, and fall seasons are WONDERFUL, and the winters aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. I lived in an old farmhouse built around 1900. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.

We left Maine last August. While I really loved the place, there were a few significant problems that'll keep me from moving back. YMMV
* utilities are awfully expensive.
--Electricity is 2x as expensive in Maine as it is now in GA. (almost 15c/kwh in ME vs 8 or 9c/kwh in GA). All of our elelctricity bills averaged $200/mo, which wouldn't be bad -- but the only "big ticket" energy hogs we had using electricity were the fridge and the clothes drier. No AC, and the stove used LP. Water was heated via oil. For comparison, our "all electric" house in Georgia has never had an electric bill over $150. (Granted, we haven't been here for much of the summer -- so the AC bill in June, July, August could set a new record.)

--Heating oil is unbearably expensive. We spent $6000 to heat the house and water over 16.5 months (May 2005 - Apr 2006)

* Car registration was expensive too. I'll spend just under half on car registration in GA than I did in ME.

Believe me, I'm not singing Georgia's praises. There are a lot of things I like about Georgia, but I miss the terrific schools in Maine and easy access to the Boston metro area.

I'd plan on about $350-$400/mo for heating oil (even during summer months -- you overpay in the summer to make up for underpaying in the winter), and about $200/mo on electricity in Maine. If you can hack it, it will be well worth it.

[babybear]

Making a possible move to Maine soon and need to know about availability of organic/natural stores. Seems like Portland has what we need but living wise it may seem more affordable in other areas like Bangor or Augusta. Can't seem to find info on organic groceries in those two areas. This may seem like a minor detail in the grand scheme of things but would like some input from anyone out there!! Thanks!

[rjones1016]

Mark S-
Sorry for the delayed reply to your post. The holidays kept us pretty busy.
Bangor-We stayed at the Ramada on Odlin Rd. It is right down the street from the airport and has easy access to downtown. The kids loved the indoor pool. Also, they have a room set up like an office that has computers with internet access and printers- free for guest use. This was great bc we did not drag the laptop with us. Otherwise, I think all the hotels in Bangor are about the same.
Portland-We stayed in the Doubletree-again indoor pool. This kept our kids busy during down time. It had easy access to the old port area, but not within walking distance.
Great places to eat-Becky's-small diner on Commercial St. The food was great breakfast and lunch-very fresh. We ate here 3 days in a row!
Flatbreads-further down Commercial St-great fresh pizza. All organic ingredients-the food was great.
I don't know how old your kids are but everywhere we went people were very accomadating, which is nice when you are dragging around tired toddlers!
Bath- We stayed in a great B&B here-The Captain's House. I highly recommend this one. You will find a lot of the B&B's don't allow kids under 12 but this one was very kid friendly and very nice at the same time. This is about 30 minutes to Portland and about 10 minutes to Freeport. Cute little village on RT 1.
The LL Bean outlet was nice and HUGE. We had fun here, it is also very kid friendly.
Hope you have a great trip, let me know if you have more questions.
We are busy getting our house ready to sell. We head back up to Bangor in 1 month to find a house!