Maybe moving to Maine - Bangor? (Portland, Augusta: fit in, salons, homes)

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Gasoline is $2.73 today. There is natural gas in parts of Bangor, but I don't know what it costs.

[AliceT]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

You will be pleasantly surprised at what you can buy in Maine

Lobster ice cream comes immediately to mind. Bet ya can't get that in Arizona - or anywhere else!

[starwalker]

I am sure your kids will love the Discovery Museum in Bangor. There's also City Forest (how many towns have their own forests??) and tons of other stuff!

If you happen to be in the area on a Thursday, hop over the river from Bangor to the town of Brewer (you can't tell where one ends and the other begins without seeing the signs) and stop by the Brewer Farmers Market. When you see the green sign of the Stone Soup Collaborative, introduce yourselves! That will be me or my collaborator... I live out of Bangor, in Corinth (north about 30 min).

[Newdaawn]

You may want to consider teaching in a surrounding town to Bangor and not rule that out. From what I have seen over the years the Bangor system tends to give their postions to those that have lived in or taught in Maine for a while. But who knows, it's worth a try.

As for the price of gas, I think it's been running about $2.79 to $2.85 for the last month or so.

[Newdaawn]

Starwalker - Is the Brewer Farmer's Mkt open only on Thursdays now? I used to frequent that for years but last year it seemed they only had one or two vendors. Lately I have been going to the one in Orono at the Steam Plant parking lot. They usually have 12 or more vendors on Saturdays and Tuesday evenings.

[Zarathu]

I don't know if retired military gets social security. However, if you have less than 120 quarters of it(30 years of paying into the system), the moment you start working as a teacher in Maine, you will lose all your social security that you paid into for any amount of years up to 30. Once you have paid at least 120 quarters into the system you are entitled and cannot have it removed ever.

This is a good thing to rmemeber about teaching in Maine.

z

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by AliceT

Lobster ice cream comes immediately to mind. Bet ya can't get that in Arizona - or anywhere else!

I LOVE lobster, but NOT in my ice cream. Blueberries? That's different!

One thing that I have only seen in Maine is a sign at McDonald's advertising McLobster.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by Newdaawn

Starwalker - Is the Brewer Farmer's Mkt open only on Thursdays now? I used to frequent that for years but last year it seemed they only had one or two vendors. Lately I have been going to the one in Orono at the Steam Plant parking lot. They usually have 12 or more vendors on Saturdays and Tuesday evenings.

Brewer is supposed to be open Daily, Tuesday through Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (later on Saturday). They are a morning, not an evening market. I am told that more folks will be coming as the season progresses... Several of our vendors have one thing (strawberries... raspberries... blueberries...) that is highly seasonal.

And for the sake of good order and information, there are actually TWO markets that exist in the Brewer Auditorium parking lot on Wilson St... apparently the result of internal politics in the past. The other market appears to open later than ours, and the vendors seem to straggle in.... or so it has seemed the last few Saturdays (we have been attending on Sat since Mothers day). Not all vendors are there every day but I have been told that Saturday has the most of them, and by a fellow vendor that Thursdays are also popular with both vendors and shoppers.

I have only been there on Saturdays up to this point, but since the Bangor Downtown Market opens this week, Thurs evenings through the end of July, we decided that it was time to start coming to Brewer on Thursdays as well. Even though the Bangor market is only two months, we likely will continue in Brewer through the highly productive summer and fall months through the end of October.

[cebdark]

Welcome.

Me.gov is a good place to start for education requirements. There's also a job portal on the home page. I do have to say though, teaching positions seem a little thin up here right now due to the economy both statewide and nationally IMO.

Maine.gov: Education

Here's a link to the city of Bangor.
Welcome to the City of Bangor

This from above has a good blurb about schools and colleges:
City of Bangor | Living In Bangor, Education

Here is the "sister city" of Bangor and is a short jaunt across one of 3 bridges spanning the Penobscot River.

City of Brewer, Maine

The commissary RHB spoke of is small, but excellent.

This is the Mainiacs Website:
101st Air Refueling Wing, Maine Air National Guard - Home

They also have camps for kids (I'm pretty sure, but not 100% retirees kids would qualify also). Area schools also contract with Starbase for an excellent science-based program (primarily for 5th and 6th grades) once a week for I believe 6 or 8 weeks. The funding has been threatened a couple of times, but our reps have been able to keep it funded thusfar. Hopefully it will continue because the kids learn A LOT in a relatively short period.

Good luck.

[Submariner]

Welcome.

I suspect that you will enjoy the area.

If you come early to tour and investigate the region, let me know when and we can meet at the VFW, I will buy you a beer.