Boomer Vacation in Maine

[kellysmith]

Originally Posted by slyfox2

I had a friend who was convicted for a drug offense when he was in his 20’s who was denied access even though now he is in his 70’s. He was on a bus trip, and someone had to come up to get him in a car so that the others could go across. Unbelievable!

I’m sure that you can get across on limited ID, but I’m not sure you can get back into the USA on same. I’ve heard of people running into trouble at the border trying to get back into the USA with ID’s that Canada accepted to go in. Best bet is a current passport.

First off, getting into Canada with any sort of Criminal History falls upon the Canadians to regulate. You are not allowed entry into Canada if you have a DUI on your record from 20 years ago. If you are not asked if you have had any criminal convictions and therefore the topic does not come up, it's still illegal to enter Canada. If you encounter RCMP off the border you can be arrested for that. You might be able to play dumb and get away with just having a bad day, but it's a violation of Canadian law. You can get a waiver from a Canadian Immigration Officer, but that takes days and dollars and needs to be done before hand. So your buddy probably had a criminal history and was denied entry.
As for coming back into the states, if you are a US Citizen, you cannot be denied entry. It will take you quite a while to prove citizenship perhaps, but as soon as you are able to, and don't have any outstanding criminal charges, you will be allowed entry. Birth Certificate or Passport quickly provide proof of citizenship.
Those on the forum who live near Calais might remember a guy coming through the border in Calais from Canada who it was found out later had killed two people in Canada and had used a chainsaw to cut up their bodies and placed them under the kitchen floor. He had the chainsaw with him when he crossed back into the states. I have spoken to one of the officers involved with this individual's entry back into the US that day. First off, they quickly determined the guy was crazy. They suspected he had done something wrong. Nothing showed up in records checks on this side. They called the Canadian side and nothing showed up on that side. As for the chainsaw, that newspapers said he brought across the border with blood still on it, the individuals who were doing the looking at the chainsaw said it looked like rust, not dried blood, and at that point there would be no reason to run tests on it. Well after detaining this guy for about 6 hours and determining he was a US Citizen with no criminal record in the US or Canada, he was allowed to proceed. He had stated that he was taking the bus to Bangor. He was on the bus headed to Bangor when Canadian officials discovered the murders and this guy had been with the murdered individuals so word went out to the MSP to get him off the bus. He now is in jail for murder. This is a long story, but if you are a USC, you will get entry to the US even if they are sure you are crazy and nothing on your record shows a warrant. They held this guy for 6 hours trying to figure out why he was acting like he was, but had no reason to detain him longer. There was a Congressional Inquiry as to why he was allowed through the border with a chainsaw that was encrusted in blood. In the officers' defense, they said it looked like a rusty chainsaw. How many times would they encounter one used days before to chop up bodies?

[jamary1]

Yes, you can get back into the US without your passport, but you're in for a lot of sitting first.


Coming back from the 2010 Olympics into Washington State, we got pulled out because we had American oranges in the camper (which were purchased in Washington and were being brought back in). Yep, we're orange smugglers and we spent some time on the Group W bench awaiting our punishment, which luckily was just a lecture on the forbidden citrus fruit.


There were a passel of people who were coming back through the border, having either lost or forgotten their passports or not even having passports. Canada had let them in with no problem but the US wanted a pound of flesh first before allowing them to go on their way. One couple said they had been sitting for four hours waiting to see someone. Another couple were leaving, having been there for three hours and having received their scolding.

[PAhippo]

Originally Posted by slyfox2

The kinds of sea glass you will find on the Delaware beaches aren’t really available on the rocky granite shores of Maine.

when I said any beach, I meant any Maine beach.


There's no beach like a Maine beach.

[katharsis]

A day or dinner cruise might be fun.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by katharsis

A day or dinner cruise might be fun.

You can get those in Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor and Camden.