The Eastport lifestyle - do we fit in? (Belfast, Camden: for sale, hotel) - Maine (ME) - City-Data Forum

mrs1885 · 07-24-2008, 06:08 PM

So, we've been looking at a summer place in Maine for a long time. We've honed in on Eastport even though we've not even had a chance to visit. It just looks like what we are looking for.

So I figured I'd ask. I can tell you about us and what we're looking for and you can tell me if we fit the 'Eastport profile' so to speak.

Ok, hubby is in his late 40s, I'm in my late 30s. We have 5 kids from 14 to 23. We plan on using the house as a summer home.

My husband spend his entire career in emergency services. He ran the EMS unit for UMDNJ in Camden NJ for years when it was rated the most dangerous city in the country. Then he was also a firefighter in Orange County, California. He was the fire chief there and had a home collapse on him when he went inside to check for anyone that may have been trapped. The collapse broke his neck and back.

Not one to throw in a towel, he worked through agonizing rehab and got himself right back in the game. The injury did leave him realizing that he couldn't continue that line of work though, so he decided to give law enforcement a shot. He graduated top of his class and went on to have a 19 year career in law enforcement working road patrol, as well as doing part time instructor work for the FBI in Quantico.

Over time the injury sustained, as well as many other medical problems, made it quite clear that he would have to end his career. He filed for disability and after a 2 year fight was approved. He's a workaholic to the core, so this has been really hard on him.

As for me, I was raised on a tiny little 3 mile by 4 mile island in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. It was a paradise and the most wonderful place to raise a child. By the 80s however it had been 'discovered' and the influx of new money totally destroyed it. I won't even go back to visit these days - it just breaks my heart to see what's become of it.

Anyway, I was working for the local sheriff's office which had become a huge department when I met my husband. We became instant best friends. 4 years later I left the department and that's when we started dating.

We got married a couple years later on the porch of a lighthouse that we'd discovered shortly after dating. Talk about a picture perfect wedding!! Except that the wind decided to really kick up that day and by the time we got around to cutting the cake it was totally pelted on one side with beach sand!! LOL!!

Anyway, we moved to TN to escape the rat race in Florida. The Miami 'natives' had been moving into the area we lived. The schools were so flooded there was no way for kids to get a decent education. Gang problems started popping up, drugs were commonplace, and the quality of life was horrible.

We decided to move the kids to a small town in TN to have a simpler life. And it's been the best thing we ever could have done. We're hoping to build our dream home here soon on about 100 acres and have a working farm. I'd love to be able to be self sufficient. Solar panels instead of relying on the electric company. Cattle, pigs, chickens, etc for our meat. A massive garden to get us through the year and learn to can for the off season months. You get the idea!

The way the economy is going I don't want to ever have to worry about starving. I'd love to have enough food that I can share with our family and friends and neighbors.

In the meantime I switched careers and am now working accounting for a major hotel chain in Nashville. I've got an awesome staff here and love my job, though the 4 hour daily commute is getting kind of old!! I have a background in banking and law enforcement as well as nursing.

My hubby and I are both conservative in many ways, but we tend to lean slightly left on some of the social issues. However, with the country in the state it's in we do vote conservative for security and economic reasons. We're big believers in the government only doing what the private sector can't do. Other than that, I want them out of my life!!!

What we're looking for in Maine is a small town feel. We enjoy knowing our neighbors. We'd like to have friends over for dinner and enjoy a drink on the deck looking at the water. We'd like a nice small downtown area that we can walk around when hubby's feeling up to it. We don't like 'box stores', and prefer to support the smaller older established local businesses instead.

Being raised on an island, I miss the sound of the seagulls. I miss smelling the salt air when I open my windows. I guess that's my big push to moving up there. Most of the time hubby would be up there alone with 4 of our dogs - chihuahuas. I'd travel back and forth until I can retire. We'd probably come up for Thanksgiving and Christmas to be close to his family in NJ and VT and a friend of mine who'd desperately trying to get out of NH.

I guess that's about it. So, what does everyone think? Is Eastport what we're looking for??

mollysmiles · 07-24-2008, 06:11 PM

ayuh

tapestry · 07-24-2008, 07:14 PM

I think you would *love* it in Eastport....my husband and I asked the same question as you about 6 months ago and after having visited it for the first time last week, we now *know* that we do and are gonna be buying a home there to live year 'round as soon as our house sells in PA which we're putting up for sale next week....

Good luck to you with whatever you and your family decide!

*tap*