Intrigued by Maine, Questions. (Portland, Bangor: for sale, homes, schools)

[dramamama6685]

The ferry in Eastport runs typically from Memorial Day through Labor Day. They have an awesome pizza place, trails and the breakwater. IMHO, I feel it's unmatched in it's natural beauty and friendly residents. They also have an arts center where live performances are going on nearly every weekend and one of the restaurants/bars has musicians a lot as well. Several art galleries etc. Guess it all depends on what you're looking for.

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by cmist

On another note, I noticed on a regular old USA map that it showed ferry routes from either Bar Harbor, or Portland to Yarmouth Nova Scotia. Is that like a city transportation thing provided by either Maine or Yarmouth, or more like a luxury getaway thing to do. I googled it a little and only found info on a luxury catamaran with getaway packages.

Just curious. Have no idea why I would need to go to Yarmouth, but it looked like an interesting trip to take on a day off.

The ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth (aka "The Cat") is considered a luxury getaway. The state of Maine does not pay for transportation to and from Nova Scotia. I personally have no idea why anyone would want to go there either. Been there, did it twice, wasn't at all impressed. It was just like being in down-east Maine, IMO. The ferry service that use to run from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia is no longer in business either as far as I know. Unless they rebuilt the terminal?

The "old" Cat now runs from Ft Myers, FL to Key West.

[Deborah Caldwell]

Oh I didn't know that about the Old Cat. Retired to a warm climate for its old bones, eh? That really strikes me funny. Forty years ago, when our boys were under 3 years old, we joined my husband's parents on that old one, for a camping trip to Prince Edward Island via Nova Scotia, and most of us got seasick, including the baby. That was called the 'seasick' boat. My mother-in-law and I were sitting gloomily beside each other, taking turns with the baby because he was throwing up, and Henri came and sat beside her (her husband and my father-in-law) and he said, "I just threw up my teeth overboard." She didn't believe him right away, but it was true. I called him an old cow for the rest of the trip because he only had one set of teeth. Those were the days. laugh and laugh and laugh

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by island mermaid

The ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth (aka "The Cat") is considered a luxury getaway. The state of Maine does not pay for transportation to and from Nova Scotia. I personally have no idea why anyone would want to go there either. Been there, did it twice, wasn't at all impressed. It was just like being in down-east Maine, IMO. The ferry service that use to run from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia is no longer in business either as far as I know. Unless they rebuilt the terminal?

The "old" Cat now runs from Ft Myers, FL to Key West.

The Cat still runs from Portland and Bar Harbor in the summer to Yarmouth NS. It stops in October for the season. We took my truck up there several years ago and drove back to Maine through New Brunswick. It was a nice trip though as Mermaid said it's so similar to Maine we haven't bothered going back. My wife got seasick on The Cat. It is fast but it has a nauseating side to side motion in the swells.
Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia - CAT Ferry

[deerislesmile]

Originally Posted by island mermaid

The ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth (aka "The Cat") is considered a luxury getaway. The state of Maine does not pay for transportation to and from Nova Scotia. I personally have no idea why anyone would want to go there either. Been there, did it twice, wasn't at all impressed. It was just like being in down-east Maine, IMO. The ferry service that use to run from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia is no longer in business either as far as I know. Unless they rebuilt the terminal?

The "old" Cat now runs from Ft Myers, FL to Key West.

I'm still sad I never managed to go on either the Bluenose OR the Scotia Prince. (And I don't think of The Cat as the same thing...just too fast!)

[XxShadowGhostxX]

no,there is really not much for children to do here,thats why i said that most of them move away after graduating from high school to get jobs,but many return just because they miss being here,because of the friendly atmosphere,and the ocean. as far as being not perfect i meant that there is no more crime here then any other place,that it has a very low crime rate. i guess its just a nice place to bring up children,if yah dont mind the piece and quiet,that is if you compare it to most larger cities like bangor,or portland. alot of people just come here to retire.am not trying to say this place is better then any other,thats in anyones opinion i guess. im just thah type of guy that likes the peacefullness,the seabreeze,the nice walks on thah beach,listening to thah gulls,watching thah whales,the sunsets,the big ships docking at our peers,the fall foliage,and so much more..but this is my opinion. everyone has good things and bad things to say about almost anywhere. maybe you will like it and maybe yah wont.thankyou everyone for reading my post,and putting your input and insight about eastport goodnight

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by Deborah Caldwell

Oh I didn't know that about the Old Cat. Retired to a warm climate for its old bones, eh? That really strikes me funny. Forty years ago, when our boys were under 3 years old, we joined my husband's parents on that old one, for a camping trip to Prince Edward Island via Nova Scotia, and most of us got seasick, including the baby. That was called the 'seasick' boat. My mother-in-law and I were sitting gloomily beside each other, taking turns with the baby because he was throwing up, and Henri came and sat beside her (her husband and my father-in-law) and he said, "I just threw up my teeth overboard." She didn't believe him right away, but it was true. I called him an old cow for the rest of the trip because he only had one set of teeth. Those were the days. laugh and laugh and laugh

Funny story about your FIL throwing up his teeth! I wouldn't imagine many people would carry a spare set!
I also got sick on the 'old cat' from Ft Myers to Key West 5 yrs ago. It's only about a 3.5 hour ride, but my youngest sister and I overdosed on Dramamine and managed to sleep most of the way. Once we got close, we woke up to the sound of Jimmy Buffet singing Margaritaville blaring through the ships speakers. I don't do well down in the ships bowels but it was really blowing hard that day and the boat did have a side roll that wasn't comfortable. BTW, the Dramamine that my dad first tried to give us was circa 1980, still in it's tin container. Talk about laugh, we wondered why he still had that in his dop kit.

Originally Posted by Maineah

The Cat still runs from Portland and Bar Harbor in the summer to Yarmouth NS. It stops in October for the season. We took my truck up there several years ago and drove back to Maine through New Brunswick. It was a nice trip though as Mermaid said it's so similar to Maine we haven't bothered going back. My wife got seasick on The Cat. It is fast but it has a nauseating side to side motion in the swells.
Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia - CAT Ferry

I was there on the waterfront in Portland almost every day last summer and never realized they had rebuilt the terminal? Guess I must have been pretty busy to not have noticed that!
You drove back? Oh you are a much more patient man than I. Talk about boredom, the whole 13 hours! Or is it 16, can't remember. Too freaking long in the car for me.

Originally Posted by deerislesmile

I'm still sad I never managed to go on either the Bluenose OR the Scotia Prince. (And I don't think of The Cat as the same thing...just too fast!)

I never made it onto the Bluenose either! I also got seasick on the Scotia Prince, both times. I've never thought of myself as a highlander, might have to rethink that.

[entyss]

I remember staying in Bar Harbor every year on vacation and watching the Bluenose come back every night. It always looked so beautiful out on the water with all its' lights on. We always planned on doing that trip some day. Somehow the Cat isn't as "romantic" looking...

[Newdaawn]

I went on the Blue Nose in the early 90s and loved it. It was more line a mini cruise in those days. We stayed over on Nova Scotia for 3 nights and went up to Lunnenburg. It's a quaint fishing village on the "Lighthouse Route" side of NS. We only had the 3 nights before our reservation back to Bar Harbor, so we didn't drive up to Halifax. NS is a lovely province if you give it a chance and explore it a bit. I was sad to see some of the disparaging remarks about it here. We haven't yet been over on the CAT but may do that next summer. The last time we attempted to go to NS we drove to St. John New Brunswick and planned to go over to Digby on that ferry, which is very much shorter. As it turned out it was so fogged in that day we decided to just spend our time in St. John. They have a nice little zoo there. Another great place to spend a day or to in New Brunswick is Fredrickton and Kings Landing. Canadians, at least in the Maritimes seem to be very much more laid back in their style of living than us in the US.

[Maineah]

We spent two days in Halifax NS in the fog too. Couldn't see a thing. We then drove to Cape Breton Island and stayed there for several days camping out. It was a nice place but full of rowdy campers he77 bent on partying all night long. We then drove back toward Maine stopping at some parks along the way. It was a nice vacation except for getting a speeding ticket ...damn metric system!