Oct 14, 20226 min read

Maine . . . where have you been all my life?

We spent 8 nights in Maine. FOUR TIMES longer than we've spent in any other state! Laid back, natural, delicious, and beautiful, we ended up wondering why we'd never visited before. A September week in Maine should be on everyone's bucket list. Our Maine itinerary included 3 very different spots: The Rockland/Camden area, Acadia National Park, and the Rangeley Lakes Region.

Highlights included:

A short stop in New Hampshire. After leaving Kathy and David in Albany, we popped up to Exeter, NH (yes, that Exeter) on our way to Maine. While it was only a one-night stand, both the town and our hosts were remarkably lovely and we just had to include them.
Two nights in South Thomaston, Maine. This was a classic example of our meandering style. After hopping in the van that morning in Exeter, we started researching campsites and settled on the Lobster Buoy Campground and Ellie the chain smoking proprietor. Both were definitely older than either of us, but our parking spot was 20 steps from the beach (that's our morning view in the shot above!) What Lobster Buoy lacked in amenities, it definitely made up for in beauty.
Acadia National Park on Mt Desert Island. At 4 nights, this was our longest stop of the trip so far. The hiking, views, and people were stunning!
Exploring Western Maine - the Rangeley Lakes Region. As we left Acadia we again spun the destination dial and it landed on Rangeley Lakes. It's up against the New Hampshire border and maybe 40 miles or so from Canada. It's literally "a little known corner of Maine." It was evident that we knew nothing about Rangeley when we showed up to camp at the local state park only to find it closed. After explore several miles of 1 lane dirt roads we TOTALLY lucked out to find the Lake Cupsuptic Campground (which Joan still has trouble pronouncing).

New Hampshire, very quickly!

But first we spent a night in Exeter, NH on a "gentleman's farm" with Walt & Bonnie. They are very kind to allow travellers to park on their land for an evening!

Oh, and of course we stopped in Freeport, at LL Bean on our drive up the coast. Had to take a selfie with the Bean Bootmobile!

Rockland/Camden

Our first two days were in a small town called South Thomaston, ME at this TINY little place called the Lobster Buoy Campground. It's located right on the beach and has been in business for over 50 years. Fred and Mabel started it and it continues today to be family run. No campsite is more than 150 yards from the beach (we were literally 20 steps from the beach). The picture above is of Joan having a morning walk along the shore.

Highlights included:

Biking out to the Owls head lighthouse. There we discovered that what Joan had thought were "sculptures of popsicles" were actually Lobster Buoys (to attach to a lobster pot so it can be located again). Nice tourist move!
Vinelhaven Island - We took our bikes on the ferry out 75minutes to Vinelhaven island. There we biked 10 miles out to a place called Starboard rock where we hiked up and had lunch with a view
Had lobster rolls at Claws (which claims to be famous, but which was really good even if it isn't famous).
Oodles and oodles of terrific views. At times it seemed like every time we turned around we'd find an amazing picture. Really though, Maine is freakishly beautiful. Every California should be given a free visit to understand how "totally different" can be "equally incredible". :-)

Ok, call us weird . . . Lobster is good, but for our money it's got nothing on dungeness crab.

Acadia National Park

We spent 4 nights on Mount Desert Island, home to most of Acadia National Park. There are some really wonderful campgrounds there, most especially the aptly named Mount Desert Campground which is right on the water at the top of the Somes Sound -- which makes it just about the geographic center of the island.

Highlights included:

Hiking the south ridge up to Cadillac Mountain. Here we discovered that the Mainers mark their trails like Europeans, with little painted arrows. Also like Europeans they are more than happy for their hiking trails to go straight up the hill. I guess it makes up for the fact that the "peaks" are just 1500ft high.

Snide remarks aside, this was a tough hike, but the views out to the islands were truly special.

Hiking Mt. Acadia. A great suggestion from my friend John and his daughter Lucinda. It's one of their favorite hikes and has become one of ours.
Popovers at Jordan Pond. Randy went for a run around the lake and a bit more while Joan walked the lake. We met at the Jordan Pond house for popovers and tea. Although it was a grey morning, you can't beat popovers as a post run snack!
Exploring Mt. Desert Island. Island life was new to both of us, so we just loved driving around and exploring. When your world is only 55 square miles there's a special joy in realizing that you can get to know every single inch.

BTW, I just have to point out that last picture. If you're a fan of those old-time, orange "cheese peanut butter crackers" you NEED to go to Maine. I took that picture in a grocery store in Ellsworth as we left. They must have had a full 10 feet of shelving that was top to bottom dedicated to those little orange squares of deliciousness. I think they had 4-5 different brands which each offered a wide array of flavors and package sizes. It was absolutely a little slice of heaven on earth. :-)

Rangeley Lakes and Cupsuptic Campground in Western, Maine.

This was a total homerun of a meander for us. It started out as a disaster when the campground we wanted to stay at was all boarded up, having closed for the season just the day before. We wandered up and down the lake shore on a 1 lane, dirt road that we couldn't turn around on . . . so we HOPED that it lead somewhere. And we were without cell service, so there was lots of finger crossing going on! Eventually though, we stumbled on this amazing campground. It was so wonderful in fact that we decided to stay an extra night.

Highlights included:

Meeting some "native born Mainers" in Oakland. This really lovely couple spotted us having lunch outside of Oakland, ME and volunteered to sit and talk with us about Maine, their love of Maine, and where we should go. They'd met in high school down the road and lived in Maine all their lives and their love of the state really showed. We wondered if there are Californians who would treat tourists there with the same enthusiasm and kindness. I hope so!
Witnessing our first Autumn Colors on the INCOMPARABLE Quill Hill. Many thanks go to our friends from Oakland for pointing us to this special place. In 2010 a retired contractor named Adrian Brochu decided that he wanted to make a spectacular hill that he owned more accessible to the general public. He spent 10 years working on the road and the mountain top before he passed away in 2019. The results are spectacular in the fall and Joan & I were squealing like little children as we drove through what felt like a Crayola forest of colors. Needless to say, it was the first of mainy days of color, but I'm sure it will be our most memorable. The Quill Hill website is worth checking out.
Some amazing sunsets and sunrises at Cupsuptic Lake. Just like when we were on the coast it seemed like we just couldn't help but find excruciating beauty every time we turned around.
Golf at the superbly named Mingo Springs Golf Club. I'm not sure if we've communicated this, but we're playing at least 9 holes a week on this trip and it's been a tremendous way to get a little exercise and meet people. In addition to being a terrific course in the midst of spectacular autumn color, Mingo Springs is run by a former teacher and golf coach named Leslie who was stunningly generous with her time, tips, and equipment. We both would have loved to stay and play golf for a week, but we have other fish to fry. But thanks so much Leslie!
Bald Mountain. Hiking in the fall color surrounded by color both above and below was an unexpectedly joyful experience. The forest canopy was absolutely magical!
Mexico, Maine & a very large Paul Bunyon. There are fun sites wherever we go and these are just two of our Maine favorites. Randy especially wanted to take a pic in Mexico for some of his students back home.

Thought for the Day:

If you grew up in a community that had seasons, you know what we're going to say. The sudden onset of cold, crisp, bright blue days is a stunner for a pair of Californians. For us, cold means gray. It means dark. It means crawling back under the blankets on a Saturday morning because the view out the window is six different shades of grey.

In Maine, we discovered days we didn't know existed. I'm sure we'll get jaded as we spend the next 2 weeks in New England, but really, I wish I'd done this long ago!