Protecting water quality, the Maine wetlands wildlife regulating the use and construction in the shoreland area. Maine shoreland zoning regulations are the do’s and don’ts for the permitted use and new construction along the waterfront today. And Maine’s Shoreland Zoning Ordinance is a working document steadily being amended and improved to preserve and protect this precious natural resource.
Crystal Clean And Maine Shoreland Zoning Protected Waterfront Property.
Prior to 1971 when the Maine legislature passed the mandatory shoreland zoning act, there were no statewide standard rules for waterfront use and development.
This blog post about Maine shoreland zoning regulation of waterfront property.
Shoreland zoning in Maine established land use regulations for real estate properties within 250 feet of ponds, freshwater wetlands that are 10 acres or larger. Maine shoreland zoning rules cover development and use of rivers with watersheds 25 miles or more and land within 75 feet of specific streams.
Maine’s many small towns needed help in coming up with a set of rules to follow for new waterfront construction or use and expansion of existing structures.
Soil erosion control, heck a cutting operation many miles away can affect a Maine lake’s quality because of run off and contaminants dumped into from the watershed drainage.
Watch a Maine shoreland zoning regulations video for the do’s and don’ts around waterfront properties.
Maine shoreland zoning regulations are all about controlling erosion in drainage areas, coastal wetlands and tidal water to protect the natural resource.
Prior to 1971’s enactment of shoreland zoning regulations, a Maine lake property owner might not have thought much about a woodlot cutting operation many miles away. But environmental education, best practice workshops, media coverage and shoreland zoning regulation enforcement changed all that. It spelled out clearing your lot, what you had to keep, what could be pruned and opened up or not.
Shoreland zoning defined conforming or non conforming uses and limitations or presented an outright ban on what a property owner thought they could do on their property.
Maine Shoreland Zoning Waterfront Regulations< Check With DEP Before You Buy Existing Or Building. !
The shoreland zoning in Maine statutes increased awareness of what helps or hurts the waterfront environment. It provides constantly update rules each Maine community has to adopt.
The 450 townships, plantations and unorganized areas of Maine not just the handful of Maine cities all have waterfront development and use rules. Some stricter than the Maine shoreland zoning ordinance allows. So check with your local Maine code enforcement official empowered for the area of the big state of Maine you want to develop or are thinking of buying before you do.
Protecting Maine Precious Natural Resources. Maine Shoreland Zoning Does That.
Protecting the Maine environment through adoption of shoreland zoning rule and regulations.
So current land owners and future generations can appreciate the waterfront that makes Maine such an attractivr state and vacation destination for many.
Before the standardization for the state to follow or elect to beef up with something stricter for shoreland zoning waterfront land use, it was anything goes.
Maine lake loons, fish swimming in the water out front, wildlife around the waterfront has little protection. Development done the wrong way around the Maine waterfront shoreland zones threatened their natural habitat.
You Hear Them, Admire Them And Shoreland Zoning In Maine Protects Them. Maine Lake Loons, Other Wildlife, Fish!
Prior to 1971, creating a land bridge to an island, putting out a gravel pier or altering the shoreland by removing rocks or adding a load or two of sand or gravel.
Anything goes with no boundaries set backs to follow for where you could build. No concern on how many trees you can clear and in what period. Missing enforceable regulations lon size and density limits. Or number of structures you can build what size and where had no regulation.
It was take a bulldozer out into the water to move rocks more to your liking. Bring in a dump truck load of sand or gravel to have it your way along the Maine shoreline. Throw in a 55 gallon drum for a septic system. That no one needed to use disclosing tablets down the toilet or camp kitchen sink. To see what is leaching into the water out front of your crudely built cabin or camp with no water resource protection supervision
Forget what Mother Nature provided and rework the shoreland landscape as you see fit for your own personal enjoyment consideration only.
Maine shoreland zoning standardized regulations were much needed in Maine. To set up procedures, what to do in this case, that one. Plus the penalties for enforcement teeth if you were a renegade. Causing havoc and harm for neighbors, wildlife, fish, loons and anything around or in the Maine waterfront.
Maine’s Waterfront Shoreland Zone Is The Protected 250′ Buffer Strip Of Land Surrounding, Bordering The Wetlands.
Human nature kicks in and removing lots or all of trees to improve the view or ripping out protective shoreline vegetation. That’s not what protects the waterfront natural resources Maine is fortunate to possess.
The septic system to handle sewerage loads of laundry or a swinging door of too many guests next to the delicate Maine shoreland waterfront was up to the property owner. Along with Maine shoreland zoning regulation, much was done to tighten up the state’s plumbing code to protect and preserve the waterfront.
Leachfield designs to handle seasonal or more demanding year round Maine shoreland loads kept the wastewater on shore instead of dumping it into the fragile waterfront.
Maine Waterfront Rules & Regulations. 450 Maine Small Town Communities, The Handful Of Cities All Adopted Shoreland Zoning Regulations To Go By.
How Many Trees Can You Clear, Which Ones And Where Are Untouchable? Study Maine Shoreland Zoning Regulations.
Maine shoreland zoning helps waterfront property owners know how to protect against erosion while affording scenery and preserving recreation.
Protecting resale value of the Maine waterfront real estate should not be the driving force to do your part to protect the natural resource you are lucky to border. Although the Maine REALTOR’s Shoreland Handbook is a valuble resource.
Being a good steward, passing on the waterfront property to the next person in as good or hopefully better shape than you received it. That is what Maine shoreland zoning is all about… resource protection. Before expanding an existing waterfront property structure, check with the local shoreland zoning officer in your area of Maine.
What Can You Do Around A Maine Waterfront Property?
Don’t just start building. And a seasonal camp needs to go through some inspections and certification to show you are allowed the conversion to a year round residence.
Ever heard of milroil in a Maine lake, pond, watershed?
This is what it looks like and you don’t want it in your waterfront resource. It messes with oxygen levels for the fish, affects the water temperature and enjoyment with the invasive vegetation of a milfoil family plant.
Milfoil Free Lakes In Maine, Go Further North, East, West. Away From Development And Population Centers To Avoid Already Infested ME Waterbodies.
I hope this blog post, video and photos on Maine shoreline zoning is helpful. Please reach out if you have any waterfront development questions about existing or new construction projects you are considering. Here is another excellent state of Maine soil and water erosion protection publication to glean.
Stay tuned for more on Maine shoreland zoning developments and best practices.
For many years I was president of a Northern Maine lake association in Aroostook County. All the camp waterfront owners learned much from the workshops on what causes the harm. We were lucky to get funds to study the entire shoreland of Drews Lake and where to identify problems needing solutions.
Protecting Maine’s Waterfront Shoreline Takes All Of Us. Get Involved! Be A Good Steward To Help Our Natural Resource.
Money from soil and water conservation awards help our lake association from successful grant writing to protect the Maine shoreland.
To address non source point pollution, constructing riparian buffers, how to slow water from racing down a hill, what to do to battle milfoil, etc. It’s our Maine waterfront to protect and if we don’t, it’s gone and wasted. You stuck around to the very end of the blog post. Thank you! See you next time on ME In Maine blog and thank you for being a loyal follower.
Maine’s highest mountain and the source of hiking, camping joy for many. Photographers, wildlife enthusiasts and anyone wanting to be smack dab in the middle of nature all return again and again to Mt Katahdin, Baxter State Park.
Climbing Mt Katahdin, Baxter State Park Trails With Your Kids. Like You Did With Your Parents. Priceless.
This Maine blog post is to highlight Mt Katahdin, the dream of Governor Percival Baxter ad the jewel for so many in love with her majesty.
First off the facts about Mt Katahdin, the corner stone of Baxter State Park.
Mt Katahdin is horse shoe shaped, with five separate granite peaks.
Howe Peak (North Howe is 4612′, South Howe is 4734′). Pamola Peak is 4912′. Hamlin Peak is 4751′. Baxter Peak is 5267′ and Mount Katahdin’s highest point.
I learned early in my childhood about the wonder of Mt Katahdin at Baxter State Park.
My parents bought a JC Higgin’s canvas tent and along with my three older brothers, the family would go on sleep overs at Baxter State Park.
We all had jobs from setting up the tent with the front screen “porch”, gathering fire wood, helping prepare or clean up camp fire meals. Mt Katahdin herself only represents about 16% of the hiking trails at Baxter State Park.
Like I did with my four kids, as a little shaver Horse Mountain was the first peak to conquer.
Slowly working the way up to the main attraction, Mt Katahdin which means “Greatest Mountain” named by the Penobscot Indian Nation.
You don’t just hop off a couch and decide to climb Mt Katahdin.
Starting off slowly on a smaller elevation before tackling Mt Katahdin is a safe idea. Plan on an 8 to 12 hour day of climbing, rest and snack stops.
Mt Katahdin is the first stop on Appalachian Trail heading north to south.
Ending up in Georgia, nearly 2200 miles away. Mt Katahdin is not a easy climb.
Nearly vertical and twisting with granite boulders. there are places on Abol Trail with metal bars to grab and maneuver around, over or under giant rocks that make up Mt Katahdin.
Before you plan you day of climbing Mt Katahdin or any of the trails, make sure these hiking considerations are covered in your group preparations.
Secure a parking reservation. Here’s how to get hold of the folks at Baxter State Park for any climb, your dream of tackling Mt Katahdin. Check your local weather forecast for the Baxter Park area. The park rules limit your party size to a dozen hikers.
Stay on the trails to avoid being mentioned in search and rescue headlines in the local newspapers.
If you are not at the peak of say Mt Katahdin by mid afternoon, plan to reverse your direction and begin the trail climb descent. Being caught up on a Maine mountain of any size in the dark is not the memorable adventure most are seeking. It’s all about safety first, middle and last on your climb up Mt Katahdin, Baxter State Park.
For every five children, there must be an adult connected to the buddy system of trail climb hiking in Baxter State Park.
Follow The Light Blue Dashes Marking The Baxter State Park / Mt Katahdin Trails.
Making it back to the base camp should always be your goal, not reaching the top of Mt Katahdin.
Register your climb at the base trail head. Stay on the trail. Remember before anything else, get your parking reservation. If you don’t have a place to park, you aren’t going hiking that day. If the weather is unsafe, the hiking climb is not going to happen either. There are 82 trails at Baxter State Park and over 220 miles of out of this World hiking adventures ahead.
Baxter State Park, A Big Horseshoe Of Granite With Five Main Peaks.
The incredible views that you slow by sure work for that take time and determination are part of the fun.
Seeing wildlife, experiences the smells of fresh fir and pine, feeling and hearing the breeze around you. Mt Katahdin, Baxter State Park is not a once and done check off of a bucket list item.
Mt Katahdin especially, South Branch Pond, Knife’s Edge… they all grab your heart strings and you can not shake loose. The toughest trail, Cathedral. The easiest hiking trail on Mt Katahdin? Saddle trail but the most roundabout to pick.
Feel The Breeze, See The Moisture Clouds Floating By? The Tableland Of Mt Katahdin, Baxter State Park.
Whatever the approach to climbing, plan and expect to at least chew up 10 hours or more in your hike of Mt Katahdin. Knife’s Edge with 2000′ vertical drops on a trail that narrows to only four feet wide is something you will never forget. But your hiking squad, the team. Anyone with fear of heights? Wobbly on bad knees or bad back?
The connection at the top of Mt Katahdin peering out in all directions after traversing the table land, above the tree line, is like no other natural setting.
Mt Katahdin and her distance north to travel makes the other hikers you meet more dedicated, more committed. Mt Washington is way way closer to attract the Boston area of population.
No matter how many times you have climbed Mt Katadhin, the feeling of accomplishment, the thrill of what sticking with something surrounded by jaw dropping views everywhere you look never dull. Preparing your year’s vacation in Maine and looking for ideas? Carry in, carry out. Tread lightly on your Mt Katahdin Mountain climb. Have the utmost respect for nature, the wildlife. your surroundings.
Maine Governor Baxter donated the park, here is his dream.
No People, No Man Made Structures Or Noises. Welcome To Baxter State Park’s Mt Katahdin.
The element of danger combined with winds, precipitation making rocks slippery are part of the emotional build up working your way to ply the trails of Mt Katahdin at Baxter State Park.
Seeing your kids continue the climb up Mt Katahdin and exploring sections of Baxter State Park for return trips. Watching the older ones helping the younger ones hike up the trails. Knowing this introduction to Baxter State Park is a big part of living here and enjoying Maine. It is hard to explain or put into words the admiration for what Governor Percival Baxter envisioned for the local and out of state people visiting Maine.
Hiking trails in Maine.
Which ones to pick and put into combination for your hike in Maine?
You Are In Their Home Now. Maine Moose Cool Off, Enjoy Vegetation Shoots.
Hunt, Dudley, Helon Taylor Trails, Chimney Pond, South Branch Pond too are all places you never forget once you experience them first hand. You don’t do the trails alone. Plenty of wildlife to meet along the trail hikes. From snowshoe rabbits to bigger size Maine moose and white tail deer.
Where you park and start your hike is not always the same place you will finish your day at Baxter State Park.
How you get from where you start the climb and end it is part of the planning too. My family has had a park ranger say hop in, climb on the back. To ferry the tired but excited bunch of hikers back to our vehicle. Where the talk is totally about the hike, what kind of day we all had and how it compared to past trail experiences.
Your Signs, The Hiking Trail Blue Dash Marking. You Are On A Baxter State Park, Mt Katahdin Trail!
Before long, the discussion all about when to return to Baxter State Park for a day trip visit. Or longer time cut out of the calendar for an overnight camping trip plans are formulated.
Plan you next trip to be a mile high in the sky or somewhere else along the trails surrounding your day or longer at Baxter State Park. Pick up the $20 trail Guide to Katahdin, Hiking Baxter State Park. Don’t waste the natural resource splendor of Mt Katahdin, Baxter State Park! Exercise, being unplugged and outdoors recharging your mental batteries is why we live or visit Maine.
Shopping more than one grocery store, hidden valuables in a Maine home.
First, the grocery store ad sale flyers in Northern Maine part of this blog post.
Coming To Town Thursday Or Friday Night, To Line The Square And Grocery Shop For Deals. To Watch Parades, To Socialize Before Facebook, Instagram.
Many thrifty Northern Maine grocery shoppers scan the ad food flyers inserts in the local newspapers.
And the week’s grocery shopping now or year’s ago still not done in a hurry or at one store only.
No no.
Carefully thought out slowly deciding what to buy on sale at this grocery, that one. Stocking up on the deals, the loss leaders designed to get you into these Maine stores.
One after another grocery store is the weekly, all pre-planned out attack for the lowest food prices.
To get the best deal that each grocery store in Maine offers this week. Today a local office supply vendor for printing supplies told me about his Aunt. She never was blessed with children and lived out her years in the Caribou area of Maine.
Simple Living, More Outdoors, Less People, Lots Of Wildlife, That’s Maine. Looking For Grocery Store Deals That Jump Out At You. Too Good To Pass Up.
The Aunt who this nephew would pick up and each week take to the five local grocery stores one by one. To shop for what each offered as their grocery store’s “loss leaders”. The bargain priced household and fresh produce, canned goods, dairy products and meat items offered at each area Maine grocery store to attract shoppers.
I asked him if she died with quite a bit of bank savings squirreled away and he said yes she did.
One heck of a grocery shopper and saver. But he also shared with a smile that she sewed money into an old winter coat. For safe keeping but that only her sister out west knew about this DIY savings program location. And one day she woke up dead.
The Aunt in Northern Maine died, her sister did not make it to the funeral.
Saving Your Hard Earned Dollars In A Lining Of A Coat Not A Maine Bank Safety Deposit Box.
The winter coat with the cash stashed inside the inner liner given away to Catholic Charities. No idea where the winter coat with the hidden cash ended up all those years ago.
Or if the carefully saved up and hidden sewed in the coat liner cash currency funds were ever discovered by the new garment owner. If not, it’s like holding the winning Power Ball lottery ticket and never claiming the windfall that changes your life forever.
Do you have family members who were not so trustful of banks or credit unions and did some behind the scenes savings at home schemes?
Old shoe or cigar box repositories that lacked FDIC insurance protection with your Maine relatives? If you remember the run on banks and failure of lending institutions during the Great Depression, it does not seem so foolhardy to hide away the cold hard currency.
These folks created their own safety deposit box locations scattered around their Maine home nooks and crannies hiding spots.
Every family has stories passed down that shape our actions to how we live life in Maine. Working hard, developing careful impulse control on the household spending. Money wrapped up in tinfoil and tucked in back of the freezer for safe keeping is one common method folks use to tuck away the funds.
Maybe where the “cold hard cash” term was er… was coined. (Blog post audience groan sound)
In the mattress of a bed is another common place to hide away savings at Maine home.
Under a loose floor boat or tucked away in a wall cavity. Hope there is no Maine house or apartment fire.
From Market Square, The Houlton Maine Apartment House Fire Smoke.
Banks nowadays when you are buying a Maine home want to know where the savings came from and documentation.
A paper trail and chain of custody to back it up asked for at the time of applying for a Maine home mortgage loan.
The lenders fear if borrowed earnest money deposit funds, there are hefty interest rates associated to pay back the mortgage with loan shark terms and conditions.
A paper trail for the last two months and evidence it has been on deposit at a Maine bank or savings institution is part of the pre-qualification these days to get a Maine home loan.
Top areas folks also use to hide savings money in their home include the back of the toilet tank in a waterproof container. In hollowed out books or behind the stacks of reading material. We’ve all watched enough James Bond movies to envision a variety of secret hiding places for jewels, other valuables that you and I would select as a safe spot.
Saving Money, Working Hard, Life Lessons Taught Early On. Generation To Maine Generation.
Big fire proof safes that someone got a hernia rolling into place. That’s why they are still where some family member left them. You see them all over old Maine homes. The safe number combination to dial in on the tumblers long lost when a family member passed on to his or her six feet down under grave.
The bottom of the flour bin from yesteryear kitchens that had the pull out features for bulk cooking supplies. Another hiding place for valuables in a Maine home.
My Mom had a writing desk with a lid that pulled toward you revealing a slew of special compartments.
False hidden ones to stow away the fine jewelry were in those old writing desk every lady at the time possessed. Money saved at home without anyone knowing also buried in the backyard. Inside a wall during construction, in hidden canning jars.
You used what you had and everyone lived frugally.
A simple Maine lifestyle working hard for what they earned with the sweat of their back. The savings in an envelope taped under a bedroom bureau, behind a mirror or some out of sight location no one talked about or would think of as safe. Where would you think valuable could safely be stored in your Maine home?
Older generations lived as thriftily as possible and most prone to save for hard times ahead and just
Every Mom, Lady In Her 80’s It Seems Has A Writing Desk For Family History Storage.
lurking around the next life corner.
Many when they passed away from living so modestly surprise you at how much was saved from a lifetime of being frugal with their spending and savings.
The calling ahead to make sure your purpose of a trip destination is open in rural Maine.
Or has the item or service you need. No wasted trips and running a tight ship to eliminate waste of gas or time.
Part of how they had money saved was because of lessons about living below your means and taking care of items purchased.
So you did not have to replace items from too much wear and tear. Also, impulse spending control was strong and research to make sure you got the best product or service for the lowest possible price.
Ask anyone who picked Maine potatoes or raked blueberries, worked on a fishing boat or in the woods growing up about how they spent their hard earned money. Carefully, slowly or not at all.
Do I need it or do I want it?
Do I have to have it and right now, this very moment? That sense of urgency can mean poor planning.
When you have to step out and spend hard earned money right this minute, you have no time to shop around and get the best deal.
It’s now or never, do or die clock ticking to make your expensive moves with no wiggle room or other options.
Saving money and stretching dollars using S&H green stamps and other sales promotions was a sport that most of the population played.
Collecting S&H Green Stamps Given By Stores That Could Be Redeemed For Camping Gear, Your Little League Baseball Glove Or Tennis Racket.
Shopping for groceries at Maine stores offering double or more S&H green stamp premiums. Returning bottles and cans to pocket the redemption fee and planning careful, well thought out purchases for needed items.
Get a deal or wait for one.
No materials thrown away that could be needed to do household repairs either. We did not live in a throw away society.
Some dealt only in cash and carry. No credit ever. And as you save money, if your trust in banks is low from past experience or hearing family stories about lost fortunes during the “Great Depression”, it’s easy to see. How some just avoid banks, credit and ATM cards. Too tempting, too easy, too expensive.
Hidden home cash valuables in special places in your Maine home.
It’s not hoarding, it’s survival. And you keep anything of value you might need to do household or vehicle repairs. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure when money is tight and hard earned.
The same kind of thinking, planning ahead meant your winter supply of firewood was all cut, seasoned, split and stacked for next year.
You were working on the year after that for piece of mind. Your exercise was not running on a treadmill at the local gym. It was processing the woodlot firewood from large hardwood trees.
Walks, Talks, Everyone Brings A Covered Dish To Enjoy For A Picnic. That’s Small Town Living In Outdoor Four Season Maine.
Chopped down, twitch dragging them to yards to process into smaller lengths. Then split down further to the length your wood heater would hold for a future winter ahead. Families getting together to jointly help each other create the firewood fuel needed to heat each of their Maine homes.
Everyone has done home remodeling and in Maine’s older housing stock you find hidden treasures from the past owner.
Inexpensive jewelry, money.. the coins or folding kind. Family heirlooms, old newspapers left like a time capsule. Those newspapers are fun to study the entire daily or weekly news, the ads and the prices for the times. Had a lady recently bring in one newspaper addition from the early 1980’s that showed me as president of the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce.
Hidden in closets with wallpaper patches, tucked away in Maine home attics and forgotten.
Ever find treasure in your house hidden cavities? Pocket watches, old photos, stash from the past. You will find items in Maine’s older housing stock. Not if it’s a shoe box 5-3-1 ranch or simple cape built in the last twenty years in a 300 lot subdivision. Maine is full of older homes that carry lots of history. You lived in your Maine home. Did not spend more time running the roads, eating out and rarely home. Your home in Maine was your castle. Is your home treated that way where you live now?
Thank you for follow our Maine blog posts on the Me In Maine channel.
Maine Tourism, snowmobile ITS trails and club house locations. Maine is Vacationland.
Not just for summer coastal vacations, fall hunting trips or spring river paddling outings. Maine winter tourism is all about snowmobile ITS trails, downhill and crossing country skiing, snowshoeing, pond hockey and ice fishing.
This Maine blog post concentrates on snowmobile ITS trails and clubhouse locations.
For one link to hook you up with snowmobile trails around Maine and far beyond, visit this link. It is one neat, interactive GPS to move you in and out of regions with groomed trails and active snowmobile clubhouses.
When I was a little shaver and tinkering on a 1966 Sno Jet, there were not trail system maps to study.
No groomed snowmobile trails and you made your own. The snow machines were heavy, lacking suspension systems. Narrow skis helped you get between a pair of woodlot trees and crossing rivers, you waited for many inches of frozen ice to create the natural bridge. My Uncle Carl Hagan sold Sno Jets, another Uncle Cedric was a Polaris dealer.
Blue Sno Jet With A German Made Hirth Motor, Around 13 Horsepower.
The Polaris Apollo snowmobile 440 power plant was a step up from the Sno-Jet’s 13 horse power motor.
The next machine as an adult was a 1989 Polaris 650 three cylinder water cooled snowmobile. Stuck with the Polaris line with a snow checked 1993 Storm 750 three cylinder power plant.
As new snow sleds were purchased for outdoor winter fun, trail system ITS maps showed up all over the place in Maine.
Try out the trail riding in the Shin Pond area. Buzzing around the North entrance of the Baxter state park.
Snowmobile up into Oxbow, Masardis and enjoy the two way trail system around the Madawaska and Fort Kent area of Aroostook County.
The people you meet and sights you see along the winter snowmobile trails in Maine are unforgettable. You may think you know Maine but what season do you spend the most time in the state? The change of season makes all the difference in the vacation experience or living here full time with re-visits to favorite haunts.
Seeing Maine On A Snow Sled, Snowmobile Means Getting Places You Can Not By Car.
If you are thinking of snowmobiling in Maine, it is always wise to call ahead first.
You can do a lot online and checking the weather for regions of Maine is not hard with the Internet. But Maine weather changes fast and snowmobile trails rely on temperatures, snow fall amount and careful round the clock grooming. Join a snow sled club in Maine, take part in the statewide and local raffles, fund raising events.
Maine tourism in the winter.
Money raised supports keeping the trail groomers online, repairing or replacement of bridges and new and old trail maintenance.
Maine Snowmobiles, Snow Sleds Way More Complicated. No Boogie Wheels, Better Suspensions, Four Cycle Less Gas Guzzling. Grew Up With Sno Jets.
Snowmobiling in Maine helps the local community economy during a traditionally slower time of the year.
Local sporting lodges can expand their market for vacationers by pairing up with local Maine snowmobile clubs.
Some Maine snow sled clubs even have free memberships. Offering on the house membership for next year if you put in 25 hours of public service work on the trails, bridges, signage or whatever is needed to improve the sledding experience.
The Maine winter snowfall is iffy and the state is large and expansive.
Anytime you depend on the weather for anything in Maine. the only thing to plan on is change. Watch a news report video on Maine winter snowmobiling.
If you have never snowmobiled, you have no idea of what you are missing. Parked on top of a Maine mountain top or hillside trail with one expansive view in your lap. Or listening to the sound of roaring river water on a waterfront side trail is peaceful, private and very special.
You can get to places on a snowmobile in Maine that you would never see otherwise riding a machine.
Get off the couch. Dress warm and head outdoors up in Maine. The wildlife you see while snow sledding in Maine is an unique experience too. You are in their home and stay on the trail. Ease into the corners and back off the throttle crossing wood’s roads. Active logging operations mean keep your eyes peeled for hazards ahead.
Hearty Lunch, All Fueled Snowmobilers And The Trail Riders. Exploring Northern Maine.
Local snowmobile clubhouses can tell your about the condition of trails because they run the groomers day and night to give the best ride.
Private land owners in Maine that share their property with snow sledders deserve thanks and respect.
Property owners are a major part of the partnership that makes for more miles of exciting snowmobile trail riding around the state of Maine. Again, join a club or two because each sledder member helps make the duties of a Maine snowmobile club lighter to carry.
Most Maine snowmobile clubs have a Facebook and some a website to help you feel connected when not enjoying the Maine snowmobile trails.
The Maine Snowmobile Association has five regions and becoming a MSA member means you get club reports and more.
Every licensed Maine snowmobiler gets a copy of the Maine Snowmobilier, a publication of the Maine Snowmobile Association.
I grew up in a time of 50 flavors of snow sleds. You worked on your bogie wheel suspension snow machine long into the night.
The expression “tinker for two hours to ride for one” was so true in the early days of snowmobiling in Maine before complex grids of ITS trails came into play.
Want To Rent A Snowmobile Up In Maine? NOEC Has Them For Hitting The Groomed Trails.
Consider renting if you don’t own a snowmobile and taking to the trails this winter up in Maine. Winters are not long and riding to a place to eat, to a club house breakfast or supper is a scenic diversion. We don’t stay cooped up inside living in Maine. We are outdoor everyday of the year and loving it!
The state up in the right hand corner of the country, Maine.
What to expect traveling to experience Maine up close and personal.
Maine. Small Word, Big Place, Lots Of Unspoiled Space.
For starters, the further you head north, east and west to get up to Maine, the quieter it gets.
Man made noise gets replaced with song birds, a breeze in the rustling tree leaves. Waterfront settings and lapping waves, singing loons, where it just you.
Maine hiking trails where you can really hear yourself think and process life.
Spending time to unwind and get some exercise and perspective up in Maine. Space, time out. Not so hard in Maine with only 41 people per square mile in southern sections. Even less, just 11 folks per same 208’x208′ acre unit in the northern Maine region. Less distractions, sharper awareness happens when you remove the urban buzz and grind.
Maine White Tail Deer. One Of The Wildlife Sights You’ll Meet On Your Trip To Maine.
Maybe it’s the fresh clean air alone. Not just the natural unspoiled space that is the cure. Maine has lots to offer and just as much to enjoy that is missing.
Traffic, crime, rude and impersonal. Those words don’t describe Maine. Not why you come for a day and end up staying a lifetime.
We all hunger to get beside or out on the waterfront in Maine.
Maine’s Highest Mountain, MT Katahdin. Located In Forever Wild Baxter State Park.
Slowly you get away from less stress of crowds, traffic, the impatience and impersonal way of life surviving population centers.
In Maine, you see wildlife, watch out for it as you drive the scenic highways. You meet some of the nicest the down to Earth friendly hardworking people always willing to lend a hand.
Small towns in Maine are proud of their communities, their children and where they live all four seasons.
The deeper you push up into Maine, the more relaxed and personal the strong local connection grows. The space, all this unspoiled Maine land
and nature in your private backyard is never taken for granted by locals and returning vacationers to Maine.
Chances are if you love blueberries they came from Maine.
Lobsters from the coastal waters of Maine are hands down the best too. Especially when enjoyed in a quaint Maine harbor town.
But the state of Maine, it’s way more than Aroostook County fertile farm fields growing potatoes or being
the dominate producers of the World’s tasty blueberries, lobsters and spuds.
There’s lots more to this great state of Maine than one, two, three pick ’em up and put them in the basket then barrel potatoes.
Maine Farm Field Produce The Best Potato Varieties. Many White Blossoms, Some Purple Like Above Maine Potato Plant Field Photo Shows.
This blog post highlights the what’s it like living in Maine.
You can not rely on reports from online folks who have never been to Maine but have very loud and negative things to say about Vacationland. What are your expectations and everyone is not just like you and me is a good start before broadcasting the wrong idea about Maine.
Who would want to visit like 37 million folks do a year that vacation in Maine?
Those vacations and return visits are what lead to reasons to consider moving to Maine.
Often water has something to do with your picking Maine. Water is tied to your Maine vacation or relocation location selection. Nothing compares being parked on the ocean, lake, pond, river or stream in Maine. It is a spiritual experience if you are lucky enough to have the Maine waterfront for a property neighbor.
Listening To Maine Loons. Seeing Them Paddling Your Kayak On A Maine Lake. Priceless.
Breathing in the salt air, touring the Maine coast on a guide boat ride hearing and seeing the local highlights. Each trip in or around Maine is an education. Maine, you can’t say you been to a Kittery ME shopping outlet and be dubbed an expert of “what’s it like living in Maine. You barely entered the very big state. Keep going and sampling after you cross the big green bridge entering Maine.
Can you get there from here? Sure can. What’s it like in this part of Maine? Not the same take away coastal experience in say Wells Beach area as in Eastport or Lubec Maine.
Traveling Downeast Maine. Where Is It Exactly Along The Jagged Rocky Maine Coast?
Camping, hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, boating in Maine.
What’s it like in Maine depends on what you like to do, which of the four seasons you visit. The close knit villages and small towns of Maine offer a unique quality of life. The work ethic
develops at an early age living in Maine. Growing up, everyone in the Maine family no matter how small has a job. Mainers are productive, producers and not just consumers. Mainers are not lazy. Don’t have so much time to whine and complain. What’s it like living in Maine?
The spirit of pitching in and volunteering in Maine communities is unstoppable.
Putting On Local Live Productions Like Children’s Theatre Is One Huge Volunteering Event In Maine. Community Theatres, Bands Are Fun To Attend.
Maple syrup operations and sugar shack sap collection events in Maine.
Picking fiddlehead ferns in spring along river or stream banks. Witnessing wildlife in their natural habitat in Maine. Maine lupines and their vibrant colors. Shucking fresh farm corn. Diving into a pot of steamed clams or oysters, fresh fish right off the boat at the Maine harbor pier. Hoisting a sail on your own self propelled powered by wind boat. Lots of suggestions on the list of what it there to do in Maine. To answer the what’s it like living in Maine.
Reading a good book or better yet writing one for others to share.
Painting a Maine setting or trying to capture it from the best angle at the perfect sweet spot time of day for natural lighting. Maine is the playground to do all of this. Hobby farming and horsing around or managing a Maine woodlot. Building a camp or cabin up in Maine. To live remotely to get below radar and live off grid. Heating with wood and nothing eaten that was not made from scratch. Farm to table all natural without sprays. You know your Maine farmer or have a hand in what you eat that was raised on your own patch of fertile Maine farm soil.
The Family Farm Owned And Enjoyed By Me In Maine Author Andrew Mooers.
Cutting and splitting next year’s firewood for the Maine home or camp stove prepared a season ahead.
Following orange bouncing balls around high school college circuits. Try to keep your eye on the round black circle at local high school and hockey level hockey games. There is lots to do and enjoy living in Maine. Youth sports is big and you know, maybe are related to the players. Possible coached a few in peewee rec leagues.
Lots of good valid answers to the question what’s it like living in Maine.
Walk The Old Port In Portland Maine. Cruise Ships Seen. Take A Ferry Ride To An Island Visit.
Apple picking, making the pies with all the Maine local fruits from raspberries, blueberries to mince meat and pumpkin flavors.
Churning your own home made ice cream. Looking and see lots of Maine moose, wearing flannel in the fall, LL Bean boats tramping the Maine woods. Attending Maine farmer and lumberman museum public suppers. Maine snowmobile sled club breakfasts cure hunger. Then helping twitch the trails that always needing repair. Or a bridge repair, new short cut trail created with many hands and a few chainsaws.
Leaf peaking the amazing Maine colors of fall around farm harvest time.
Things to do in Maine suggestions? Attend A Sea Dogs baseball game.
Play Ball. See The Sea Dogs Play Excellent Baseball In Portland Maine.
Collecting Maine lighthouses.
Many Get Snap Shot, But All Maine Lighthouses Are Unique And Beautiful.
Over 60 of those Maine lighthouses to find and return to many times while on Earth. I have collected 45 Maine lighthouses and counting. Do not forget your camera and make sure the battery is charged and ready.
Head to a Maine beach.
Sandy, Sea, Salt Water Air, Swims,Walks And Talks. Maine Beaches Attract Like No Other Vacation Travel Visit Attraction Or For Life Long Locals Alike.
Check out local artists at local Maine craft shows. Maine quilts, 4H exhibits around the local Maine fair circuit. Antiquing, checking out farmers markets, take a balloon, train or motorcycle ride. Golf, fish, look up and see amazing night skies in Maine where there is no light pollution. Paddle the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and see the ghost trains.
Lots to do year round that attracts folks that come to know what’s it like living in Maine.
Downhill and cross country ski in Maine. Strap on a pair of snowshoes and easily go up and down rolling trails and fields blanketed with fresh pure white powdery snow.
Hang on and shoot a rapid in a rubber raft on a Maine river with other adventuresome sorts.
River Rafting In Maine. Hang On, Paddle Hard, Get Wet. Take Your ME Whitewater River Rafting Ride Down Penobscot, Kennebec, Dead Rivers.
What’s it like living in Maine?
Sample the state parks in Maine and start out with simple, low cost camping vacations. Picnic lunches and mini instate vacations in Maine are so common and
enjoyed by locals and new visitors alike.
Craft breweries, Moosehead Lake, Gulf Hagas, Maine’s Grand Canyon.
These are just a few examples of what’s it like living in Maine. Why we do it and what we enjoy about the state of Maine.
Biking Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor Maine. Or returning to see it in the winter walking the perimeter roads. Camping on Mt Katahdin in winter is unforgetable too.
Winter in Maine, just one of the seasons.
But remember, Mainers are outdoors everyday. Dressed a tad different but always happy, warm and filling our lungs with fresh Maine air.I love to downhill snow ski, to snowmobile on the well groomed and marked ITS trails.
What you See On Maine Winter Recreation Trails. Wildlife, Scenery, A Bald Eagle, Moose.
To set you straight on lots of myths from folks repeating them who have never been to Maine, Vacationland. Folks come to Maine to stay that are wanting a better quality of life for their kids. To become involved and make a difference in their small Maine town location and community spirit of volunteerism. Retirement in Maine is an obvious choice for the Golden Years group of active seniors.
Some retirees, transplants are snow birds. Flitting back and forth twice a year to and from Maine waterfront camps and cottages to shared home locations where snow shovels are not used. Many retirees moving, relocating to Maine are from here. Natives who returned to Maine, knowing it is truly the way life should be.
MOO Yourself. Milek Cow Calves In Maine Farm Visit Say Hello.
Back to the land homesteaders and off grid living in Maine.
The living off the land in Maine is not a new movement. Some come to Maine colleges and Universities and end up staying in the town where they get their higher education. Don’t forget while vacationing or living in Maine, quick trips to Canada happen. Maine is borders by Quebec and New Brunswick Canada. The I-95 highways starts in Maine, ends up in Key West Florida and is your gateway to the Trans Canada Atlantic Maritime Provinces.
Seeing, hearing, being taken by the hand and introduced to Maine by a local insider native is the best way to use your time in Vacationland.
Just ask, the folks are so willing to give advice and help out with suggestions. The locals in Maine love where they live, work and play.
Thank you for being a loyal reader of the Me In Maine blog.
And if this is your first blog post visit, thank you for sticking around to the end. Hope you return for more Maine blog posts on what’s it like living in Maine.
Living In Small Time Maine. Volunteering Is Big. Crime, Traffic Is Not.
The attraction of Maine small town living is stronger than ever. The longing for space, a sense of connection and being needed is part of it.
The joy of volunteering and helping others is a way of life in Maine small town living too.
Volunteering is a way of life in small town living in Maine.
All ages involved from youngsters helping little ones. Older active seniors training those middle age workers. The volunteers of all ages are the community fuel. Baking for fund raisers, coaching a youth sports team, working on a community event you’ve been a part of for years.
Small town living in Maine is not boring, never dull because you are invested.
The feeling of being needed and relying on the talents and consideration of others is security, contentment. You can feel you make a difference in small town living in Maine.
You are needed.
Folks count and rely on each other for the greater good of the area.
In small Maine town, you can make a difference.
Serving on local community boards and shaping policy. Combining personal talents and collectively guiding the community is its own personal reward. If you don’t do it, who will?
Each season living in a small Maine town there is plenty to work on that improves the quality of life.
Floats to decorate and put in parades, practicing for an upcoming community band concert, playing a role in a community play.
Small Town Community Plays In Maine. One More Way To Volunteer.
The folks who choose to live in a small Maine town step up and contribute their time, money and ambition.
Not once in awhile but all the time due to deep pride for their community’s small town living in Maine lifestyle way of life.
Volunteering at the local Salvation Army thrift store, ringing kettle bells, distributing local food to families who need it most.
Maine, Vacationland Means Lots More To Do For Fun And Recreation. Small Towns Are Friendlier. Volunteering To Help Out Happens In Local Small Towns.
That’s part of living in a small Maine town. Our local Rotary club sponsors a literacy volunteer program.
Taking turns, the club members visit local Maine area elementary schools to share the joy of reading. To cause a spark to get new readers in the habit of reaching for a book.
Who says young children today don’t have the attention span to read a book? Literacy volunteers give away so so many books through the year.
Our local small town library in Maine has a summer reading program.
And a children’s section of the library to foster reading for its many lifelong benefits. Christmas stories around the holidays are part of the library festivities. When someone dies, money is channeled to the library to purchase books in memory of that individual. The sticker label in front of what is bought helps you get a sense of what this person loved and enjoyed.
Local businesses contribute funds to put on free weekend movies too.
For families to enjoy a free Christmas theme movie. For kids to munch on popcorn and watch the flick on the silver screen while Mom and Dad can Christmas shop locally in privacy.
Businesses Donating To Local Maine Small Town Movie Theatres To Create Free Holiday Matinees.
Small town living in Maine.
You have a deeper awareness of more than the open space, the clean air, fresh water and wildlife. Exploring the recreational trails and being close to nature is what Maine is all about but who needs help. Those in your small Maine town that are struggling with an illness, loss of a family member or spouse. That’s where folks get together to make sure the person or family suffering is getting the help and support they deserve.
Maine Is Outdoors, Nature. Small Town Living In Maine Is 4 Seasons Outdoor Recreation.
I think you have greater obligations choosing to live in a small Maine town. There is a sense of duty and like I said before in this Maine blog post. Volunteering is a way of life. As you step up, as those around you pitch in, everyone looks for ways to help. You feel the personal responsibility to make a difference if you are able.
Asking if you can give a neighbor a ride to medical treatments down country.
Or to feed their cat, keep the driveway cleared or the grass mowed. While another neighbor offers to shoulder some other burden chore to free up a community member.
Lots more local communication happens in small Maine town living.
Try to pop into the hardware store, dash into the local Walmart or a grocery store for what should be a quick easy task. Chances are, you will bump into lots of people you know and the next things that happens is a conversation. Often about something only those living in the small Maine town would care about or know the individual or event being discussed.
The upcoming big high school sports game, the local weather. How’s your garden growing or your recovery from surgery going? Knowing the names of all your kids and asking about where they are? How everyone is doing keeps the small local town population current in their local community conversations.
Where is there a job for kids to make some spending money? All kinds of those opportunities in small Maine towns.
Money From Working For Area Farmers. Picking Potatoes In Maine. How To Make Your Own Money, Not Spend Mom And Dad’s Important Skill.
Front porches in Maine small towns get used for local new updates.
Folks out for a walk stop by and chat. Same thing happens in small Maine down towns. On sidewalks, or rolling down the vehicle window to talk about small Maine town events and the people living in it. It’s not nosy (usually) and it’s caring and sharing for the most part.
Getting Fresh Air, Spending The Day Outdoors In Maine. Kids Do That.
Living in a small Maine town means more covered dishes and public suppers.
Less trendy chic dining at a slew of local eateries. You need a bigger population to support the greater choice of places to pay to dine. But the local eateries we do have in small Maine towns are well supported and you know or perhaps are even related to the folks you see eating or that put on the apron to work there.
Public Suppers At The Local Farmers Museum. Volunteer To Work Them, To Dine There To Raise Money.
I think there is a greater appreciation for the small things living day to day in a small Maine town. Because you are more involved, there is more sweat, love and tears poured into the local community.
Each of us knows the quality of life living in a small Maine town depends on the individuals.
Home grown not store bought. That describes living in a small Maine town. Fueled on volunteers stepping up and pitching in to create the sense of community.
Window Shopping, Tooling Around A Small Maine Town At Night. Mom & Pop Operations, Not So Many Franchise Set Ups.
Living in a small Maine town means Saturday you help gather folks to get behind a bottle drive.
Or a spring clean up or attending an important meeting. Working or attending on a snowmobile or fish and game breakfast, a farmer’s museum fall harvest supper. Buying a magazine subscription from a youngster who knocks on your door from down the street.
Fitting in when from away in a small Maine town.
If you had problems where you live out of state now fitting in, often the reasons you left follow you to a small Maine town.
The Small Town Maine Local Events. Like Dance Recitals. Everyone Goes. Or Is Working It Behind The Scenes.
Small Maine towns are protective and highly invested in their communities.
Make an effort to get involved and with a positive helpful attitude, you can blend in wherever you live right? That’s pretty universal and along the lines of if you want friends, be one.
If you are highly critical, pretty much self centered and like to whine or dominate a conversation where everything has to be done your way or it’s hit the highway.
Well, there may be a real estate for sale sign planted shortly after your initial move to small town Maine. If you think folks were not friendly, you have to make an effort to get involved. Pace yourself because there are so many avenues of service to consider.
Small Maine Towns, Food Vendors Working Community Events. MMmmmm Good.
Many people start small.
Investing in a simple vacation property to try out small town Maine on a part time basis to see how they like it, how the simpler lifestyle fits for maybe longer periods.
Expectations, what caused your desire to move to Maine and leaving where you used to live before?
Maybe you were raised in a small Maine town but left for college or job advancement and poof. Next thing you know, four or five decades whirl by before the return to your small Maine town roots.
Tap Your Toe, Sing Along. Music Made Locally And Live Is Huge In Maine Small Town Communities.
The older we get the more change is resisted and maybe the small Maine town experience is not going to be exactly as you remembered it years before you left.
Interstates and Internet have impacted small town life in Maine in good and not so healthy ways.
In life, there is a constant stream of trade offs and where you would enjoy living most is a highly personal decision that only you can make.
Attending Local Sporting Events, Alumni Games Are Popular. For Fans Of All Ages.
So what to plan for as you bite the bullet and make the leap into living in a small Maine town?
If you used to let your fingers do the walking through the yellow pages looking for a long tall list of contractors. Well, welcome to small town Maine where anyone good is busy and worth the wait. All about timing. You need to be the first guy or gal out of the gate in the spring for home building.
Keep Your Eye On The Black Circle. Dangling It Skating Down A Maine Ice Arena Contest.
Or hit it right just before winter getting the groundwork down to construction a house that is weather tight from the elements. And you slowly finish it off as local tradesmen become available. Not into the slow cooked, think it out, easy does it approach to building or house repairs? What the delay causes is folks to develop and sharpen their own skill set.
Tired of waiting? Let’s attend another session of YouTube University to DIY as much as we can ourselves.
If you are used to hiring everything done and highly skilled in one discipline and pretty much helpless in all the rest, it may be like the old TV slow “Green Acres”.
Traveling Instate Maine To Enjoy Mini Vacations. Easy When You Already Live In State Maine.
Heart ache and frustration and longing for where you used to live that offered different taken for granted luxuries.
In Maine, independence to control your destiny and not be so tied to others to help and serve.
It is a strong deep running trait of folks in small town rural Maine. Used for more than survival but for the joy in making more of your own decisions. That’s satisfying and custom made to what you want your life to look like and not so helpless just bumping along seemingly out of control.
Out For A Walk, Gradual Climb Up A Waiting Maine Ski Area.
Lack of traffic because you live in a small town in Maine with only one or two traffic lights.
Because that’s all you need to direct the flow of traffic that is slower moving and more considerate.
Lower cost of everything because money is tighter and not spent so freely in small Maine town circles. That’s part of what you get in the Cracker Jack box of living in a small Maine town. Let’s face it, the way of life in small town versus large city is very different. It depends on where you are in your life cycle of what works best and weighing the pros and cons.
Gathering, Squeezing Local Apples To Make All Nature Cider. Do That For Fun Where You Live Now?
Community owned and not privatized for profit.
Where I live in Maine, you see a lot more of that. Our local electric utility is a co-op and not for profit. If the local electron power juice provider makes money, there is a utility price reduction. Less exploitation and more for the greater good.
Small Town Living In Maine, What’s Like? Home Made, Local Talent, Volunteers Pitching In.Maine Is Farms, Lots Of Land, Less Population, More Wildlife.
Money is not the end all but managing it is in living in a small Maine town.
Jobs in small towns in Maine can be less varied but the need to make lots of money from a highly specialize vocation is not so important. Housing prices, no cost for parking, less concern about personal safety, low crime all have their own reward in small town living in Maine. Barters, no money exchanged is huge. Some folks are hard to pay back too and very generous. Which is contagious.
My small Maine town has it’s own broadband Internet provider too. Wired wall to wall and beyond with speed of thought connectivity is a beautiful thing. High speed Internet connects rural Maine to the rest of the blue and green revolving marble quite nicely.
Mt K, Maine’s Highest Peak! Fun To Climb, Memorable Climbs Up And Down Growing Up In Small Maine Towns.
The audience does not know I am blogging this early morning post from a wireless laptop pausing to peer out over the misty, magical Maine lake today.
Unless I tell them. Or show them to let the cat out of the bag.
Peaceful, Quiet, Magical Mist Enjoying Fresh Coffee Early Morning On A Maine Lake. Priceless.
The move to small town living in Maine often is due to where is the best place to raise a family. We don’t worry about the white van sliding open the big side door and snacking our kids in the 4th lowest crime state in the nation.
Walk to school, ride your bike to the movies, library or little league practice.
Would your kids be able to have that kind of independence? Get that kind of exercise outside the house and off the eerie blue glowing screen living in a big city setting?
Crisp Clean Air, Pond Hockey Or Cross Country Skiing, Snow Shoes Strapped On For Exercise. Small Town Maine Populations Don’t Hibernate.
Healthier, not just your kids but everyone gets out to enjoy the four seasons of living in a small town in Maine.
Instead of climbing on the commuter train and all the time stuck in traffic to get to any destination, walk. When your small town home location is a block from the corner store or a place to eat a meal, hoof it.
Your backyard in a small town in Maine lifestyle is not a few feet with a tall fence to define it.
There is no need for a fence. You are not in a 300 lot subdivision with snarky HOA bylaws living in a small town in Maine.
Small Town Living In Maine. Means Trail Rides With Your Family And Friends.
Most of the neighbors you can’t see spaced well down the country road live in homes not weighed down with a mortgage. Their cars and pickups, SUVS have many miles on them but are owned outright.
Spending money with impulse control is taught early on with kids earning their green bills wearing the dead Presidents.
Money not doled, handed out like candy by parents to meet their kid’s every needs.
Voting in a small Maine town is taken seriously. Being in line to cast your ballot and knowing by name the folks in front and behind you. To be in a large polling place and not know a soul living in a large urban area would not be the same experience.
Artistry Thanks To Mother Nature. What You See On A Walk In Maine.
In a small town in Maine there is pride and also concern on problems we need to tackle together.
There is not a feeling of hopelessness or of what good would only one person be in the outcome. No matter how small the group, band together and make the situation better than it was in whatever way you can.
You don’t just blend in with the landscape or step back to avoid responsibility in small Maine town living. Not everyone gets along peachy keen all the time and like families, there are squabbles and division. But there is a shared love of the small town way of life in Maine communities.
Spring Means High Fast Water, Canoe Races.
The parents in small town living in Maine don’t fear their kids.
There is mutual respect mixed with love going both ways in the family connection. It is true the village really collectively raises the child in a small Maine town. Small towns in Maine are really like one large family.
The stigma of living in a small town anywhere comes from feeling trapped.
FOMO, fear of missing out. Or due to early on being told by family and teachers that you have to leave after high school. See what’s out there, travel, relocate for perspective. But never let anyone make you feel somehow you are local townie loser for choosing to put your heart and soul into living in a small town in Maine.
People wave, smile, stop in traffic to let you cross streets in small Maine towns.
Holding doors open, striking up a conversation. Friendly happens in small town Maine town living. Less fears, more comfortable and no one ignores others. Social happens in small Maine towns. Lower population means closer to all the special places folks flock to Maine to tap into on vacation.
No crowds at a lake boat launch or need to reach for your wallet.
Parking in a small Maine downtown is free and plentiful.
Everyone Outdoors Meeting, Greeting, Attending Local Small Maine Town Events. Click For Farmer’s Market Video.
Restaurants, stores are mom and pop unique not always franchise branded in small Maine town.
The economics of small Maine towns are not rich and flashy. More simple down to Earth practical. Using common sense for survival and Maine humor applied in large doses. Locals are fierce about supporting their friends and neighbor’s business establishments. Every dollar spent locally turns over six to seven times.
Trading with each other in a small Maine town feels good inside.
Like being current on property taxes, casting a local ballot, supporting the many fund raisers around you. There is a shift in more and more working remotely and an exodus from expensive, impersonal city living underway.
Walks, Talks, Everyone Brings A Covered Dish To Enjoy After The Outdoor Exercise. That’s Small Town Living In Maine.
Have you thought of where to move and Maine comes up in conversations or in the thought process?
Glad to share what we know as a life long native of small town Maine! Here to help answer questions about what small town living in Maine is like as a local insider.
