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Baxter State Park, One Neat Source For Recreation, Wildlife, Exercise

Baxter State Park, one beautiful gem that awaits the visit, return trip

I know lots of people who make it a habit to hike Mt Katahdin and the many other trails around the state’s highest mountain. That do the up and down taking different trails to make it new and different. That hike Mount “K” a couple times a year.

Baxter Park, Have You Hiked Any Of The Peaks? Been To The Top Of Mt Katahdin, Maine’s Highest Elevation? How Many Times?

There is something about seeing the snow capped mountain while driving a car and imagining the winding trails that lead to the top from a distance. Baxter State Park, Mt Katahdin like the state of Maine tugs at your heart strings once you get close enough and fall in love with the many outdoor facets of Maine.

Mt Katahdin is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, was the pride and joy of Governor Percival Baxter who back in the 1930’s made it a life long mission.

To set up, protect and preserve this granite intrusion in unorganized Vacationland. That is far from the standard tourist traps of shop til you drop, so many eatery options coastal Maine is famous for attracting visitors. There are a slew of hiking options, elevations of all sizes and design. But Mt Katahdin that is the centerpiece of Baxter State Park.

To be kept forever wild. Baxter State Park was a gift from Governor Percival Baxter, starting with 6000 acres and ending up over 201,000 acres donated to the people of Maine. Baxter spent his personal fortune over 32 years creating the dream that became a popular vacation destination for many hikers, campers, wildlife enthusiasts. Baxter was a true public servant through his life. There has been an effort to make the state facility into a national park like Acadia is Downeast. More on the latest in the debate about Baxter State Park becoming a national park.

Baxter State Park, Local Jewel Created By Governor Percival Baxter Back In The 1930’s!

When the conversation topic comes up on whether keep the park the way she is or make Baxter State Park a national one, the same talking points are hashed over.

The land preservation plan if you want Baxter to become a national park promise a boost for the local economy. For Millinocket that not longer enjoys the steady rattle and hum of many paper making machines lubricating the open and shut of local cash registers. The high paying paper jobs, the trickle down spin off from them are gone leaving a one big sucking sound. One huge gaping employment hole in the region. All the employment eggs in one basket with little diversification did not help either when Great Northern Paper went to its knees.

Baxter State Park.

Forever wild, protected, deeply loved. Those against the move to make Baxter change designations from state control to national status will mean further government control shuts down local industry and hurts future growth. The land that makes up Baxter State Park in Picataquis County is a landscape that inspired early conservationists from Henry David Thoreau to President Theodore Roosevelt. It is a hotly debated topic, right up there with the legalization of marijuana for medicinal or recreational use. When you pull into a gas station to refuel. Running in to settle up and grab something cold to drink or a snack to munch on. You hear it in the grapevine in public places being discussed. The local newsprint and online recycled electrons media streams bang the drum on the subject of how best to classify Baxter State Park.

Baxter State Park, Ever Camped There? Hike The Trails And Explore Mt Katahdin, The Other Peaks.

Regardless of the park’s demise and whatever her designation status, plan that trip to Baxter State Park.

Take the little ones up Horse Mountain, 1400′ high and first on the list to cut your teeth. To develop the bug to hike for life. The Katahdin Loop Trail is over 9 miles long. You want to start early and keep in mind the clock is ticking. See the sights, the wild flowers, the long vistas along the way, all the animals that live at Baxter State Park.

But be prepared for a rugged Knife’s edge that sprewls granite boulders haphazardly to the sides. Creating the long narrow pathway at the top, after you reach the table land above the tree line. Where there is no place to hide from the wind, up high where the eagles soar.

The Saddle Trail has some steep sections too and the more tedious sections of your hike up Mount Katahdin will be above the tree line, where you are exposed.

Meet The Locals At Baxter State Park! Mister Moose May Continue To Eat, Ignore You Or Could Smile For The Kodak Moment. Everyone Wants, Needs To See A Moose When They Visit Maine.

Where everything is out in the open, windy, and a long way down as you crank your head around. The trail ascent and descent demand your respect, to watch your step. You won’t have trouble sleeping the night after the hike up and down Mt Katahdin.

There is nothing like reaching the top and watching the clouds drift by a mile up on Maine’s tallest peak. But stay hydrated, bring something warm and breathable for clothing for the trip up and down whatever peak you are determined to master every given day.

Baxter State Park.

Make the visit part of your family tradition for the exercise, the beauty, the memory making. Sample her outdoor clean air, cold clear water. And for the work out to capture the long jaw dropping view that awaits whatever elevation you decide to conquer.

Baxter State Park, when you make Mt Katahdin your destination. Here is your hiking check list for Baxter State Park. Don’t forget your camera and post those images from Baxter State Park.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

July 7, 2017
How To Get Rid Of Geese At Your Lake Property In Maine.
Geese be gone, how to get rid of goosey goosey gander when they wander on to your property on a Maine lake.

At first, when a mom, dad, a couple kids in a Canadian geese family float by, folks are excited. In a good way. On shore the floating family of geese seem to be a neat sight to behold. Until they come ashore. When you are not at your lake property in Maine. And leave a calling car of not so bio-degradable cigar shaped calling cards. The waste is not fun. And the geese return to where the grass is green and rich to dine on. Like you and I at a favor restaurant in Maine haunt, the return visits are a hard habit to break.

Maine Lakes, More Fun When Geese Be Gone, Are Not Around.

Ducks on a Maine lake, everyone knows what happens if you feed those visitor that paddle by like free loading trick or treaters.

Looking for a hand out, some bread that the novice can figure why not. Those web foot paddlers do their business in the water. Swimmers itch is not part of a fun time summer at the lake past time. But the mother duck and the cute trail of drafting eight or more babies does pull at your heart strings. To think what could one little piece of bread hurt? Or some duck chow picked up at the local feed store to help them out like a goodwill food pantry.

You feel obligated to get along with the wildlife, to protect them. To share the waterfront.

Especially when we are talking the babies. When you are lucky enough to be parked on a Maine lake. Don’t use weed and feed for the green lawn competition. Let vegetation grow long and tall along the shoreline for a riparian buffer. To keep rushing water on the steep lake side terrain inclines from racing to the lake water with debris picked up along the way.

We all know about non-source point pollution and how man has to protect a natural lake resource or suffer the consequences. But geese. What is the right way, the lasting method to get rid of them without a bullet? Maine lake loons don’t get the negative press. You look out for them when boating and keep the speed down to avoid the waves that disrupt their nests on Maine lake islands. The uninhabited areas of the Maine waterfront.

Maine Lake Loons. They Stay Off Shore, Serenade, Keep To Themselves.

Google the topic “how to get rid of geese at your lake property“. And whoa. Talk about do this, don’t do that and what claims to work. You learn that many love the sight of Canadian geese until they see what they leave behind up close and personal. Here’s a video on what is claimed to be one method to get rid of geese at your lake property in Maine.

Pie plates that are shiny, noisy, flapping in the wind to catch the sunlight work in gardens that are unattended.

For awhile. Because like the plastic owl with the sinister glass eyes and the swivel bopping head, the initial shock wears off. Or what if no one had the talk with geese about owls are our natural enemy? Or they never encountered one? And how do you summons a bald eagle on a Maine lake to just run a couple passes to deter the Canadian geese from landing on your Maine lake property? Like many things, NIMBY happens. Folks love geese or ducks or anything wild as long as they don’t see the consequences of a visit to their property. Someone down the lake can deal with the free loaders but frustration can set in when geese won’t go away.

The drake hisses, will charge you the tax payer of the waterfront property.

And anyone with a small dog or kids could be afraid of attack. Blowing your horn when they visit when you are gone helps chase them away. But they will be back. The thought of taking out the Dad goose and the widow, those young kids left behind does make one feel guilty. What does the inland fisheries and wildlife, Maine warden service say about goose be gone using lead, bow and arrow or a trap?

Freeze Out The Canadian Geese On A Maine Lake. You Get A Break In The Winter Months.

You have to think like a goose to get rid of geese.

Up on the lawn, hanging out on a wharf and the honk honk honk when you have company of the long neck floating, flying lake water front visitors. Large mowed lawns are attractive resort settings for a family of Canadian geese. The view that is unobstructed for predators helps the grazing time spend fertilizing the bigger mowed open areas around a Maine lake. Here is what the warden’s service suggests to deter the geese visits and return stops. No more welfare handouts. Food dumped in the tall grass to munch on is part of it.
- Stop feeding geese: When the diets of geese are no longer supplemented with handouts and they have to depend on the natural food supply, some or all the geese will move elsewhere.
- Install interpretive signs in public areas explaining the problems that result when humans feed geese. Signs might include the following information:
- Please don’t feed the geese! Human food is not good for the geese because it lacks proper nutritional value. Feeding attracts more geese than the area can support naturally.
- Geese in high concentrations are more likely to get diseases and parasites.
- Goose droppings are unsanitary and unsightly. They harbor parasites that can cause human health problems, and they increase algae growth that, in turn, causes fish kills.
- Geese eat plants needed for ground cover and erosion control.
- Too many geese in one area may force the municipality to have them killed.
- Goose-management costs residents money.
In your garden in Maine, fences, scare crows, loud music helps deter varmits from stopping by to snack. But when you are not around the lake property in Maine, the wildlife take over. Help themselves. They also say wait a minute. That’s a plastic owl, always in the same place. It’s not real. Let’s go ashore.

Colorful strips of reflectorized tape on string can help make geese keep moving along the lakeshore.

But how many entrances does your property have and what is to keep them from approaching from another angle on your lot or from someone else’s property? If the grass at your place is tasty for the come and get it.

Sharing The Lake. Paddling, Protecting The Wildlife Resource… Even The Ducks, Geese.

Getting a dog could help but now you have his waste to deal with too. Why don’t Canadian geese stay on the islands, off shore to nest and visit like Maine loons? I think the geese get more aggressive as the campers on a Maine lake who want them gone get more riled up and frustrated.

On the lake where I am, Baxter is a big old black lab who visits socially.

I wished he would trot over more often. But never does when the geese happen to make a sudden landing. Do you know of anyone with geese issues on a Maine lake and can you offer your spin on what works best to make them never return? I don’t want to use chemicals that make the grass bitter to eat because it could hurt the environment in other ways and leech into the lake water. The the fish will speak up and gurgle “hey. what the heck”. No more lawn and tall let it go grass is one option. Relocating the geese to another lake would not make friends with other waterfront campers. Geese on a Maine lake are a problem that makes you scratch your head.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA
June 28, 2017
The State Of Maine Soap Box Derby Race Is In Houlton Maine.

The state venue for the Maine Soap Box Derby Race is Houlton Maine.

Derby racing is not new to the Pine Tree State. Since 1934 when the big national race started in Akron Ohio, through out the years Maine fielded a crop of new racers. Boys and girls that competed for the chance to head out to the mid west to represent their local town on the bigger stage.

Waiting For His Turn Down Derby Hill In Houlton Maine. Stomach Butterflies Happen.

Derby racing in Maine was big in the 1950’s, 1960’s when the parents or sponsor only ordered wheels and axles, a helmet . That was it with the rest of derby car building left up to the racing team. To collectively figure out what to construct for the driver to slide into for the hang on, strap in, get down.

Here we go down the derby race hill in one of two lanes. A street shut down for the day of racing in Maine to determine a derby winner took a lot of work in the build the hill and tear it down to put it back into its original intended use for local vehicle traffic.

Back in 1995 when the now defunct MBNA was active in the Northport / Camden Maine area, $20,000 was set aside by then rolling high credit card giant.

Even Steven, Heats In Soap Box Derby Race Decided By Electric Eye And Hundredths Of A Second Differences To Determine Who Advances To Make The Trip To Akron, Ohio.

Ear marked for the planning and implementation of a Maine state soap box derby race program. To bring back was had taken a nap. Fueled with money to lubricate the wheels to jump start down hill gravity racing, the strong derby association in New Hampshire was tapped. To help Maine put on a program to create boys and girls to climb into sponsored cars to compete in heats. Down hills in a small Maine town or one of the handful of cities in Vacationland.

So with the help of the Granite State to the south, the wheels started spinning as kit cars were orders from the All American Soap Box Derby Association. Shipping companies started delivery of the stock, super stock cars. And outlined the procedure to build these two classes plus the master derby car division. The latter designed with a tad more latitude to add your own ingenuity and engineering for older derby racers. To keep their interest captive and competitive with the spirit of racing.

Because entire families have kids who derby race in Maine and other state locals.

Take your pick Watch some Maine soap box derby race videos. To see how things rock and roll, for the rattle and hum. The three divisions designed to draw from all the ages and stages of youth in this competitive down hill car racing sport. Where gravity is your engine. Plus lots of applied science to explore more reasons why some kids and their derby race cars are faster to the finish line.

Maine Soap Box Derby Race Videos. Take Your Pick, For The “Thrill Of The Hill”. Just Double Click Search Image Link To Past Race Videos.

Dealing with changing weather is part of soap box derby racing and kids, their families prepare for as one factor of the sport to always consider. Because any kind of wind, rain, snow, blistering heat. Or surprise, all of the above that Maine is famous for that happens during long derby races. Held under skies of all colors in the ever changing weather report on any given day when down hill soap box derby races are held.

In 1995 a resurgence soap box derby race in Maine was held in Camden.

A few families from Houlton Maine with children who raced in the stock division took careful notes. Bringing back what the parents and pioneer racers learned on the coastal town race sponsored by MBNA. To kick off a race in Houlton Maine where a peaceful take over of Drakes Hill, happened. A public US highway not far from the International border crossing into Canada was where the local Northern Maine soap box derby race was held until 1999. The earlier version, not kept up to date Northern Maine Soap Box Derby site shows the history. See link below for new fresh current soap box derby news for the Maine program. Video link for a soap box derby race in Maine.

More on our national champion, the five local soap box derby races in Maine, who they were back in the late 1990’s. And explaining the reason crash and burn out happened in the derby racing in Maine program. The lone soap box derby race venue Houlton Maine is where the state competition is held each June. Why did this small Aroostook County town derby racing program survive? Because of the wisdom of locals to build an engineered hill specifically for down hill racing events. For local races and derby rallies held around the calendar to sharpen driving skills. To provide opportunities for racers to log more time behind the wheel. For youngsters filled with “the thrill of the hill” fever to compete in downhill soap box derby car racing.

Good Work Out. Some Soap Box Derby Race Cars Heavier Than Others. Small Driver Equals Heavy Car.

The Houlton Maine local, now state race dual purpose competition is June 17th, 2017.

The day before used to safety check derby race cars and check weights, educate new racers. And to make sure everything is kept fair in the spirit of racing where every driver hops out of their cars, meets in the middle of lane one and two to shake hands, congratulate. As someone moves on up into the medal rounds of the heat sheet for derby racing. To eventually create a new winner to represent the state of Maine in the world series, triple crown of racing in Akron Ohio the following month of July each year.

Your Me In Maine author is lucky to hail from Aroostook County where the state derby race is held.

I have enjoyed fielding two local soap box derby race winners, a son and a daughter who headed to Akron for the big race. Helping create four more drivers who won and went onto Ohio. All four of my kids were involved in kit car downhill racing on the local, and down state, New Hampshire soap box derby race circuit. With a Jeep pulling a loaded trailer with four derby cars, all the tools, weights, etc needed to race at many events around New England.

Houlton Maine’s Soap Box Derby Race The Largest In The Country Five Years In A Row!

I stayed with what was the largest race in the nation five years in a row because the derby program has been so good to my family. And the excitement of new racers who don’t want to wait until they are sixteen to drive a car is infectious.

Once you hear the launch release topside on derby hill looking down the track, and the sound of wheels rolling, derby mania returns deep down inside for me and others who have stuck with the Northern Maine soap box derby program.

Each car and driver has plenty of personality and it is fun for an adult to be a little kid and share in the racing excitement.

There is nothing like an 8 year old who is terrified at the top of Derby Hill that transforms to all grins and a desire to dig in and learn how to win at the bottom of the hill. When the zoo crew by the timer and cones hollers “BBbbrake”. And the driver pops up, asks did I win, was it me? As he or she looks back over their shoulder up at the timer lights to see which lane has the winning light shining.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

June 15, 2017
Living In A Small Maine Town, What’s It Like?

Small town living In Maine, how does it different than be surrounded by people in an impersonal city setting?

There are so many differences. Ask people what they like most about small Maine town living and nine times out of ten the answer is the connection. With others living in that small Maine town.

Day Is Done In Maine. Fresh Rain, Sunset Sunshine Combine With The Wild Flower Fragrance.

There is an intimacy, a bond because smaller means folks know your name in small Maine towns.

As a kid, the village raises their young. Kids feel like they matter, that they are to be heard and guided. The young in our small Maine towns are our greatest resource. Everyone takes pride in following their accomplishments in the local Maine newspapers. The online social media images and captions don’t go unnoticed. And some of the kids are related, family.

In small Maine towns, how great the community is depends on the roll up your sleeves and pitch in to get done whatever you have talents to do.

Volunteering, community service is huge in small Maine towns. Because without it, there is not the money to hire it down. And the take away would not be the fierce pride that home grown creates over store bought. The talents of the small Maine town is off the charts and there is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer. That goes above and beyond and not for the recognition. Because they were built for the task and when they look behind them, there is not a long line of others to step up and take their place.

Small Maine towns have a tiny population.

Fresher Lobster Than This? Only What’s Still Underwater, Swimming Along The Maine Ocean Floor.

Cover a vast area of woods, farm fields, lots of acreage. Salt and peppered with wildlife of all kinds, clean lakes, wide open space but not a lot of people. Eight out of ten people live in a city but not because they want to, just consider they have to for specialized employment. To make career financial objectives.

But the cost of living in a city compared to a small town is staggering. You make lots, you spend even more and stress from crime, traffic, just a lack of space all takes its toll. You pay for parking. Hope your car is there when you return.

We don’t even lock doors in Maine. Everything locked up tighter than a drum with dead bolts, chains, security cameras and chain link fencing in a city. There are neighborhoods you don’t venture into and live in a steady level of low and sometimes high level fear. If you travel and set your tent stakes in the suburbs and end up commuting than it means you miss out greatly. You don’t get home in time to tuck the kids in, to hear their prayers. To weigh in and trade your day experiences around the family dinner table conversation. You are missing in action. You leave early, arrive home late. Nice house, you just are never there much.

If you are thinking of the best environment to raise a family, small town living in Maine is hand’s down the right choice.

If you want to someday own your real estate and be free and clear of mortgage debt, small town Maine community living wins again. The lack of permits for everything under the sun, because Maine is the 4th lowest crime state means less worry about the cost of living, personal safety.

Smaller population means less options for spending your money.

Cities are fun to visit, not so much fun to call home. And maneuvering around all those people, through the toll highways, even with mass transits means time is wasted waiting to get from “A” to “B” and back.

Maine’s Pure, Natural, Fun Waterways. Tap Into Them. Protect And Preserve Them.

The shift happens from buying everything to doing more and more on your own when you consider small town living. You develop talents to fix this, build that and bartering happens in small Maine towns. Someone knows someone that is good at this, and you have something for a talent or skill to exchange for the service. The IRS might not like it, but the swap involves no money that is taxable.

Who would not want to get more for less?

Raising your own food, slow cooking it and taking the time to enjoy your front porch, the open deck and being a part of the community. That is what small town living in Maine is about and with a backdrop as drop dead gorgeous as Vacationland, keep your money in your wallet or purse. The cost for most of the fun recreational options when you live in Maine full time is no or very very low cost. You live in a place that many have to settle for one measly long weekend, maybe if you are luck a full week a year. That’s it to squeeze and savor the joy of living in small town Maine. And that’s all she wrote.

What are the other benefits of living in a small Maine town?

Try getting sick in a city, see how many people turn out to help you with your smallest tasks around your house. To organize a benefit supper to help you carry the burden of household and medical expenses when you get sick. People come out of the woodwork in small Maine towns to show they care and really help out when a person needs it the most.

Outdoors, That’s Where People Hang Out In Maine.

Clean resources, the air and water are not messed up in Maine. The overhead night sky is black velvet backed in Maine with a million stars that you just don’t see when light pollution and smog erase them. And when you better keep your wits about you, mind your P’s and Q’s avoiding a fender bender, tangling with a gang in a bad neighborhood. You miss out on the little things that don’t exist but that make a small Maine town shine brightly.

Living in a city is anonymous. In small towns, people look out for their neighbors and rally around the needs of anyone living in the small Maine community.

Because small town living means you have a greater involvement in the community, there is a deeper stake in the village. Because you helped build it, maintain it and add to whatever you step forward and sign up for as your contribution. A great stake in the small town happens because you are hands on and would be missed if gone. Everyone in a small Maine town has a vital role no matter how big or small. Like a family, you feel needed, loved, and have a role in a small Maine town. Whatever you do is appreciated and so much is done behind the scenes that does not get press. And no one is seeking the attention from recognition done from the heart not to gain fame or notoriety.

Small towns don’t have the financial resources to just underwrite events.

The small town communities organize collectively what they offer to the local area. They get resourceful, creative. There is small town talent that gets center stage and tapped into, not just big name headliners brought to the area to entertain. With high speed internet, telecommuting can happen in small Maine towns too. Work online, out of state but enjoy the perks of living in a Victorian home, a farmstead you build over yourself or on the waterfront for a song. And have money left over for other areas of your life because you are not house poor.

Happy? I Guess. Drove Hard To Win, Place In The Top Eight For Maine’s State Soap Box Derby Race In Houlton ME.

Retirement on a fixed income makes Maine one attractive location. You can give back and serve the local community and enjoy stretching those lower monthly retirement funds to stretch and maximize. There are quality health care facilities, churches, libraries, unique local shopping options where you know the owner in the store. Folks wave at you. Smile, notice and talk to you on the way in and out of the post office.

Kids have teachers where it is not just a job for the paycheck. It is their passion, their contribution to the small Maine town. Not for the money, for the reward that you made a difference in a child’s life and the direction your helping hand guidance added to the young members of your local community. You don’t have one or two mentors in small Maine towns. There are hundreds rooting for you. Your coach, pastor, family members are teaching you the right pathway lessons for life. When you are a kid fortunate to be raised in a small Maine town. Helping local farmers, be responsible with after school and summer jobs. You are not a latch key kid alone with no one home to help raise you in small Maine towns. People care, are hand’s on and involved in raising all the kids in small Maine towns.

Small town living means thinking of the greater good and not number one who you brush your teeth with daily looking back at you in the mirror.

There is a deeper commitment in a small Maine town that struggles and has challenges to stay afloat. You are not just a city transient working your way up the career ladder. Your civic, social involvement completes something inside when you serve on local level small town capacities. You are more aware of the local history, you are deeper meshed in the local community landscape.

If you were lucky enough to live, be raised in a small Maine town, it is preaching to the choir. But if you have never sampled small town Maine living, what are you waiting for, head north. Get to Maine and see what has been missing, why Maine is the way life should be.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton ME 04730

June 4, 2017
The Trip To Quebec City Canada A Short One When Living In Maine.

When you live in Maine, there is so much at your finger tips to enjoy in a place like not many others.

What You See. Walking The Cobble Streets, The Winding Alleys Up Hills In Quebec City Canada.

The coast line, the vast woods, the rolling farm fields and all the lakes, wildlife and smaller, but friendlier population of Maine boasts much.

But the option to hop across the border and sample some of Canada is always so easy. Quebec was dubbed New France by the French king and a visit to the old historic sections discovered by Samuel De Champlain is rich in the history that evolved since 1608 when a few toughed it out and the population of Frenchmen and their transported culture ignited.

Made a Memorial Day trip to Quebec City this year and surprised by the different feel of the 7th largest of the Canadian cities.

Partly because of growth and change since the last visit and because most of the prior trips across the Maine border were in February’s celebration of winter carnival. As a kid staying with my three older brothers and parents at the Hotel Frontenac which is one impressive hotel structure. More on Winter Carnival in Quebec City Canada.

The Sights, Sound, Food When Exploring Quebec City Canada Are Many. Discounted Loonie Helps The US Dollar’s Buying Power Too When Traveling To Canada These Days.

The Hotel Frontenac is dubbed one of the most photographed hotels in the World.

Just taking an image of the one and on and up up up sections of it pull you in to her charm. The Canadian Pacific railroad designed it to be a luxury hotel to accommodate the wealthy who make Quebec City a tourism stop. The Chateau Frontenac opened it’s ever expanding lobby doors in 1893.

It takes 318 miles or five hours, twenty minutes to travel from Houlton Maine parked on the US border to travel to Quebec City. That is shorter than the 6.5 hours to Boston MA and with the 25% US dollar advantage over the Canadian loonie, the reasons to make that trip to Quebec or other provinces waving the red maple leaf overhead extra attractive to the wallet.

Taking the Trans Canada from Houlton Maine up through New Brunswick and then cutting a hard left to enter into Quebec is faster sailing than up through Aroostook County.

We zipped up and back that route and it reminded me of all the trips across the border for hockey games because the two boys chased the black puck on the sheet of frozen water.

The large church cathedrals in the Quebec province are impressive and their fine details a sight to behold. The elaborate frescoes, the stained glass, stone and wood work. The the layout of Old Quebec and the building construction styles all add to the richness of a walk up the narrow side hill network of streets.

Hotel Frontenac In Quebec City Is Impressive, So Large And Varied In Design High On The Hill Overlooking The St Lawrence Seaway.

The history of defending the hill top fortress Fort Saint Jean from attack, the walking tours of today work up an appetite for the French cuisine.

Sample a Norwegian or Eggs Benedict omelet while in Quebec City Canada where you order in French. French in Maine is the second most spoken language in the state’s of ME and VT. Over 22% of Aroostook County residents speak French.

Touring the fertile fields in the Ile D’orleans farm section, an island in the St Lawrence seaway just outside Quebec City.

And returning across the bridge, veer right to get a little exercise. Bring a rain jacket and hike up the network of stairs around Montmorency Falls. Where the brave strap on, attach their bodies to zip across the water falls by a fast cable ride that has a picnic area, playground on top to make it family friendly. The elevation offers the views of the area 7.5 miles from Quebec City.

Tulips In Quebec City Are Colorful! Lots Of Open Parks To Sit And Reflect.

Sample All Vacationland has to offer. Come to Maine, whenever you can. But make it a two nation vacation with our Canadian neighbors eh? The French Acadian culture, the history of the Atlantic Provinces of Canada are waiting to meet and greet.

And visitors to Canada are invited to cross the US International border to see what Maine has to offer. Maine is one big state and borders lots of Canada because we are so far north some say we should be “over home”.

Make a date to check out and collect Canadian tourist spots as you do the same in your sampling of Maine. I joke that Mainer’s are at least a third Canadian because of the cross border family connections.

My Dad’s Mom was 100% Canadian being born and brought up in Burtt’s Corner in New Brunswick Canada. Her maiden name was Burtt. As a traveler, bring you pass port but know you can easily hop back and worth to weave the best of both countries. Maine, Canada, where each side of the border has family ties and a deep connection from our long, fond historic roots.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730

May 31, 2017
Seeing Tiny Bikes With Training Wheels, Handle Bar Streamers, Parked In A Maine Door Yard.

When spring gets underway in Maine in good shape, the activity around door yards picks up as folks tackle outdoor projects.

The house maintenance and landscaping levers to repair, clean and tidy up from the ravages of winter in Maine get thrown forward hard. And while Mom, Dad or someone’s grandparents, your neighbor are busy bees pulling suggestions left and right out of the to do job jar, the smallest kids are focused on play. Jumping on trampolines, skipping rope, stacking firewood, playing baseball in whoever has the largest back yard.

Maine. The Jewels Are Out In The Open, Glistening, Sparkling In The Daylight Reflection. Not Trapped, Under A Light In A Locked Up Tight Display Case. A Cutler Maine Island.

Kid trikes and bikes, the smallest kind with teeny weeny wheels always hit me.

I guess because as a kid a bike was so much fun. It was also a kid in Maine’s ticket to freedom. Especially if you lived in the country and achieved the age needed for the parents to decide it’s time. That their kid could venture into town using their bike. Om their own and trusted to be careful, make good decisions. Whether a banana, English racer, mountain bike or something inbetween a new version of a very old method of transportation.

What a feeling to head to town, using simple bike pedal power to trade in the scenery from a rural setting for one that unfolds into the downtown of a Maine community. Trusted to bike into town alone or in a pack of others your age. To ply the streets, hit the recreation centers or maybe to perform the task that generated the jingle in your pocket.

Mowing lawns in town was something I did to create the cash flow. Money to handle with better spending impulse control because it was my own. Earned not handed to me. And whatever I did buy with the money generated from the grass clippings was treated with respect. Because I had sacrificed something to earn it and was not going to part with it like the potato picking lesson. Unless it was fairly priced and something I needed. Mowing lawns a weekly commitment and working around the rain or social events was on my shoulders to keep the grass nice and neat.

Today a home with a pair of small bikes from an abandoned renter and a dumpster being filled to the grim rim made me think about who they were purchased for and why the parents did not take them along when they moved.

Get Lost, Be Found. Find Your Island, Special Space In Maine.

I knew how much I enjoyed my bike growing up and can tell you about each and every model along the way. And as an adult, I still bike because Maine is one sweet place to safely do it. They report counting up 3166 islands in Maine. Whoa, that is a lot more than I thought there were but think of the lakes, rivers with islands that must be added to the long list of coastal ones.

On an island in Maine, the traffic is nil or a slow trickle if you do run into it at all. And one of the best places to bike without fear of too many vehicles to weave and bob around is on a Maine island. To avoid becoming the hood ornament on a car driven by someone with limited older peepers traveling at a healthy clip that might be struggling with the angle of the sun streaming through the vehicle’s windshield. And all of a sudden, whoops, did not see you as the bike gets bumped. Or to avoid being hit you and your bike head into the pucker brush if chased off the shoulder of the shared roadway in Maine.

Windy, No Tourist To Shoot Images, Video Around. That Is Why Winter Lighthouse Visits Leave A Lasting Impression.

Maine islands to bike around, either with your own two wheel bike from home or hitting a rental place.

In so many European cities you see row after row of bikes. To make the deposit for it to get released from the metal grip. Of it’s rightful owner so you can lift a leg up and over the cross bar, to hop up on to the seat and push away. To begin the journey in Maine seen pedaling a bike slowly and rotating your noggin to take in the surroundings. The feel of a summer breeze, the smell of the salt air and you are a kid again on a bike. Single or multi speed, it matters not. You haven’t forgotten how to ride and balance a bike. Standing up and pumping to labor up a small or big hill.

Remembering the joy of riding your bike. And seeing the rest of the family following the outer perimeter of the Maine island. Plus cris-crossing the interior streets as the secondary gain from the biking gives you a sense of what life is like on the Maine island. Studying the housing stock, seeing the school or library and shops along the dock of the ferry landing.

You get to imagine life, ferry schedules, what needs to be brought to the island for supplies of all kinds, the seasons, history and what if you lived on the island in Maine surrounded by water.

Where the summer population of say Long Island beyond Peakes Island off Portland Maine is roughly 230 inhabitants. The census that shrinks to around 70 in winter. Talked with a lady this week who wanted to sell her camp in Patten Maine that she and her husband own who live full time on Long Island Maine. She normally would have been painting lobster buoy markers the day she called. But the rain as promised in the Maine weather forecast drove her to look for inside work.

Reaching out to say they just don’t get up to use the place in the woods in Penobscot County near Baxter Park’s north entrance. So let’s list it, sell it. Let someone else get some use out of it and to be elected to keep the roof shoveled winters and other assorted handyman chores passed their way. Not using the Maine woods retreat because something keeps them now from enjoying the Northern Maine camp like they once did.

I asked about Long Island and to learn about a place in Maine I had never been. Yet.

Maine Is Space. On Land, Out The Water! Personal Safety Is Big Here. Crime Is Not.

Had used good old Brad’s Bike Rental in the past with kids, or loaded my own bike from home. That was chain drive bearing click click clicking sounding as it rolls onto the Casco Bay Ferry. For the ride across waves of water to Peakes Island before too. To circle it, check out the bunker left over from World War Two keeping an eye out for German U boats.

Brad’s fleet of bike on Peakes Island is quite a motley collection and self serve on Sunday. First come, first serve and you never what you are going to be riding but that is part of the adventure. The honor system for payment for the bike rental helps maintain your faith in your fellow man to do the right thing.

But what else did I learn from a local about Long Island? About the Internet being super fast and the basement of the library or school not sure which being converted to add cubicle, incubator space to entice telecommuters to the small island. The camp owner’s husband a lobsterman for eight months of the year, an electrician the rest of the dozen.

Long Island, not the one in New York that folks pronounced correctly in a funny, exaggerated way but this one in Maine.

Only an independent island since 1993 and seceding from Portland Maine. Andrew’s Beach is a hidden gem and don’t expect a lot of signage showing the way to the three acre state park or to announce when you actually arrive at the destination. The pair of very small, beginner bikes I spied with my little eye this week got me to thinking it is time to bike. But where in Maine Waldo? More on exploring Maine by bike.

Cranberry Isles Maine is another push pin on the Vacationland map to sample someday too. It is a half hour off Mount Desert Island, Maine. Don’t forget to take the Carriages of Acadia horse drawn ride in your MDI visit. With historic information shared as you clip clop around Maine’s national park network of trails. What’s up your sleeve for a visit venue in Maine to shake it up and to avoid the same tourist trap you could easily fall into again?

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton ME 04730

May 21, 2017