Category: Things To Do in Maine

Wild Blueberries In Maine, Nothing Else Compares.

Growing up on a Maine potato farm, my three older brothers and I did not eat a lot of rice. Not so many helpings of fresh Maine blueberries either.

Local fruit like raspberries, strawberries, apples, pears were the mainstay for something sweet. To end, to round out the family table offerings at meal time. A fresh, homemade healthy sized slab of strawberry / rhubarb pie blended nicely. The two fruits were very compatible. Heated up, with a couple super sized vanilla scoops of ice cream parked high on top. Lazily melting to drizzle slowly down the sides. You get the picture, can almost smell it through the monitor speakers right?

Need A Nutritious Maine Blueberry Snack? It’s Off The Charts For Health Benefits. Not Just Marketing Hype.

Blueberries, the high bush cultivated kind are grown around Northern Maine.

You see volunteer, stray wild blueberry plants hiking up Mt Katahdin. When planting the walking stick over other hills and dale hikes. But the wild blueberry crop is something found almost exclusively in Downeast Maine. Unless working the blueberry fields under a hot sun, and sampling the crop as you rake the lanes marked with strings, this dark blue fruit is not so familiar.

So highlight time on this Maine blog post to showcase Maine wild blueberries. Where to begin? For starters, every vegetable or fruit is a super pick of the pack, best of the bunch, cream of the crop one right? Today’s marketing puts whatever is being pitched over the top. Claiming a bowl full of these fix everything. To extend your life by at least a decade. To make the quality of your short time on planet Earth jacked up a few notches. All because of weaving a little of this, a lot of that into your diet. Of whatever you put in the pie hole three times or more a day.

The Maine Blueberry Crew Field Rakers Are a Motley Bunch.

But what about these wild blueberries in Maine?

What is the down and dirty true story about Maine wild blueberries? History, let’s start with the background of the wild blueberry. The first settlers, our Native Americans used fire to start the ritual. To rid Maine fields Downeast of insects and weeds. The burning of the blueberry barrens made the fruit come back hardy and stronger.

Like the shrub or decorative bush out front your home. Some the harder you cut back and prune the more determined they respond. To the Edward Scissorhand’s treatment in the snip and clip cutting.

Like To Own, Run A Maine Blueberry Farm? Just Listed One In Northfield Maine Near Machias.

Better quality, thicker growth, higher yields, more sugar content. All that helped establish Maine as the largest producer of wild blueberries in the world. The succulent fruit is harvested from over 60,000 acres of Maine land. Wild blueberries in Maine were some of the first vegetation on the scene after glaciers did their bump and grind scrape of the landscape. Being purple blue adds to the health benefits of blueberries.

More on this wild blueberry history Bangor Daily New article.

The Maine wild blueberry has been around the breakfast / lunch – dinner / supper circuit for a thousand years or more. Ever raked blueberries, been part of the hand picking and gleaning operation under the hot Maine harvest sun? Like potato picking, you never forget the lessons learned that stick with you for life.

Like most things, it takes time to go over the top. You get the best results from the hard labor. No pain, no gain. I have read it takes 50 years to establish a good wild blueberry field, that there are only about 6.5 million versions or varieties of wild Maine blueberries. And I thought there were a slug of Maine potato varieties to keep up with and match the changing habits and taste buds of spud consumers. I grew up with those discussions around the supper table because my Dad was president of the Maine potato council and testified in Washington DC hearings on the farmer’s behalf. I remember the campaigns to improve the quality of Maine potatoes. Bruisers are losers was one bumper sticker used to increase awareness of being kind in handling the Maine potato. Or is it potatoe?

So back to Maine blueberries, the wild ones or tame varieties that are domesticated and house broken.

The flavor that explodes from a fork full of blueberry pie with buttery crust, sprinkled sugar crystals. Or from simply popping a few from your hand out in the field. It is a complex mixture of flavors. All you know if you like it, you love it, you want some more of it. Sorry. Now you have that song in your head. My bad.

The Views, The Washington County Setting For The Age Old Maine Blueberry Farming Tradition.

Only one percent of the Maine blueberry crop is sold fresh and the other ninety-nine percent is frozen. Has the chance this past weekend to list a Maine blueberry farm for sale. And even though my conventional farming background helps the learning curve, and my girlfriend along who owns an organic Maine farm, we both learned much.

This blueberry farm in Maine has 71 acres of the fruit and established markets. Set in Northfield Maine population under 150 like many rural Vacationland towns. Maine has 492 towns and so many are shrinking and going the unorganized territory route. Northfield Maine is bucking the trend and holding it’s own, growing slightly. Fulton, Bogg Lakes in the small Washington County Maine town don’t hurt keeping the population steady either.

The nutrition of the wild Maine blueberry, growing up on not the best soil conditions, with lots of rocks.

We’re talking big rocks of all kinds and sizes. A rugged, hilly terrain that an Aroostook County potato or grain farmer could not plant and cultivate or harvest without machinery damage. A far cry from the level to rolling, just rich rusting orange soil with a new crop of way way smaller rocks showing up to escort to piles along the boundary lines. Maybe the rough surroundings for the blueberry plant help make it stronger, a fighter. It is reported Maine wild blueberries have the highest antioxidant capacity per serving, compared with more than 20 other fruits.

Maine Blueberries, Can You Just Taste Them From This Eye Candy Image Designed To Tempt And Tease?

Maine blueberries, they say good things come in small packages.

When is the last time you had a blueberry flavored ice cream cone, a milkshake smoothie or planted in your morning muffin, in the pancake breakfast mix? Some sprinkled on top of your Wheaties. Maybe is is time for a healthy dose of this super fruit. Maine blueberries are a crop not planted and that only grows, spreads naturally.

Mother Nature does the heavy lifting, controls the blueberry farm crop. Man not so much. Maine blueberries are a two year cycle which helps the crop rotation and keeps the plant happy, healthy. Double the antioxidants and why not raise your hand and shout out “Maine wild blueberries please and thank you!’

One of the latest health and wellness trends is collagen peptides. Blueberries score sky high. Also, did you know thousands of beehives are brought in by Maine blueberry growers to pollinate the blueberry fields? More on wild Maine blueberries.

Maine blueberries, where do they show up in your list of fruits and healthy food preferences?

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

September 26, 2017
The Slow Shift From Maine Summer To Fall Harvest Colors.

The leaf color in Maine, dry conditions affect the scenery ahead.

The start of following the Maine fall foliage reports begin this week. Northern Maine is at or near the peak of fall color by the end of September. Hiking Maine in the fall is more breathtaking with the explosion of color. Tourism from leaf peekers is a big source of revenue through out Maine. Weather, soil temperature, water all contribute to the science of what tree leaf shades, which colors show up in the fall display that takes your breath away.

Add Water To Maine Fall Leaf Colors. It Hits You Hard With A Positive Impression Of Maine.

While exploring the different sections of Maine that bloom in brilliant color, taking in farm operations and agricultural fairs, coastal festivals should be on your activities calendar too.

The fall bounty of autumn in Maine involves fresh air, forest colors, local food and a glimpse at what makes each region of Maine special. Harvest suppers, cooler mornings and nights, the steam on Maine’s lakes, ponds, rivers add to the crisp clean air as Jack Frost’s fall color scheme. Summer kitchen in the older housing stock put into canning operations.

The root cellar shelves in older Maine farmstead homes are slowly stocked with everything from bread and butter pickles to beets, carrots, green beans and corn.

Nothing Runs Like A Deere, Well Until A Rock In The Digger Bed Jams, Causes Problems That Stop The Field Harvest In Its Tracks.

Garden garlic is hung to dry. Barrels of potatoes are filled to provide supper meal time fare and stored at thirty seven degrees. Grass fed beef is processed and wraps, freezer packed in portions to reflect and match the number of plates around the dinner table.

Maine barns are filled with square bales, the farm fields have rows of large twelve hundred pound hay rolls collected from rich pasture land. Farmers markets are booming as the harvest of crops is underway in small Maine communities.

Local farmers enjoy the field run cash generated from farm to table in the crops not needed to be stored, graded and shipped to out of state markets. Both organic and conventional farming operators creating new dollars to the local economies of small Maine towns. With everyone well aware of the logic of “no farmer, no food”. Enjoying knowing where their meal ingredients come from, who grew it and what it endured to get from farm field to the kitchen bins to star in a family meal.

Outdoors, That’s Where People Hang Out In Maine. All Four Seasons In Vacationland.

The pretty sight of downed trees. Cleaned up blow downs to stuff a Maine wood stove. Tree length lumber appearing out behind Maine country homes, which will be processed in shorter pieces chain sawed to match the wood stove depth they will propel.

Maybe 16′ for the kitchen wood cook stove but 22′ for the cellar furnace. Or three, four foot sized to stuff into an outdoor wood boiler. This renewable resource parked for all to see represents next year’s winter heating wood. This season’s heating season wood already cut, split, dried and placed in woodsheds. Or down through open windows with wooden sluice to speed up the deliver of maple, beech, ash, birch and more. Maybe the heavy heating wood pieces are marched into outside basement in a bucket brigade of several pairs of hands. Through hatches to end up being placed in tidy rows in house cellars around the state of Maine. The warm your buns BTU savings bank stacked in cord after cord eight foot by four foot formation to be drawn from steadily as the thermometer mercury dips in the tube.

Winter storm windows added as their screen counter parts are stored away safe and sound in a Maine home or carriage house.

Home foundations are banked for the winter as the oldest field stone cellars get wrapped smartly for the winter weather ahead. The buzz around small Maine towns is about who has the best deal on heating oil or wood pellets. And should this be the year that a heat pump is added to the home heating arsenal of choices. Polling those who have them hanging off their home to see if they really work when the coldest temperatures appear outside a Maine residence.

The View At Your Picnic In Maine. It Adds To The Home Made Taste Of Whatever Is Packed Away In The Picnic Basket As You Take A Hiking Break To Gaze, Gawk At The Spendor Of Fall Colors.

Season tickets at Maine snow ski areas are on sale in the weeks ahead.

The Penobscot Valley Ski Club Swap is October 14th, 2017 from 9 am to 4 pm. There are lots of other snow ski swaps that will appear in the weeks ahead Maine headlines. Families gather to buy new equipment at swap meets. To price to sell the out grown ski accessories that need to find new homes for winter cross country and down hill use. Summer water toys from the Maine lake are stored away as fall hunting camps are opened up. Ice hockey skates are sharped up as kayaks get put away behind snow sleds moved ahead in the garage. To be positioned closer to the garage door opening when the green grass changes to a blanket of white fluffy new snow.

Outdoor fires at night to warm the ring of guests invited over to enjoy social time after apple cider production. Snow blowers and plow trucks are thought about before they are needed to be put into action. For when snow flakes are in the Maine weather forecast.

Young grasshoppers are taught what matters most. Simplify and be prepared the order of the day when you practice back to basics living. Mainers are prepared and live comfortably, less complicated lives because of it. Hanging loose, staying cool and living in the moment but planning for the season ahead. Our needs outweigh our list of wants. Deep contentment, inner joy is the by product enhancing our lives in small town rural Maine.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

September 10, 2017
Buffet Of Birds In Maine, More Than One Kind Flock Together.

One lone sea gull. On a rock off the point I live on at a Maine lake.

That white bird usually found along the coastal areas of Maine did not talk to himself. Did not have much for company while summer living is enjoyed by the happy campers on the Maine waterfront.

Maine Lake Loons, Many Other Birds Too On The Waterfront!

But this year was different. He has company. There is lots of chatter. The several sea gulls are very verbal. Or sometimes calm and even silent like Quaker’s meeting has begun another round. No in between. And other birds are visiting the rock reef breakwater jutting out from the peninsula location. That has become like a bird airport.

Different kinds of winged wonders are showing up to be social. To dive bomb fish together with the other birds that hang out sitting on the rocks during all kinds of weather. Low water is the rule of this dry summer where rain is in shortage. And the local farm fields, the streams, rivers, lakes and ponds need the water like the desert needs the rain as the song goes.

I am used to seeing the pesky white sea gulls circling and trolling over Maine beaches.

To eye spy with their little sharp pair of peepers a french fry, an animal cracker, a chip. To swoop, snatch and take it away in the blink of an eye. From a small child who is unaware their snack is under surveillance. These sea gulls don’t dive bomb the lake home.

Maine Lakes, A Resource Shared With Birds Of All Kinds Like Duck Families.

It is not like an Alfred Hitchcock black and white movies that were ahead of their time in suspense building inside the film viewer. You don’t worry about attach or being terrorized.

They don’t seem to care when you set up a pair of chairs at the point of the lake lot. To observe, to watch more closely the interaction and hear the spirited exchanges. That make you wonder what is the topic of communication that causes so much chatter among the winged wonders.

Just like when Maine loons cry a series of sounds late at night when you lay your head in the bed and enjoy the summer lake breeze. Dreaming about what to do tomorrow around the Maine lake setting. As you wait patiently for the sand man to deliver his magical medication you can not get over the counter.

Sea Gulls On Maine Lakes! They Don’t Just Entertain On The Coast Line.

The bald eagles flying by and fighting in mid air over a fish happens too.

One rolling over high overhead. Attacking with talons pointed up and hooking in underneath the other mid flight. That still happens. Fighting over a fish. Music and tunes of all kinds of Maine birds. The loons especially are famous for that lake serenade.

The mother loon with the babies growing big and strong as they glide by like the ducks quacking as the young draft. Paddling for all they are worth to keep up with Mom and hoping for a bread supper. From a camper not warned what happens when you start the habit of feeding them.

And what other kinds of lake birds add to the experience. Those pretty, graceful but dreaded Canadian geese that can plague a Maine lake lot. The birds on a Maine lake are a big part of the entertainment on the waterfront. If living there or just visiting the fun kind of h20 Maine has plenty of to share. The waterfront that is always crystal clear and uncrowded. Cormorants in pretty midnight black stealth colors touch and go land out front the Maine lake retreat too!

Herons On Maine Lakes. They Show Up To Entertain The Happy Campers.

The little brown sparrows, the barn swallows, the red breasted robins hopping for worms. The brilliant color humming birds too show up daily for sweet to eat treats of floral nectar.

All the aviators on their rounds like heron, other birds that made me reach for a book on the subject of water feathered fowl. The sea gulls surprise me this far north from a sandy ocean beach. Anytime I am used to seeing a number of them was in a coastal setting of Maine. Like say Wells Beach, Maine. Or at the local McDonalds hanging around the golden arches. Mickey Dee’s french fries are a crowd pleaser and a bird weakness addiction it appears.

The crickets, lightning bugs, the bull frogs tune up as the sunset turns the sky to dusk and then a velvet sky backdrop of millions of stars. No light pollution to spoil the sparkle as you sit and reflect in front of a glowing, snap crackle pop camp fire ring.

Maine is wide open space, vast woods, clear farm fields and rolling pastures. Clean water, fresh air, and plenty of unspoiled space. Not as many people, boat loads of wildlife. Heron pictured resting his wings as he surveys the Maine lake for fresh fish dinner prospects. Other birds compare notes, share the rock reef grapevine in front of where I am lucky to spend summers on a Maine lake.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

August 24, 2017
Travel From Maine To Prince Edward Island Canada

When you live in Maine, sampling the Canadian provinces are low hanging fruit.

Handy, so sweet of a connection to our families and traditional vacations is our Canadian neighbor because we are related on both sides of the International border. Tourism works best when promotion of what is around your burg is incorporated into the vacation message right? More to offer when you join forces with what is around you for attractions for new to the area visitors.

Vacations built around more than one stop like a cruise ship hop to three or more islands, a travel buffet never fail to excite in my opinion.

Prince Edward Island Flags, You See Many Waving To Show The Island Pride And Patriotism.

So when you are vacationing, off the clock and heading up into Maine.

To Houlton to connect from the Interstate 95 to the Trans Canada travel corridor or boarding a ferry to cross the Atlantic from a Maine seaport harbor, Prince Edward Island could be the province of choice. And be sure to hit the duty free stores near the border entries to save on taxes.

There are lots of taxes on top of taxes layered and attached to whatever you purchase for goods or services in Prince Edward Island, in all of Canada.

Prince Edward Island, originally named St John’s Island divvied up into 67 sections by the Crown of England.

More on the tug of war for Prince Edward Island and where the heavy duty fighting happened. When the English took the island from the French and Acadians were driven from their home.

Surrounded by sapphire blue water, a level to rolling landscape of lush emerald green vegetation, the trademark fertile red ruby soil, Anne of Green Gables helped open the tourism door wide on Prince Edward Island. Writer Lucy Maud Montgomery had five publisher rejections before literary success. Her heart was broken when she left her home of Prince Edward Island and went to interior Canada.

Map Of Ship Wrecks Around Prince Edward Island Canada. Lots Of Lighthouses Too Help Sailors Deliver Their Goods And Passengers.

Lots Of National And Provincial Parks. Celebrating 150 Years Of Independence And Free Access In Many Cases.

So Prince Edward Island Canada, what about a crash course to consider, what to expect with a vacation visit to the surrounded-by water Atlantic Canadian Province?

So here goes, the simple history, the highlights of what to expect if you hop from Maine across New Brunswick.

To travel across the Confederation Bridge, that’s eight miles long, spans Norththumberland Strait, and completed in May of 1997.

The bridge called by locals the “fixed link”, this engineering marvel cost a billion dollars. Removing the cumbersome and expensive ferry delivery of tourists and goods from the sea. The bridge is easier for the to and from the Canadian island that a tad bigger than Delaware. Population roughly 146,455 the last head count.

Chasing The White Dimpled Ball On The Golf Links Of PEI. Fore!

The concrete Confederation Bridge takes roughly twelve minutes to cross unless weather interferes with the traverse.

Ferry service still happens to PEI. How about a ferry trip from Bar Harbor Maine to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island so the kids remember the water highway vacation delivery roll on and off process. I remember it as a little shaver, as a small grasshopper.

Prince Edward Island has several smaller islands. Is one of a trio of three Maritime Provinces.

The smallest in land acreage or hectares when a head count is taken or everyone in PEI asked to raise their hands.

An acre is about 0.4047 hectare and a single hectare contains about 2.47 acres. More coastline for building castles, reading a book or napping. For shoreline walks, a setting of red dunes, soft sand as far as you can see. Being a big island, with all this water, talk about beaches in PEI.

PEI has lots of nicknames, “Garden of the Gulf,” “Birthplace of Confederation” or “Cradle of Confederation”, the latter label referring to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, although PEI did not join the Confederation until 1873.Which happened because the United States was crowding PEI to come on board in Uncle Sam’s Imperialism efforts.

In 1872 PEI became the seventh Canadian province. Taking on railroad debt, paying off absentee landlord expenses both helped push PEI into the Canadian provincial collection.

Life Is A Beach, Prince Edward Island Has One Long Continuous Beach With It’s Delaware Sized Island Design.

The big contributor to the PEI economy is farming; the island produces over a quarter of Canada’s potatoes.

Lots of strawberry fields too! Historically, PEI is one of Canada’s elder settlements and demographically still reflects older immigration to the country. With Scottish, Irish, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and French topping the population mix. Tourism, fishing, farming all pour money into the local Prince Edward Island economy.

Lobsters and mussels in the deep around Prince Edward Island are pretty tasty. You have to have the waitress slide the plate order of heaping fresh caught fish and chips in front of you during your visit. The black and white cows create stellar dairy products. PEI tales the Holstein cows pretty serious.

The green pastures with red soil, cows grazing next door to cottage settings overlooking the dark blue water.

It creates the perfect surf and turf setting. Plenty of corn fields, strawberry patches too. With the latter providing the options of boxes filled to the brim or you pick the succulent fruit yourself.

There are roughly 231 islands around Prince Edward Island. Deep sea fishing is big when you are surrounded by water water water everywhere and lighthouses. The fresh sea air and visiting new places on your vacation to Prince Edward Island improves the appetite. The fiddle music helps your mood because I was brought up with half of the few TV channels available off air were beamed in from Canada.

Everything from Stompin’ Tom, Don Messer, Time For Juniors and all the new toe tapping musical talent.

Time it right and you get to hit a music festival in Prince Edward Island featuring local artists. More on PEI music and the link to see traveler photos. Which always makes the presentation authentic and so much more genuine. Maine has it’s own version of fiddle music.

The Inside Home Of Anne Of Green Gable Setting You Can Tour At Prince Edward Island.

After you take in a show, enjoy a sit down or take out meal, even buying a pack of gum or wire cart full of groceries.

The local service providers everywhere in Prince Edward Island are extremely friendly. They often say “enjoy your stay”. You do get the feeling they are glad you came to their Atlantic Canadian Island. That they enjoy, love it so much and sincerely hope you will too.

How do you get here questions, what should I do tomorrow suggestions are always provided as if you know the person. With the connection maybe because as a local Mainer, spending lots of time in Canada with two hockey playing boys, it feels like old home week. Familiar, maybe because our relatives did the same decades before and the traditional visit to Canada continue just as our red maple leaf neighbors come over to Maine through out the year.

The places to stay are many in PEI. The days of just camp grounds, tents before the abundance of cottages rental options are over. The cute cabins in a row down a hill with ocean view or near amusement parks like the Sandpit are many.

The view at dusk driving down Route 6 in the town of Cavendish and the feeling of being on top of the world, with a panoramic water enclosure around you is one you don’t forget.

The Value Of Sea Glass, Never Thought Of What Is Most Rare, What Is Common In Colors, Shapes Of Sea Rubbed Jewels.

Some places you travel in the World have amazing water views on a vacation down along the limited, over marketed beach sections. But it’s not like in PEI, should come as a surprise. When you consider it is endless beaches being one big farming island here is in PEI.

The views never let you forget, constantly remind you where you are. On the ocean front any angle you slowly pivot. Views not limited in PEI because of the center elevation. Added together with all the open level to rolling working cleared farm ground. Not just wooded land, endless forestry trees that can hide the water views if an area is lucky enough to have them to brag up.

The pride in the PEI landscape, around the neighborhoods makes everything appear ship shape tidy too.

You don’t see housing blight or messed up yards with trash and treasure littering it. There is bottle bill like Maine.

The average income coming in around $62,000. Low crime in PEI and the third highest standing for home ownership in Canada. Lots of construction housing and commercial building starts dot the island as you travel look around driving PEI.

The Circle Of Water That Showcases, Frames Your Visit To Prince Edward Island. Get The Picture?

The big new Confederation Bridge was a kick in the pants to crank up the economy several notches.

The bridge removed the standing around kink in the travel hose. The wait your turn on the ferry to get to the land of trademark red dirt. You see wind generators standing tall and straight just like in Maine but in Prince Edward Island, most of the power juice comes in from a submarine cable plugged in securely back in New Brunswick.

Anne Of Green Gables Home, Where The Red Pig Tailed Eleven Year Old Grew Up On A PEI Farm.

After seeing and touring the inspiration for all the Anne of Green Gables literary contributions, you can’t help but wonder if Lucy Maude Montgomery would have lived longer than 67 years if she had never left Prince Edward Island.

I think her heart was broken after writing about the place she loved so much, described so well.
Stroll through the haunted woods, silver lakes, study the black and white family images along with the farmstead setting that sticks in your head. Along with her original typewriter under glass as you meet the freckled character of Anne herself with her strawberry red hair in braids under her trademark hat pushed back on her head.

Lots Of Beaches, Plenty Of Red Sand Surrounds The Coastline Of Prince Edward Island.

I asked her trolling the barnyard before going into the media room of the cedar shingled barn to watch the video of her creator’s life how her day was going.

In character she quickly retorted “I imagine as well as anyone’s day, I suppose”. And then adding a zing question of her own. Firing back about how my day was going as if to say how do you like being interviewed by an eleven year old. Turning the tables. While on vacation on a hot summer day near the end of the calendar month of July.

The Anne Of Green Gables books set in 1908 were considered a children’s novel series but are loved by all ages around the World long after the death of Lucy Maud Montgomery in 1942.

And marketing of everything from golf courses to raspberry cordial around the Anne of Green Gable theme.

Anne Of Green Gables, Prince Edward Island’s Champion Created By Lucy Maud Montgomery.

More on Basin Head Provincial Park in Prince Edward Island. I was told at the lighthouse in Souris the town’s name is French, meaning mouse. The town had a heck of a rodent problem when first settled and the name stuck that described it best at the time. The kitchen crew and gift shop staff at both lighthouses were very informative and friendly. The locals share their home very graciously, in a low key no pressure way.

Help on planning your travel to PEI. Have an PEI blueberry ice cream or whatever black and white bovine themed multi scooped from Cows Creameries many locations around Prince Edward Island.

The head of government of PEI has its HQ set up in Charlottetown.

During our time vacationing in Prince Edward Island we stayed in Rusticoville, PEI. The location on the water in Prince Edward Island which was really New Glascow, PEI. Like small towns in Maine, many are packaged under the umbrella of one size fits all zip coding. Lower population small rural town areas rattle and hum like that.

There Is No Bad Time For Ice Cream. Moo Delicious When Fresh And Local PEI Cows Create It.

Deep sea fishing, taking in local musical and theatre productions.

All the national / provincial parks with hiking, biking, kayaking. Plenty of these red sand beaches protected by dunes with sea grass holding the terrain together.

Something for everyone and it’s your vacation to let go and rewind right? To unplug and recharge from the work work work.

Prince Edward Island, in the Atlantic Canadian Province surrounded by water, in the Gulf Stream, the St Lawrence. One extended stop to add to your travel channel if you dial up the Atlantic Ocean. When you make Maine a two for one nation vacation. Ask any Mainer if there have Canadian blood in their lineage and don’t be surprised test positive eh? And no, it is not dangerous being this close to Canada living in Maine.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

July 25, 2017
Insider Tips For Living, Visiting Maine.

Maine. Everyone wants the inside track when exploring a new unknown area right?

It’s pretty important. To become familiar with the lay of the land whether in Maine or wherever you roam. To avoid time frittered away and for the best experience in Maine to be enjoyed. So a guide to living, visiting Maine, one of those that is not full of ads and more fluff than substance. Who wouldn’t want one of those kind of guides to Maine? To connect the dots. Chart the course.

Sea Food Always Welcome With Hot Coffee, Mirco Local Brews, Whatever You Slurp Fixed The Way You Like It Best!

To develop the guide to living in Maine for the fast track and to avoid wasting time of a precious short vacation would be a popular post or publication.

If you follow the Me In Maine blog you will see in a scan of the posts that being grateful living here and why is part of the hunt and peck. But also, saving time and being a resource for new to the many moving parts of Maine is an ongoing approach. To be part of what is fed and added to the post channel of this living in Maine blog series.

But to post the ABC’s to new visitors to Maine means in what topic, covering what subject? The needs are wide and topics to cover are vast. Because only an insider, a local living in Maine could share what a stranger would want. And in the particular region of Maine that you are needing the information that is custom coded to that section of Vacationland. For example, Downeast Maine, what you would enjoy knowing early on before you arrive at the town limits could set expectations, would save time too.

One Beach Is Not Exactly Like The Next. This One In Maine In Kennebunkport At Dusk.

But simple things first when considering heading to great state of Maine.

If you moved to Maine, when do you have to get a license from the Pine Tree State. Thirty days to get your new Maine driver’s license. To convert the out of state one you have for the one you as a resident of Maine need to be carrying.

A travel guide to Maine. But not just for vacation in Maine use. If you are retired, the income follows you over the state line. If not you need employment, a page explaining jobs in Houlton Maine and where to look could save time and money. A different area of the state of Maine would need another portal post to update current employment options and listings. Maine is a big state remember? And most of it is small rural communities scattered around the Maine country side. And not all with fully stocked chamber of commerce local information portals that are constantly fed or updated.

No Motel 6, No Howard Johnson Or Day’s Inn Back When In Small Maine Towns. Lots Of Local, No Franchise Chain Hotels To Stay in Northern Maine Towns. Or Lake, River Cabins. Inns, B&B’s To Sample The Flavor Best Away From The Interstate 95 Corridor.

Travel guides for Maine would be the start to the hit or miss visits that could develop into longer more permanent stays. The local posts on blogs written by native and transplanted Mainers are much more helpful than the paid for, four color glossing flyers. That’s publication size depends on the number of advertisements that the copy flows around.

Looking for helpful information takes time. So many websites and blog posts but fluff. It means lots of time spent searching to get what you are after and coming up empty handed on travel guides that hit the spot quickly.

Visit Maine is a good starting point. The Maine.gov site is pretty helpful too for drilling down to get a good basis to your Maine 101 knowledge base. But helpful advice, tips from an insider to Maine happy to share what the locals know and the outsider misses.

I have had my fill of the commercial sites that preach the top ten this, the pick of the pack of Maine locations for that.

Most don’t get inland from the southern coastal regions of Maine. Or above Waterville or August Maine up the pike in the dots on the map that outline the best this or that. You have to travel further north, you have to head to deeper sections of the inland of Maine. To sample her natural richness, the genuine real Maine without the commercial spin.

Maine. To see first hand, up close and personal the cream of the crop, best of the bunch list you draw up yourself. For what you like best, for what you seek out over and over in Maine favorite spots you vote for… that you uncover on your own over time. Not the list some advertising editor who has never set foot in Maine . But makes the claims as if he or she has been all over Maine all their life. Like they trying to play off as a local Mainer chummy. Just a little too slick, a lot out of kilter to what being in Maine is really like.

Maine Is Real, Peaceful, Not Crowded. One Of The Lowest Crime States.

The travel guide to Maine. It better be the local perspective, the spin on any question posed about anything Maine from the insider who lives, works, plays here.

Wouldn’t that be the most helpful? Low key and conversational. Easy to digest. When nothing slick or paid for opens up the communication back and forth. And you get the raw truth on any matter that is on your mind needing attention for questions that should be answered better sooner than later.

The View At Your Picnic In Maine. It Adds To The Home Made Taste Of Whatever Is Packed Away In The Handled Basket.

Welcome to Maine. Learn about Maine history. I live in Northern Maine. But try to venture out to other sections in Maine for my own curiosity and to share what I discover. In say Kennbunkport Maine to sample some summer sea air and beach sand.

Or over to Sugarloaf USA to winter snow ski. Or take a spin to Bar Harbor Maine to see what you are missing. That will make you return again and again once the heartstrings are tugged on sufficiently, consistently. I know many families who pick Old Orchard or Wells Beach as their life long venue for vacations in Maine.

And this just in. Didn’t you get the memo? Don’t forget we border Canada here in Maine and are related to the over homers eh? Ever been to Atlantic Canada traveling through Maine for the two nation vacation? Or to Quebec. “new France” traveling via Maine? Heading to the red soil, the beaches of Prince Edward Island Canada in a week and will snap capture the images. Will be sure to post the local information about PEI! Right next door to Maine.

Welcome to Maine.

The people are down to Earth, hardworking, friendly. Explore Maine. I pledge to continue to add to the online knowledge to glean whatever you can to prepare for your next maybe your first trip to Maine. I love where I live and the state that is big, beautiful called Maine is my home. No secrets kept. Where I grew up and raised my four kids is an open book. This blog post series hopefully serves as a travel guide for Maine vacations, maybe more. Get to Maine as often as you can. That’s how you get to know her best. Spend time here.

Maine is known for her vast wide open farming operations, her immense wooded lumbering tracks that cover 91 percent of the land mass.

No one can forget the Maine rugged, rocky bound coastlines and her lighthouse collection. All these lakes, ponds, twisting and winding rivers. All that tasty seafood from the deep along the islands and harbor towns that put Maine on the map. Sample some. Visit the Old Port section, the only a handful of cities that offer more urban settings. To contrast her mostly rural ones in this great state of Maine. Stay tuned for more on living, getting around Maine easier. With an insider tip or two, with advice and posts from a native of Maine who likes to blog about life here. I promise to share the tourist information the publications don’t have space for and leave out that is critical for the deepest experience. To set your realistic expectations about your next visit to whatever region of Maine beyond the popular tourist trap haunts.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

July 16, 2017
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