Tag: vacations in maine

  • How Much Does It Cost A Day To Vacation In Maine ?

    How Much Does It Cost A Day To Vacation In Maine ?

    How much does it cost a day to vacation in Maine?

    Plenty if you beeline to a tourist trap along the coast. I know, I know, those lighthouses, sliding on a bib to crack a steamed Maine lobster venues are a lot of fun. But they can set you back some serious money. Being planted in the Old Port section of Portland Maine is a little pricey if you spend a serious amount of time there.

    This blog post explores the question of just how much it costs a day to vacation in Maine.

    low cost maine vacations
    Outdoors Hiking, Taking In The Natural Beauty Of Maine. The Best Low Cost Maine Vacation!

    The advice on where to vacation is often written by a media specialist many moons away from Maine.

    The hired pen “suggestions” are hired out ones to strongly suggest to the audience this is how to should vacation in Maine and where, when, why. But what if you don’t own the hospitality business being highlighted in the write up? The outfit or chamber of commerce touting this location as the only place to consider staying and spending lots of money while you do is not trying to save you money. Not giving you options on how to vacation cheaper in Maine so you can visit more than just once a year.

    This Maine blog post explores other cheaper ways to get away from the tourist trap high expenses and to see more of Vacationland without the unnecessary extra costs.

    million dollar view maine vacations
    The Million Dollar View Does Not Have To Cost That Much With Low Cost Maine Vacation Planning. Ask A Local Insider Where To Stay, How To Save Money On Your Next Maine Vacation.

    For starters, what time of the year are you planning vacation travel to Maine?

    Remember the “shoulder seasons” are your best value. The periods just before and immediately after the busy summer Maine vacation season save a lot of bucks. Plus not so many people on the sidewalks of those quaint Maine harbor town locations.

    Way less traffic on the narrow streets networked around the Maine coastal harbor town locations in the shoulder season. You don’t see the cruise ships double parked out front. The big tourist buses from Canada and beyond are not casting a shadow in the restaurant parking lots.

    And the people who work the restaurants, run the inns, hotels, bed and breakfast locations along the coast are less stressed, more friendly during the shoulder season.

    low cost maine lighthouse vacation
    Collecting Maine Lighthouses. One Low Cost Maine Vacation Thing To Do For Fun.

    The daily grind serving the public is not so intense or fast paced for the Maine motel and restaurant, the amusement business operators.

    Everyone is more laid back and enjoyable like the surroundings that are not to capacity and beyond for tourists. Just my suggestion as a local native Mainer in my travel experience.

    So how much it costs per day to stay during a Maine vacation depends on the time you arrive.

    Winter can make the lodging rates even cheaper and you’re right. Not every place to stay is open when snow piles up outside the Maine tourist establishment. Many motel, cabin, hotel and inn owners take off for the sunny south to spend the winter months. To unplug and recharge for another Maine summer tourist seasons ahead without blisters from operating a snow shovel.

    But winter stays at popular Maine tourist destination offer something else besides savings.

    Solitude, smaller groups, no lines and everything in the tourist mecca returns to simple small town Maine existence sans the tourist dollars. Take Wells Beach Maine for example during the winter months. Winter at Sunday River or Sugarloaf USA is not cheap but sure is fun. The cost to maintain that many downhill ski trails, especially when Mother Nature does not cooperate with the snow flow all takes money. Plenty of snow in this Maine Sugarloaf ski video getaway over one New Year’s Day a few years back.


    Sugarloaf USA In Western Maine To Ski, Stay, To Getaway Video

    The ski areas in Maine have to make the long dollar because despite the myth, winter is not six months or long .

    The added golf courses, hiking and biking trails and fall leaf peeking tours on the chairlifts all help the ski area’s bottom line financials.The smaller Maine ski mountains with lots more volunteers and less paid staff can weather the overhead easier to survive. Plus the cost of area lodging is much lower to the ground. The entire day in and out local economy in smaller rural communities is so much less.

    The how much does it cost a day to vacation in Maine can be $250 a night and up or the coupon rate of $59 for the lay your head in the bed.

    When traveling to Boston MA living in Northern Maine, stopping in York seems to be the line to not cross for motel room rates. Way cheaper, no charge for parking or any other add ons happens getting off exit 7. Because once you go further south, open your wallet or purse wide happens for the cost of the stay. Parking is never a problem in Maine for vacations. You can not say that when hemmed in a city like Boston with lots of one way old cobblestone streets.

    houlton maine vacations
    The Boy With The Leaking Boot. One Local Houlton Maine Tourist Attraction.

    The cost per day of a Maine vacation room, suite, cabin, where you stay depends on the season, the region, what events are happening.

    What do you like to do for fun and is the vacation around your kid’s school recess break? School basketball tournament week or a labor day, 4th of July long weekend are prime time when vacancy rates are low. Dead of winter changes everything on the lodging bill and the meal deals to expect. If you tow up a camper trailer and go the RV route on a leased lot with hook ups, when you pitch a tent. The overhead is different than a five star resort with all the overhead.

    Getting a lean to at Baxter State Park or renting a house on the beach or a lake and splitting expenses with your loved ones that jointly vacation as a group.

    mt katahdin maine
    Any Season, Any Angle, Mount Katahdin Captivates A Person Any Age.

    There are many approaches to hold down the how much it costs a day to vacation in Maine.

    But do you snow sled, downhill or cross country ski, ice fish or snowshoe and is outdoor winter hiking up Katahdin your idea of fun? Are you more of an apres ski kinda person and want to curl up by a crackling fireplace blazes with a blanket as you gaze out onto the Maine winter landscape?

    The problem with average costs per night for vacation rates in a state as large as Maine is the extreme. The $250 a night in Kennebunkport does not match up with the $59 motel rate in Presque Isle or Fort Kent, Rumford or Eastport Maine. The average them all together for around $160 a night is not what you would expect to pay everywhere in Maine. More on Downeast Maine.

    low cost maine camping vacations
    Save Your Money. Low Cost Maine Camping Vacations Up Into The Interior Sections Of The Pine Tree State.

    What do you spend for meals? That’s like asking what is the electric bill going to be in this Maine home each month.

    Do you hang your sheets out to dry on a line or do you wash Suzie’s one favorite pair of jeans for the big high school dance that is suddenly only a few tense hours away? Are the household showers long and never ending or do what you gotta do and get in, hop out to dry off? Still in the one Saturday night bath whether you need it or not mode? Your habits and preferences dictate how high or low will the household bills go month to month. We live cheaper in rural Maine so how to vacation, what to do for fun is lower cost too!

    Do you like picnic lunches and outdoor dining by a stream with a Maine mountain view?

    maine beach vacation
    By The Water, Is A Maine Sandy Beach Your Ideal Of Now We’re Talking For A Vacation Setting Location?

     

    Or do you think taking advantage of a family meal special is cheap not instead a way of freeing up vacation funds for something else fun?

    Your best Maine vacations are the ones that did not cost an arm and a leg going into debt to pay off for months to come. In small town Maine, pre-COVID, tonight’s meal at the local farmers museum for $8 gets you everything from new potatoes and fresh peas, ham, baked beans and home made bread and biscuits. To the same room for later. To take your pick of created at home just a few hours ago fresh pies of all kinds. Whip cream or ice cream on that generous slab of pie?

    local farmers markets in maine
    Local Farmers Markets In Maine Are Low Cost, Tasty Fresh And Friendly Venues To Meet Your Veggie Grower.

     

    The earlier breakfast down at the local Maine snow sled or fish and game club is even cheaper.

    Plus there was a family discount. The land owners dinner is free to those letting local sledders run a groomed, market trail across their property. The breakfast ploys, pancakes, steak and eggs with fresh juice, hot coffee and muffins, toast again served up by the volunteers you know by first name in small Maine towns.

    You can rent a cabin on a Maine lake for around $80 a night at a place called Tall Timber Lodge in New Limerick.

    Or tap into the many vacation rentals where owners offer their places dirt cheap. Airbnb rentals, VRBO cost of  and home away from home travel sites make the Maine vacation way more affordable. So you have money left over for more than one trip to Maine a year from the savings.

    low cost maine vacations
    Sampling The Local Maine Location On Your Cheap Vacation. Learning What Life Is Like Here! What Living Here Full Time Would Be Like To Compare To Where You Hang Your Hat Now.

    The same people rent the place they buy for vacations in Maine too.

    That lake camp or woods cabin owner started off sampling Maine on vacations. Then decided to invest and become a local property owner because of the positive vacation experience. The vacation second home up in Maine is put up for rent. Everywhere, the same one or two weeks, folks look forward to another leased piece of Maine in the same spot. If you don’t buy a property in Maine, you are more likely to explore other areas of Vacationland. When you have the investment, working on it and returning to the same base to explore a section of vast Maine happens.

    So the cost per day of your vacation in Maine for meals does not have to be an average of $40 a day when you go deep local.

    The thinking that the trip to Maine for a couple for one week will cost over $2200 does apply in so many cases. When you hit a church supper meal, you dine with the locals and they take you in like you lived there. Sharing the experience of living in their small Maine town and if you ask, volunteering how best to spend your vacation. Pointing out what to make sure you don’t miss out seeing while you are staying in this part of Maine. Isn’t that a more memorable Maine vacation that won’t set you back vast sums?

    maine vacations on the coast
    Maine Coastal Vacations, Usually Water Is Somehow Attached To Your Stay In Vacationland.

    Agri-tourism where you visit a local Maine farm or learning about the state’s rich lumbering history with museum tours.

    The trip out with a lobsterman, someone fishing for a living is the real deal. It’s way more than mini golf and go karts or whale watching and lighthouse tours to make your Maine vacation memorable. So much extra to squeeze out of the vacation time when you approach it like a local who lives here. That is your best guide on what to do for fun.

    Fishing, hunting, kayaking, hiking, biking, camping or glamping up in Maine.

    maine lakeside vacations
    Parked On The Waterfront Somewhere In Maine. Is That Your Idea Of A Memorable Maine Vacation? Cooking Outside, Talks On The Deck, A Nightly Fire With Chairs Surrounding It?

    Are you planning to crack lobsters and munch on butter dipped steamed clams or trail mix and open grill sizzling steaks or BBQ lathered chicken?

    Pass the potato or macaroni salad please. The cost a day to vacation in Maine can be just a tank of gas, a stop at a grocery store for grub and hanging your hat at a simple woods camp.

    Just listed a 60 acre woodlot in Washburn Maine that would be one ideal simple vacation destination.

    Just got a call just now from a Maine land buyer in Lisbon, down country who has relatives in the Presque Isle area. He and a friend are thinking seriously of going in 50-50 to buy this well wooded property. The one that is more than just a source of income when trees get selectively harvested to open up recreational trails.

    washburn maine land listing
    Buy Some Maine Land, Put Up A Simple Camp Or Haul In The Travel Trailer Camper. Ideal Low Cost Vacation Location In Maine.

    The Washburn Maine land for cheap instate vacations fronts Pettingill Brook.

    And the town shows 72 acres, more than the 60 acre estimate in the warranty deed. If this Maine land buyer builds a simple camp, it could be rented out when not being used for profit.

    Wood stove, playing cribbage and cards, having wildlife for neighbors uptah the rustic camp in Maine.

    Is that all you are looking for in your Maine vacation? Is the Maine land on snow sled trails and four wheeler ATV pathways? Yes it is and building restrictions, heavy duty HOA’s? Not in Aroostook County or most of rural Maine is what you find for building permits. No people, no hassles, that’s Maine. Where common sense still rules the day.

    baxter state park mt katahdin camping vacations
    Camped Out Near Mt Katahdin,In The Baxter State Park Area. Priceless. Owned Properties Pay For Themselves In Savings Shelled Out At Places To Stay And Eat.

    Dial in your type of Maine fun.

    Is your Maine vacation outlet shopping and are the kids going to be blue screen reflection silent during meals, and on couches plugged into Internet devices like the back home routine? Or unplugged and hitting the trails for a family adventure to learn about a new area of Maine? Show of hands, who wants to hike up to the top of Mt Katahdin tomorrow? Better get to bed early and pack lots of water, trail mix and quick energy snacks for the climb up and down Mt “K”, Maine’s mile high tallest peak.

    Thank you for following our Maine In Maine blog posts faithful reader.

    Reach out with blog post topic suggestions. It is all about helping you find your way around Maine and sharing what it is like being a local insider living here in Vacationland.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

    207.532.6573 |  info@mooersrealty.com  | 

    MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

  • Maine, How Long Do You Need To See It All?

    Maine, How Long Do You Need To See It All?

    72 hours in Maine, when there is a clock ticking and you want to take a mini vacation in the Pine Tree State.

    I have read stories and blog posts that try to sum up seeing the total experience of Maine in just 48 hours. You can’t do it justice in two days if you are planning to sample more than a fraction of what Maine offers.

    maine white tail deer
    Go Deeper, Where The Wildlife Live In Rural Maine.

    It is like attempting to conquer Disney World with your kids in two hours and suggesting you can see it all in that short a time with all those long waiting lines. Let’s face it. Maine is one big honking state. Not in the Rhode Island or Delaware size weight class. Maine ranks 12th in the nation for water area with 4,523 square miles of recreational H2O. Maine is only 41st in population with 1.328,361 friendly souls and 39th for land size with 30,862 square miles of area.

    And Maine is located up here in the upper right hand corner of the country. So far north some argue we should be in Canada because Maine is surrounded by the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick! And just a step from all the Atlantic Maritime provinces like PEI, etc. In Maine it is like a two nation vacation if you can sneak away for more than just a couple days. When you clear the schedule for some unplugging to recharge rest and relaxation.

    It’s is similar to hurry up fast food compared to slow cooked relaxed cuisine.

    Haste makes wastes and you don’t get the full flavor when you make it a mad dash to Maine. Too little time makes it why bother. It’s vacationing at the same pace of your day to day hectic life chasing the dollar when you don’t allow for enough time to get beyond the usual expensive tourist traps barely into Maine. You can get some retail therapy at the Kittery outlets, maybe venture up as far as LL Bean and the other Freeport Maine shop til your drop commercial venues.

    maine vacations hammock lake
    Reading A Book, Not A Care In The World! They Say Life Is A Beach. The Maine Waterfront!

    Maine is outdoors, fresh air, clean water and no people when you head further north and up into her interior regions. You just don’t get that experience when you only go  a short distance into the state. Maine is six plus miles tall. And to weave in and out around the nooks and crannies of US RT 1 takes time to discover the hidden jewel communities and natural attractions.

    The best kept secret is further north, east, west where anyone trying to trot around Maine in 48 hours is going to miss out on so much. Head deeper, get on the less traveled areas to avoid the crowds, the traffic and where the average bear does not that makes it a sprint into Maine and then a flit back out.

    Go beyond the sameness of franchises and water parks, go kart courses and just eating junk food in Maine.

    maine hiking baxter park mt katahdin
    Get Exercise While You Capture The Maine Eye Candy! Get Beyond The Southern Shopping Outlets And Franchised Fast Food Deeper Into Maine!

    To the mom and pop operations of small business where your are treated like a friend, like family with small community members. That’s where you learn about the lay of the land, the history from a local and not a four color tourist information brochures that leaves so so much out and tries to sum it up in a catchy couple lines of copy.

    Head to places like Gulf Hagas. Where you won’t see a Wendy’s, McDonalds or anything marked with a neon sign. Get some exercise hiking the trails around Mt Katahdin, Maine’s highest mountain of many others at Baxter State Park. That means driving a little more to get a much richer, deeper experience in the Pine Tree State.
    Acadia National Park is one pretty 50 mile network of carriage trails, stone bridges and wildlife, lush natural vegetation. Bar Harbor and other Maine coastal towns get visits from the cruise ships where you get deeper into Maine but only for a couple hours or maybe an overnight while anchored off port.

    To avoid the crowds that eat into whatever time you do have in Maine, consider your mini vacation trip around the beginning, the ends of the tourist season can works best.

    Lighthouses in Maine are one big attraction any time of the year. Have you started your collection that gets added to for life each trek back to Maine?

     

    When money is an object beyond the time you have to spend any, consider swapping where you live for a spot in Maine. I have a little mini vacation set for Halifax Nova Scotia soon and using Air bnb makes it more space for less money and the feeling what it would be like living in the community. Not at a motel next to a truck stop or airport or wall to wall noisy, busy commercial enterprises.

    maine railroad station ride
    Take A Train Ride, Get Deeper Into Real Maine! Beyond The Tourist Traps And Shopping Outlets.

     

    You pride yourself at the number of times you have been to the southern coastal regions of Maine. But have you ever been Downeast, to the northern section of our long waterfront along the Atlantic Ocean?

     

    Consider Maine has sixteen counties and you want to see it all in time. Target a new section and don’t just barely make it into Maine. What you see a few miles after crossing the big green bridge on the southern tip of Maine is not the whole story. Maine is the way life should be but so so much is missing when you barely enter the state and call it good.

    The travel magazines and blog posts, all the brochures touting where to eat, play and stay across Maine often show a map that cuts off the upper two thirds of the state or more.

    The rest of the story as Paul Harvey would say, page two for the best times and less expensive memory making experiences happen deeper into the real Maine sadly not everyone gets to enjoy. If you relied on the maps, it would give the reader of the propaganda about Maine that nothing exists, nothing worthwhile is above the dots that only show up close to the state’s southern border. Hope this Maine blog post on vacation tips is helpful!

     

    And it is not just summer vacation for your window of opportunity to sample Maine. Be a fall hunter, leaf peaker for the brilliant colors. Bring your snow skis to Maine for cross country or down hill adventures. Hike bike, camp in Maine. Climb in a rubber raft on the Penobscot, Kennebec, Dead Rivers. To navigate through some water rapids and to dine on wild rice and river cooked food that improves the outdoor taste. Don’t just shop for trinkets and waste what time you have being a parking lot shark looking for the best spot and shopping til you drop while in Maine.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

    207.532.6573 |  info@mooersrealty.com  |

    MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

  • Delayed Learning, Catching Up Later On For Missing Childhood Lessons.

    Maine. Practical, simple ways of performing routine tasks.

    Natural short cuts and knowing what happens if you don’t take them. When you grow up in Maine, the rural living prepares you for so much. That you only really appreciate when you leave Maine and end up in an urban areas where not everyone is crossed trained. Not everyone learned carpentry skills, how to work on mechanics, and all the practical ways to approach everything you do in life.

    maine horses
    Not Losing Old Ways Of Doing Things. Maine Is The Blend Of Old And New. The Pace Slow Enough For Pleasure Horses For Example. Or Working Ones Too.

    It is easy living in Maine to figure everyone on the planet third from the Sun had the same on the job training for life growing up.

    Folks that went to city jobs after the war ended because local employment was sagging found out quickly how much they were worth to a factory. Because you were asked in line as job applicants who is from Maine? Hands go up, the Maine applicant for the job was hired over someone not from the Pine Tree State. Because it was a given that work ethic came ingrained inside each and every individual from Maine’s DNA.

    So back to the basics, the simple way of life in Maine where less complicated is always the best pathway to take.

    Where doing things without pressure and last minute gun to your head urgency is the plan Stan. We are prepared, we live like we are ready for the worse but hoping for the best. We are grateful for however it turns out because positive attitudes keep folks working together. To avoid bogging down and getting mired down in negativity. Common sense still works and is applied through out the villages of rural Maine. Simple does work best.

    Vacation Exchange Swapping Homes
    Living Like The Locals, Seeing What’s Special In Maine Swapping The Use Of Your Home Out Of State. Ever Thought About Vacation Exchange Using Your Home?

    Do the best you can with what you have and make it better than it was. If it is to be it is up to me approach to tackling anything coming at you. Rather than who do I blame, or hang ringing and running in circles with high emotion Chicken Little, The Sky is Falling drama. We try to be the Little Red Hen. Keep working, stay productive, make your efforts count.

    Less clutter is part of revamping your life.

    And stepping back to see how you tackle life chores. Do you make it complicated or easy? And algorithms … is what to do regulated by lots of back room, behind the scenes simple codes of if then statements to ride herd on the data?

    Trying to save time by over simplify can back fire and end up giving you results that causes more work to untangle when a human asking questions and the answers directing where you end up for the best solutions.

    Maine has more space, less traffic, 4th lowest crime stat too. There are four seasons, lots of waterfront, heavily forested, working farm sections that dot the landscape. Less people, less pollution and a lower cost of living makes the backdrop of Maine pretty darn attractive.

    Ever filled out a form or answered an online survey where none of the answers really worked best?

    Maine Lighthouses Enhance The Sea Shore Experience.
    How’s This For a Back Drop Reading Your Favorite Book In Maine?

    Flawed navigation of the data collecting processing does not help. Nothing works like the face to face hearth felt discussion where you see the wrinkle of the forehead, eyes not looking directly at you and darting away. Where the non-verbal cues and voice inflections tell more than any sentence alone can deliver.

    Maine, where we have slow cooked food and not the fast kind. Where we don’t always multi task and savor the moment. Because all the natural beauty helps suspends and stop the World with a quiet that allows you to think clearly.

    Ever been to Maine?

    Make the room in your schedule. Don’t put it off. Or maybe it is preaching to the choir. Hasn’t it been way way too long since you visited Vacationland?

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

    207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

    MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

  • Working Hard To Attract Small Maine Town Tourists.

    The tourists who wander into your small Maine town.

    Looking to see a Maine moose, dine on lobster or a bucket of steamed clams. To get a t-shirt or nick nack labeled Maine. There is more that your Maine tourist is after after they cross the big green bridge on the south end of the Pine Tree State. The shift from cookie cutter tourist traps with all the franchises, a sea of sameness is not what your traveler is after these days. Too many other places peddling that out there in the wild blue yonder. Slinging the hash with the same tired buzz lines on pick me, pick me to vacation.

    Small Rural Maine Communities. The Lifestyle Day To Day, Culture And Heritage Are What Tourist Travelers Want To Sample.

    Unique, fresh, real is sought after in every experience all of us seek out today right? Like watching re-runs, something new and different always trumps same old same old. Give me something new and different please.

    Maine is all over “it is not like this anywhere else.” You’ve heard the slogan “Maine, the way life should be.” So preserving, capitalizing on the small Maine town rural lifestyle. What makes the small community special and stand out. It starts with the locals realizing how lucky they are to just live full time in a low crime, little traffic setting. With all this natural unspoiled beauty and friendly helpful people. There is an intimate connection in a small Maine town where folks work together to create the sense of community. People wave, smile, help out and know “if it is to be, it is up to me.”.

    It is not like that in a city back drop where eye contact and personal interaction is avoided at all costs. Where underlying fear is just part of the stress of living with all these people in your face. Trying to negotiate a crowded sidewalk face with a sea of faces coming at you in all directions like asteroids. And road rage. Those hand gestures are not waves.

    What’s the best way to create the local home town pride re-energized?

    Two weeks of therapeutic living in a blighted urban population center. Get on the bus, round up the locals of Maine, make the wheels go round and round.  Jam lots of people way way too close together in a smelly, noisy, too many shadows of a cold, not so friendly concrete jungle and watch out. Stand back. See what happens as tempers flare, respect is lost and personal living space is invaded. Then bring back those transplanted rural locals from the shell shocking of the city living. They won’t forget the contrast and count their blessings on what we do have, what we don’t that makes Maine a jewel. And the locals will be grounded. To begin again to count the reasons why they are country mice in rural Maine small towns. And making it fun, affordable, casual for those visiting it. Maine fun is outdoors. Low or no cost once you get here. That is what the high cost of living vacationers with strapped out of town finances want. What overbooked, worrisome travelers seek to unplug and recharge when they dial in the  relaxation mode considering Maine.

    Like anywhere, there are Mainers who will bitch and complain about everything from the weather to the cost of tea in China. Not the buzz to relay, not the signal to send to attract a tourist best. To convey the notion that this place is worth spending some time and money. Deep down in the gray matter they call themselves died in the wool Mainers with a strong constitution. To tackle anything coming down the pike. But they forget why they live here due to discouragement that dims the resiliency. Some natives just resist change as they cling to the past as they growing older.

    maine apple cide pressing
    What We Do For Fun, Tourist Want To Tap Into The Local Community Lifestyle That Is Refreshingly Real And Natural.

    When you grew up and enjoyed prosperity in a small Maine town. Then erosion happen to the simple way of life. And you witness the hustling, bustling, thriving small Maine town rural economies drying up. Combined with the cost of living escalating. It is easy to lament and have a pity party. To wonder what happened.

    Some habitually start to whine without knowing it. And without adapting, re-tooling mentally to approach the local economy differently. It is easy to forget what you liked than made you stay in the small Maine community. And when some of those elements are missing you can start humming the should I stay or should I go Clash song.

    Where to put the energies collectively as a small rural Maine town, to be a good ambassador to the area.

    Beat the drum loudly. What you want, what your tourist is after. It’s not always a topic where agreement on testy topics scores very high. What you want to see take place in a small Maine town may not be realistic. Due to small numbers in the population to underwrite expenses. And the need to have volume to monetize the endeavor. Everything runs on a business chassis and the small Maine town economy is no different. Otherwise, last guy or gal out shut off the lights on Main Street in small downtown communities.

    Remember the joy of life as a kid on a school recess yard playing? Getting along and having fun should not be lost on youth. Our adult attitude, thinking about putting your best foot forward and preserving what we do have to brag up. Making a list. Preaching and seeing to it that everyone is promoting the same local attractions. Getting excited first yourself so it oozes out in all you say, do, fell. Adding to the list with anything missing that your tourist is after. Not just what you want but what they seek that other areas offer. Capitalize on that. What f you were in the moccasins of a new to the area, passing through your burg tourist. Become that character in the local audience.

    Nothing like a steady flow of tourist dollars into the local coffers to improve a small Maine town community. As long as the down home simple nature of the small Maine town is not totally revamped. And the live and local is lost in the process.

    maine fishing boat on lake
    No Walls, No People, All Real And Natural. Bask In That Vacationing In Maine. That’s What Attracts Maine Tourists.

    The winds of change, what is today’s traveler to Maine now after?

    What they have lost in their area and is no longer seen. An experience with agri-tourism is part of the splash. Heritage tourism. Re-living the past in farmers museums part of the show and tell to someone brand new to the area of Maine where you hail. The rich folklore of lumber camps, timbering vast forests when timber was king. The fishing and hunting haunts. The recreational trails of Maine that dot the map need to be easily found, heavily promoted. Interstate connections have to be as strong as possible for the tourist to stay in touch online.

    Attracting Maine tourists. The natural lure to tangle and tease is the eye candy imagery. Promoting outdoor natural activities like a river canoe or kayak race that just don’t happen in pollution centers. Where the crowd of people have to spend their time staying safe, their heads above water financially paying for this, that and the simmering stress demanding some vegging out time in Maine. Where it can be so quiet that you do hear yourself think. Where wildlife habitats can soothe the stings and scars of the price paid for city living. That does not come without a cost.

    The local food, the yarn stories shared with tourists about how the local turf runs, how the small Maine town got to this point along the way. History of the area is rich and rewarding if shared with a local person to person. Not a few lines machined and printed on the four color brochure that was not written by a local resident of the small Maine town. Tell me, show me why you live in the small Maine town. Let the tourist consider if they did and they will return when treated like they already live here. Brag up big wigs who for years have trot trotted from Boston and beyond to Maine.

    Getting into the habit of really wanting to help the brand new to the community tourist. The ones who ask for directions or to get the insider tip on where is a good place to eat, to stay. Answering the “what do you do for fun” question with a slew of suggestion for the traveling through your area tourist. Give him or her, their families reasons for hanging around.

    By saying and meaning it sincerely after you provide the local information. With a smile, “I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in my corner of Maine.” A good habit if you really believe to have friends you need to be one. So the stranger is not one for long because of a gracious glad you are here feeling conveyed to them. That shows you the local are pretty darn happy and you know it. Clap you hands. Stamp your feet. (Now that song is stuck in a loop in your head. S0 sorry. Really)

    It’s never been a better time to be a small rural Maine community that steps it up to attract more tourism dollars. Heck the bottom of the Maine license plate made at the state prison is the black and white reminder. “Vacationland” is thee nickname of Maine for a good reason, adopted many moons ago.

    ice cutting in maine
    The Old Traditions Should Be Preserved And Promoted. Small Maine Towns Don’t Benefit From Forgetting Their Cultural Roots Which Helps The Tourism Dollars Bottom Line.

    What made, still makes the small Maine town great? It takes critical thinking and getting ready for tourism to help the process along. And not trying to make the rural, sparsely populated placed thrown into the ring. To go toe to toe with a larger city approach to tourism. We are not in the same weight class and compete different. We hold different marketing cards to play in the game of tourist attraction. That many other small Maine towns are around the same poker table. After those same tourists to come see ME, my area of Maine.

    We did have a number of Phish concerts in Northern Maine at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone. But to attract those kinds of numbers to shake and grove to Maine on a large B-52 size runway through out the year is probably not realistic. Chalk Dust Torture in the winter with hands overhead swaying even with legalized pot is not going to happen.

    Discussions locally on what we should be pushing for and what would or not work can go poorly. If you disagree and point out why. Not everyone respects your difference of opinion when discouraged and looking for a quick fix. A bandaid for a gunshot wound. Because they see the small Maine town as something it is not. Instead of what it is capable of sustaining with manpower and dwindling available dollars. Where the small town or regional area of Maine could shine brightly if a different, collectively agreed upon direction is taken. It takes many late night meetings and heated discussions. A plan Stan that gets launched and modified with tweaks along the way.

    famouse people who vacation in maine
    Jack Dempsey, Ted Williams, Teddy Roosevelt, Stephen King, Martha Stewart, The Bushes On The Compound At Walker’s Point. Lots Of Celebrities Pick Maine For Fun And Casual Vacationing. Play That Card In The Tourism Promotion.

    Don’t wait for government to fix it or adjust the “sales” to foster more Maine tourism. It takes individual grass roots effort on the local level to step up and take on the volunteering. You have to have the locals buying in and knowing leadership is on the right path.

    To invest in small tourism-fueled businesses to make the Maine rural town a destination starts with what are your strengths and weaknesses. What are you selling. And not for the entire vacation week or long weekend of the tourist. But partnering with other areas. To catch the traveler coming and going.

    Maine is lucky to be next door to Canada, to make it a two nation vacation. Local food, local attractions and a connection to the lifestyles of local people is what they want. They get bored if they don’t get fed that. Share the tourist and building their trip with other in-state and out of country partners over home eh? To get them to return for more. It is more than one visit we are after right boys and girls? Make it a habit. Let the tug on the heartstrings of Maine be a strong one. That vacation falls in love with Maine’s allure hook, line and sinker. And does not care at all that they are powerless to stay away from her charms.

    know house thomaston maine
    Know House Thomaston Maine Is One Big Residence With Rich History, Plenty Of Bedrooms.

    They like it, they love it, they want some more of it like the song suggest. They don’t know why but the small town promoting it’s best features does.

    The traveling tourist want to see the small rural towns, handful of cities in Maine the way they are. Putting on the tourism goggle to see the local area the way someone who has never been here before does. That critical look through the lens makes it clear where to push the tourism promotion levers.

    If we already have visitors coming to fish, bike, hike, hunt, river raft, and relax, keep banging the drum geared for that audience segment. Keep spreading the word and tapping the social media channels about wildlife, clean water, fresh air and all this natural four season space.

    Without that tourism lens put on, though, it is easy to miss the value and opportunity of the traffic that outdoor recreation already generates. To see the subtle differences all the areas of Maine offer to the tourist. Like what happens when you venture into say Downeast Maine. The culture, heritage and real day to day not something spun or artificial slick is what the Griswald’s are after to experience on a family vacation to Maine.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

    207.532.6573 |  info@mooersrealty.com

    MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

  • Kennebunkport Maine, One Of The Coastline Jewels.

    Kennebunkport Maine, One Of The Coastline Jewels.

    Mention the word “Maine”, and here come the seacoast towns and beach regions that cause much of the audience excitement.

    But ask for the show of hands to figure out the favorite section of sand or craggy rocked bound coastline of Maine and the results vary greatly. Because people are so different.

    Kennebunkport Maine Tourist Vacations
    Your Maine Vacation, Does It Involve Salt Air, The Sound Of Surf And Ocean Water?

    The sound of the crashing surf, the smell of salt air and visuals when you are lucky enough to be on the ocean in Maine casts it’s lifelong spell.

    And wherever you begin the time spent on the Maine coast, will probably be a spot on the map to revisit often through out the course of your life time. To check in with Andre the seal. Whatever the Kodak moment attraction.

    Lots of fond memories with loved ones and the Maine beaches, lighthouses, sand and rock in the back drop is the main reason why.

    The friendly, down to Earth folks that live in these areas and serve the tourists well is another for the come on back any time you can.

    Maine is blessed with 228 miles of the ocean frontage.

    Other states along the Atlantic coast line did not far so well. New Hampshire weighs in with 13, Massachusetts that Maine broke free from in 1820 has 192 miles worth.

    The Wedding Cake House In Kennebunk Maine, One Of The Most Photographed Homes.
    The Wedding Cake House In Kennebunk Maine, One Of The Most Photographed Homes.

    Rhode Island treasures it’s 40 miles of coast line. Connecticut did not get any. New York promotes it’s 127, New Jersey next door pushes it’s 130 miles many ways. Delaware and Maryland are nip and tuck for waterfront bragging rights on ocean frontage with 28 and 31 respectively.

    So back to Maine vacations, the where to go for a first time visit?

    How much time do you have? How much do you want to spend for moolah if lodging at other than a state park or high tailing it inland to get the motel rates down to Earth?

    For economical motel lodging along the Maine coast, in Kennebunport Maine you might look into Rhumb Line Resort.

    If you got a big fat tax return or attended someone’s wedding, or your own, check in at The Colony in Kennebunkport Maine.

    Kennebunkport Maine
    The Property Values A Tad Higher, The Tax Assessments Approaching Nose Bleed In Kennebunkport Maine.

    We have blogged about destination weddings in Maine used for the nuptial knot tying.

    WARNING: The more expensive the wedding spread, the less smaller or any children at all get the invitation to pull up a chair around the linen topped, crystal and silver settings for multi course meal table.

    (Hope you get your “plus one wedding invitation” added rider clause box to check off. Along with the surf, turf, veggie or spam, cereal or other menu food fare selections.)

    In Kennebunkport Maine Walker’s Point Compound  on Ocean Avenue is a popular tourist query location that get’s “Googled” a lot.

    Besides US Presidents #41 and #43, Jeb Bush is getting a new Maine home  away from home of his own.  Built at the Bush family compound on Walker’s Point.

    You do feel the Secret Service scans, from a far pat downs as you just point the camera toward the home of two of the highest pay grades of them all in public service sector. God bless America.

    Walkers Point Bush Family Compound Kennebunkport Maine
    Walker’s Point, The Bush Family Compound On Ocean Avenue, Kennebunkport Maine.

    The lighted red, white and blue flag on the point gives you the same feeling as after someone sings that song before the “play ball” shouted.

    Lots of background selfies happen with this high taxed town chunk of Maine in the back ground.

    For a budget stretching place to stay at Wells Beach a few miles to the south of Kennebunkport Maine, consider tapping out the phone numbers or emailing the N’er Beach Motel for an ocean vacation fun.

    Plenty of food options, a trolley like the other Maine coastal tourist traps that you want to get pulled into willingly happens in Wells, Moody Beach that is not far from Old Orchard Beach too.

    Maine's Kennebunkport Maine Beach Sea Shore
    One Beach Is Not Exactly Like The Next. This One In Maine In Kennebunkport At Dusk.

    In Bar Harbor Maine, Robbins Motel is pretty darn affordable.

    To explore Acadia National Park, see Thunder Hole, check out a couple lighthouses like Egg Light  with it’s seals basking in the sun on an island, or Bass Harbor with its red lens and zip for parking.

    So consider parking and biking in and out. And all along the 50 miles of Acadia carriage trails. With some very intricate granite bridges and stone work. Consider using your bike to roll on. To take the ferry from Portland to Peakes Island for bike ride. A quick easy spin with peddle power.

    Like what you order off the menu at your favorite restaurant, often you know you should be adventuresome and try a new beach in Maine.

    To sample another coastal Maine town and all it offers in a new and distinctive way. But it is hard when the temptation wanes and you order up the same beach in Maine to visit year after year. And each season is a variation on the same theme kinda sorta.

    Maine Boats, Some Pretty Expensive, From Out Of This State, Country!
    The Big Boats, Not Powered By Small Horsepower Motors Hanging Off The Aft Ends.

    Say if you like Maine lighthouses, consider the hide and seek and joy of finding another. To add to your collection at Squirrel Point lighthouse in the Boothbay Harbor region as an example.

    Maine has a lot of coast, more than most. And life is short if you plan to practice your take off, landing skills. To touch down barely and lift up quickly. To again, again. To sample the 228 miles coastline for a Maine vacation.

    The coast of Maine, letting go and pulling the plug to recharge naturally, off grid. To reflect on life, the how’s it going for you weigh in to get your bearings. Find magnetic north. All that sea shore and what life is like along the coast is pretty special but only one facet of the vast Maine jewel.

    The coastline gets more interesting, less commercial though while we are on the subject. As you venture north along Rt 1. Get off the Interstate 95 corridor. Check out Milbridge, Maine. Go further north to Lubec, Eastport Maine, West Quoddy Lighthouse, the local eateries.

    Maine Harbor Boats Are Big, Expensive And Not Just Dingies, Lobster Vessels or Cruise Ships.
    Maine Ocean Front Small Protected Harbors. You See Lots Of Big Watercraft, Clever Boat Names. Mine Would Be “Liquid Asset”.

    Hang on pirates, to go ashore at President FDR’s vacation cottage. Get your sea legs for the short boat ride to Campobello Island. To experience real, raw, all pure and natural Downeast Maine. Without the vacations in Maine four color glossy hype.

    Yes, in some regions of Maine to play it up for the tourists with the “you can’t get there from here-uh Chummy” there is some commercial posturing.

    To play for the cameras, an open microphone. Anyone holding a tall, top ringed reporter’s notebook. To create a few catchy soundbites, grab some free press with full color 8×10’s, lots of black ink about lob-STAH that is some kinda wicked good Bub.

    Fueling Up In A Maine Harbor. Anchoring For The Night To Come Ashore. Sample Whatever The Small Maine Coastal Town Serves Up.
    Fueling Up In A Maine Harbor. Anchoring For The Night To Come Ashore. Sample Whatever The Small Maine Coastal Town Serves Up.

    It’s hard tellin’ without knowing don’t ya know. Unless someone speaks up and spreads the word about Maine, the way life should be.

    Have you been to Maine and to other places besides just the coast?

    Consider the ski areas, the fall foliage tours inland and to see wide open farms, vast timbered northern sections of Maine. Not just the Maine beaches. The coastal tourist attractions where some have cruise ships parked out in the harbor.

    Maine beaches, coastal towns for vacations. Those are only one Maine tourist trap you don’t really mind falling into and go willingly. But there is more.Maine, so much to explore, but only a short life time to do it.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

    207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

    MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton ME 04730

  • Vacations In Maine, Any Season Is A Good Time.

    Yachts Like To Sail To Maine, Vacationland
    Float Your Boat, Sail It To Maine

    The Maine license plate has a reminder of what we are all about…. spelling it out “Vacationland”.

    There is no wrong, bad season to vacation in Maine. In fact, the state of Maine is so large, the area terrain so varied that a person needs a number of years to sample ME.

    To do it justice and quickly learn that lobster, lighthouses and sea coast are nice, but there is way way more to Maine.

    It’s not just rock bound sections on the ocean in Maine where the vacationing tourist magnets are for about a 100 cruise ships a year that park, visit quaint harbor towns.

    The real beauty of Maine is the vacations don’t have to empty both pockets, hi jack a person’s wallet. Our fun in Maine is low or no cost because it is natural, unspoiled. Providing an experience money can not buy. That man did not make to charge an admission fee to enjoy.

    The phrase “camping in Maine” is a loaded three word expression.

    Can mean cooking on fire, sleeping under the stars. Or a half million dollar land yatch trolling the highways, byways of the Pine Tree State. Or a custom made yacht bobbling off the Maine coast while a dingy of travelers row to shore.

    Pick your outdoor recreational favorite for each season in Maine and pencil it in to your busy life for never fade memory moments. And don’t forget to bring your camera for shots of Maine, to magnet to the refrigerator. That cause smiles every time you see them. As a reminder you need to return over and over for more of Maine.

    Make Maine your healthy habit whether snow skiing, snowsledding, fishing, hunting, boating or hiking, kayaking, white water rafting. Or just sitting on an open Maine camp, cottage deck gazing out over the waterfront enjoying the wildlife in a nature setting.

    Maine grabs your heart. Gets in your system.

    Starts a fire burning that will never go out. Because it is what you need, live for, long for. Being on top of Mt Katahdin and staring out over the land expanse makes you clear headed. Able to figure out what is important, where the life path to stay on is.

    Life is not just black and white simple. Start dreaming in blue and green. Get to Maine. Add some Maine waterfront to your life diet, like your doctor ordered.

    Plan a vacation to Maine and start the journey, discovery. And if you relocate, retire here in Maine, it is like being on vacation every day. Working or not because you are in a place that’s the way it should be everywhere. Come see what the Maine tourist vacation brochure left out, forgot to mention because it ran out of room.

    I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
    info@mooersrealty.com
    207.532.6573