Anybody ever lived in Maine or Nova Scotia? How did you like it? The Campgrounds? Whatever you can tell me I would appreciate. Thanks, DEE

-- Dee (drebai@yahoo.com), November 27, 2001

Answers

Response to Other places far and near

Currently do live in Maine and wouldn't think of living anyplace else. In my younger days I've lived in Kansas, Texas, New York and Alaska. The only place I'd trade Maine for is Alaska. In Maine you've got it all... the ocean.. the mountains.. islands. the County. What more could you ask for. There are even TWO Maines. One is from Augusta south through Portland ( this is where you live if you've got bucks). Then there is the " real" Maine. That's from north of Augusta to the Canadian border. Believe it or not there is a difference of about $10,000 per family per year in earnings between the two Maines. Average in P'land 42,000... average in the 2nd congressional district about 31,000. I live in a great town right on the NH border with a population of 1200. The entire county ( Oxford) has a population density of something like 20 people per sq. mile as opposed to places in CT. with a density of 200+ per sq. mile. Guess I'd betta' ask the Govna' for a commission on selling the State.

-- Ken in Maine (kenjan@nh.adelphia.net), November 27, 2001.

Response to Other places far and near

Yeah...what Ken said!! I'm not a native Mainer, but sure am glad we chose this state 25 yrs. ago! Would love to visit Nova Scotia, tho'

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), November 27, 2001.

Response to Other places far and near

I live in Nova Scotia. What do you want to know, Dee?

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), November 27, 2001.

Response to Other places far and near

Hey Ken we are neighbors we live in Poland. I agree in all you say about the state. As a nurse I worked in the Lewiston area for a long time and then went to work in Portland area and a big increase in pay. But, Maine has it all as far as I am concerned. I love the change of seasons though the snow does get to me by March. I am originally from Boston area and Hubby is from Maine. He hates the city worse than I do. As to Dee's question there are a lot of campgrounds in Maine, we have a lot of lakes in this part of the state. And we have the beautiful ocean. Bar Harbor is fantastic with a wonderful National Park, that has camping.

Renie

-- Irene Burt (renienorm@aol.com), November 27, 2001.

Response to Other places far and near

Howdy Folks,

My family is from Maine. Westport Island (near Wiscasset) and Bath. My great Grandfather worked at the Bath Iron works as a moulder. I went for my first visit a few years ago and almost didn't leave. I do understand the difference between the two Maines. It's very visible. I managed to drive Hwy 1 all the way north to Addison and had to turn around. I did want to go into Quebec and over to Nova Scotia, but my vacation time ran out. I do plan on going back and showing my new husband the land that God kisses first in the morning. Truly the most beautiful state in the nation.

Now, I'm homesick.

Iris

-- Iris (Sar_India@msn.com), November 27, 2001.

Response to Other places far and near

Westport Island is a great place. There is an old Inn there named " Squire Tarbox Inn". Those folks have nubian goats and make cheese. They have a web site. I don't know the address but I'm sure it can be found through a search engine.

Sorry to have made you homesick... I know the feeling. I can't stand to be out of the State for more than 24 hours at a time.

God Bless ken

-- Ken in Maine (kenjan@nh.adelphia.net), November 27, 2001.

Response to Other places far and near

Ken,

Those nubians are the very reason I'm raising goats myself. I toured the Squire Tarbox Inn during an off season and fell in love with the place. I watched the innkeeper feed the kids and then walked over to a stall and looked at a very gentle buck. He reached over the gate and gave me what I believe is a kiss. lol That's all it took. Well, and the cheese. Those folks really know how to do it right. That's the inn I will try to stay in when I take my husband. I just hope it's soon now. Thanks for taking me back to those wonderful memories.

Iris

-- Iris (Sar_India@msn.com), November 27, 2001.

Response to Other places far and near

Dee, I've lived in Maine all of my life except for two years I spent in Boston while attending college. I wouldn't want to live anyplace else. As far as I'm concerned, Maine has it all. We have mountains, lots of lakes and rivers, and an absolutely beautiful coastline. We even have our own desert, although it is a very small one. There are lots of campgrounds.

Our summers are warm and humid. We have several days over 90 degrees every year. Our winters are cold and usually fairly snowy. The frost free growing season in my area is usually from about the third week in May to the third week in September.

As far as I'm concerned, the only bad things about living here are the winter ( I don't like the cold and hate shoveling snow) and the bugs in the spring and early summer. Our state bird should be the mosquito.

By the way, Renie, you and I are practically next door neighbors. I live in Oxford.

-- Murray in ME (lkdmfarm@megalink.net), November 28, 2001.

Hi Iris;

I didn't know if you'd be familiar with the Squire Tarbox or not. When were you there? If it has been in the past 10 years you may have noticed the rather large barn that is between the Inn and the goat building. A friend and myself built that back in 1991. It was an old horse barn from somewhere else in the State and we spent the Winter repairing it and re-erecting it. Small world isn't it?

-- Ken (kenjan@nh.adelphia.net), November 28, 2001.

Murray...I always thought the state bird was the blackfly??!! Whatever it is, the bug season is pretty short here in my area on the downeast coast :-)!! Altho' sometimes those little "no-see-ums" get pretty thick!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), November 28, 2001.

Ken, I think it was in 94 or 95. I did see that barn. Isn't that where the most interesting rooms are now? I was truly amazed by the whole setup. They started talking about selling the inn and doing only goat cheese. It was way over my price, but I sure wanted it. Do you know if the power plant across the river has closed? We determined that the place my family used to live was almost directly across from that plant. Such a romantic place, that island. Iris

-- Iris (Sar_India@msn.com), November 28, 2001.

Hi Iris;

I never did find out what they put in the barn. There was one barn that was attached to the main building and then they decided to add the other one. Bill and Karen are very innovative people so I can only imagine what they have done. The power plant you refered to was Maine Yankee and yes it is being de-commissioned. I think they will continue to store some low level nuclear waste there for some time to come but it is no longer in operation.

Unfortunately Maine Yankee was one of those places that kind of followed their own rules for doing things and, I believe, it finally caught up with them. I worked there for just a couple of weeks prior to the shut down and the NRC was breathing down their necks and they pretty much couldn't function.

-- Ken in Maine (kenjan@nh.adelphia.net), November 28, 2001.

Hi Iris;

I never did find out what they put in the barn. There was one barn that was attached to the main building with some guest rooms and sitting rooms and then they decided to add the other one. Bill and Karen are very innovative people so I can only imagine what they have done. The power plant you refered to was Maine Yankee and yes it is being de-commissioned. I think they will continue to store some low level nuclear waste there for some time to come but it is no longer in operation. Unfortunately Maine Yankee was one of those places that kind of followed their own rules for doing things and, I believe, it finally caught up with them. I worked there for just a couple of weeks prior to the shut down and the NRC was breathing down their necks and they pretty much couldn't function. They have made a good reputation for themselves ( Squire Tarbox) so I would think that the selling price would be rather steep. Yes the Island is beautiful. I had a chance to live on Vinalhaven Island off the coast about 15 miles from Rockland. Island life is very much different than living on the mainland. Fortunately Westport Island has a bridge!

-- Ken in Maine (kenjan@nh.adelphia.net), November 28, 2001.

Another answer from Maine. I live in "the foothills" of western Maine. My husband and I have lived here for 20 years. This part of the country is beautiful. Nova Scotia is beautiful too. What are you looking for?

Mary

-- Mary R. (cntryfolk@ime.net), November 28, 2001.

Dee, I live in Buxton, which is in the southern part of the state. I have lived here for 14 years and I love it. My husband and I have been camping a little bit around the state and have really enjoyed ourselves. We just got a larger tent this past summer and plan to camp more in the future. The Maine Atlas (a comprehensive atlas of Maine put out by DeLorme) has a full listing of campsites so you can just check where you are going and call around for reservations at the nearest place. Along the coast the sites book early so keep that in mind. A friend of mine wants us to join them at a campground on the coast this summer and we're arranging it now to get reservations.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), November 28, 2001.