I'm a born and raised Mainer. I love our state. The beauty of our landscape from the Northwoods to the rocky coast. The people overall are hard workers, resilient, kind-hearted. I saw a post recently from some tourists who were skeptical about Maine, but overall was overjoyed at how welcoming we were...our amazing food, and chill nature.

While I am personally proud to be from an amazing state (there really aren't many that you can go to a lake, river, mountain, forest, ocean all in a day). We're the first state to see the sunrise, we've played instrumental parts in our nation's independence. We're a spunky state! I am wondering, what excites you/makes you feel proud to be from Maine?

How would it affect the local economy given the town is highly reliant on tourism and lots of transplants are moving in who don’t work in bath.

I don’t see downtown and stores shutting down bc people still live there and I could see out of staters moving in quick.

How would it shape demographics like political?
It seems like a rather conservative city with a democratic council.

This is HYPOTHETICAL

My wife and I are considering buying a house in Lewiston. We've been wanting to move to Maine for quite a while but are not familiar with the Lewiston area. On paper it looks great with lots of stores and restaurants, a short drive to Portland for bigger stores, access to both mountains and the coast. But when I try to find information on the area it is unfortunately dominated by two hot button issues that to me seem irrelevant to daily life and just overblown media storms. I'm sure you can guess but I'm going to leave them out to avoid making the conversation all about them.

So my post is simple, for those of you from or currently living in Lewiston, what is life like? Is it a nice place to live? Do you have a favorite restaurant? Are there nice community events? Is it thriving and growing? Or is it a dead end with little life and energy? Are you scared to walk around alone? Are you always bored trying to leave? Please give me your local perspective.

Going to Bar Harbor. Still some color left?

maybe a bus and or train

I’ve been researching trails on Google but want some guidance from real Mainers :)

Looking for an easy to moderate trail or loop where we’ll be doing 4 miles max, and we’d like to be able to access a beach/the lake.

Do you recommend Sebago State Park or Sebago Lake Land Reserve? North or south side of lake?

Going up this weekend for the first time, thanks all!

Visiting Maine and staying in Kittery (beautiful state btw) was looking for a small souvenir and thought one of those might be the ticket. We were up in wells/Kennebunk area and saw one in a a shop with some small buoys (thought those were neat too) but the shop was closed and I have no idea where it was. But I was hoping there would be a gift shop or antique shop near kittery work have one.

First trip to Maine starts this week. We will be in mid coast region for 3 nights then 3 nights in Bar Harbor. But forecast has rain all day Friday and a good chunk of Saturday which are our 2 full days in mid coast. Want to go to Botanical Gardens somehow but what else to do in the rain?

I live in midcoast and am looking to go on a staycation next week anywhere in the state.

I'm looking for a luxury hotel with a big bathtub in the room. Ideally hot tub and sauna in the hotel.

Any recommendations?

Hello all! My girlfriend and I will be visiting your beautiful state this upcoming weekend. We are both planning on proposing to each other, but keeping every other detail a secret from one another otherwise! We will be staying in Addison and I was trying to search for any beautiful places nearby (within a 1-1.5 hour drive, but the closer the better).

Specifically, I was hoping to propose on a beach with a beautiful view or at the end of a hiking trail looking out on some water or something like that. I also was more interested in doing it closer to nighttime as I was hoping to see the stars and potentially the sunset behind us if that helps narrow it down at all. Thank you so much to anyone who can help, I greatly appreciate it.

Going to be driving up the coast next summer end of June/early July and were wondering if we should do A. Portland for 1 night and Camden 2 or
B. Portland 2 nights and Camden only 1 night.
We’ll be driving up to Bar Harbor to stay for 2 nights after to end our trip.
I’m more of a foodie and enjoy relaxing and shopping but my husband is more outdoorsy but I’m also open to exploring the outdoors/easy hikes/walks. We both love being by the water. I know summer is a busy time of year and driving from place to place can be a task but hoping to off set that with stopping in some of these towns! Hope that’s helpful.

I ask as part of a linguistic study covering this topic!

Examples could include things like Bangtown, Wistraffic, PTown or Milly (never mind how common they are)...

Hi there! I'm writing a story set in Maine, and I'm purposefully trying to base one of the central locations off of a remote/hard-to-reach lake. I've decided on an area near Grand Lake Seboeis just north of Baxter State Park for reference. Out of curiosity, does anyone know how someone could get there? Specifically if they were heading to the northern shores by Coombs Cove. The last thing I want is to be unrealistic in my depictions of travel. Thank you so so much!

Hey guys, we’re looking for a Line Dancing Bars near Bar Harbor or Orland. Kind of hard to find any, any suggestions?

Got a parking violation while on vacation and in a rental car. They said I was in a 1 hour zone outside LL Bean but I don’t recall seeing anything. What are the odds I can ignore it?

Hello all... planning a trip out there next October..can't wait for the lobster rolls but where's the best burger ? Driving up from Boston to Bar Harbor and on to Portland. Can't wait!

I live in New Mexico and have never been to Maine. The winter looks atrocious and the summer seems cold but beautiful. The politics are wild and very localized, which I can relate to. What is the draw to live there? Are spring and fall nice? The terrain seems to be just pine forests and hills and cold coastal areas. It seems so exotic and harsh to me. What are the qualities I couldn’t know without living there? Why call it home? TIA

Finally left and headed down to Massachusetts.

But that was my first time in Maine and it was a good time.

Some similarities yall have with Europe is how yall dress. Lots of plain dressing. Not much graphic t shirt wear. Lots of flannel as well. Which was pretty cool.

I hate the price of living is pretty damn high for such a beautiful state. But I’d love to move here one day. I’ve lived in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Virginia, etc.

Maine is definitely on the list.

Cons: yall love to hog the left lane. 🤣

Pros though? Yall drive fast asf and get out of each other’s way and I love that. I’m in Oklahoma currently unfortunately and people drive slow as fuck.

Other cons? Food is kinda under seasoned. But the food is fresher tasting.

Also, it might sound dumb. But no one cares about the color of my skin. I got virtually no stares and that was pretty cool. Some states I do. Very rarely though and I believe most people don’t care. But yeah, I loved it.

Love the similar architecture yall have to Europe. Which I know is in fact due to early settlement of this area of America for the inspiration of the building. I also love the north takes care of its historical buildings and still keeps them in use.

I also LOVE its nature focused. Very beautiful scenery. Picturesque even. Y’all’s fall season is GORGEOUS!

Other than that?

I rate Maine 10/10. I’m sure locals will say different. But just speaking from a visitor perspective.

I hope to move here one day.

Edit: I read through the comments and I know this is only a romanticized version of what I’ve seen. Of course every state has its struggles and issues 100%. I’m not oblivious to it. lol. I’ve been around the world and have seen issues while doing humanitarian missions and just general travel. I’m aware yall.

I’m just making conversation with fellow Maine residents. That’s all.

If I offended, wasn’t my intention. Just wanted to throw some positivity in the state and towards the people.

I can’t take the time to reply to everyone. But just know you were heard.

Thanks.

Last time I stayed … I stayed in a hotel with hundreds of bugs and just plain out dirty even though it had good stars. Planning another stay but looking for a place that is clean and nicer. Any tips of places that are cleaner and nicer in the general area?

Genz Native from Sothern Maine, currently at 2,600k base rent + CMP - From a lot of posts it seems like a lot of people are on the same page as me, going to likely leave within next couple of years due to housing costs/job market etc and so on- Make some money elsewhere, maybe easier to attain some equity, more rental pricing options to choose from or a stronger job market with higher rate - maybe make my way back some day.

Anyone got leads on good areas that have more to offer for us right now? Just trying to see what others may be thinking about

i'm looking to do (unfortunately) late notice senior photos in portland maine, but I'm not sure what the foliage is gonna look like. ideally, it would be nice to have some pretty leaves around to contribute to the aesthetic, but i'm flexible. i was wondering if any locals could lmk what the foliage is looking like this year, and what time it would be past peak. the quickest availability i could get a photographer probably would be the first week of november

Hi all! I am starting medical residency next summer and this February will be the last month off I have before starting. I have a baby girl who will be 9 months old in February. It’s just me and her. I am looking to plan a short ~ 4 day trip for us to somewhere beautiful and low pressure so we can create some memories (more for me, but will take lots of pictures to save for her). We live in the south east. I don’t particularly want to go out west, and I’ve been pretty much everywhere there is to go in the south, and have a weekend trip already planned to Charleston in November.

So..would mid-late February be an okay time of year for us to visit Portland? I was thinking of staying in a cute hotel in old port where most cute shops and food are within walking distance with the stroller. I know we’d have to bundle up like crazy. There aren’t a ton of activities I can have her engage in at 9 months anyway, but I was thinking a ferry ride and the children’s museum, and perhaps a little outdoor (quick) photoshoot so we can have some mommy/daughter memories to save forever.

Just wanted to ask locals if this is actually way more impractical than I am thinking or if this might work? Just looking for somewhere beautiful with a low stakes itinerary and cozy vibes!